Dear Friends,
Namaste!
We learnt how to sleep in the Corpse Pose (“Shavasana”) last week. It is one of the most important postures in the Yoga-Shastra because no other posture is as healing and relaxing – not only physically but mentally as well.
This week, let’s discuss the other recommended postures while sleeping, viz., the Crocodile Pose (“Makarasana”) and the Sleeping Buddha Pose (“Buddhasana”).
Makarasana:
“Makara” literally means a crocodile. “Asana” is a posture. So in this posture, we sleep like a resting crocodile. Flat on the ground. On our belly. Legs spread a comfortable distance apart. Ankles touching the ground. One hand on top of the other around the head (so as to resemble the triangular upper and lower jaws of a crocodile – in the closed position). Head between hands. Each palm resting on the opposite shoulder. Eyes closed. Lower abdomen pressed firmly into the ground.Maximising ground touch (now we know why J). Spread out and enjoying life like a contented crocodile – sans the tail!
Ideally, one elbow should be placed on top of the other but if it is not possible, it is ok to just put one hand on top of the other and rest our forehead on it. Alternatively, we can turn our head to the left or right and rest on the respective temple. It is critical to keep our nose free in all the variations so that breathing remains normal.
Makarasana is great for resting and recuperating. It is the next best thing that can happen to a human body after Shavasana in this respect. It is also great for digestion and excretion. People suffering from gases benefit hugely by the positive pressure created by our body on the stomach. The belly gets gently massaged as it is in contact with the ground.
Buddhasana:
This posture is a sideways posture. We do not lie either on our back or our belly but on one of our sides. The body is usually kept straight. The lower hand forms an ideal pillow when folded under the ear and the other hand can rest comfortably along the upper side of the body. It is important to keep the neck and head perfectly horizontal (which happens automatically when we use our hand as the pillow). Keeping the neck either tilted downwards or upwards can cause neck sprain! Our eyes, of course, should be closed.
We can use a pillow as long as we are not compromising the correct posture as stated above. (A pillow is not strictly required for sleeping but if one is used to sleeping on a pillow, the person should ensure that the thickness of the pillow will not lead to neck sprain.)
There is a variation of this posture that is recommended especially in cold weather. Instead of keeping the legs straight, we can fold the legs and curl them up like a baby in womb so that our thighs press against our abdomen and chest. The upper hand can fold over our legs to help them get closer to our torso.
How does this help in feeling warmer? For a logical answer, we will again have to revert to Physics!
Heat flows from hotter to a less hot entity when the entities are in contact. This is because nature is continuously performing Yoga (restoring equilibrium) in all circumstances! Our normal body temperature is 38 degrees Centigrade. When our body gets exposed to ambient temperature that is significantly less, the heat transfer from our body to the environment goes up too! This rapidly cools down our body and we feel ‘cold’.
The rate at which heat is transferred is dependent upon the surface area exposed to the environment. Larger the area, more is the heat lost (or transferred) from our body. By folding legs and pressing them against our torso, we are reducing the surface area and also the heat loss to the environment and this keeps us relatively warmer. Again, a very ‘natural’ and intuitive thing to do – and with reason!
In Buddhasana, we can (and should) alternate between the left side and the right side. If we sleep on our right side, it expedites the process of ‘resting’ our body. On the other hand, sleeping on the left side expedites the process of ‘rebuilding’ our body. How does this happen?
As per Ha-Tha-Yoga, life-force (“prana”) flows through our body essentially through two channels (“nadi” in Yogic lingo). One channel is called “Pingala” and the other is called “Ida”. These channels carry the proverbial Solar (“Ha” or the Yang or the Hard or the Contracting) and Lunar (“Tha” or the Yin or the Soft or the Expanding) life-forces respectively.
We will see in the next article the interplay of these opposing forces in resting and recuperating our body during sleep.
Cheers.
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