askchapo

yeah. i call shit like that (slept weird, now have pain) sleep injuries. to avoid them, i try to go to bed well before becoming exhausted. or if i am super wiped out, i try to be very intentional when and where i am positioning myself. it's easy to fall asleep in an awkward position when you're wiped out completely.

i'm also a broken record about undiagnosed sleep apnea, because the unconcious movements and flopping your brain tells your body to do can generate some very weird postures that are jank on your mechanical body but somehow result in you being able to breathe easier.

most of the time sleep injuries will work themselves out as you stay out of the posture that stressed them and made them tender.

also, i had been doing routine sun salutations for years since my late 20s, off and on. i definitely noticed my body becoming crankier, stiffer, and more random pull-pain prone when i went through long periods without doing them. i'm in my 40s now. about a year ago i resolved to start every workday morning with 5 before i do anything else, i.e. waking up 10 minutes earlier. they are done fast and hit a lot of my problem areas (upper/mid/low back, hamstrings, shoulders). it's been a game changer for my mornings and the general day of being in my body, maintaining good posture, and maneuvering it around mechanically with balance. i think of it now as this alignment protocol i go through, like something out of an operator's manual for heavy, complex equipment. it's also a massive check in for lung capacity and upper respiratory function and all kinds of mental shit, but to the point, i probably haven't gotten a sleep injury in at least a year. and i was probably getting them like quarterly more or less into my late 30s early 40s.