Guidelines for Lying on your Back
Last week I said I would give guidelines for lying on your back. I’ve thought about this a lot. My goal is to help you get more comfortable and to keep it simple.
If you sit at a desk with your head forward, as pictured here,
you will need a stack of pillows under your shoulders and head. Shape them into a wedge/slope and place the narrow side under your shoulders. Place the higher side under your head as pictured below.
If you sit at a desk with your head upright, like below, use a flat pillow, 3 or 4 inches thick.
Lie on your back with the pillow that is right for you.
Check that your legs are symmetrical, a foot apart. As you relax the legs fall out.
Point your toes and feel how that action draws the front of your hips forward. This is important because it shapes the natural arch, a small arch at the sacrum and L5.
Allow the lower back, the lumbar area, to relax and come closer to the bed. If the low back is arched come up on your elbows and press the lowest ribs downward toward the bed.
Draw one shoulder in toward the spine and down toward your heels.
Bring your chin toward your throat lengthening the back of your neck.
Get the idea?
Now do it again in this order:
- Lie back with your head on the pillow.
- Point your toes.
- Draw in one shoulder blade at a time.
- Take time and allow your spine to relax, head to tail.
- Focus on your breathing.
- On inhalation breathe up the torso filling the entire ribcage.
- Breathe down the back on exhalation.
- Do this for a few moments and then do nothing.
- Relax your entire body. It is much easier for me to get the hang of this lying on the floor. I can feel the breath moving up my chest on inhalation and down my back on exhalation more distinctly. This means that my bed is too soft.
If your back hurts when lying supine do the following:
- Put a pillow under your knees.
- Make your pillow higher.
- Notice exactly where the tightness is and focus on relaxing right there.
- Above all do not tuck your butt. It ruins the natural arch between the sacrum and lumbar 5.
Don’t torture yourself with these or any guidelines. Give it a try and take time to relax into it. You may have to return to it regularly and build time. It will come. In time it’s the most comfortable way to sleep. “It’s more symmetrical,” as Noelle Perez pointed out oh so many years ago.
Please, please, let me know how lying on the back works out for you.
