The picture above shows inclined beds in an ancient hospital in Constantinople. They were reportedly the very best in health care in their time.
Can raising the head end of your bed by 6 inches really improve your health? According to the man behind the theory of inclined bed therapy, Andrew K. Fletcher, the answer is yes.
His background in engineering allowed him to make a phenomenal discovery twenty years ago about the way trees raise water to their leaves, which led him to conclude that raising the head end of our beds by 6 inches might drastically improve our circulation. Here is how it works in simple terms:
In a tree, evaporation occurs in the leaves, increasing the density of sap in the top of the tree. Gravity pulls the denser sap down towards the roots, forcing the sap at the bottom which has been diluted with water to rise. In other words, gravity pulls the heavy sap down towards the roots and the downward flow causes diluted sap from the roots to be pulled and pushed up the tree. This creates a perpetual cycle enabling the tree to circulate its nutrients from its roots to the top.
According to Fletcher’s theory, this same principal applies to the human body. Through evaporation of blood and other fluids gravity also has an effect on our circulation, not just the pumping mechanism of the heart. This means that our posture, especially when sleeping, has an enormous impact on our health.
We can even find pictures from thousands of years ago where inclined bed therapy was used, such as the one below.
This is a picture of a bed found in an ancient Egyptian tomb. The head was raised by 15 cm/6 inches.
Raising the head of your bed by 6 inches can be done in different ways, one of the methods recommended by Fletcher is the use of strong plastic blocks such as these.
We have not tried this method ourselves, but we personally know of people who have seen amazing health benefits by using the inclined bed therapy.
For more information on how this works and the kinds of health benefits it could provide, visit http://www.inclinedbedtherapy.com
Please note that we are not in any way sponsored by or affiliated with inclinedbedtherapy.com or amazon.com
Thank you for publishing this article. I hope it will find many people in need of a boost to health and wellness.
Intro to IBT: https://youtu.be/6H7gSolYBc0
Kind regards
Andrew
My personal experience has found this to be true – my favorite sleeping spot is my zero gravity chair. I find I am better rested and need fewer hours of sleep.
Thank you for sharing this Lisa and Paul it has changed my life in a way I had not thought possible, 2 nights on an inclined bed got rid of my sciatica which had been the bain of my life for best part of a decade and I feel so much more refreshed after sleeping on an incline I will never go back to sleeping flat.
Many thanks also to Andrew K Fletcher for his tireless work.
I want to try this, but have a divan bed made up of two rectangular blocks. What would be the best way to get the required 6 inch rise please ?
I would suggest you contact Andrew Fletcher about this, either through his website http://www.inclinedbedtherapy.com or find him on Facebook.
6″ blocks under head end of bed frame, not under castors. 3″ blocks under middle of bed to support the join and pop the castors off the bottom of the bed to provide stability.
I took 2 2×8″ boards and cut them to the length of my mattress which is 80″. I then ripped those boards diagonally which gave me 4 triangular shaped boards. I screwed in 4 2×4 in boards in between the triangles and ended up with a big triangular “box.” This cost about $50 and took about 2 hours with my neighbors help.
Tonight will be my 4th night. I can’t say for 100% certain it’s “working.” I will say that I seem to have a significantly higher level of energy. I often suffer from awful fatigue and that hasn’t been present at all in the last 3 days.
Given the very low cost, and the relative ease… I highly recommend trying this out for yourself. The risk/reward potential approaches that of owning physical silver… Which is to say… It’s worth the bother!
Thanks for sharing your method Sonny, please keep us updated on how it goes.
Kind regards
Andrew
I started using a 6″ wedge pillow after I read this article. I cannot sleep fully inclined because I have to have my legs up as well. I have had fewer and milder migranes since I started sleeping semi inclined. Sleeping fully flat on the bed doesn’t feel good at all anymore. Thank you, Lisa, for this vital info!