Sleeping is essential for our body, and is a great way for your mind and body to relax. It is also very important in relieving period cramps. Because when you have your period you are already uncomfortable, and can already be cranky. Now imagine feeling even more cranky from lack of sleep.
When it is your time of the month, it can be painful or an uncomfortable time. There are many ways to help relieve your period pain, teas, and herbs, and sleeping positions. During these times is when you need to have a few period hacks in your pocket to make the time pass easier. They can be especially painful when you have hormonal fluctuations.
Recovery position
You might not know this but the recovery position is where you lay on your side with your bottom leg extended and the top leg is bent towards your abdomen. This is used by first aid responders to help the person get more oxygen in their lungs while they wait for an ambulance to get there. It might seem a bit too much for period pain, but like we said it might help similar to the fetal pose. It helps your abdominal muscles to relax and helps you to breathe easier and potentially raises your quality of sleep.
What if you do not find comfort?
Props are a great way to get your body in a state of relaxation! This is also true in restorative yoga. It is where various props are used for several parts of your body to relax your nervous system by giving you the sensation of being held. This also applies to sleep! Simply try putting a pillow behind your neck and in between your legs.
You can also simply try the recovery position mentioned above with a pillow under your top bent leg. And if you can not find a pillow that you can relax with, you can instead try rolling up a towel and keeping it under your knee(s). You should feel your muscles start to relax in a few, short, minutes.
Fetal pose
Sleeping in a fetal position is recommended by some healthcare professionals to aid in reducing your menstrual cramps, but you should know no research was done on this subject. Fetal position refers to sleeping in a manner similar to when we were in our mother’s womb, to lay on your side with your knees tucked into your chest.
The possible reason behind this is that it takes off some of the pressure on your abdominal muscles. As you are already experiencing pressure from your period, you certainly do not need to add any added pressure on top of that and cause yourself more cramps and pain. However, it does not always help if you are feeling bloated with cramps
If that is the case then you can try other positions where you still lay on your side. The best way to find a sleeping position that works for you, is by trial and error. If you find yourself fidgeting and tossing around, try laying in a position where it makes you feel uncomfortable for a few seconds and see which area(s) is “calling out”.
Pain is a very important bodily response that lets us know when something is not right and we need to shift our attention to it. When you try out the fetal sleeping position and find it helps with your cramps, then that is wonderful. If not then keep shifting it a bit until you can get comfy.
Child’s pose
You might not believe that someone can fall asleep in this yoga pose, but as a matter of fact some do. There are some who say that sleeping in this position helps ease their camps and back pain. Now it certainly is not for everyone, cause not all who try it find the comfort they are looking for.
It is called child’s or baby’s pose as there are lots of children or babies that fall asleep in this way. It can even help get relief if you get headaches when you have your period. It also further has the ability to get your body to sleep, because this pose is known to cause your body to enter a state of relaxation as well as the mind. So next time you can not fall asleep from the pain of cramps, try this out. Who knows? It just might work and give the night’s sleep you are looking to get.
There are more things you can try doing other than a specific position to get into so you could sleep. You can try to regulate the temperature in your room and make it slightly cooler as your body temperature might be a bit higher at this time. You can also try using a hot water bottle to relax your abdominal muscles and drink herbal teas such as ginger tea.
Lay on your back
When you lay on your back, it does not place much pressure on the uterus, but there are women who find that it can increase the chances of leakage happening. But there are pros and cons to think about, if you find that you can get a good sleep in this position then investing in menstrual cups or period underwear can be the way to go.
If you find that you have a heavy flow then that can be considered normal for the first few days of your monthly periods, but should be concerned if it is consistent throughout your period. If you have a heavy flow then you should go to a healthcare professional and see what is the problem. Because a consistent heavy flow can lead to anemia and prevent you from living your normal day to day life to the fullest.
Worst sleeping positions
Generally people who sleep regularly on their stomachs can experience some neck and back problems. So if you find yourself to be a ‘’stomach’’ sleeper and find that you have neck or back problems, whether from this or not, then you can try using some pillows and prop yourself to get into a much more comfortable sleeping position. When on your period this is not recommended as it can place even more pressure on your abdomen and lead for your uterus to shed your excess uterus lining faster, resulting in a heavier flow.
