With Sun Simiao's sleep method, you can throw away all the medicine

Sun Simiao, also known as the Medicine King Sun Tianyi. This famous doctor in ancient China was also an expert in health preservation. It is said that the Medicine King Sun Simiao lived to be over 100 years old before he passed away. I believe this must be closely related to his own set of health preservation rules! Today we will learn about the Medicine King's sleep health preservation method and see what unique sleep method this famous Chinese medicine master has.

Sun Simiao

Sun Simiao, a medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty, was hailed as the "King of Medicine" by later generations. He is also a Taoist figure of high status. There is a "Medicine King Hall" in many Taoist temples. He has noble medical ethics, attaches great importance to health preservation, and saves lives.

The King of Medicine Sun Simiao was still healthy in both body and mind and was able to write books when he was 100 years old. This was all because he had a set of methods for regulating body and mind, which included rich ideas on healthy sleep. In his book Prescriptions for Emergencies, Sun Simiao said: "Don't sing when you want to sleep, it's unlucky...Don't put a stove near your head, it will attract fire over time, make your head heavy, your eyes red, and your nose dry...Don't sleep with your face exposed in summer, it will make your face thick, prone to ringworm, or face wind. Don't cover your head at night in winter, you will live longer...Don't sleep against the wall, the wind will blow you crazy and make you heavier."

"Don't sing when you want to sleep, it's bad luck."

What does this sentence mean? Many readers like to hum a tune before going to sleep, but Sun Simiao believes that this is not conducive to falling asleep. Because this kind of singing entertainment will make people more excited. Sleep is a protective response in which the brain's nerve cells switch from excitement to inhibition. If you are too excited before going to bed, it will inevitably affect the inhibition process, resulting in difficulty falling asleep or dreaming after sleeping, which will prevent your brain from getting enough rest. Therefore, you should not create excitement half an hour before going to bed, do not sing loudly, stop entertainment activities as early as possible, and do not watch TV or movies too late. For the same reason, students should not read books or use their brains before going to bed. They should try to avoid thinking about difficult problems, listening to thrilling stories, or worrying about other things or letting their minds wander, so as to prevent the cerebral cortex from being in a state of continuous excitement. In addition, environmental factors that are not conducive to falling asleep, such as noise, lights, noise or vibration, should be eliminated.

"Don't place a stove near your head. Over time it will attract fire, causing a heavy head, red eyes and a dry nose."

The ancients needed to use stoves to keep warm. Sun Simiao believed that if there was a stove next to a person's head when sleeping, it would cause the head and body to feel heavy, red and dry eyes, and even dry nasal cavity over time. Although many people no longer use stoves to heat their homes, this tip is still useful. Because many people like to put the oil heater at the head of the bed when they sleep in cold seasons. Although this is very warm, the temperature is a bit high.

From the perspective of human comfort, it is most appropriate to control the indoor temperature between 18℃ and 20℃ in winter. Because in winter, people wear more clothes, and if the indoor temperature is higher than 20℃, they will feel a little hot. If the air conditioning temperature is set above 26°C in winter, or the temperature generated by the oil radiator exceeds this value, the indoor air will become abnormally dry, damaging people's yin essence, making people feel hot all over, dry eyes, mouth, nose and throat, thereby reducing sleep quality and damaging physical health.

From a health care perspective, when using an oil heater when sleeping in winter, in addition to being careful not to place it against the head, you should also pay attention to at least two issues: First, the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors should not be too large. It is best to keep the indoor temperature 8°C higher than the outdoor temperature. If the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor is too large, people are prone to catching colds in an environment of sudden cold or heat. For the elderly and people with hypertension, the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor should not be too large. If the indoor temperature is too high, the human blood vessels will dilate. If they suddenly go outdoors, the blood vessels will suddenly contract, which will cause cerebral blood circulation disorders in the elderly and hypertensive patients and easily induce a stroke. Secondly, closing the doors and windows when using the oil heater will cause indoor hypoxia over time, and bacteria and viruses will take the opportunity to accumulate in large numbers. Therefore, the oil heater should be stopped and the windows opened for ventilation every time it is turned on for more than two hours. Or just turn it on for two hours before going to bed, don't keep it on until dawn.

"In summer, do not sleep with your face exposed. This will make your face thick and may cause ringworm or facial wind. In winter, do not cover your head at night. This will help you live longer."

Many readers will feel strange when reading this sentence. Can't you sleep with your face exposed in summer? How can sleeping with your face exposed "make the skin thick, cause ringworm, or cause facial rash"? Since Sun Simiao is respected as the King of Medicine, he would never have received his reputation in vain. The "sleeping with your face exposed" here does not mean that you cannot sleep with your face exposed, but that you should not sleep with your body exposed. For example, in the summer, many people like to use air conditioning or electric fans with their shirts bare, but even sleeping in the yard is not appropriate because they will be attacked by wind-cold. Our pores are in a relaxed state when we sleep. Think about it, if the "gate" of our skin is open, will the cold wind directly invade our body? Will the probability of causing tinea pilaris and facial paralysis increase? "Don't cover your head on a winter night, and you will live a long life" means that when you sleep in winter, don't cover your head with a quilt or sleep in the quilt with your head covered, so that you can live a long life. Why do I say so? Because the oxygen content in the quilt is low, and there are more waste gases such as carbon dioxide, which will affect normal breathing movements, easily induce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and even cause suffocation, especially for middle-aged and elderly people.

"Don't lie against a wall. The wind will blow you and cause you to become insane and lose weight."

The main meaning of this sentence is to remind you not to sleep against the wall! Many families place their beds against the wall. People think that this saves space and will not cause them to fall off the bed in their sleep. However, experts believe that sleeping too close to the wall is actually not good for your health. The best distance between the bed and the wall should be more than 20 centimeters. Because the temperature of the wall can differ from the room temperature by 3℃ to 8℃, if there is no distance of more than 20cm between them, or no barrier of wooden materials, the coldness of the wall is likely to induce some diseases, such as arthritis, rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, dysmenorrhea, and in severe cases may even lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular and digestive tract diseases. Especially in summer, sleeping against the wall is more harmful because the pores of the human body are open at this time. Sleeping against the wall for a long time will be more affected by wind and cold, which will greatly increase the probability of various diseases. In addition, if the wall next to the bed is the TV wall of your neighbor's house, it will cause radiation hazards. Generally speaking, the bed should be kept more than 20 cm away from the wall, and movement passages should be left on both sides of the bed to facilitate getting in and out of bed, and moisture from the bedding can be more easily dissipated.