Part 1.
There are 2 reasons why The Treehugger Body Pillow effectively provides proper sleep posture: it’s hotdog shape and Kapok filling.
by Pam Blumenthal of TreehuggerPillows.com
I have been a purveyor of a particular body pillow that is now called The Treehugger Body Pillow, for about 30 years. I came up with the five and a half foot long, twelve inches in diameter, hotdog-shaped pillow in 1988 when I decided that I wanted a pillow for my entire body and it should be rounded at the ends because it was going to support my shoulders, hips, knees and ankles.
For my purposes, as mostly a side-sleeper, I hug the body pillow so that the one end of it is at my chest and the middle of the pillow is at my hips, between the knees, and the other end of the pillow is between my ankles and feet. This is one of the standard positions with which I personally use the pillow.
I am not a kinesiologist nor a doctor. I am simply a human being who is aware of my body and what I need to be comfortable while lying in bed.
It occurred to me that our bodies have curves (even men’s, not only women’s) and the bed is flat. So, the body pillow creates a sort of landscape for the body to rely on so that we can control where the pressure is between our body parts and the bed. For example, when you lean on the pillow with your chest, you are relieving pressure on your shoulder joints. You wouldn’t be able to do this without a pillow to absorb the weight of your body via your chest. The bulbous, hotdog shape of the pillow fills the space between the shoulders, chest and the bed, and supports the spine in a comfortable, proper alignment.
Which brings me to the other reason why The Treehugger Body Pillow is so effective at supporting the body’s weight and relieving pressure to the joints…the special Kapok Filling. The Treehugger Body Pillow is aptly named because it is filled with a natural tree-seed fiber called Kapok. Kapok makes a very stable, dense filling that effectively supports the body’s weight in whatever position is necessary. It has a special quality that is hard to describe, but you can definitely count on it and it feels natural like you would imagine a soft nest might feel to a bird or an animal. The Treehugger Body Pillow is literally like hugging a soft tree.
I have connected with a couple of physical therapists over the years to find out if the Treehugger Body Pillow has therapeutic value, and the result is the “Therapeutic Uses” infographic which can be found on the website www.bodypillowtherapy.com.
Another physical therapist that I gave a set of Curvy Head & Body Pillows to for personal and professional analysis, found that, with the pillows, she slept deeper (more time in the alpha state) and had less movement (positional adjustments) during the night as recorded by her Fitbit. She determined that it gave her better over-all sleep.
In Part 2., I will delve more into the importance of shoulder and hip support in various positions with The Treehugger Body Pillow.