I’m starting this post out with a simple question: when was the last time you got a good night’s sleep? For a while, most of my nights were filled with tossing and turning, not being able to fall asleep, or waking up often. My fitness tracker that I wear at night even confirmed that I was spending a lot of time in the “restless sleep” stage and I first attributed it to things like light sources or sounds keeping me up at night; “I must just be a really light sleeper,” I thought. However, I realized it had to be something different when my partner and I were often waking up feeling very tired despite sleeping 9-10 hours, and it was often accompanied with neck and back pain. I didn’t feel like myself a lot because I was so exhausted, and I knew it wasn’t helping me to live a healthier life. Good eating habits and exercise are important, but they can only go so far without good-quality sleep. (more…)