If you do even preliminary research on buying a buckwheat pillow, you will read that a buckwheat pillow provides great support. Since this is the main advantage of this type of pillow, it makes sense to take a closer look at exactly what it going on when a buckwheat pillow provides support.
First, why does a buckwheat pillow support better than a traditional pillow? When you place your head on a pillow, your head sinks into the pillow and the pillow takes, to different extents depending on the pillow, the shape and contour of your head. When placing your head on a buckwheat pillow, it takes on the shape and contour of your head exactly, thereby providing instantly comfortable, but more importantly, reliable support.
Why reliable? Because fiber filled pillows like to remain fluffy, and are therefore very resilient, constantly trying to bounce back, even as your are sleeping on it. This push back from the pillow puts strain on your neck and shoulders. On the other hand, buckwheat stays where you put it, without the push back of a traditional pillow. It does this because when you put weight on a buckwheat pillow, the hulls inside grip together to form a stable base that won’t shift until you want it to. So, if you change position, a buckwheat pillow shifts with you, continuing it’s wonderful support. A buckwheat pillow is also better than a traditional, more fluffy pillow because you can mold it into whatever shape you want, making a great pillow no matter how you choose to sleep.
Second, how is the support from a buckwheat pillow better than from a traditional pillow? As explained above, a buckwheat pillow takes on the shape and contour of your head and shoulder exactly. But why does that matter?
1. This provides passive support, without the need to exert any pressure. Unlike a fiber filled pillow, a buckwheat pillow doesn’t place more pressure on some parts of your head than others. It’s even everywhere.
2. A buckwheat pillow supports the entire head in a cradle like indentation. This can be further enhanced if you shift the hulls around to push the pillow into the crook of your neck. This means it provides just the right amount of support to allow your neck to stay in a natural curve, so you don’t have to worry about the pillow being too soft or too firm.
3. Proper posture while sleeping starts with the head and extends down the neck. While a buckwheat pillow directly supports the head and neck, the advantages extend to the rest of the body as well. When the head and neck are aligned correctly, the shoulders and rest of the spine follow, creating proper posture throughout the whole body. Since we spend six to eight hours sleeping every night, this can quickly aid, and even heal, stress, tension, and misalignment problems that plague us during the day.
4. Since a buckwheat pillow does all this good stuff for your posture, you are immediately more comfortable. That means less moving around at night, fighting with the pillow to be comfortable, and an easier time getting to sleep.
5. For side sleepers, if, in addition to using a buckwheat pillow for your head, you also sleep with a buckwheat body pillow, the support and posture aligning properties are even more profound. Even with the proper alignment of your neck and spine, sleeping on your side can compress the shoulders and hips. A buckwheat body pillow can be “hugged”, allowing it to take on the weight of your upper shoulder and hip, opening up the chest. This allows for easier breathing since the diaphragm doesn’t have to work as hard to contract. And, since some chiropractors say that the best sleeping position is a fetal position, a buckwheat body pillow makes this position very comfortable.
6. Finally, a buckwheat pillow allows for easy customization of firmness by adding or removing buckwheat. Quality buckwheat pillows include a zippered case to make this very easy.
As you can see, a buckwheat pillow is great for its support benefits. And now that you know about the different ways it supports, you can have an easier time choosing the buckwheat pillow that is best for you.
