An Interview with Peter Martone, DC, edited by Karina Gordin, MSc

In this exclusive reader-driven Q&A, we are thrilled to be joined by world-renowned chiropractor and sleep expert Peter Martone, DC, LCP, widely recognized as Dr. SleepRight.

For over twenty years, Dr. Martone has been dedicated to creating the happiest, healthiest, and most well-rested tribe of people on the planet! He is the owner of Atlantis Chiropractic Wellness Centers and the inventor of the Neck Nest, a revolutionary pillow designed to improve sleep posture.

Dr. Martone’s techniques have been featured nationally on CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX news stations, and he has collaborated with top health experts like Dr. Mercola and Tony Robbins on optimizing sleep for lasting health.

Beyond his clinical practice, Dr. Martone travels the country, empowering individuals to regain their health—one side sleeper at a time. Today, he’s eager to share his wealth of knowledge and answer your top questions on sleep posture, posture correction, and the often-overlooked link between spine alignment and dental health.

Well Being Journal Readers (WBJR): You’re known as Dr. SleepRight; what are your go-to sleep tips?

Peter Martone (PM): One of the biggest game-changers for quality sleep is optimizing your sleep posture. Most people don’t realize that the eight hours you spend sleeping is actually a great opportunity to work on your posture!

How Sleep Posture Can Reverse the Effects of Forward Head Syndrome

Throughout the day, we constantly look down at our phones and spend long hours hunched over while working. Over time, this takes a serious toll on spinal alignment and often leads to forward head posture—one of the most common postural imbalances affecting people of all ages. This occurs when the head shifts forward beyond the body’s center of gravity, placing excessive strain on the neck and spine.

Since the head weighs around ten to twelve pounds—and is supported by just seven cervical vertebrae—each inch of forward head posture adds roughly ten extra pounds of force on the spine. This excessive strain places continuous pressure on the neck and upper back, contributing to issues such as pain, stiffness, reduced range of motion, and spinal misalignment. Long term, it can also put the surrounding nerves and veins at risk for herniation, compression, and injury.

The good news is that sleep is one of the best times to help correct this! During the eight hours you spend sleeping, you have a unique opportunity to restructure your cervical spine (upper portion of the spinal column) simply by positioning yourself correctly.

I always recommend back sleeping with minimal support under the head to help restore the natural curve of the neck and improve sleep posture. To emphasize, minimal head support is a key ingredient in proper sleep posture.

Many people assume that a bigger, fluffier pillow provides better comfort, but the truth is that the excessive support actually weakens the muscles over time and hurts sleep posture. Think about it: If you wear a neck brace for an extended period, your neck muscles begin to weaken because they’re no longer being engaged to support the head.

The same principle applies to oversized pillows—the excessive support can lead to muscles in your neck becoming dependent on the support, leading to weakness and reinforcing poor sleep posture.

That’s why I designed the Neck Nest—to gently guide the neck into a healthier position while allowing it to relax in proper alignment. By making this simple shift in sleep posture, you can counteract the effects of forward head posture, relieve tension, and improve both sleep quality and whole-body health.

Boost Deep Sleep with Simple Thermoregulation Hacks

Another simple yet highly effective tip for improving sleep is keeping your hands and feet outside the blanket. Your hands and feet have a high concentration of specialized “thermoregulatory” blood vessels that efficiently release heat when exposed to cooler air, acting as natural radiators to regulate body temperature. Since body temperature plays a fundamental role in sleep quality, allowing your extremities to cool down can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

In fact, when the body gets too warm, sleep can be disrupted, preventing you from reaching the deep, restorative sleep you need before your natural energy spike at midnight. By simply keeping your hands and/or feet uncovered, you can help maintain a more optimal sleeping temperature and reduce restlessness.

Of course, you can stick your hands and feet out of the blanket all you want, but suppose your mind is racing and you can’t wind down? How will you fall asleep in the first place?

That leads me to the final sleep tip: mindfulness practices.

One of the most effective ways to prepare your body for sleep is to activate the parasympathetic nervous system—the “rest and digest” state—before bed. A great technique for this is diaphragmatic breathing or the 4-7-8 breathing method. Here’s how 4-7-8 breathing works:

1. Allow your lips to part gently, relaxing your jaw.
2. Fully exhale through your mouth, making a breathy whoosh sound.
3. Close your lips and inhale deeply through your nose for a count of four.
4. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
5. Exhale slowly and fully through your mouth for a count of eight.
6. Repeat this cycle at least four times.

This kind of deep, controlled breathing can slow the heart rate, reduce cortisol levels, and guide the body out of the stress-driven “fight or flight” mode—not only promoting sleepiness but also setting you up for deeper, more restorative sleep..

A major player in this process is the vagus nerve, which runs from the brainstem down through the neck and into the major organs, regulating the parasympathetic nervous system. The function of the vagus nerve is closely tied to both breathing and posture. Poor sleep posture—especially forward head posture—can compress and restrict the vagus nerve, making it harder for the body to fully relax. This is yet another reason why optimizing sleep posture is so important.

So, sleeping on your back with your head in a neutral position, paired with mindfulness techniques, can really help quiet the mind—allowing you to fall asleep faster rather than lying awake replaying the day’s events or running through your to-do list.

The Surprising Connection Between Sleep Posture and TMJ

WBJR: What is the connection between posture and dental health issues such as TMJ, and how can chiropractic treatment provide relief?

PM: That’s an excellent question and one that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Many of my patients understand the importance of good dental habits like brushing, flossing, and regular cleaning, but few realize that good posture habits—including sleep posture—are just as important for dental health.

Why? Because our body operates as an interconnected system. Each part relies on the other to function properly. When something is out of alignment, it creates a ripple effect on the rest of the body—including the jaw.

Let’s take forward head posture as an example. Throughout the day, your head gradually shifts forward—often without you even realizing it, especially when you’re busy or fatigued. This subtle yet continuous shift places strain on the cervical spine, triggering a chain reaction. The muscles in the neck and jaw tighten, the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, can become misaligned, and even the way your teeth come together may change. Over time, this can contribute to grinding, clenching, and uneven tooth wear.

Chiropractic can help address this misalignment through various therapeutic techniques—including massage, trigger point therapy, spinal adjustments, shockwave therapy, and practical posture exercises—helping to alleviate excess pressure on the TMJ and ease tension in the surrounding muscles.

In some cases, I may also refer patients with TMJ dysfunction to a practitioner who performs prolotherapy, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) prolotherapy. This regenerative treatment involves injecting a concentration of the patient’s own platelets into the TMJ area to strengthen the surrounding ligaments and improve joint stability. When combined with proper spinal alignment and postural correction, prolotherapy can be a powerful tool in supporting jaw function.

As you can see, taking care of your spine isn’t just important for preventing back pain; it also safeguards long-term dental health.

Strengthen, Align, and Stabilize: Posture Exercises You Can Do Daily

WBJR: What exercises and stretches do you recommend for improving posture and maintaining a stable spine?

PM: A fun and effective tool I recommend to my patients—and even use in my office—is the wobble board. When you stand on a wobble board, your body constantly makes micro-adjustments to stay balanced. This engages the deep stabilizing muscles in your core, back, and neck, which keep your spine aligned and supported.

Another big benefit of using a wobble board is that it activates proprioception, or your body’s ability to sense its position in space. This heightened awareness of posture carries over into daily activities, making you more conscious of how you hold yourself whether you’re sitting, scrolling, standing, or moving.

Remember to start simple—gently shifting weight from side to side or front to back. As your stability improves, you can progress to more dynamic movements, such as squats, toe taps, or even single-leg balancing. The best part is that it only takes a few minutes per day to start noticing benefits, but you really need to be consistent. Keep at it, don’t give up—it’ll be challenging at first so don’t get discouraged and stick the wobble board in the back of your closet.

A Japanese study examining the effects of wobble board training in frail elderly nursing home residents found that just two ten-minute sessions per week, over nine weeks, significantly improved standing balance and postural stability. If they could achieve those results, there’s no reason the rest of us can’t do the same!

I’m currently in the final stages of developing an interactive wobble board, so please stay tuned for that!

Other therapeutic practices, such as yoga and simple stretching routines, are also effective for lengthening and strengthening the muscles that support your body’s natural, optimal alignment. Some go-to stretches that you can try at home include:

Chin Tucks: This movement is great for keeping the neck aligned with the midline and reducing strain on the cervical spine. To do it, sit or stand tall (shoulders relaxed), tuck your chin slightly as if making a double chin, and hold for a few seconds before releasing. Repeat five to ten times.

Cat-Cow Stretch: This dynamic stretch enhances spinal mobility and relieves tension in the neck and back. Start on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Inhale as you arch your back, lifting your head and tailbone (Cow), then exhale as you round your spine, tucking your chin to your chest (Cat). Repeat ten to fifteen times.

Wall Angels: This stretch is effective for opening the chest and strengthening the upper back, helping to counteract the effects of forward head posture. Stand with your back against a wall, pressing your lower back and shoulders into it. Raise your arms to a ninety-degree angle, then slowly move them up and down, as if making a snow angel. Perform ten to fifteen reps while keeping your core engaged and your head in a neutral position.

Figure Eights: This simple but effective exercise reduces neck stiffness and tension by strengthening the muscles around your cervical spine and improving your range of motion. By guiding your head and nose through a figure-eight motion, you enhance balance, proprioception, and total body awareness—key factors for overall mobility and injury prevention. For a complete figure eight demonstration, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD8LyOFGzbk

WBJR: What are some of the most effective ways to assess and diagnose poor posture and spinal issues?

PM: Assessments can range from simple visual cues to more advanced clinical evaluations with digital x-rays, but let’s focus on what you can do at home. Just looking in the mirror, are your shoulders level? Does your head sit directly over your shoulders, or is it jutting forward? Are your kneecaps facing straight?

You can also get immediate posture feedback with the at-home Wall Test:

1. Find a wall: Stand against a flat wall, ensuring your heels are a few inches away from the baseboard.

2. Align your body: Ensure the back of your head, shoulder blades, and butt are in contact with the wall.

3. Check for gaps: Slip your hand behind your lower back, palm facing the wall. With good posture, there should be a small, natural gap between the small of your back and the wall—just enough for a hand to slide through.

4. Assess your posture: Generally, keeping your buttocks, shoulders, and head in contact with the wall should feel natural and take minimal effort. If you struggle to maintain these three points of contact, this can signal postural imbalances.

Performing the Wall Test on a regular basis is a good way to become more aware of your posture and adopt corrective practices if necessary.

Another valuable tool for assessing posture is the bilateral scale method, which, as the name implies, uses two side-byside scales—one under each foot—to determine whether you’re distributing weight evenly between both feet in a natural standing position.

Ideally, when standing on the two scales, a person weighing 150 pounds should see an even distribution—75 pounds on each foot. However, many people naturally shift more weight to one side, which, if left unchecked, can affect overall body mechanics.

This bilateral scale method is also especially useful for children, as analyzing weight distribution at an early age can help identify and address misalignment before it develops into more significant postural issues.

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You can learn more about postural assessment and optimization, effective stretching techniques (including why stretching within two hours of waking may not be ideal), the Sleep Triune, and the impact of spinal alignment on digestion, mood, and overall health at DrSleepRight.com or on Instagram @DrSleepRight.

References

Guohao Lin, Xiong Zhao, Weijie Wang, et al. “The relationship between forward head posture, postural control and gait: A systematic review,” Gait Posture. 2022 Oct:98:316-329.

Nigel A S Taylor, Christiano A Machado-Moreira, Anne M J van den Heuvel, et al. “Hands and feet: physiological insulators, radiators and evaporators,” Eur J Appl Physiol. 2014 Oct;114(10):2037-60.

Shinya Ogaya, Tome Ikezoe, Naoki Soda, et al. “Effects of balance training using wobble boards in the elderly,” J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep;25(9):2616-22.

Saubhik Dasukil, Sujeeth Kumar Shetty, Geetanjali Arora, et al. “Efficacy of Prolotherapy in temporomandibular joint disorders: An exploratory study,” J Maxillofac Oral Surg. 2020;20(1):115–120.

Mai A Haggag, Fouad A Al-Belasy, Wael M Said Ahmed. “Dextrose prolotherapy for pain and dysfunction of the TMJ reducible disc displacement: A randomized, double-blind clinical study,” J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 2022 May;50(5):426-431.

Valentin Magnon, Frédéric Dutheil, Guillaume T Vallet. “Benefits from one session of deep and slow breathing on vagal tone and anxiety in young and older adults,” Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 29;11(1):19267.

Hauser, R. “Vagus Nerve Compression in the Neck: Symptoms and Treatments.” 2022. Caringmedical.com. July 16, 2022. https://caringmedical.com/prolotherapy-news/vagus-nerve-compression-cervical-spine/.