Sleeping upright is ''healthy'' for Buddhists
25/06/2009
By Michael Ewing
Buddhist monks may seem like they are depriving themselves of sleep if they sit up to do it, yet the practice is still conducive to good rest, it is claimed.
Ani Lhamo, the secretary to the abbot at the Samye Ling monastery, told the BBC that strength and motivation is needed to sleep upright but it is very much possible, noting that muscle tone is not lost if they use this method to rest.
He explained that if it is possible and somebody is "well-attuned" to sleeping upright instead of using a bed, they may become able to develop the amount of time they usually use as sleep and change it into meditation time.
Mr Lhamo continued: "Also, if you are more upright when you sleep, when you wake up you haven''t slept so deeply and it is easy to wake up quickly and get going."
Meditation in Buddhism centres on making the body and mind a single entity, instead of attaining a hypnotic state or contacting a supernatural being.
