Written By: Pavitra Sampath | Updated : March 25, 2014 5:01 PM IST
In Vastu Shastra there is a belief that a person should not sleep with their head facing the North. While some of us believe what the ancient science tells us blindly, there are those who ask for scientific proof. So, to help you understand the science behind the rules of Vastu Shastra, here is are five scientific reasons for not lying with your head facing the North:
Why is it bad?
According to Vastu Shahstra people who sleep with their head facing the North often experience a headache, disturbed sleep, high blood pressure, palpitations, mood swings and are generally irritable when they wake up. Wondering why this happens? Well, it has a lot to do with the way your brain and heart functions.
Here's why:
1. Your body functions on electrical impulses: When we think about something, walk, workout or even do something as involuntary as breathing, it is all done with the help of nervous impulses coursing through our body. How it works is that our brain sends signals through nerves to various organs or parts of our body to perform a function through electrical impulses. This function then takes place with another series of electrical impulses and chemical reactions. Now, we all know that when electric charge passes through a conductor or wire (in this case our nerves) it leads to the production or a magnetic field in essence making our body a weak magnet. Considering our head as the main centre of nervous impulses it becomes our very own North Pole!
So how does your sleeping position affect your brain? Well, the earth has its own magnetic field (that travels from the North Pole to the South Pole) making it a magnet as well. Now, when similar poles of a two magnets are kept together they repel. The same way when our head faces the North as we sleep, it faces repulsion from the North Pole of the earth leading to disturbances in sleep and bodily functions.
2. There is a disruption of our magnetic field: Our body's magnetic field is highly studied field that is known as the magnetic field theory. This theory states that our body's magnetic field (due to the passage of electric charge through our nerves and brain) creates a magnetic field around our body that roughly starts from our head and ends at our toes. This then courses through our body to again leave through the head. Now when we sleep with our heads in the North (for about six to eight hours in a day) the innumerable chemical reactions and large amount of electron transfer taking place in our body (that generates a weak magnetic field) get affected leading to a slow and steady alteration in the way our body functions. Affecting your sleep patterns, changing your sleep cycle and making you irritable and moody.
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3. Your heart is the strongest electric powerhouse in your body: Have you ever wondered how your heart beats? Well it does so by electric charge. There is actually a group of cells within the heart muscle known as the pacemaker cells of the heart, this group of cells send tiny electrical charge through the heart and helps it beat (essentially contract and relax). Therefore, the heart is known as the powerhouse of the body, one that produces the strongest magnetic charge in humans. This magnetic field is so strong that it can be detected with a meter (Gaussmeter) placed outside the body. So, being the centre of our body's magnetic field makes our heart even more susceptible to malfunction when you sleep in a field that acts against the heart's magnetic field. This repulsion can lead to palpitations and high blood pressure problems.
4. Your blood is made of Iron: Our blood is largely made up of iron and basic physics law states that iron and magnets have a causal link with each other. So when this magnetic field is affected it affects the speed and amount of blood that flows thorough our body. A low or excessive amount of blood flow does lead to blood pressure disorders.
5. Your brain's neurons fire differently when they face certain directions: A research study has found that our brain is extremely sensitive to orientation, position and direction in space. The study showed that the firing rate of certain neurons in the thalamus changed depending on the angular velocity and the direction in which the head moves. It concluded that the brain was capable of keeping up with the absolute direction of the head as you move from palace to place. The study also found that the hippocampus was sensitive to the head's position in space. The study stated that when you face East your brain functions differently when compared to the functioning of your brain when they face other direction like North, South and West. It concluded that the power and the quality of thoughts is influenced by the direction one is facing. An alteration in this directionality influences every aspect of your brain's functions and its physiology. Therefore proving that the direction in which you sleep is very well capable of giving you disturbed sleep, bad dreams, minor insomnia and irritation.
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