A wonderful and interesting article by John Douillard that I wanted to share with you...enjoy. : ) Jeanne
Amazing
Benefits of Sleeping on Your Left Side
by
John Douillard on June 27, 2013
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.
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.
