Getting healthier is a state of mind. How to exercise more to feel better

I woke up last Sunday with a pain.

Where?

Everywhere.

This may have something to do with my dog, who spent the night next to me. She rarely does this. I’m not her type, apparently. But she jumped into my bed on Saturday night anyway.

And because she’s so large, I found myself sleeping on my right side, at a weird angle, with my head resting on my outstretched right arm.

All night.

Remember when you were a kid and made a face and your mother told you it would freeze that way?

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I imagined getting old with a perpetual scowl.

That hasn’t happened. (Yet.) But as I continue to age, I do find that doing anything for too long can cause problems.

Sitting for too long. Standing for too long. Watching the news for too long.

And sleeping on my arm for too long.

Seven hours later, I experienced a type of numbness that some folks refer to as “freezing” or “falling asleep.”

I was awake, my arm was not.

My father experienced this all the time. His leg fell asleep. His wrist fell asleep. His arm, wrist and ankle fell asleep.

Hearing this as a small child made me think of him as a collection of independent parts, with lives of their own.

“My leg fell asleep but my elbow went to the movies.”

So, yes, I woke up last week and realized my arm was still snoozing. According to one online source, my head had been pressing my radial nerve all night.

And that means … ?

From Wikipedia: “The radial nerve is a nerve in the human body that supplies the posterior portion of the upper limb. It innervates the medial and lateral heads of the triceps brachii muscle of the arm, as well as all 12 muscles in the posterior osteofascial compartment of the forearm.”

I grew up wanting to know everything. But today I see “it innervates the medial … blah-blah-blah …” and wearily tell myself, “Yeah. Whatever.”

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My arm eventually woke up last week, but there were other issues to deal with.

I had my annual wellness checkup last month, and when my doctor asked if I was having any aches or pains, I laughed at him.

He’s younger than I am, of course.

Who isn’t these days?

I find myself longing for the good old days, when I was the younger one.

So? Are there any 114-year-old doctors in Bergen County?

As for the “aches or pains” question: “Yeah, Doc, I have aches and pains. I have lower back pain, upper back pain, neck pain and knee pain. I have that tingling thing in my elbow and that sciatic thing running from my waist to my foot.”

“Is that all?”

“No, that is not all. Last week, I was sitting on the couch and I felt my cellphone vibrating in my pocket.”

He stared at me. “Yes? So? What’s odd about that?”

“Well, for starters, my cellphone was on the coffee table. My thigh was tingling by itself! I kept smacking it until it stopped!”

Am I sharing this because I want to enumerate my aches and pains? No. I’m sharing this because the advice I received is advice I could have given myself.

It’s what I would tell you what to do, if you asked. So how come I’m not doing it?

The lowdown: Move. Walk. Get a reasonable amount of exercise.

Be aware of  your posture — not just when you’re walking but when you’re sitting, watching television, working on your computer, etc.

When it comes to sleeping, most experts agree that sleeping on your back is best, with one pillow under your head and another under your knees — unless you’re pregnant. (If you’re my age and pregnant, good luck with that.)

I always used to sleep on my back, but a doctor, years ago, told me, “It might relieve your lower back pain to sleep on your side with your legs bent AT THE KNEE.”

He really stressed “at the knee” as if I might bend my legs somewhere else.

Worst sleeping position: on your stomach.

And, finally, stretch! Stretching and moving exercises, such as yoga and tai chi, help keep your core in alignment.

We know all this, so why don’t we do it?

Stubbornness? Laziness? Lack of motivation?

WOOP, woopmylife.org/en/home, a scientifically approved system of achieving goals, consists of four steps: wishing for what we want, visualizing the outcomes, figuring out what the obstacles are, and making a real plan for how to proceed.

And guess what? Proceeding gradually is OK.

I haven’t begun a regular walking routine yet, but I do like to get on the floor and stretch every morning — even though I yelp and make faces.

My face may freeze that way, eventually, but at least my thighs won’t tingle all day.

It’s a start.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Aches and pains can be solved with more exercise: Ervolino