The ABC™ sleeping advice on this page is extensive because this is an essential topic for you to understand and take action on.
ABC™ sleeping advice for sleeping well.
There are two key things to get right when it comes to sleeping well. If you take the time to master these two simple things, you can expect to:
- Improve the quality of your sleep
- Improve the amount of time you can stay asleep
- Wake up feeling more rested
- Toss and turn a lot less in the night
- Wake up feeling loose and comfortable in your spine
- Make faster progress with your structural correction care.
If you wake up feeling worse than when you went to sleep, then either your mattress, your pillow or both are not optimal for your body.
The advice that follows is critical even for people who are not undergoing an ABC™ care programme, because if your mattress and pillow are incorrect, you stress your body structure as you sleep, and problems will accumulate and worsen over time.
It’s worth remembering the golden rule for sleeping support:
If you wake up feeling worse than when you went to sleep, then either your mattress, your pillow or both are not optimal for your body.
You should wake up feeling good. If you don’t, it means that your alignment was challenged during the night, and your body has had to stiffen up in compensation to stay stable.
Sleeping Advice: This Sleeping Position is NOT Recommended by ABC™ Practitioners
Improved Health & Wellbeing Begins Here
Better Sleeping Advice: This Sleeping Position IS Recommended by ABC™ Practitioners
Sleeping Advice: Support Over Comfort
It Doesn’t Matter How Much What You’ve Got Cost You…
One of the unfortunate truths with modern furniture is that how much you paid for it has almost nothing to do with how “good” it is for your body. I’ve seen people with very expensive memory foam mattresses and sofas that were causing them all sorts of problems.
“More expensive does not necessarily mean better. More expensive means more technology, which usually means more design features to favour comfort over support”
Try not to fall into the trap of resisting change simply because you spent a lot of money on something in the past (sunk cost fallacy). All that matters is that your body gets the support that it needs to get well and stay well.
Sleeping Advice: Choose The Right Mattress
Getting the right mattress may well be one of the most important decisions that you can make when it comes to your health.
In general; the firmer the mattress, the better.
Typically when people start ABC corrective care, their body has several years to decades worth of structural stress accumulated, and so they naturally feel better on a medium-firm to firm mattress, rather than a very firm one.
As people progress with care and as their structure becomes healthier and looser, then the need for high-level support increases and they do better on a very firm mattress.
You will need to shop around and find what works for you, but here are our top suggestions, in order of the highest quality and best long term solution to the lowest quality shorter-term solution. Typically the best solutions are more expensive investments up front, but in the long term, they end up saving you money.
1. The Official ABC™ Supportive Latex Mattress
This mattress has been designed and extensively tested by the European Association of Advanced BioStructural Correction (ABCE). It is the best solution to the problem of meeting optimal support and comfort so that you sleep well, enjoy going to bed, and wake up feeling great in your body.
If you choose this mattress you know that you will be supporting your structural health the optimal amount when it comes to sleeping well.
Latex is also a very healthy choice of material with many benefits including:
- Latex is a truly green and environmentally friendly product that does not contain any of the solvents and toxic chemicals that can be found in memory foam mattresses.
- Latex is an extremely flexible and elastic material. Latex is not too soft and not too hard. Its natural resilience means it offers resistance to a sleeper’s weight in every body position and always returns to its initial shape. This is a progressive support – the higher the pressure exerted on it, the greater the support it provides.
- The excellent elasticity of latex supports the body’s natural movements, which is a very important condition for revitalising sleep.
- Latex has great point elasticity, meaning it compresses only at the point of contact.
- A latex mattress can last as long as twenty years, compared to conventional spring-based mattresses which generally need to be replaced every 5-7 years or so (or even more frequently in the case of cheap mattresses).
- Latex is up to 20 times more durable than standard polyurethane foams.
- The open cell structure of latex mattresses means that they are highly ‘breathable’ – they don’t retain heat in the same way other designs do, as the air inside them is able to circulate freely. So you won’t find yourself throwing open windows and sleeping on top of the bedding as much during the hot summer months in an effort to stay cool.
- All this is in stark contrast to the popular memory foam mattresses. These are made entirely of synthetic materials (mainly plastics) which retain a lot of heat and as the name implies, have ‘memory’ or slow recovery properties. As a result, they will never be able to offer you the instant comfort and support and the natural breathability of a high-quality latex mattress.
- Latex is also anti-bacterial, anti-dust mite, and resistant to mould and mildew. This makes latex mattresses ideal for people with allergies. You simply cannot find a healthier and safer bedding material.
- In contrast, standard polyurethane and memory foams contain up to seven chemicals that are known carcinogens. Latex contains none of them.
Your UK or European-sized ABCE Mattress
The ABCE mattress comes in any standard UK or European size and can also be made to any custom size you desire. It is covered with an organic cotton cover which is removable and machine washable.
The ABCE mattress is available in super-firm (which is not rock-hard, but rather has the highest possible level of elastic support).
The ABCE mattress is a proprietary blend of natural and synthetic latex to make it supportive enough to aid your structural health. We have tested many other latex mattresses on the market and found them to be too soft and not supportive enough to do the job. The ABCE mattress is the only latex mattress that we recommend.
You can learn more and purchase the Official ABCE Latex Mattress here.
An 8cm Latex Topper
If you have a decent hard, flat surface on your bed frame; you can purchase an 8cm latex topper and sleep just on that. I do this and find it works very well. We have had many patients try the same approach and get on very well with it. This is also a much less expensive option for people who want the best support possible at the lowest cost.
As this is a very firm sleeping arrangement, you need to be aware of two key things:
- You must have a firm, flat surface to lay it on. Most bed boards or support struts will not be suitable (no gaps allowed!). You could have MDF board cut to size to place on top of your existing bed frame (that’s what I did),
- You must have your pillow height exactly right (Read more about Pillow Advice). The firmer the mattress, the greater the need for the pillow height to be spot-on. This is very achievable, but you will need the ABC Pillow in order to do this consistently well.
Please note: The Latex mattresses sold on the website above are not the same as the ABCE latex mattress. We have tested them and found that they are too soft and do not provide sufficient support. Use only the 8cm organic topper in the link above. The thinner ones are too thin to use for this setup.
A (Very) Firm Pocket Sprung Mattress
This is a sensible choice, especially if you are looking for a cheaper, shorter-term option in a full mattress. Get the firmest that you can possibly find. Typically they will need to be 1400-2000 springs or more. Also, note that the number of springs doesn’t always equate to high firmness. Here is a reasonable option from Ikea (but not necessarily the best or only option out there)
It would be best to go and test your mattress first, or choose a company that offers a free trial period.
If you can easily push your hand down into the mattress it is likely too soft. Some pocket sprung mattresses will also have large and deep “dimples” across the sleeping surface which are not ideal and should be avoided.
If you purchase a mattress and find it is just too firm to sleep comfortably, follow these steps:
- Make sure you are using the ABC pillow correctly – fine-tuning this solves 90% of the problems immediately. Ask your practitioner for help if needed.
- Buy a 1-inch topper (not memory foam) and use that until you get used to it with the intention of removing the topper as you progress further into your structural correction program.
A Reflex Foam Mattress
Reflex Foam is a type of mattress material that has useful properties that offer support. It is cheaper than latex but is missing most of the key health benefits that the latex material provides.
Having said that, it is cheaper and gets you going sooner if finances are a consideration for you. Here is a reflex foam only mattress option.
Are you waking up like this?
Improved Health & Wellbeing Begins Here
Sleeping Advice: The Worst Type Of Mattress (Avoid These)
The main type to avoid is the soft and highly un-supportive ones, or memory foam mattresses and memory foam toppers.
Memory foam in particular is not good, despite how well and how cleverly it is marketed. Memory foam allows your body to sink into it without adequate support pushing back up. The result is that your body will be forced into a contorted and twisted position that will cause it to not only tighten and become uncomfortable but also worsen its underlying mechanical condition over time.
Once you have had a few weeks of ABC corrective care you will start to notice how your body craves support.
When you get used to sleeping on something firm and supportive and then go away and stay in a hotel with a memory foam or soft mattress, you will then realise just how big of a deal this is.
What To Do If You Think Your Mattress Is Not A Good One
The most important thing to do especially if you are undergoing ABC corrective care, is to start making a plan to change it. The sooner the better.
Some memory foam mattresses just have the memory foam as a layer on the top, which means that you may be able to flip your mattress over and have a firmer, more supportive underside that will help you in the short term until you get a better solution.
You could also just sleep on the floor. Either use a yoga mat or two, get the latex topper mentioned above, or just put a couple of layers of duvet underneath you. As long as you have your ABC Pillow set up correctly, you will still do much better and can start making plans to save for one of the better options above.
If your mattress sags in any way, it needs to be thrown out! Mattresses are not built to last forever. Latex lasts the longest, but even they start to break down in the 20-30 year range. A typical pocket spring mattress starts to go after 4-5 years, and the more modern “mattress in a box” type foam mattresses begin to lose their integrity within 1-2 years.
