Pillow Talk: What Happens in Bed Stays in Bed – NOT!

Have you ever thought about what happens while you sleep? Have you ever thought about how important our sleep is? Not just how good we sleep, but how our body is aligned while sleeping – our pillows, our mattress, our bedding. We may get out of our bed in the morning, but if we don’t have the right bedding, the result of poor bedding may not get out of us.

A little over a week ago I received a Technogel pillow to try out. I have to admit, I was SO ready to get rid of my other pillow. Although I thought my old pillow was comfortable, I felt like it was on it’s last leg and harboring who-knows-what kind of bacteria from years of sleeping on it, sweating on it, and being sick on it. When I thought of it that way, I almost would have rather slept without a pillow at all.

I couldn’t wait to come home and see that box on my doorstep. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. I’ve always used regular pillows and getting a high-quality pillow like this was something new. I picked up the box, and OMG it was HEAVY! I thought, “what the heck is in this box?!” Then when I opened the box up, I realized the pillows were what were heavy. I was intrigued.

So, I quickly changed sheets and put my new pillows on our bed. I hardly could wait to go to bed (which is totally not like me). When the time came, I crawled in bed and placed my head on the pillow. I wasn’t sure what to think. It was totally unlike anything I ever laid my head on.

Both Steve and I realized we would have to “sleep on it” before we decided if we liked our new pillows or not. We expected it would take a while to get used to, but the more we analyzed the pillows and our sleeping patterns we learned something.

The Technogel pillow was only about 5 1/2 inches tall, compared to my 7-8 inch fluffy pillow I was used to. Then it hit me, my pillow was fluffy, but once I lay my big head on it, it sunk right in. I wondered how the two compared once my head was resting on it. So I decided to do my own little test.

I took a big container of protein (go figure haha) and placed it on my new Technogel pillow to see how much it sunk in compared to my other pillow. Of course my other pillow caved right in, but the Technogel pillow barely budged.

Every night I went to sleep I’d think about how I was liking my pillow. Although I missed my fluffy pillow, I started to realize that many of my weird sleeping patterns were learned behavior I developed to add support to my pillow. For instance, placing my hand under the pillow or pushing the sides of the pillow up to support my neck and head. I then realized my old pillow wasn’t ideal at all – I was making it ideal by shaping it into the object I needed to get a good night sleep.

So, as I lay in bed with my head on the new pillow, realizing it needed no adjustments to give me the same support. Although it was flatter, it was actaully thicker than my old pillow when I had my head on it. It curved just right and, quite honestly, my body had no clue what to do now that it didn’t have the job of molding the fluffy object all night.

Sleep on This

At first, I admit I still wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I had years of bad sleeping habits to erase. It did take getting used to, but every night I like it more and more – and I really believe it is better for me. Soft and cushy is not always healthy. As I age, I realize my body needs more support and I need to invest more in my physical health – not just my outer appearance and being “comfy”. I need to be healthy.

I realized the same thing with my tennis shoes recently. Soft and cushy feeling shoes were not necessarily what my feet needed, but I had never thought of that same principle applying to my bedding – and I sure sleep a lot more than I run!

My old pillow was $59. This new one was $100 more, but isn’t my head and neck worth the extra $100? Duh! Funny how I don’t blink an eye on investing money in putting the right shoes on our feet, but I have never thought about how important it is to protect my neck and head? What a revelation!  I guess I learn something new every day!

Sleep Tips from Technogel

1. Stick to a regular sleeping routine.
2. Limit other activities in the bedroom other than sleeping and rest
3. Don’t overeat before bedtime
4. Don’t exercise at least 3 hours before bedtime
5. Stretch before you go to bed to loosen tight muscles and relax the body
6. Limit naps to 20 minutes or less

Get more tips from Technogel

Learn more about Technogel pillows.

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.