Brief Summary
This video presents a health hack based on the sleeping habits of Marcus Aurelius, advocating for sleeping on the floor to improve sleep quality and overall health. It covers the benefits of this practice, including spinal alignment, temperature regulation, and lymphatic drainage, and details the optimal sleeping position to maximise these benefits. The video encourages viewers to try this method for themselves to experience its transformative effects.
- Sleeping on the floor promotes spinal alignment and reduces neck and back pain.
- The recommended sleeping position is on the right side with specific arm and leg placements to maximise circulation and lymphatic function.
- Avoiding pillows is advised to prevent facial asymmetry and improve head circulation.
The presenter introduces a health hack inspired by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which he has personally used for four years to transform his life. This hack involves adopting a specific sleeping position aimed at maximising circulation, a technique taught in Swedish schools for unconscious individuals.
The presenter recounts his past struggles with falling asleep and waking up feeling unwell. He describes issues such as overheating and discomfort with pillows, which led him to sometimes sleep without one. He emphasises the importance of improving sleep quality and encourages viewers to watch the video to learn how.
To improve sleep, the presenter suggests two key areas to focus on: the sleeping environment and overall health. He mentions that subscribing to the channel will provide viewers with information on improving their health. He then introduces Marcus Aurelius to address the question of optimising the sleeping environment.
Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, was a stoic philosopher. The presenter references Aurelius' book, "Meditations," and highlights that Aurelius slept on the floor. While Aurelius did so for spiritual reasons, the presenter advocates for it due to its health benefits.
The presenter explains that sleeping on a regular bed causes the body's centre of gravity to sink, misaligning the spine. He shares his personal experience of resolving neck and back pain by sleeping on the floor. He notes improvements in temperature regulation, ease of falling asleep, and increased comfort and space while sleeping on the floor.
The presenter teases that he will reveal the ideal sleeping position at the end of the video, including whether or not a pillow is needed.
The glymphatic system, responsible for flushing out brain debris during sleep, functions most effectively when sleeping on one's side, at least in rats. The presenter notes that sleeping on the floor makes it easier to maintain a side sleeping position.
The presenter observes that animals and humans in nature tend to sleep on their sides, a pattern supported by scientific findings. He points out that humans have primarily slept on hard surfaces throughout history, as modern beds are a relatively recent invention.
The presenter argues that if sleeping on the floor worked for historical figures, ancestors, and himself, it is worth trying.
Drawing from Swedish school teachings on positioning unconscious individuals to maximise circulation, the presenter demonstrates his preferred sleeping position. He recommends sleeping on the right side to align with the digestive system's natural flow, aiding gravity in the digestive process. The position involves placing the top hand below the head, the top knee on the ground, and stretching the other arm forward.
The presenter advises against using a pillow, suggesting instead to use one's hand placed on the temple. He argues that pillows can negatively affect facial structure by putting pressure on the teeth and jaw, potentially leading to uneven facial development. Sleeping without a pillow also improves circulation around the head, preventing overheating.
The presenter reiterates that sleeping on the floor has transformed his life and encourages viewers to try it to experience the benefits firsthand.
The presenter acknowledges the channel's small size and expresses the importance of each subscriber and community member.
The presenter thanks viewers for their support and encourages them to like and share the video. He mentions the resources he consulted while preparing the video, including content from Daily Stoic and What I've Learned. He concludes by encouraging viewers to achieve excellent health.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “Roman Emperor's Sleep Tip Changed My Life”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 okay so in swedish schools we're taught to put an unconscious person in a certain position that maximizes circulation today i'm gonna tell you about a health hack that's the greatest roman emperor ever used and that i've used for four years now that has completely transformed my life when i was younger i generally had a hard time falling asleep i mean i'd lay down in the bed and then my face would overheat and a part of the pillow would overheat so i'd go to the other side of the pillow and then my face would overheat again so i switched the pillow over tried to sleep face overheated throwed the pillow on the ground and
0:45 then i slept without a pillow yeah that sometimes happened and you know especially during my teenage years i had a really hard time falling asleep but that was not the biggest problem when i actually woke up i felt like crap i felt really bad today however i sleep really well and i want you to sleep really well so watch the entire video so that you can know what to do before we start talking about the health hack you have to know about something to influence your sleep you can do two things you can change the environment that you sleep in and you can improve your health if you subscribe to the channel you'll cover yourself from a health perspective i've got plenty of videos showing you what to do but what should you do about the environment that you sleep in to answer the question i'd
1:31 like to introduce you to one of the greatest men who ever lived using a quote that i got from ryan holiday few now care about the marches and counter marches of the roman commanders what the centuries have clung to is a notebook of thoughts by a man whose real life was largely unknown who put down in the midnight dimness not the events of the day or the plans of the morrow but something of far more permanent interest the ideals and aspirations that a rare spirit lived by brand blanchard this quote is referring to this book right here the meditations by marcus aurelius marcus aurelius was a roman emperor from 161 to 180 a.d he's said to have loved philosophy and many people consider him
2:17 to be a philosopher one of the most important stoic philosophers when he was younger he was really into you know greek philosophers he was during his entire lifetime i guess but when he was younger he really admired them so he stepped on the floor and he wore you know ropes you see marcus slept on the floor for spiritual and philosophical reasons but i sleep on the floor for health reasons and it might not be obvious as to why sleeping on the floor is more healthy than sleeping in a bed but after watching you know this section of the video it will be very clear to you you see when you sleep in a bed your center of gravity so around your butt is gonna sink lower than the rest of your body this means that it doesn't matter if you
3:02 sleep on your back or your front or your side your spine will always be out of alignment if you sleep in a regular bed although there aren't any studies talking about the benefits of sleeping on the floor i'm still here i can still give you my experience i used to have neck pain i used to get you know you know the thing where your neck twitches in your head is like this all the time and whenever you turn it to this side twitches again and it hurts really bad i used to have that a lot when i started sleeping on the floor all of that went away and ever since then the frequency of you know straining my neck has gone down considerably i also used to have back problems from working out incorrectly all of that went away it healed by itself when i started sleeping on the floor even back then when i used
3:49 to go to the gym i remember that when i slept on the floor it was much easier on my back than when i was in the bed i've been able to fall asleep more easily i've been able to not overheat at all my temperature regulation is much better when i'm on the floor it feels much more comfortable i have more space i can spread out my legs however i want and the ideal sleeping position is easier to maintain at the end of the video i'll show you the right side to sleep on the exact position that i go for and if you need a pillow or not there's still more to talk about there's a thing called the glymphatic system which ensures that the debris that your brain creates when it's working is flushed out this happens during sleep and it has been shown that
4:35 it is most effective at least in rats when they sleep on their side and it is easier to maintain the side position when you sleep on the floor generally when you see a pattern in nature it is wise to follow it and the pattern we see in animals and humans living in nature is that they prefer to sleep on their side and science is backing this up just to throw it out there i mean we've existed for 200 to 300 000 years and we've only had beds for like well not a long time at least not modern bits so we've generally slept on hard surfaces and hey if it works for the greatest man who ever lived your ancestors and the guy you're seeing on the screen then you should do it right but how do you do it well i'll show you
5:20 okay so in swedish schools we're taught to put an unconscious person in a certain position that maximizes circulation so i thought why don't i sleep in that position because then i'm maximizing circulation right so i'm gonna show you that position now first you pick a side i prefer the right side because then or i i think everyone should sleep on the right side because then if you look at the stomach food travels like sort of like this and then down here and then it's emptied over here so if you want gravity to work for you not against you then you should sleep on your right side and generally i hear less gurgling when i sleep on the right side and if you haven't noticed that try it out and
6:06 i think it will be more comfortable okay so first you put your top hand below your head you put your top knee on the ground then you stretch your other arm in front of you and your back leg can go with wherever it wants now this is the position i basically go to every time i go to sleep if i wake up during the night i automatically revert to that position if i'm outside of it and i don't think i can fall asleep unless i'm in that exact position because i've conditioned myself to sleep in that position and i think this is the absolute best sleeping position because of one circulation and two lymphatic function now yes i do use bed sheets but i do not use a pillow i only use my hand i put my
6:52 hand on my temple and the rest of my face is in the air why is this superior to a pillow because of two reasons the pillow messes up your face because it puts pressure on your teeth and your jaw and if you look at forums where they talk about orthotropics or improving your face structure they've noted that the side you sleep on is generally less developed and for me that's the case these teeth and i've slept on my the right side of my face since childhood these teeth buckle inward and this bone right here the maxilla protrudes more over here than over here and it was only when i started sleeping on my side and on my hand around here that my neck issues completely went away okay now this will become three reasons but the thing is the circulation around your
7:38 head is so much greater when you don't use a pillow that your face won't overheat one of the greatest men who ever lived slept on the floor i've slept on the floor for four years and it has completely transformed my life so what are you waiting for go and sleep on the floor cause you'll never know about the benefits if you don't try it i know that this channel is small i know that we don't have many subscribers but if you haven't already subscribed let me tell you this you matter your subscription matters and i want you to be a part of the community whether you're subscribed or not your presence is incredibly valued by everyone if you like the video hit the like button share it with someone that needs it when preparing for this video i watched the daily stoics video about how to read the meditations
8:23 so ryan holiday and i also watched what i've learned video about the best sleeping position and with that said go and achieve excellent health i know you can do it [Music] you
