Optimal Sleep Postures --for a Steady Mind and Body, and a Sound Sleep

Living a busy and hectic life, modern people tend to become extremely tired even before bed time, and thus often neglect the correct sleeping position. This not only affects their sleep quality, but is also likely to lead to chronic disease. Buddhism teaches that we should always keep wholesome thoughts in our minds and stop thinking about our own troubles. Also, with a good sleeping position—particularly through sleeping on the right side-- we will naturally be able to enjoy a calm and sound sleep.

Among the four main postures identified by the Buddha—namely, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—"lying" is the most comfortable one for mind and body, as a posture for resting and sleeping. Given the busy and hectic lifestyle in modern times, most people, when extremely tired, would be happy to just find a place to lie down and fall asleep immediately, allowing their exhausted body and mind to enjoy temporary relief, without caring too much about their sleep posture. Some people like to lie on the bed while reading or eating. With a lazy posture designed for temporary relaxation and comfort, they often just fall asleep without even noticing. However, over time, they may thus develop bad postures, which eventually lead to chronic diseases. Such scenarios are not uncommon around us.

Lying on the right side like a lion king

Most people adopt sleeping postures such as lying on their backs, lying on their stomachs, lying on their left sides, and lying on their right sides. According to the Buddha, sleeping on the back is the asura sleeping position; sleeping on the stomach is the sleeping position of hungry ghosts; sleeping on the left side is the sleeping position of greedy people; and lying on the right side is the most suitable sleeping position for practitioners.

Why is lying on the right side referred to as "the lion lying down (sīhaseyya)"? As mentioned in the Madhyama Agama, the lion is the king of all animals. When it sleeps, its feet overlap and its tail stretches to the back, with its body lying on the right side. This is how a lion sleeps. Why did the Buddha ask monks to adopt the lion's lying position? In Volume 24 of the Discourse on the Stages of Concentration Practice (Skt. Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra), it says, "Just like the lion king is the bravest and fiercest in the animal kingdom, so are bhikshus, who are the foremost, bravest, and fiercest practitioners of constant wakefulness, diligence, and vigilance. Therefore, their lying posture is similar to that of the lion king."

As to how this Buddhist teaching is approached from the perspective of medicine and health care, Dr. Guo Zhengdian from the Teaching and Research Department of Veterans General Hospital once conducted a research regarding the effects of the lion king lying posture on the autonomic nerve activity. According to the experiment, which involved the use of scientific instruments, this position advocated by the Buddha, among the four reclining methods, is actually one that makes it easiest for people to remain stable and fall asleep.

So, why is sleeping on our back referred to as the lying position of asuras? The asura is characteristic of getting angry easily. As Dr. Guo explained, the lungs are heavily compressed by the heart when lying on the back, leading to poor air circulation. Furthermore, the heightened position of the heart leads to more difficulties pumping blood. Without having good night's sleep, we can easily lose our temper the next day. Sleeping on the stomach--referred to as the "hungry-ghost lying position"--- is what current general care medicine believes to be the worst sleeping position. This is due to the fact that it has a negative impact on the normal curvature of the cervical and thoracic spine, which can lead to organ diseases that affect the head, eyes, throat and heart.

How do we sleep properly to improve the quality of our sleep? This is huge issue for many people nowadays. In order to get a good night's sleep, many don't mind spending lots of money to buy trendy products for this purpose. But can they really guarantee a peaceful and beautiful sleep every day? In fact, poor sleep quality can result from physiological factors, environmental problems, and unsuitable bedding. In particular, we mustn't ignore our psychological state. Insomnia is mostly caused by inner affliction, stress, anxiety, and depression. From this perspective, technological products certainly have their merits, although they are not able to thoroughly solve the problem. Therefore, what is more worthy of our attention is one's attitude toward sleep.

The Buddhist teaching stresses the importance of the "mind", and has the method of so-called "constant practice of Awakening Yoga". How do Buddhist practitioners apply their minds for sleep? Can those methods be applied by modern people in their daily life? As pointed out by Chen Chongwen, who specializes in the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra, the Awakening Yoga as taught in the Śāstra is to teach practitioners four methods of practicing contemplation while sleeping on the side: namely "abiding in the thought of luminosity with the expedient means of lying down", "right mindfulness with the expedient means of lying down", "right knowledge with the expedient means of lying down", and "generating right thoughts with the expedient means of lying down". The "expedient means of lying down" refers to sleep as a convenient means to meet our physical needs for sleep. While lying in bed before falling into asleep, we can apply these four methods of thinking to practice contemplation.

First, "abiding in the thought of luminosity": Those who practice meditative absorption are required to cultivate the thought of luminosity, in that they can envisage pervasive bright luminosity even with their eyes closed, thus the name "abiding in the thought of luminosity”.

Second, "abiding in right mindfulness": Every day, before going to bed, we should recollect the doctrinal essence of the Dharma teaching we have learned that day, thereby enabling our minds to be filled with clarity and joy.

Third, "abiding in right knowledge": That is, if you lose your "right mindfulness" before going to bed, you are likely to entertain wandering and scattered thoughts, thereby being vexed by your troubles. If you can be alert to the fact that such are erroneous thoughts, then you are "abiding in right knowledge".

Fourth, "generating right thoughts": It means holding the thought that I have to get the sleep I need, so that I can wake up feeling refreshed the next day to continue engaging in practice, without craving sleep for the mere pleasure of sleeping. This represents a mind of self-reflection and vigilance. Conversely, if we just want to stay cozy in bed and choose to sleep longer than needed, then we are not "generating the right thought".

Modern people often find themselves overwhelmed by wandering thoughts, which confuse their minds and cause them to suffer sleep problems. By upholding the principle of "awakening yoga" and aligning our mind with the right thought before going to bed, we'll be able to keep ourselves simple and tame our chaotic mind, thereby falling asleep easily.

Five adjustments for Chan practice helps us sleep well

In addition, in his Small Treatise on Concentration and Insight and Dharma-paryaya of the Exegesis of Dhyana-Paramita, Master Zhiyi mentioned the "five adjustments for Chan practice". He explained that when the five aspects of our life—diet, sleep, physical being, breathing, and mind—are adjusted to ideal conditions, our body and mind will naturally remain stable and comfortable. In fact, these five aspects are closely related. With a moderate diet, correct body posture, smooth breathing, and a concentrated mind, we will be able to relax our bodily muscles and cerebral nerves, thus helping ourselves sleep well.

With a frenzied pace of life, modern people find themselves easily feeling tired. Therefore, if you can bring yourself to relax and take a rest when you are extremely tired, it will help improve your spirit. The "savasana rest" in yoga practice is especially suitable for quickly relieving fatigue and recovering physical strength. Many office workers take a nap during the lunch break by resting their heads on their desks, with their arms serving as a cushioning support. This may be fine for a short time, but doing so for an extended time will cause poor circulation and lead to hand numbness. To avoid this, you may want to try the methods of Chan practice, either by sitting on the back of the chair, taking a break, or sitting in meditation, while using the method of following the breath, to allow yourself to relax properly, thereby achieving the purpose of having a rest.

In addition, the following are some suggestions to avoid insomnia:

First, remind ourselves that we go to bed to sleep. Avoid eating, watching TV, listening to music, reading, and playing video games in bed.

Second, don't go to bed if you don't feel sleepy, and get out of bed if you can't fall asleep. Doing some light exercise before going to bed may help.

Third, when lying down, tell yourself that you are going to sleep now. Let your body relax, and then sleep one single-mindedly. If you can't fall asleep for a while, you can use the method of counting breaths to hypnotize yourself, just like counting sheep. Tell yourself: I want to sleep 1, I want to sleep 2, I want to sleep 3…

Fourth, use the method of reciting dharanis/mantras and memorizing gathas, or verses, to help ourselves fall asleep while in the "right mindfulness". For memorizing verses, we can choose the gathas and verses that we think most relevant to our situations. During the recitation we may fall asleep—it is common to fall asleep before finishing the reciting, so don't be upset if that happens; otherwise we will miss the point of relaxation. If we are not feeling well or in a lousy mood, we can instead use the method of chanting the dharani/mantra.

Fifth, people with severe insomnia should give themselves encouragement as long as they make progress. But don't push yourself too hard.

On average, we spend more than one-third of our lives lying down, so we can improve the quality of our sleep by adopting the side-lying position, which is beneficial to both our body and mind. When we keep wholesome thoughts in our minds, stop thinking about our afflictions, and sleep lying on the right side, they will naturally be able to sleep peacefully.

Lying down in the style of Chan practice

1. When lying on the bed, adjust the sleeping position that makes you most comfortable; it is best to lie on the right side.
2. Feel whether the height of the head in contact with the pillow is appropriate.
3. Pay attention to the posture of the neck and avoid excessive tilt.
4. Relax the whole body naturally to allow natural and smooth breathing.
5. If the body is extremely tired, you can apply the "Deep Relaxation" method first, leaving the body completely to the bed.



Related articles:

Chan is Everywhere in Daily Life

Walking – With Calm and Steady Steps

Standing – Relax Your Body and Mind to Lighten Your Burden

Sitting Meditation – Regulating the Mind and Breath in Sitting, for Better Health

Optimal Sleep Postures --for a Steady Mind and Body, and a Sound Sleep



Resource: Issue 232 of Humanity  Magazine, Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation
Photos: Dharma Drum Mountain Humanities and Social Improvement Foundation
Translation: James  
Editing: Keith Brown, Chiacheng Chang (張家誠)