Mr, Big the master of ergonomic comfort understands that sleep is as much about quality as it is about quantity. Mr. Big is a regionally known brand of physical therapist designed pillows, mattresses and other sleeping essentials. The brand recently launched in SM Makati, and is now available exclusively in SM Home stores. Few brands have studied the art of sleeping comfort as obsessively and as meticulously as Mr. Big.
Medical science puts the ideal amount of sleep at six to eight hours a day. They have also come to conclude that the ideal time to be asleep is between 10pm to 2am. However, they have also learned that the quality of sleep is as important as the amount of sleep.
Scientists have learned that the most important and restorative cycle of sleep is deep sleep. It is the phase of sleep wherein your body and brain are truly at rest, and the human growth hormone is released to repair any wear and tear that your body and brain have sustained while you were awake. That is why deep sleep is so vital.
You may be in bed for the required 6-8 hours, but if it is 6-8 hours of fitfully tossing, turning and waking up intermittently, then you are almost certainly not getting enough deep sleep. Deep sleep comes well into a sleep cycle and requires a long period of uninterrupted sleep to reach. Scientists have identified that at least 20% of our time asleep should be in deep sleep. Anything less is insufficient.
The inability to sleep comfortably has been linked conclusively to numerous musculoskeletal problems such as chronic back, neck, shoulder, and leg pain. It has also been linked to the inability to get enough deep sleep, which in turn is a major factor in neurological conditions such as reduced cognitive function, memory lapses, and even migraines. But lack of deep sleep also contributes to countless other ailments from hyper acidity to hypertension to chronic fatigue.
But how does one ensure quality sleep? While the answer to this question varies greatly from person to person, there is no disputing that comfortable sleeping conditions are ALWAYS essential. Few brands know and have studied the ergonomics of comfortable sleep like Mr. Big.
The company’s founder Mr. Chawakit Kaoien is a physical therapist who spent years working in the ICU of a hospital’s respiratory unit, where he had to see to it that bedridden critical care patients could breathe properly, and were kept comfortable.
Chawakit mastered this art over the years with clever positioning of pillows. But because of the limitations of pillows both in their dimensions and the kinds of materials they are stuffed with, he concluded that the ultimate night of sleep could not be achieved with the available options.
It was then that he created the “9”, a pillow that would revolutionize sleep forever. “I applied the same technique I used with my patients in the ICU to healthy people who may not be getting healthy, quality sleep.” Chawakit explains.
Called the “9” because of its shape, the “9” is a very effective, and totally “out of the box” ergonomic solution for those who prefer to sleep on their sides. It is comfortably soft, but it provides support in all the right places, ensuring a much more comfortable and restful sleep that won’t result in body aches the next day. The “9” won the prestigious DE mark Award (Design Excellence Award), in 2013. Mr. Big’s “9” pillow is now one in a line of positioning pillows that also includes the “7” and the “J”.
Today Mr. Big continues to design and to innovate, or as Chawakit likes to call it to “Geek out about Sleep”. They have taken the humble pillow to new heights by pouring over every design aspect of the pillow. Mr. Big’s current product line is extensive, there is a product for every person of every shape, size, weight and sleeping preference. Mr. Big’s bestselling pillows are the meticulously designed, but deceptively conventional looking Body Scale pillows.
A lot of sleepers share beds, particularly couples. More sleepers like to sleep with 2-3 pillows rather than a single one, and finally others still like to shift positions in the night. These are the main reasons why Body Scale pillows are shaped conventionally. But because a truly comfortable sleep is only possible with correct support, Body Scale comes in five specific levels of softness and support, designed to conform to a person’s weight, height, and sleeping positon preference.
A good pillow is regarded as one that is soft, but that has adequate support or bounciness to not flatten too much under the weight of the head of the person sleeping on it. It should retain those qualities over time. Mr. Big has turned getting the balance absolutely right into an exact science with the Body Scale pillow.
Smaller people require thinner pillows that are more soft than bouncy, a pillow that is too thick and that has too much support may initially seem comfortable, but over a full night could result in a stiff neck in the morning, or worse chronic back or neck pain in the long run.
The opposite is true for bigger people, but the results are the same. A big person, particularly a “side sleeper” needs a thick pillow that provides a lot of support, or neck pain, and back pain will inevitably follow.
The Body Scale pillow’s five levels of varying softness to support ratios are precisely calibrated to ensure optimal support for the spine. Correct support is critical because when we sleep the wrong way, often without knowing it, the muscles along our neck, back and even our legs need to compensate by tensing up all night. This makes for fitful sleep, little or no deep sleep, and all the consequences that can follow with it.
All Mr. Big pillows are stuffed with Elasta Fiber, a material imported from the UK that provides optimum cushioning and tension, but that does not clump over time, and that is even washable. The pillow shells are 100% cotton, hypo allergenic and dust mite resistant. Mr. Big has also branched out to other sleep essentials such as comforters, mattresses and duvets. Each product is designed with the same nearly obsessive attention to detail.
Priced surprisingly competitively given the brand’s stature, if you want to sleep better at night, every night, Mr. Big is a solid value for money investment. Unlike expensive and sinfully delicious food, blissful sleep is actually really good for you, and a one-time investment in Mr. Big products will be good for hours and hours of quality sleep.
Mr. Big pillows and sleep essentials are exclusively imported by Newyork Home Fashions, and are available in the Philippines exclusively at SM Home stores. For more information on Mr. Big, visit: https://www.mrbigpillow.com/, or check us out on Facebook at mrbigpillowphilippines, or at mrbigpillow on Instagram.
