Amazing Benefits of Sleeping on Your Left Side

[Rasa]

Amazing Benefits of Sleeping on Your Left Side

From: http://lifespa.com/amazing-benefits-of-sleeping-on-your-left-side/

I came across this article, and it made me realize that years ago I discovered that I was more comfortable sleeping on my left side, when I slept on my side. I never really thought about until I read this article.

For some years I’ve also been sleeping with a small pillow under my knees (I use a small bolster pillow, actually a neck roll). That small bolster also works well for position 4 in the graphic below - sleeping on your side with a pillow between your knees.

pasta volans

Rasa

(graphic from a similar article in Spanish)

Have you ever wondered to what extent the two sides of your body mirror each other?

It is very common for me to have a patient tell me that they have all their issues on just one side of the body. A pain in the left foot, a bad left hip, a bad left shoulder, left-sided abdominal pain, a pain in the neck on the right side; why? Why do rashes choose the left or right side of the body? Why does the acuity of the eyes differ so greatly from one to the other? Why do we get pains often on just one side of the body? According to Ayurveda, the left side of the body is completely different than the right side, and, while I know it sounds strange, emphasizing the left side for rest and sleep offers some time tested wisdom for very real health and longevity benefits. Join me as we investigate this old Ayurvedic concept and see if it still holds water today.

7 Reasons to Try Sleeping on Your Left Side: 

Here are some of Ayurveda’s reasons for recommending the left side for sleep. Keep reading for more detailed discussion. 

•Facilitate lymphatic drainage 

•Makes it easier for the heart to pump downhill

•Better elimination 

•Support healthy spleen function 

•Encourages proper digestion 

•Helps circulation back to the heart 

•Helps bile flow more freely

The Lymph Drains toward the Left 

Interestingly, the left side of the body is the dominant lymphatic side. The majority of the body’s lymph fluid drains into the thoracic duct, located on the left side. Along the way, lymph fluid carrying proteins, glucose and other metabolites and waste products is purified by lymph nodes and is then drained into the left side of the heart. Because of this, it is common in Ayurveda to deduce that left side ailments may be due to chronic lymphatic congestion. When the lymphatic system congests, it is more likely that lymph will back up on the left, more lymph-dominant side of the body. Whether or not this is always true is debatable, but you can see the logic at play here. In the same non-scientific vein, issues that show up on the right side are thought to be due to imbalances in the liver and blood. Since the liver is on the right side of the body, liver congestion will more easily back up into the right side of the body and potentially cause problems. 

The Priority System of the Body 

According the Ayurveda, congestion happens in the body according to a certain pattern, or priority system. In this priority system, the lymph is the body’s first detox system to congest, before the liver and blood become overwhelmed. Thus, early lymph issues may present more on the left side of the body and move to the right as they become more long-standing and begin to congest the liver and the blood, at which point symptoms may start to show up on the right side of the body. You can read more about lymph-related issues in the Detox and Lymphatic Health section of my article library. 

The Magic of Sleeping on the Left Side 

Better Elimination The small intestine dumps waste through the ileocecal valve (ICV) on the right side of the body into the beginning of the large intestine. The large intestine travels up the right side of your belly the across the tummy, where it dumps waste into the descending colon on the left side. Sleeping on the left side allows gravity to encourage the food waste to move more easily from the small intestine into the large intestine through the ICV. As the night wears on and you continue to sleep on your left side, the waste moves more easily into the descending colon. With the help of gravity and a good night’s sleep on the left the side, the descending colon is full of waste to easily eliminate completely each morning. 

Better Heart Function Of course, one of the biggest players on the left side is the heart. It makes sense that if you sleep on your left side, the lymph drainage toward the heart will again be helped by gravity, taking some of the workload off the heart as you sleep. The aorta, which is the biggest artery in the body, leaves the top of the heart and arches to the left before it heads down into the abdomen. By sleeping on the left side, the heart is pumping its biggest payload downhill into the descending aorta. Sleeping on the left also allows much of the intestines to hang away from the very thin-walled inferior vena cava (IVC) which brings venous blood back toward the heart. Interestingly, the IVC lies against the right side of the spine, so when you lie on the left much of the viscera falls away from the IVC. Here again, gravity is just making the heart’s job a little easier. 

The Spleen Is On the Left The spleen, which is part of the lymphatic system, is also on the left. The spleen is much like a gigantic lymph node, except that in addition to filtering lymph it also filters blood. When you lay on the left side, drainage back to the spleen is once again helped and made easier by gravity. Remember, the lymph system drains all the cells in the body via movement and muscular contractions, rather than being pumped by the heart. Helping the lymph to drain to the spleen and heart with gravity is a good thing. 

Ever Feel Sleepy After a Big Meal? 

In Ayurveda, it is common practice to rest on the left side of the body after taking a meal. Unlike a siesta where we take the whole afternoon off, Ayurveda suggests a short, ten minute rest on the left side to help the body properly digest the food. The stomach and the pancreas (which make digestive enzymes) hang like slings on the left side. When you lie on the left side, the stomach and pancreas hang naturally, allowing for optimal and efficient digestion. The food is encouraged to move through the stomach naturally and the pancreatic enzymes are released as needed rather than all at once, which might happen more easily than if you were on the right side with the pull of gravity. If you lie on the right side, the stomach and pancreas will hang in a somewhat unnatural position, forcing them to empty their contents prematurely. Meanwhile, the liver and gallbladder hang on the right side. Resting on the left side allows them to hang freely and secrete precious bile, with the help of gravity, into the digestive tract to emulsify fats and neutralize the acids of the stomach. When the digestive process is encouraged in this way, in can often be a smoother and ultimately shorter digestive cycle that doesn’t leave you feeling sapped throughout the entire afternoon. So by taking a short rest on the left side, you may actually save yourself more fatigue throughout the day! 

Get energized – not tired – from your meal! Here’s how: 

Try eating a large midday meal in a relaxed fashion, followed by a 10 minute rest on the left side and see if you find yourself with more energy and better digestion as a result. 

Try it! So maybe this non-scientific technique of sleeping and resting on the left side makes some sense after all. I am a big fan of understanding ancient wisdom and then finding proof with modern science. In this case, I admit I lack some of the modern science but there is more than enough anatomical logic here to give it a whirl

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pelorian Digital

www.pelorian.com

[David Longey]

Cornershop, “Sleep on the Left Side"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqxGzawZPqQ

[R Rasa]

On Oct 31, 2014, at 2:28 AM, David Longey <da...@handofdave.com> wrote:
> Cornershop, “Sleep on the Left Side"
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqxGzawZPqQ

Interesting lyrics, Dave . . .

Sleep on the left side
Leave the right side free
Hope gets salted
As those around you leave
Were gonna let it up
Like India House on fire
Were gonna let it go
And let it go higher
Let it go
Sleep on the left side
Houcam is our call
Were gonna take it
That virgin fall
Theres gonna be some
When we let it up and let it breathe
And all the holes doused with grief
And planets up and time to leave
No Asian fire will leave us dire
Born again to Asian lion
There comes no telling how it will be
What's turned to smoke was in our hearts
And planets up, what we have lost
Foot racing from kitchens
Down alleys through gullys
Meeting every second hour
Never to come to terms with the [Incomprehensible]
Foot racing to Putabin Key
'Cause there's too much going on
To jeer on green goddesses
Local dignitaries and labor counselors
Always in touch by way of the community organ
We're about to be orphaned
Sleep on the left side
Keep the sword hand free
Whatever is gonna be
Is gonna be
For the 7th time
Without tumbling desire
Easy disease
Were gonna let it known
And let it go slow, let it go
Sleep on the left side
Sleep on the left side
Some sounds, some burdens can release
Some sounds, some burdens can release
Some sounds, some burdens
Sleep on the left side

On Oct 31, 2014, at 2:28 AM, David Longey <da...@handofdave.com> wrote:

> Cornershop, “Sleep on the Left Side"
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqxGzawZPqQ
>

> --
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> "You should view the world as a conspiracy run by a very closely-knit group of nearly omnipotent people, and you should think of those people as yourself and your friends." --Robert Anton Wilson
>
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[David Longey]

Hi Rasa
Had you heard these guys before?
Great band out of England, one of our faves in this household…. That track is from their album ‘When I was born for the Seventh Time’
that and ‘Handcream for a Generation’ are my two favorites.
They started out with a harder sound, during the punk years, and hit their stride with ‘WIWBFTST’.

This video to their tune ‘Free Love’ is really beautiful…. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNPUJ0cobWM

-Dave