A few years ago, I was your typical office-worker: stressed out, uneven energy, overweight, and inconsistent complexion. Now I'm just your typical 28-year old urban hunter-gatherer on a quest to be healthy, and having a few adventures along the way. See my full bio.
So I've been sleeping on the floor for the last nine nights.
I started doing it because I had a couple days of inexplicable lower back pain, and I had been reading about more natural forms of sleeping. And of course, humans haven't been sleeping on big fluffy mattresses for very long, and many cultures, like the Japanese, still don't.
My lower back pain could have been due to a variety of factors: a few days of inactivity, sitting more than I usually do in bad posture, stress, and an over-stuffed twin mattress that has been my bed at home since I was in college, or maybe other things. (Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions on Twitter.)
This was not a chronic condition, just something that developed over a few days, but it was intense enough that I appreciated how chronic back pain could upturn someone's entire life. Chronic pain creeps into your conscious more than any other illness or condition I've experienced: colds, flu, strep, even headaches (though I've never had a migraine). I couldn't easily sleep, do work, or even watch a movie. I guess that's why people take painkillers!
I figured it was time for an experiment.
Below is my setup. It's my roommate's thin yoga mat under a thin-ish cotton blanket folded in half and my sleeping bag on top. The first two nights (in Michigan) I used a pillow, but have gone pillowless since.
.jpg)
It was hard to get to sleep the first two nights, when I already had lower back pain. I had to resort to a few Tylenol, which did the trick real fast both nights, and I fell asleep as soon as they kicked in. I woke up refreshed both mornings, and by the third night, the back pain had receded to where I didn't need any Tylenol to get to sleep. By the fourth night it was gone entirely. The lower back pain may have gone away on its own, even had I not started sleeping on the floor.
But I've continued the experiment, and here are my observations.
Cons
Pros
I could get a more accurate read on my sleep quality with various devices, but I'm just not one of those people that measures every little thing.
I'm going to continue sleeping this way for now, and will probably build myself a Japenese-style platform bed that allows me to sleep up off the ground, I'll be able to make it a bit less ascetic, but still maintain a pretty firm sleeping surface.
I should note that in the wild, the surfaces we slept on wouldn't have been perfectly flat or hard, but almost any natural surface would have been much firmer than what most people sleep on today.
Here are two links on natural sleeping that have been passed around in the paleosphere: The Ergonomics of Sleep and Slumber's Unexplored Landscape. I'm also reading At Day's Close: Night in Time's Past, research into what people used to do at night (before electricity) and how they used to sleep.
As for the scientific research, let's take bets right now:
I don't know the answers to those questions just yet, but if the past is any guide, ZERO would not be an unreasonable guess.
If you give this a shot, particularly if you have chronic back pain, definitely drop me a line and let me know how it goes.
Comments
This is interesting. I used
This is interesting. I used to sleep on the floor with my fiance and found it took a while to get used to, but I woke up feeling much more refreshed. When we slept on a bed awhile later, we both woke up feeling groggy and with our backs in pain...That said, floor-sleeping stopped when I got halfway through my pregnancy because it hurt. I tried it again after giving birth, but I woke up with my back and chest in pain due to sleep-nursing our son(we bed....er...floor-share). So I started sleeping up on the sofa with him because I didn't wake up in absolute pain.I've since started sleeping back on the floor with my fiance and our son because sleeping on the sofa was starting to make me feel groggy and crabby. Once again, even though I'm sleeping on top of a thin camping mattress and a couple of fluffy blankets, I'm waking up with pain between my shoulder blades due to the position I have to be in, along with the duration, so our son can sleep-nurse.But you mentioned something I hadn't considered... you gave up the pillows. Perhaps I should try that, maybe the pillows are causing my spine to bend and push into the hard surface. I know sleeping on the ground outside is wonderfully comfortable and restful, without a pillow, I guess I never thought the same could be done with the floor.Why did you choose to give up the pillow? Instinct? Or was it just candid? This is worth a try. Thanks for the(incidental) suggestion!
Then again..I suppose I had
Then again..I suppose I had the answer staring me in the face the whole time. Looking at our son sleeping on the floor now, he has no pillow, and he's never looked uncomfortable. In fact, since we moved back down to the floor, his naps are less frequent, but longer, and he hasn't yet woken up as a grouchy-puss. And while it could be him just getting older and not needing as many frequent naps, I think it's entirely possible he's just sleeping better. Also, you haven't had any run-ins with "critters", but I sure have. I got bit by a sow-bug hunting spider who apparently mistook the skin between my nose and upper lip as a sow bug. Hurt, but it wasn't the driving force to move from the floor!
i've been sleeping on the
i've been sleeping on the floor on and off for the better part of a year and a half, but it wasn't until about a month ago that i made the full-time commitment to sleeping on the floor. i, too, did it first because of back pain, which has subsided. while i haven't gone pillowless, and i don't think i will, i like it more than my bed. i've even considered the possibility of selling my bed and when i find a new apartment, getting a studio instead of a one bedroom to house my massive queen size bed. although, the queen size is nice for the ladies.
I shared your post:I wanted
I shared your post:I wanted to share my experiences as well. I notice when camping, that I also sleep better on the ground, and wake up more abruptly and easier in the morning. I think it's due to the fact that once you are fully rested, the ground becomes comparably less "comfortable" than it was when you were exhausted. Your body knows when enough rest has been attained, then registers the ground as now comparably less comfortable than it was when you were tired. You get just the right amount of sleep and don't feel groggy from excess sleep. I think a super squishy bed "dampens" your body's natural response to complete rest, in a way. There is nothing to "force" you to get up because there is no discomfort for your body to "measure". That's the best I can manage to explain it.
http://musclegeek.wordpress.c
http://musclegeek.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/missing-links-121511/
http://musclegeek.wordpress.c
http://musclegeek.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/missing-links-121511/
I have been doing it for
I have been doing it for months now. I sleep on a huge lamb skin on top of a thin matress. I use a thin sheet for cover (planning on buying one made of silke). It has reduced my sleep from 7-9 hours to 5-7 hours. I wake up more relaxed and feeling more rested. My "bedroom" is a completely different room now, since there isn't a huge piece of furtinure domininating the room. Looks way cooler now.The ladies? They find it pretty damn interesting.
After reading this article, I
After reading this article, I didn't move to the floor, but I did ditch my fancy feather pillow. I was in a (minor-ish) car accident a year ago and have had severe neck pain on and off ever since. The new down pillow was bought at the suggestion of my physio, but it didn't help; if anything, it made things worse. I was getting desperate (I hate taking pain killers, but was back to taking 2 - 4 Robax Platinum per day for the neck and head aches), and decided to see if getting rid of my pillow would help. Last night I rolled up a bath towel, placed it where it would support my neck, and went to sleep easily. Today, my neck pain is 10% of what it has been over the past few days. Very cool! This makes me curious about going to whole nine yards and ditching the mattress as well. John, I had one question about sleeping on the floor. Are you a side sleeper? The few times I've slept on the floor or other hard surface (e.g. camping) as an adult, I've woken up mid-way through the night with the hip, shoulder, and arm of the side I'm sleeping on numb and painful. Has anyone else experienced this? Does your body get acclimated to the hard surface? I'm wondering if women might have a tougher time sleeping on a hard surface than men due to body shape.
as a child i slept on the
as a child i slept on the floor (next to my bed, just didnt like it) and had to adjust to sleeping on a mattress. maybe doing it young while were still growing makes it easier.
I wouldn't be surprised. Did
I wouldn't be surprised. Did sleepovers all the time in sleeping bags on carpeted floor.
Has anyone considered the
Has anyone considered the fact that nestbuilding occurs in chimps, orangutans, and gorillas (and humans), implying that our ancestors haven't slept on "natural" ground for at least fourteen million years, and probably longer? Sure mattresses don't closely mimic the beds built of leaves, moss, and brush that hunter-gatherers probably slept on, but it's not much further away than a yoga mat on a hardwood floor.news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/111208-oldest-mattress-africa-archaeology-science/
Thanks, Dan -- posted the
Thanks, Dan -- posted the link. No question that hardwood floors don't mimic our ancestral habitat.
Bet you'll love this story
Bet you'll love this story from NPR today: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/08/143304136/grass-mattress-was-a-stone-age-b...
Ha, yeah, perfect timing!
Ha, yeah, perfect timing! Posted it -- thanks for the link
I've had similar problems
I've had similar problems ... Then I became a full time hanger. I've been sleeping in a hammock for the past year. There's even a subculture of hangers on the web! Tons of info for people who wanna try hanging for the first time. Cheers!
I slept on the floor all
I slept on the floor all summer. I used to have pretty regular back pain that I was only able to manage with 5-10 minutes of stretching every night. That helped but didn't 'heal' anything, if I stopped the pain came back within days. Looked into it and decided to try the floor. It worked great and I gave away my king sized bed and bought one of those hard-as-a-rock college dorm style "futons." I had one years ago and the chicks were fine with it. I still use a pillow though but it depends on whether I'm lying flat on my back or on my side.
Nice. soft mattresses is
Nice. soft mattresses is seeming like one of those things where X% of the population just really suffers with it, for whatever reason
Why not use a pillow? I
Why not use a pillow? I don't mind sleeping on the floor at all, but I've got to have a pillow, even if it's my wadded-up jacket.
I have been sleeping without
I have been sleeping without a pillow for close to a year now and I love it! Naturally, I use my arm as a pillow if needed, or I lay on my back. No more stiff necks, sore back, etc.. Also sleeping on a Grounded Matress, which feels wonderful, especially living out in the country. Drives me into super deep sleeps..
As for not using a pillow, I
As for not using a pillow, I don't have a hard science reason. just experimenting with how i do without one.
I used to have insomnia, and
I used to have insomnia, and it was a problem all the way back to when I was a child. It took a long time to move away from that and I now get roughly 8 hours of sleep a night.In my experiments trying to figure out my own sleep, I tried a full-sized memory foam mattress. Not the thin kind that goes over a regular mattress, but the really thick version. I slept on it for almost three months and was growing more and more concerned by how much worse my back was getting--I didn't think it could be the mattress for a long time, since I'd long had a bad back and a doctor had told me that I'd likely be experiencing some paralysis in time. In the middle of a long, sleepless night, I had the sudden inspiration that if I couldn't find a comfortable position in bed, maybe I'd find a comfortable position on the floor. As soon as I lay on the floor, the pain relented. Luckily the mattress was still returnable. I bought a very firm mattress after that.So at that point, I believed the firmer the better for mattresses. Until my mom bought one for the guest room. Every time I stay over, the sensation matches my experience with the memory foam: my back pain gradually intensifies until I give up and try sleeping on the floor. I don't understand why a mattress that is almost exactly like sleeping on a brick is different from sleeping on the floor, but it is.I do not currently sleep on a floor (I love my current mattress), but I've thought about making it my practice on and off for years. I may run my own experiment and then we can compare notes.
Interesting, Jai. Let me
Interesting, Jai. Let me know if you try any experiments of your own.
I used to have insomnia, and
I used to have insomnia, and it was a problem all the way back to when I was a child. It took a long time to move away from that and I now get roughly 8 hours of sleep a night.In my experiments trying to figure out my own sleep, I tried a full-sized memory foam mattress. Not the thin kind that goes over a regular mattress, but the really thick version. I slept on it for almost three months and was growing more and more concerned by how much worse my back was getting--I didn't think it could be the mattress for a long time, since I'd long had a bad back and a doctor had told me that I'd likely be experiencing some paralysis in time. In the middle of a long, sleepless night, I had the sudden inspiration that if I couldn't find a comfortable position in bed, maybe I'd find a comfortable position on the floor. As soon as I lay on the floor, the pain relented. Luckily the mattress was still returnable. I bought a very firm mattress after that.So at that point, I believed the firmer the better for mattresses. Until my mom bought one for the guest room. Every time I stay over, the sensation matches my experience with the memory foam: my back pain gradually intensifies until I give up and try sleeping on the floor. I don't understand why a mattress that is almost exactly like sleeping on a brick is different from sleeping on the floor, but it is.I do not currently sleep on a floor (I love my current mattress), but I've thought about making it my practice on and off for years. I may run my own experiment and then we can compare notes.
Slept on the same Korean
Slept on the same Korean cotton mat for almost 30 years (regularly aired out in the sun) and found it the best way to live for a lot of reasons, but now I like the ease of just swinging my feet over the side of my bed and standing up. As I get older, it gets harder to get up off the floor, although I lived with very elderly people in Korea who slept on mats and rolled them away everyday to make room for the day-time living. I'm aging like an American. Still use the brick-shaped husk-filled pillow, though. It works.
always seems like koreans /
always seems like koreans / japanese know a little something we don't!
I'm assuming the fewer hours
I'm assuming the fewer hours of sleep initially was because of discomfort?I wonder if the sleep felt deeper afterwards due to exhaustion from getting less sleep?
Hey David -- I felt better
Hey David -- I felt better rested even when I didn't get as much sleep I wanted. Even on those 5 hour nights. As for deeper sleep after that period, you could be right. I need to get one of those bracelets and measure it I guess.
Hey Johnn - maybe try a
Hey Johnn - maybe try a buckwheat pillow. www.amazon.com/Organic-Buckwheat-Pillow-Japanese-Size/dp/B0006HVVFKThey are neat. Not soft like a normal pillow. It keeps your head in one place so you don't move when you sleep. It's really helped me. Also, if you're interested in data for your sleep: wakemate.com/ . It uses a wristband connected to your iPhone to track how much you move in your sleep and gives you sleep analytics, like how deeply you slept during which parts of the night. It's cool.
hey buddy, thanks for the
hey buddy, thanks for the links. wakemate looks cool, may need to try that. hope all is well.
I've actually been
I've actually been contemplating doing a similar experiment. One of my biggest concerns was if I end up liking this, how would it affect my dating life.
If a guy can't handle that I
If a guy can't handle that I sleep on the floor then he aint the guy for me!
If a guy can't handle that I
If a guy can't handle that I sleep on the floor then he aint the guy for me!
But I'm not gay.....although
But I'm not gay.....although point taken
I've been sleeping sans
I've been sleeping sans mattress since June and I've never slept better. I, too, was having lower back pain (I could barely walk in the mornings) and remedied it with a few nights on the floor. Coincidentally, the ex wife moved "her" bed out a couple days after moving to the floor, so now the bedroom had plenty of room for no bed.I started out sleeping on several layers of blankets which was good enough, but currently I sleep on a memory foam mattress pad similar to: http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=3732521 . It's only a couple inches thick and provides just the right amount of cushion to prevent sore bones.Your pros and cons are spot on too. A slightly raised hard surface would take care of the critter problem (I plan on building one next spring). I use a pillow to raise my head up properly and am concerned how the future lady friends will appreciate the unconventional sleeping arrangement. Stick with it - you'll never want to sleep on a mattress again.
Thanks for sharing, Allan.
Thanks for sharing, Allan. Gonna build something similar.
The biggest drawback of the
The biggest drawback of the floor for me are walls. I sleep next to a window and have gotten very used to having outside air and scenery when falling asleep and waking up. If there are any Paleo architects or contractors out there, please build with windows no more than a few inches off the floor in bedrooms. Thanks.
interesting...
interesting...
I've been sleeping on the
I've been sleeping on the floor for nearly a decade, for the same reason that you tried it just now. There have been a few encounters with critters - once a centipede ran across my torso and woke me up. While the floor is less attractive for naps, I do find that if I am tired of standing, sitting, or moving around, the pressure of laying down on a solid surface feels much better to all my muscles than laying on something soft. The women I've dated over this period were accustomed to mattresses and did not sleep well on the floor. It has not detered them from sleeping over though.The deep sleep and lack of pain and stiffness has kept me sleeping on the floor all this time, and I haven't yet found a mattress that works better.
Glad to hear it hasn't
Glad to hear it hasn't deterred them. Amazing you've been doing this for almost a decade.
This is interesting. Though I
This is interesting. Though I wanted to point out a couple of things:1. the tylenol might have gotten the back pain altogether, whether or not you were on the floor. 2. While I recognize the effort to mimick the sleep posture that is more natural for humans (paleo-sleeping??), you are not exactly sleeping on "natural" ground. Dirt, grass, sand is all much softer than a hardwood floor, and would probably yield to your body heat, allowing your hips and other heavy, bony areas to sink in to the ground a bit more. Just sayin. I like my memory foam bed. I really like it.
You're absolutely right,
You're absolutely right, Trisha -- and see latest post on the earliest mattress found. i need to find an indoor alternative to dirt, grass, and sand. i'll look into memory foam
There's also natural latex
There's also natural latex mattresses. While more expensive, they're not the soft-squishy type of mattress, don't contain all the chemicals that foam mattresses and every other modern mattress do, and they're firm with just a bit of spring. ..So I've read, anyway. Haven't got one!
I am doing sleeping
I am doing sleeping experiments, too. I just started sleeping with an earthing sheet and I love it. The idea is that it grounds you to the earth, like walking barefoot. I am wondering if you have heard about this, seeing how you are into being barefoot. I'm obsessed with earthing now and am looking into buying some leather-soled moccasins so I can conduct electricity (rubber and plastic soles don't work).Also last night I covered my windows with black trash bags to achieve total darkness. It was AWESOME. Supposedly women naturally cycle with the moon. Due to electricity, we're all screwed up and we don't ovulate with the full moon anymore, which we should. Apparently you can simulate moonlight by turning on a night light on days 14-16 of the cycle. Many women find that when they do this, they naturally start cycling with the moon phases.Anyway, I just wrote a blog post about it. I think it would have been cool to be a hunter-gatherer guy and just be able to look up at the moon and think, "Oh wow the wife is ovulating." Nature is pretty amazing.
Interesting on the
Interesting on the lunaception, you'll have to blog about the results of that. From what I had read, women have concealed ovulation for a reason...allows them to be more choosy about the men they sleep with when they're actually fertile, which men aren't good at detecting (even women don't always know).
Enjoy the leather moccasins, those will be great regardless. As for earthing, I have to say I was turned off by the sub-title of the Earthing book...which basically claimed it was the greatest discovery of all time...lacking in humility / discretion makes me suspicious. Great to experiment with, would still like to see more hard evidence. I love the feeling of barefoot on ground though, and I'm often barefoot whenever possible!
If you are in the US Soft
If you are in the US Soft star makes good moccasins and you can get vibram soling or leather, I have leather and I really do feel great wearing them! If you are in Canada I just discovered a company in Rockwood ON, Hides in Hand, that seems pretty good, and they make them with leather soles as well. I'm going to get a pair soon and see how they compare to Soft Star since I've worn a hole in my moccasins hiking all summer.
My boyfriend and I moved to
My boyfriend and I moved to the floor from our crappy hand-me-down mattress several months ago. After we'd slept there a month or so, I tried going back to the bed and it was a horrible experience. We just recently bought a traditional, all cotton, Japanese style futon mattress, and we love it. It provides all the benifits you mentioned about the floor sleeping but relieves that hip pressure you talked about.
cool, thanks -- i may just
cool, thanks -- i may just have to get one too