Sleep is as essential as food for physical and mental well being. Body
and the organs wearout after a day’s work. To restore them to the
original levels, rest is essential. The natural state of rest is sleep.
Happiness-sorrow, obesity-leanness, knowledge-ignorance, health and
strength are all dependent on sleep.
We spend around a third of our lives (around 25 years) sleeping. It is vital to our survival. It is common to mammals, birds and reptiles and has been conserved through evolution, even though it prevents us from performing other useful tasks, such as eating, reproducing and raising young. It is as important as food for keeping us alive; without it, rats will die within two or three weeks – the same amount of time that it takes to die from starvation.
When we sleep well, we wake up feeling refreshed and alert for our daily activities. Sleep affects how we look, feel and perform on a daily basis, and can have a major impact on our overall quality of life.
To get the most out of our sleep, both quantity and quality are important. Teens need at least 8 hours and on average 9¼ hours a night of uninterrupted sleep to leave their bodies and minds rejuvenated for the next day. If sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete all of the phases needed for muscle repair, memory consolidation and release of hormones regulating growth and appetite. Then we wake up less prepared to concentrate, make decisions, or engage fully in school and social activities.
Sleep can be divided into two broad stages, non-rapid eye movement (NREM), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The vast majority of our sleep (around 75 to 80 per cent) is NREM. This is the time we sleep the deepest.
Sleep is fundamentally a process that is predominant in Tama component; as it is performed during the night time, which by itself is a period predominant in Tama component. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand the spiritual science underlying various aspects related to peaceful sleep such as correct postures for sleeping as prescribed by Hinduism.
Sleeping on the left or right side:
We spend around a third of our lives (around 25 years) sleeping. It is vital to our survival. It is common to mammals, birds and reptiles and has been conserved through evolution, even though it prevents us from performing other useful tasks, such as eating, reproducing and raising young. It is as important as food for keeping us alive; without it, rats will die within two or three weeks – the same amount of time that it takes to die from starvation.
When we sleep well, we wake up feeling refreshed and alert for our daily activities. Sleep affects how we look, feel and perform on a daily basis, and can have a major impact on our overall quality of life.
Sleep can be divided into two broad stages, non-rapid eye movement (NREM), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The vast majority of our sleep (around 75 to 80 per cent) is NREM. This is the time we sleep the deepest.
During the night, we cycle through five separate stages of sleep every 90 to 110 minutes, experiencing between three and five dream periods each night. The five stages of sleep can be distinguished by changes in the electrical activity in your brain, measured by electroencephalogram (EEG). The first stage begins with drowsiness as you drift in and out of consciousness, and is followed by light sleep and then by two stages of deep sleep. Your brain activity starts to slow down, your breathing, heart rate and temperature drop, and you become progressively more difficult to wake up. Finally, your brain perks up again, resuming activity that looks much more like wakefulness, and you enter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep; the time that your most vivid dreams occur. This cycle happens several times throughout the night, and each time, the period of REM sleep grows longer.
Stage 1 (1-7 minutes)
During the first stage of sleep you are just drifting off; your eyelids are heavy and your head starts to drop. During this drowsy period, you are easily awoken and your brain is still quite active. The electrical activity on an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor starts to slow down, and the cortical waves become taller and spikier. As the sleep cycle repeats during the night, you re-enter this drowsy half-awake, half-asleep stage.
Stage 2 (10-25 minutes)
After a few minutes, your brain activity slows further, and you descend into light sleep. On the EEG monitor, this stage is characterised by further slowing in the waves with an increase in their size, and short one or two-second bursts of activity known as ‘sleep spindles’. By the time you are in the second phase of sleep, your eyes stop moving, but you are still woken easily.
Stage 3 (20-40 minutes)
As you start to enter this stage, your sleep spindles stop, showing that your brain has entered moderate sleep. This is then followed by deep sleep. The trace on the EEG slows still further as your brain produces delta waves with occasional spikes of smaller faster waves in between. As you progress through stage-three sleep, you become much more difficult to wake up.
Stage 4 (20-40 minutes)
There is some debate as to whether sleep stages three and four are really separate, or whether they are part of the same phase of sleep. Stage four is the deepest stage, and during this time, you are extremely hard to wake. The EEG shows tall, slow waves known as delta waves, your muscles relax and your breathing becomes slow and rhythmic, which can lead to snoring.
Stage 5 (10-60 minutes)
After deep sleep, your brain starts to perk up, and its electrical activity starts to resemble the brain when it is awake. This is the period of the night when most dreams happen. Your muscles are temporarily paralysed, and your eyes dart back and forth, giving this stage its name, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?
Stage 1 (1-7 minutes)
During the first stage of sleep you are just drifting off; your eyelids are heavy and your head starts to drop. During this drowsy period, you are easily awoken and your brain is still quite active. The electrical activity on an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor starts to slow down, and the cortical waves become taller and spikier. As the sleep cycle repeats during the night, you re-enter this drowsy half-awake, half-asleep stage.
Stage 2 (10-25 minutes)
After a few minutes, your brain activity slows further, and you descend into light sleep. On the EEG monitor, this stage is characterised by further slowing in the waves with an increase in their size, and short one or two-second bursts of activity known as ‘sleep spindles’. By the time you are in the second phase of sleep, your eyes stop moving, but you are still woken easily.
Stage 3 (20-40 minutes)
As you start to enter this stage, your sleep spindles stop, showing that your brain has entered moderate sleep. This is then followed by deep sleep. The trace on the EEG slows still further as your brain produces delta waves with occasional spikes of smaller faster waves in between. As you progress through stage-three sleep, you become much more difficult to wake up.
Stage 4 (20-40 minutes)
There is some debate as to whether sleep stages three and four are really separate, or whether they are part of the same phase of sleep. Stage four is the deepest stage, and during this time, you are extremely hard to wake. The EEG shows tall, slow waves known as delta waves, your muscles relax and your breathing becomes slow and rhythmic, which can lead to snoring.
Stage 5 (10-60 minutes)
After deep sleep, your brain starts to perk up, and its electrical activity starts to resemble the brain when it is awake. This is the period of the night when most dreams happen. Your muscles are temporarily paralysed, and your eyes dart back and forth, giving this stage its name, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?
- Newborns (0-3 months): Sleep range narrowed to 14-17 hours each day (previously it was 12-18)
- Infants (4-11 months): Sleep range widened two hours to 12-15 hours (previously it was 14-15)
- Toddlers (1-2 years): Sleep range widened by one hour to 11-14 hours (previously it was 12-14)
- Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep range widened by one hour to 10-13 hours (previously it was 11-13)
- School age children (6-13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9-11 hours (previously it was 10-11)
- Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours (previously it was 8.5-9.5)
- Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category)
- Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours
- Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours (new age category)
SCIENCE UNDERLYING DIFFERENT SLEEPING POSITION
Sleep is fundamentally a process that is predominant in Tama component; as it is performed during the night time, which by itself is a period predominant in Tama component. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand the spiritual science underlying various aspects related to peaceful sleep such as correct postures for sleeping as prescribed by Hinduism.
Sleeping on the left or right side:
Sleeping on the left or right side activates the chandranadi or suryanadi respectively and keeps the chetana in the cells in an awakened state, thereby protecting the body that is in contact with Patal, from the attacks of negative energies from the earth
Sleeping on the back:
Sleeping on the back exerts pressure on the Muladhar-chakra, thereby activating the gases associated with sexual desires, which move in the downward direction, thus enabling the negative energies from Patal to attack to a greater extent. If an individual, with a spiritual level less than 55% sleeps on its back, it is likely to face danger of being affected by distressing vibrations from Patal. When an individual with a spiritual level more than 55% sleeps on its back, its Sushumnanadi is activated.
Sleeping on the stomach:
Sleeping on stomach causes discharge of Raja–Tama predominant waste gases from the body, thus increasing the possibility of attacks of negative energies. Sleeping on the stomach helps negative energies attack from the upward direction; whereas, sleeping on the back helps them attack from the downward direction
SIGNIFICANCE OF DIRECTION OF SLEEP AS PER HINDUISM
Sleeping on the back:
Sleeping on the back exerts pressure on the Muladhar-chakra, thereby activating the gases associated with sexual desires, which move in the downward direction, thus enabling the negative energies from Patal to attack to a greater extent. If an individual, with a spiritual level less than 55% sleeps on its back, it is likely to face danger of being affected by distressing vibrations from Patal. When an individual with a spiritual level more than 55% sleeps on its back, its Sushumnanadi is activated.
Sleeping on the stomach:
Sleeping on stomach causes discharge of Raja–Tama predominant waste gases from the body, thus increasing the possibility of attacks of negative energies. Sleeping on the stomach helps negative energies attack from the upward direction; whereas, sleeping on the back helps them attack from the downward direction
SIGNIFICANCE OF DIRECTION OF SLEEP AS PER HINDUISM
Every one of us wants pleasant and sound sleep where we could wake up with a smile feeling relaxed and fresh. Don’t we? We have always wished for a night where we don’t have to worry about insomnia or nightmares or any kind of sleep terrors. According to Hinduism, our sleeping position and direction define the state of sleep.
Human beings reflect the planet earth in having a north pole and a south pole, and the alignment of our body while sleeping matters because the flow of energy through the earth affects our own magnetic field. Because of the planet’s magnetic field, sleeping in certain directions causes unnecessary pressure on the brain which may lead to disturbed sleep and health issues.
East-West Direction: Sleeping with head in east increases memory, concentration, good health and inclination towards spirituality. The east-west position is considered best for healthy and sound sleep. The waves in this direction are positive and can provide positive energy to the body.
North-South Direction: Sleeping with head in North is a totally wrong practice. This is a position where dead bodies are placed. While you sleep with your head in the north direction, you get bad dreams and stress in your body. The Earth’s magnetic pull will strain your brain in that direction. It is also believed that north direction is a route that a soul takes after leaving the body.
In Hindu Dharma, it is believed that movement of the chakras present in our body takes place in the pertinent sleeping direction and when we have a proper sleep. There are positive vibrations present in the east direction which makes the chakras in the body rotate in the appropriate direction instead of conflicting directions. So, placing your head towards east direction helps to facilitate positive vibrations which arise from the east to Sapta-Chakras (Seven chakras) in the body. This appropriate direction will not allow Raja particles generated in the body cause any distress to the individual.
The southern direction is believed to be connected with the region of death (Yamalok). When we sleep with head facing north and the feet face the south, vibrations coming from the region of hell and the region of death join together. Hence, there is a high chance of suffering from their combined effects which results in various kinds of sleep disorders including nightmares, waking up in fear, etc.
So, maintaining your posture and direction of sleep is highly essential in order to avoid sleep disorders and have a good night sleep.
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