Home / Health / Sleep A study by the Institute of Medicine found that a whopping 50–70 million U.S. adults suffer from sleep or wakefulness disorders. That's a lot of folks nodding off at their desks or standing in a Starbucks line for their third cup of java. But let's face it: We're creatures of habit, and our sleeping positions aren't likely to change (after all, we are sleeping). Here's what your snooze-spots are doing for your health—and what little tweaks you can make to improve them. If back-sleeping is your position of preference, you're scoring more benefits during shut-eye than you'd think. "Your head is facing straight up and weight is evenly distributed on your spine," making it the most orthopedically sound position, says Dr. Michael Breus, clinical psychologist and author of The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep. And unlike when your face is buried in a pillow, sleeping on your back allows gravity to pull down on your face and chest, which is beneficial for those suffering from acid reflux.
With your head slightly elevated, your stomach sits below your esophagus so acid and food are far less likely to come back up. But snorers, beware: Supine is the worst of all the sleeping positions if you suffer from sleep apnea. "Your throat and belly are being pulled down by gravity, making it harder for you to breathe," explains Dr. Andrew Westwood, assistant professor of clinical neurology at Columbia University Medical Center. "If you [lie on your side or] get pushed by your bed partner, that snoring goes away." Score Better Sleep: Congrats, you're rocking that bed! (We'll skip the dirty pun...this time.) Unless you're a habitual snorer, back-sleeping is your best bet for optimal health and day-to-day physical comfort. Oh, and it helps prevent wrinkles—a beauty bonus we're definitely in favor of. WIN a prize a day! If snuggling up on your side is the most comfortable, experts recommend lying on your left side. "Sleeping on your right pushes on blood vessels, preventing maximum circulation," says Breus.
Because of this added pressure on your veins, your body moves more frequently through the night to accommodate the lack of circulation, resulting in all that fitful sleep your Fitbit is tracking. The left side, however, allows for cardiovascular return, says Dr. Christopher Winter, medical director at Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine. "Meaning your heart can easily pump blood throughout your body when there's less pressure on that region." Score Better Sleep: No matter which side you're sticking to, Jen Robart, physical therapist at Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital, recommends placing a firm pillow between the knees to support good alignment between the hips and joints. According to the American Chiropractic Association, it'll help evenly distribute your weight throughout the night, easing that creaky feeling of discomfort some wake up with in the morning. If sleeping tight means nodding off on your right, you could be exposed to a health risk. Your right side houses your entire cardiovascular system, so added pressure on this part of the body actually constricts your rib cage and strains your lungs.
"You're most likely to experience acid reflux and even heart failure," says Winter. But don't freak out quite yet: If you're in good overall health, there's no reason to worry that sleeping on your right side could cause harm. However, if you have certain medical conditions like heartburn, or if you're pregnant, you may want to move to the left (not to mention, you'll score the health benefits on slide 2). Score Better Sleep: If you need to stick to the right, Robart suggests rolling up a small towel and "placing it in the small of your waist to avoid sinking into the mattress," which can alleviate pressure on your organs and help you snooze soundly. Hiking one limb higher while you snooze isn't giving you a leg up on your health. Sleeping in the "horizontal tree" position, where one leg is bent higher than the other (usually coming in toward your chest), may do more harm than good. "Having both legs up during sleep would pull weight off the pelvis, and could potentially help someone with low back pain, but one leg up may do the opposite," says Breus.
The uneven displacement of pressure on one limb versus the other may cause back damage down the road. Score Better Sleep: If you do find yourself waking in the middle of the night with your right or left leg curled up toward your stomach, try placing a pillow between your legs, suggests Robart. "Not only does it take pressure off your pelvis, but it can also help stabilize the leg that keeps moving upward during sleep."We know you love to flop face down with arms out, but experts say this is the easiest way to wake up with pain and discomfort the next morning. "Sleeping on the stomach pulls the belly down and hurts the curvature of the spine...and forces your head to turn on a 90-degree angle, which winds up placing strain on your neck," says Breus. Cue a crick in your neck the next morning—ouch. Score Better Sleep: Trade in those fat, fluffy pillows for a thin, firm one. It won't prop your neck up too high, allowing for a more even curvature of your spine, says Westwood.
And for better circulation, Robart suggests placing a pillow or two under your pelvic region. "It'll decrease compression on the arch of your lower back, allowing for a more natural alignment of the spine," she says. The Best: Back (Supine) Next Best: Left Side Less Ideal: Right Side Not Ideal: Sleeping with One Leg Up The Worst: Stomach (Prone)Applying Feng Shui Principles to Your Bed Feng Shui involves many principles for the auspicious (or favorable) positioning of your bed. To take advantage of as many of them as you can, use common sense, along with the conditions of your individual room, to make the best choices possible. For example, Commanding Position concept shows you how to achieve the most powerful bed position according to one Feng Shui school of thought. If you see that your bedroom doesn’t meet these criteria — don’t panic! There are cures you can implement to dramatically enhance your bedroom situation. The first Commanding Position principle states that the position of the bed relative to the bedroom door rates more importantly than the compass direction the bed faces.
That is, you don’t analyze whether your bed faces east, west, north, or south. You can rest easy and position the bed according to the way it best relates to the other main feature of the room — the door. The second Commanding Position principle holds that the bed should sit as far from the bedroom door as possible. If the door is on the left, the best position is the far right corner of the room; if the door is on the right, the best bed location is the far left of the room; and if the door is the center, the best location is either the far right or far left corner of the room. The farther your bed sits from the door, the more control you can feel over your space and your life. You aren’t startled easily, and you have plenty of time to prepare for events as they unfold. The third Commanding Position principle asserts that the bed position should allow the sleeper the widest possible scope of the room. A diminished range of sight within the room can restrict the sleeper’s chi and his or her life vision.
The larger the space in front of your bed, the more your life expands, breathes, and improves. For this reason, Feng Shui cautions against placing the foot of the bed against a wall, which can block your career and cause foot and ankle problems. In addition, placing your bed directly against a side wall (with no space between the side of your bed and the wall) can make you feel cramped, stifled, and less flexible in life. The fourth Commanding Position principle states that you should clearly see the bedroom door from the bed. This concept means that when lying on your back in bed — that is, in the center of the bed (if you sleep alone) or on your side of the bed (if sleeping with a partner) — you can open your eyes and immediately see the door of the room without repositioning your body. If you have to perform gymnastics or create new yoga positions to see who or what’s coming in the door, your bed position does not meet this principle. Not seeing who’s approaching can keep you uncertain and on edge.
Even if you think that you’re accustomed to not seeing the door, you still likely experience ongoing subconscious stress, which can create imbalance and frustration. The possibility of always being startled can keep you on edge, and over time, the continual tension and unrest can cause an imbalance in the nervous system. Results can include nervous problems, arrhythmia, and heart palpitations. In addition, repeatedly twisting the body to see whether someone’s coming can cause neck and spinal problems in the long run. If your bed position doesn’t allow you to see the door and you can’t move the bed, you can place a sizable mirror opposite the bed that allows you to easily see the door. If you need to angle the mirror to show the door, use a standing mirror angled to the appropriate position. The fifth Commanding Position principle holds that the bed should not sit in the direct line of the path of the doorway. If your bed does sit in the direct line of the door, the chi of the door runs directly and too powerfully up the middle of the bed.
This factor can create diseases along the midline of the body. The farther you sleep from the door and the more of the room you see while in bed, the more you can feel in control of your environment and, therefore, your life. Seeing the door to your bedroom symbolizes that you know what life is bringing and feel prepared to deal with whatever comes. You’re in command, and the results manifest positively in many areas of your life. When following the Commanding Position principle, you can choose from three alternatives for good bed placement. Choices 1-b and 1-c are both excellent; just be sure, if possible, to leave enough room on the side closest to the wall for your partner (or yourself) to get into bed. Position 1-a (the bed angled in the corner) is the strongest choice of all; it gains support from two walls rather than one wall. If you choose this position, then your bed should feature a solid headboard. Make sure the corners of the bed firmly touch the walls. You can strengthen this bed position by placing a plant and a light behind the headboard.