Yesterday I came across a post on another blog I read and find extremely valuable about sleeping on the floor and pros/cons of it. Coincidentally I have also started sleeping on the floor this week. At the time of this writing I have been floor-bound for the past 4 nights (though last night I moved to the couch because I was freezing).
This is laid out on a wood floor with an area rug on top of it.
Sane people would ask why on Earth I would choose to sleep on the floor. Well, I have my reasons but suffice to say that I’m a glutton for punishment and enjoy pushing myself just to see what happens. Plus the Japanese swear by it.
The accounts of other floor sleepers I’ve read about have noticed far more dramatic changes that I have over the past 4 days. That being said the one change I have experienced was pretty cool. The past several years I have been waking up feeling like I’ve been run over by a Greyhound (the bus, not the dog). I attributed this to a couple things; I’m not in very good shape, hell, I’m not in OK shape yet and I’ve been sleeping on the couch for three years (please reserve your opinions, it’s been my choice, mostly). But something happened after sleeping on the floor the first night. I didn’t wake up feeling like s***. Once the morning fog lifted I felt pretty good physically. I didn’t have any of the back or neck ache that I usually greet in the morning. That alone made me continue my experiment.
The first night it was pretty tricky getting to sleep because I couldn’t get comfortable. I’m a side sleeper. I know that’s horrible for my spine but it is what it is. I’m also a cuddler when I sleep which leads me to hugging a pillow to fall asleep. I couldn’t successfully pull that maneuver off the first night. I’ve since worked it out. It’s also considerably cooler on the floor. One wouldn’t think that a matter of 2 or 3 feet in altitude would matter much but all things considered, it’ gets chilly down there.
Sleeping on the ground I feel much closer to nature. I don’t mean nature as in the dirt and trees (I’m sleeping on a rug FFS) but I’m talking about gravity. I seemed to feel “in place” on the floor and more stable. I imagine that our caveman ancestors experienced this sense of spatial well-being albeit it was probably countered by the worry of being eaten every night. It was kind of cool reminding myself of that experience.
Yeah. I would. I don’t know if it’s for everyone and I don’t know if, given the option of a comfy bed, I would still choose the hardwood mattress but for what it is it’s not bad.
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