L.I.F.T.

For several years now I’ve had serious misgivings about the mattress industry, and the type of bedding we use in the US.

I’ve never had a problem sleeping on the floor, or on a comfy couch, or outdoors.  In fact, I’ve usually found that I sleep much better on the floor than I do in most beds.  My favorite mattress ever was a cheapo discount mattress that was hard as a rock.

A few years ago, before I left Virginia, I bought myself a new mattress.  I figured I should have a nice bed to sleep in, so I paid out for a nice mattress, and a good platform frame.  After three months, the mattress had a huge sag in the middle.

I took it back, and they gave me a new one.  That was nice of them!

Six months later, that one was developing a sag as well.

Now, I don’t think I gain mass while I sleep, but I might.  My next mattress was out here in SF.  My girlfriend and I bought a California King.  It was GREAT!

Till my side turned into a saggy marshmallow.

When my girl and I split up, I realized what I’d done wrong.  I’d believed the hype!!!

I moved out of our old place, and left that old bed there.  I slept on the floor for a few weeks, but the floor by itself is rather unforgiving.  So off I went to the local futon shop.

They hooked me up!  For less than $200 they gave me a simple pine futon frame, and a nice, thick, firm futon mattress.  It feels like sleeping on a soft floor.  Very nice!

The other things I left behind were my pillows.  I’ve had a Chinese pillow full of flax husks for five or six years now.  Why not just use that as my pillow?!

It worked great.  Till last night, that is.

Last night, I slept without a pillow.

And I realized something.

Ever see a baby sleep, or see a picture of a sleeping baby?

It looks like this:

Awww! Wook at da widdle bay-beeeee!

or like this:

Sweepy

Notice anything?

THEY DON’T HAVE PILLOWS!

I felt very strange when I woke up and realized I hadn’t used a pillow all night.  But then I wondered, why had I used a pillow for so long?

And why do people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on mattresses when my futon seemed to be doing the trick for less than $200?

I don’t know.  Do you?

A recent study by researchers at the university of Kentucky found that  changing the school start time for high school students from 7:30am to 8:30am led to 13.7 percent more kids getting 8 hours of sleep.

Kids in general need plenty of sleep.  They’re growing in both mind and body at a rate that will not be equaled for the rest of their lives.  I’ve seen recommendations as high as 12 hours/night for young kids.

What happens when you get plenty of sleep?  Well, your attention span goes up, your resilience goes up (fewer colds, injuries, etc.), you’re less accident prone (attention span again), you have more energy physically (you can be more physically fit), your levels of stress hormones decreases leading to generally better moods, etc.

However, teeangers’ circadian rhythms are a little whacky because of the raging hormones in their bodies.  Combine that with a diet high in sugar, and plenty of Xbox, and you get a recipe for 12am bedtimes, bad attitudes, inability to focus, and poor grades.

Continue brewing this dangerous concoction for four or ten years, and you get the bad living habits that lead to “adult-onset ADD,” hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease.

None of this stuff is a mystery, friends.  Get more high-quality (that is, undisturbed, non-drug-induced) sleep, and your life will improve.  I don’t care how old you are.