Do you know which direction you keep your head when you sleep? If you don’t know, then you must! Sleep is one of the most important part of your daily activities that you do. The direction where you place your head plays a big part in maintaining a good health and being successful overall. It also influences your character, mind and hence thinking process. Also your relationship with other people! This has been explained in detail in the Vaastu Shashtra. I read somewhere that approximately 90% of the people do sleep in wrong way or direction. We do work for all day and our muscles get tired and lot of energy is used for all day working. To recharge the body again or to give rest to the muscles we need to take rest in the form of sleep. Sleep deprivation causes many diseases in our body. We will deal with one of the main aspect of sleeping right – the right direction to keep your head!

There is a Tamil proverb going thus – “Vaaraatha vaazhvu vanthaalum vadakke thalai vekkakudaathu“. Which means – “Even if one gets good fortune, one should not sleep with head in the north direction“. There are many such proverbs in many cultures about what is the right direction to keep the head. Event the Mahabharataha says – “Men become wise sleeping in the eastern or southern directions“. There is a direction for everything in the Indian culture and good reasons too! The physicians, at least Ayurvedic ones, make their patients sit facing east before diagnosis and give them medicines. There is a direction for brides and grooms to be seated in the marriage. Corpses are placed with their head in the south direction. So there is a direction for everything!

Coming back to sleeping, the recommended direction is placing the head in the east or south direction. The reason for the southern direction is because of the magnetic property of the earth and human body. The earth we are in is subjected to all kinds of energies from the sun going from east to west. By this, earth is magnetized with the north pole becoming the north pole or a magnet and south pole being the south. Since our human body is also a magnet – our head is the north and feet being the south, when we place our head in the north direction, then we the opposite poles repel each other thus destroying the natural polarity of the body. This natural polarity of the human body is key to happiness and health. The body is hale and healthy if the natural polarity that we acquire during the day is preserved in the night. That is the reason our elders warned us from keeping our head in the north! On placing it in the south, there is attraction between the earth poles and our parts of the body. Thus the polarity of the body is still intact.

There are special instructions given to married couples, single person, head of the house hold ,etc. on which direction to sleep. Here is one interesting one – Married couples are better off keeping their heads in the southern direction because it increases the attraction between them :)! It helps one to have positive thinking and sincerity in behavior. Not only this, South direction enhances one’s self confidence and leadership qualities. You can read more on the source links i provided below.

As for the eastern direction, the current of electricity passes over the earth from east to west. When the current passes from one body to another body then it influences the body that it enters and leaves inflammation in the body which it leaves. When we place the head in the west and feet in east, then the current passing through feet and leaving the head leaves inflammation in the head. Which means we get up with a headache which affects how we function. Having the head in the east is more auspicious and conducive for better thinking.

Regarding the positions of sleeping, there are two positions that are recommended – The first position is sleep turning left side (baal aasana) and the second position is sleep straight (shava aasana).When wake up in the morning first turn right and then get up from the bed. In both the above positions our spine will remain straight and we will never have a health problem if we sleep in the above two positions.

So BOTTOM LINE is – Dont keep your head in north or west and get up in morning turning to the right side. 

[Courtesy : http://www.healthnaturaltips.com/2012/10/what-are-right-position-to-sleep-well.html, http://queenofsleep.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/feng-shui-is-your-bed-positioned-facing-the-right-direction%5D