Benefits of sleeping on the floor
There is no medical benefit to sleeping on the floor, except if your alternative is a really bad mattress, or if you have a special medical condition.
That said, apart from being uncomfortable, sleeping on the floor is not particularly bad for you. It certainly wont kill you.
I slept on the floor for about six months and I was and still am 100% fine.
Benefits of sleeping on the floor
- The first obvious benefit: no need to buy a bed or mattress.
- You have a lot more space in your room.
- Yes, you get used to it and, yes, it is possible to get a good night’s sleep on the floor.
- You never have any trouble getting out of “bed” in the mornings.
- After a while it is possible to sleep just about anywhere. Literally.
- It is somehow purifying. It helped me to appreciate simple comforts a lot more.
- You get to learn a lot about bugs. Fortunately most of them are quite cute and harmless.
Disadvantages of sleeping on the floor
- It’s uncomfortable (not exactly rocket science now is it).
- The floor can get really cold in winter (a good thick blanket to lie on helps a lot).
- Chicks don’t dig it. If you happen to give a damn about what chicks dig.
- You get to learn a lot about bugs. Even though most of them are quite cute and harmless.
In case you’re wondering why I slept on the floor, it was not for medical reasons or anything like that.
I did it firstly to prove a point to myself (that I could survive without the comfort of a bed or mattress), secondly because I’ve always refused to make debt to buy anything that couldn’t make me money and lastly because I decided to spend my savings on a dirt bike rather than a mattress.
In case you’re still wondering: Yes, it was worth it.
April 28th, 2009 at 05:15 am
I started sleeping on the floor, on a camp mat, a few weeks ago and might never go back to a mattress. It took a few nights to accept the differences, then I was fine and could truly enjoy the many benefits. The next experiment is to use a space blanket.
May 30th, 2009 at 06:41 pm
I’ve been sleeping on the floor just to see if I could do it.
The first couple nights were a little rough as I woke up on awkward positions.
I then folded a blanket in half and laid on that and I have woke up perfectly refreshed without any aches or pains at all.
BIG benefit I’m noticing is that I don’t feel as hot when as when I’m on my mattress.
August 16th, 2009 at 02:19 am
My old mattress which I received second (or maybe third) hand was nearing the end of it’s life so I threw it away and started sleeping on the floor yesterday. It was a bit painful on my back, my shoulders and ass touched the ground but the small of my back didn’t and felt strained. It took a while to get to sleep. I fully expected to wake up in agony, but I didn’t. I woke up and my back has felt great, better than I can remember it feeling. I didn’t even realise it didn’t feel great until feeling how much better it was today – I thought it was fine before!
Exercise was easier, I felt more lithe and faster. Even with only 5 hours sleep. Didn’t expect any of this, if I can get used to it and get a whole 8 hours sleep then I don’t think I’ll go back to mattresses.
October 26th, 2010 at 01:14 pm
I’m married, to a wonderful woman who puts up with me no matter what.
But I cant sleep on the floor. She would think its weird.
enjoying the blog
November 14th, 2010 at 10:28 am
I didn’t exactly sleep on the floor for 11 months whilst saving up for beds – my kids and I slept on ‘student mattresses’ and we were comfortable. Even in winter. Now we are sleeping on some expensive beds and matresses and you know what, they are more comfortable but it does not seem to make that much of a difference to us anymore – it’s like, so OK, were’s slightly more comfortable off the floor but so what?
January 21st, 2012 at 07:09 pm
When you say “sleep on the floor”, do you mean with nothing besides the hard wood and no pillow under you? I want to try that, but right now I have been using a rudimentary set-up of thin pad and a blanket underneath me, and a pillow.
Getting rid of the pillow may be hard to get used to though!
Let me know if you meant without any pillow or padding underneath, because that is slightly different (and more challenging).
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:28 am
@Rain
Nope I wasn’t that extreme!
My room had a concrete floor, but it was carpeted and I also placed a blanket on top of that. It didn’t really make my “bed” much softer, but it did help a lot when it was cold.
I actually found it more comfortable to sleep like that without a pillow, because otherwise your head ends up being quite a lot higher off the ground than your body.
Good luck
January 23rd, 2012 at 05:52 pm
hahaha, wow, no pillow too, huh! Good, I think your body will benefit in the long haul, when your older you probably won’t have back pain and may even have better posture right now. Some have found that the ‘chi’ energy (natural bio-electricity) tends to flow better (on a daily basis) due to the spines reliance on its own balancing mechanisms (the electrical current isn’t dissipated into the big energy absorbent mattress).
I think of all the huge mattress’s I have helped friends move over the years (many), and am always thinking to myself: “this doesn’t have to be this way, this is just an over-commercialization of an idea gone to an extreme!”.
February 29th, 2012 at 09:46 am
Tried that and it wasn’t that bad. I am sleeping on the floor from time to time, and with carpet or blanket underneath it is not a problem, I can still sleep comfortably. On bed or on floor is fine by me. I’m not so picky as long as I can sleep well. Nice article though.
I enjoyed it.
April 2nd, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Tried and Tested > Benefits of sleeping on the floor: http://t.co/7EBfHiYO
April 23rd, 2012 at 08:49 am
Ive been sleeping on the floor for 2 weeks now in my new apmt and I wake up feeling fine. Sometimes I get numbness in my arm from sleeping on that side, but otherwise its comfortable. I also slept on a friends floor for 3 months, so I guess Im used to it by now. I plan on getting a futon soon so I can have people stay over