the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

edededed wrote:I learned somewhere that the "Daoist way" of sleeping is lying down on your side, kind of curled up. Any idea why this is? And is it good/bad for the dream practice?

I like the idea of using my downtime for something useful...

its laying down on the right side

physically it takes the pressure off the heart which is on the left side
*edit -- its only slightly to the left -- but the left lung only has 2 lobes and the right hand 3- so still laying on the right takes some of the pressure off the heart -- at least that is what I was told the reason for laying on the right side was...
and allows the blood to pool in the liver at night where it should be
(so the hun soul can do its thing)



Franklin

Thanks Franklin - that makes sense - heart, lung, and liver (hun)!

edededed wrote:Thanks Franklin - that makes sense - heart, lung, and liver (hun)!

for the lungs-- its more just that the lungs are not crushing the heart


no problem
actually a lot of esoteric stuff has very physical practical aspects



and interestingly -- western medicine offers a different advice
to lay on the left side - for people who suffer from acid reflux
something about the way the pipes are layed out - helps keep the acid from coming up
(if i remember correctly)


another taoist teacher i had - mentioned to sleep flat on the back
with the head pointing north
according to him the acupoints on the body open up at night and take in the energy from the stars..
(not really related to the sleeping position - but interesting)


Franklin

Interesting - we can certainly do both (sleep on right side, point head north)! If I only had a compass that is...

Luckily, I have never had acid reflux, but that is good to know, too!

Thanks