Sleep quality depends on several key factors: total hours asleep, pre-bed routines (like ditching screens), and your sleeping position. The latter is often dismissed as personal preference, but sleep expert Shelby Harris, a professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, says back sleeping optimizes rest—and only 8% of people do it. Unlike side or stomach sleeping, which can disrupt circulation, cause neck pain, or trigger nightmares, this position keeps your head, neck, and spine neutrally aligned.
Back sleeping can even ease heartburn by elevating your head above your chest. For side or stomach sleepers, Harris recommends pillows along your sides and one under your knees to stay supine all night. For a bolder approach, sew a tennis ball into your pajama back—the discomfort will nudge you back. Caution: avoid if you have sleep apnea, as it may worsen symptoms. Try it tonight!
