Sleep direction may seem unimportant, but its effects are magnified by the sheer number of hours spent sleeping. We’re asleep for a third of our lives, making sleep direction quite important. In determining the best direction, we’ll use guidance from Vastu Shastra.
Vastu Shastra is a traditional Indian science like Ayurveda. But unlike Ayurveda, Vastu Shastra covers spatial configurations and the science of architecture. It has numerous uses beyond sleeping direction, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on its applications to sleep direction.
1. North (Worst)
Assuming you are in the northern hemisphere, sleeping with your head towards the north is the worst. If you are in the southern hemisphere, sleeping with your head towards the south is the worst. Never sleep in sync with the magnetic poles.
The Earth has magnetic poles, so when you sleep towards the north, the iron in your blood is attracted towards the north. Excess blood moves towards your head, but the blood vessels in your head are thinner and aren’t designed to get a lot of blood flow.
Though you may not initially feel side effects, over a period of time, the increased pressure can cause blood circulation issues, sleep disturbances, and worse. Interestingly, it is Hindu custom to arrange a corpse with the head pointing north because the belief is that the north is the route for the soul to exit the body.
2. West (Bad)
Facing backward on a moving vehicle tends to make people more nauseous than if they had faced forward. Correspondingly, sleeping towards the west, in the opposite direction in which the planet is spinning, is bound to cause disturbances in sleep.
The Vastu perspective says that the guest bedroom should be arranged towards the west. When visitors sleep towards the west, they will not have a completely restful night’s sleep, preventing them from overstaying their welcome.
3. East (Good)
Sleeping with your head towards the east is a good option. The sun rises in the east because the Earth rotates to the east. So when we face east, we align ourselves with the direction in which the planet is spinning and position ourselves to receive the rejuvenating energy of the sun.
Vastu recommends the east direction particularly for those in academics, as the direction enhances memory and improves concentration. Facing the east is also recommended for meditation and spiritual pursuits.
4. South (Best)
Sleeping towards the south brings the body in harmony with the Earth’s magnetic field, as opposed to the disharmony brought by sleeping towards the north. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, these directions are flipped.
According to Hindu mythology, the south is the direction of Lord Yama, the god of death. Sleeping in this direction will promote the heavy and deep sleep of death. Vastu practitioners consider this deep sleep to be best for health as it promotes energy, wealth, and prosperity.
Give It a Try
Though science has still yet to rigorously prove this ancient wisdom, it doesn’t hurt to adjust your sleep direction. Test it out for a day or two and see what happens.
It suffices to look at this topic with common sense. Just like how the iron in the compass points to the north in the northern hemisphere (and points to the south in the southern hemisphere), the iron in your blood will also flow in that direction.
While we’re sleeping, the blood flow in the head is already elevated since we’re laying down. It wouldn’t be smart to further increase that blood flow by sleeping in sync with the poles.
Go for south and east, and avoid north and west.