Weighted Blankets & Fabulous Sleep for High ACE Scoring Me

Christine Cissy White 5/2/156:31 AM

O.k., this is a one-woman testimonial and I'm not a doctor, just a writer with a high ACE score. I'm not selling anything - just sharing.

Last week, I'm doing a little yoga nidra in my bedroom and I'm laying on the floor at the end of a yoga session. It's kind of cold and I don't want to mess up my already-made bed so I grab my heavy meditation cushion which is square and big like a super heavy quilt the size of a dog bed. I plop it over my torso and arms to warm up and immediately I'm like, "That feels soooo good."

So, that night, when I go to bed I put it on my bed and sleep with it on me. I SLEEP FABULOUS, DEEP AND DO NOT WAKE UP A MILLION TIMES. This is rather blissful experience. I do it a few more times to make sure it's not just a coincidence. It seems sort of strange. However, I LOVE sleep and when I'm not sleeping well all is off.

When I am sleeping well I have a much cheerier and energetic way of being in the world.

So, I go with it and keep putting this heavy weight on me.

I have a good friend with an autoimmune disease who uses a mat that has needle like prongs that she rests on and it makes her feel better. We joke that it sounds like torture but she says it's great. I confess to her that I smother myself at night and like to put a heavy HEAVY meditation cushion on me.

"I think I might sleep under my mattress tonight," I joke, "It feels like the first time I can let go of body tension because the pressure just makes it happen. It's like instant yoga immediately."

She laughs at me and it's not because I'm being funny or strange or she thinks the ideas are bizarre.

She laughs because she says, "Weighted blankets are a real thing used for soothing."

"They are?" I said, "Why didn't I know? It works for hours at night and while I'm sleeping."

"Yes, it's use most for people with autism," she said, "it has calming benefits."

"Amazing," I said and then I start reading up on it and yup, it's used for lots of things.

I'm going to buy some, make some and try different kinds so I can wear them in the car as shawls or put them on my lap. It's like I got to fix a craving I didn't even know my body was having for decades.

And so, in case you have trouble sleeping, relaxing or letting go of body tension - I recommend just trying some added weight. I personally like the size and weight of my meditation cushion because my legs are still "free" and don't feel trapped and it's a size I can move and lift, but heavy enough to feel. I'm sure it's super particular what works and what doesn't, but this is just my own two cents about something that's relatively easy and for me anyhow - feels great and improves sleep.

So many parts of healing can be hard or challenging or difficult. For me, this is a body-care basic now and it feels easy and fabulous to do. I actually look forward to crawling into and under this weighted support. It's so grounding, tethering and comforting.

Note: I read one Medscape study that said that the measurements of sleep in children with autism was NO DIFFERENT with weighted blankets. However, both the parents and the children liked and preferred them. I can't say what happens for me, scientifically, but it's mostly that I feel like I let go of that clenched body tightness and so I may or may not sleep more length of time but I feel better sleeping. Interesting. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/833673_2

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Former Member

I saw a great video about Sensory Motor integration using weighted mats on Traumatized Kids from (I think it was last years) the BTC and they were doing great work with traumatized kids on sensory integration and were using weighted floor mats on the body of these traumatized kids ---- it makes sense to me as long as it does not produce sensory overload.

Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment (SMART): Bottom-up Interventions for Childhood Trauma (sorry this is bold - it won't unbold for me)

But below is description of some of the training with JRI in the SMART room.

Clinicians working with children who have experienced complex trauma and neglect often find themselves struggling to address powerful swings in emotion, dissociation, behavioral outbursts, withdrawn numbness, and impenetrable avoidance. In these cases, verbal interventions fall short of addressing the profound dysregulation the child experiences. In this training you will learn a paradigm for recognizing and understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of this dysregulation. Within this framework, you will see and learn interventions and skills aimed at addressing the sensory motor dysregulation at the body level. By adding a new array of strategies to the standard mental health therapy repertoire including techniques drawn from the expertise of the worlds of Sensory Integration (as practiced by occupational therapists) and other sensory motor approaches, clinicians may better support children to become more organized, interpersonally available, and accessible for mental health treatments. Through didactics, experiential demonstration, and videotaped case examples, participants will learn and explore new strategies for intervening with children and caregivers. The SMART model fits coherently within the classic three component treatment for trauma and will provide expanded tools for safety and stabilization work as well as resources for regulation during trauma processing to minimize abreaction.

http://www.traumacenter.org/clients/SMART.php

Thanks you all.

5/5/157:39 AM

Christine Cissy WhiteIt's not trauma-informed unless it's informed by trauma survivors.

Originally Posted by Louise Godbold:

You've just explained why I like the lead apron they put over you when you have x-rays at the dentist! You may also have noticed in yoga, teachers recommend resting a rolled blanket over your hips when you're lying down. I think you're definitely onto something here! Thanks for sharing.

Oh Yeah, Those lead blankets. I forgot about those but it's the same idea. And yes, it's even like the eye pillows at the end of yoga. That extra weight can make for relaxing.

5/4/1511:23 AM