Make sleeping on your side more comfortable with this hack for achy side sleepers.

While many of my clients struggle to sleep due to “mind traffic“, some also aren’t sleeping well because they can’t get comfortable physically. This can be due to chronic pain, or less invasive (but nonetheless annoying) acute aches and pains.

If you’re a side-sleeper, for example, you’ve probably woken up with a sore bottom shoulder.

This series provides tips to help you sleep more comfortably on your side.

Hack #1: create a trench for your bottom shoulder

I’m still using the sleep technique I learned in one of your classes. I sleep with a towel underneath…to take the pressure off my shoulder. It works!” (L.M., CPA)

I’m showing this with a yoga blanket, but you can use a towel or any similarly firm blanket.

• Tip: If you’re using a yoga blanket, it’s the fold for kneeling, folded in half longways one more time.

Fold the blanket or towel to a comfortable height. Make sure there are no lumps or bumps–you want it to be very smooth so it’s comfortable.

Place the blanket so that when you come down onto your preferred side, it lands just below your armpit. The blanket should lift your side ribs up a bit. Your bottom arm should be able to rest between your pillow and the folded blanket.

If you still feel too much pressure on your bottom shoulder, refold the blanket to raise you up a bit. Don’t go too high though, just enough is enough.

Try it and let me know what you think!

In the next post I’ll share how to alleviate any low back pain you might experience when side sleeping.