There are plenty of factors that can affect your sleep quality. However, the most critical component of falling and staying asleep is your body position.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, it might be time to consider changing your sleeping position.

Here are 5 signals that you need to watch out for another posture for better sleeping.

Your back and neck start feeling achy

The thing with adults is that we don’t listen to our bodies. We are so fixated on the no pain no gain mentality. Perhaps, you only thought this applied to the gym. But that is a loud no. You are here reading this article because once you wake up in the morning, and it is hard to twist.

The solution is to identify the category you are in. Typically, there are two kinds of sleepers:

– Side and back sleepers. If you fall asleep on your side or back, try placing a pillow between your knees to support your spine.

– Stomach sleepers. Sleeping on your stomach creates an unnatural twist to your trunk. This unconventional position puts stress on the back and creates back pain. You can mitigate the pain by popping a pillow under your stomach.

Stiff hips and shoulders

If you are an athlete or fitness fanatic, this can be bad news. Hips and shoulders affect your posture and that’s the greatest factor when it comes to lifting, walking, or running. However, this doesn’t stop there.  It also affects the common citizen. If you wake up with this inconvenience, there are some things you can do to reduce pressure and increase circulation.

– Stretching. In this case, the problem is posture. You can look for correcting exercises and stretching ones all over YouTube. For starters, start with skipping rope and face pulls.

– Side sleepers should stop supporting their hand with either of their arms. Instead, they should reach their arms out to a pillow and hug it. This reduces stress on nerves and blood vessels when they are stretched. Your shoulders will feel much better

– For those with hip pain, your best bet is to look for a way to support your spine. The handy tool is a pillow. Set a pillow between your knees to avoid twisting, and you will be fine.

You are getting heartburn

Heartburn is when the stomach acids back up to the esophagus. This creates a burning sensation in the chest area. If that’s what you feel when you wake up, then you should do something about it. Changing your sleep position alone won’t likely get rid of chronic acid reflux entirely. This is because you change sleeping positions over ten to thirty times a night. However, this doesn’t mean it is impossible to change all these. You will need a strategy for this. They are as follows:

– For back sleepers. You will need to make the acid reflux go back to the stomach. That means you will need to elevate your head using a pillow or towel.

– For those sleeping on their side. It is advised to sleep on your right side, rather than your left one. This allows you not to mitigate the pain of heartburn. Also, sleeping on the left side will ensure that you reduce the pressure put on your stomach and chest.

Stretching

Have you ever seen a cat after a nap or after sleeping? It stretches right? It seems crazy, but you need to realize that your body has not been in motion for six to eight hours. And that’s not what we are designed for. We are designed for movement. And anything negating this will feel uncomfortable once you wake up and start to move. Stretching before and after bed should be part of your regime. For more information on sleeping positions and patterns, check this link, shorturl.at/fxyS2.