A sleeping position designed for astronauts could be the secret to banishing insomnia and getting a longer-lasting rest, according to an NHS doctor.
The technique called “zero gravity” is designed by NASA and is believed to help astronauts sleep while in an environment with extreme pressure.
But on land, the position can also help people fall asleep, according to Dr Tim Mercer, NHS GP and Opera Beds GP trainer.
The technique involves lying on your back and elevating your head and legs just above the level of your heart so that your spine is in a relatively straight line.
The head is slightly elevated, with the knees and elbows slightly bent.
He explained that raising your head allows your airways to open and absorb more oxygen while you sleep.
For this reason, the sleeping position can help people with respiratory conditions, being a good way to fall asleep when you have a cold.
‘Sleep is essential for recovery when fighting the flu. Quality rest allows the body to allocate energy to immune function, speeding up the fight against a virus,” Dr. Mercer told Express.
Zero gravity sleep is meant to relieve stress throughout the body. Whether with an adjustable bed or extra pillows, you can achieve this by elevating your feet and head above your heart.
“During sleep, the body produces cytokines (proteins that fight inflammation and infections), making them an essential tool for recovery,” he added.
The NASA sleeping position is also said to help improve blood circulation around the body, speeding up the healing of injuries.
This is because when standing or sitting, the veins in your legs have to work against gravity to return blood to the heart.
But elevating your legs allows blood to circulate easily because your body works with gravity, rather than against it.
Additionally, the position takes pressure off the muscles and joints, inducing relaxing sensations of weightlessness, which improves the quality and quantity of sleep and reduces painful sensations.
Experts maintain that these factors make you less likely to want to change positions while you sleep, which increases your chances of having deep, long-lasting sleep.

NASA’s sleep method was developed as a way to help astronauts fall asleep without fighting the pressure of gravity.
Dr. Mercer also recommended other sleeping positions that can help you fall asleep if you’re having trouble with cold symptoms.
Sleeping on your side, specifically on the left side, can relieve congestion when it stops mucus to build up in the back of your throat while you sleep.
He added that the steam from a hot shower or bath could also relieve congested airways.
Findings from a study published last year revealed that around one in six Britons suffer from insomnia, but 65 per cent never seek help for their sleep problem.
The survey of 2,000 people by The Sleep Charity found that nine in ten experience some type of sleep problem, while one in two engage in high-risk or dangerous behavior when unable to sleep.

Dr. Tim Mercer often shares practical health tricks on his TikTok channel, where he has 46,000 followers.
Poor sleep has been linked to a number of health problems, including cancer, stroke and infertility.
The Nice drug control body recommends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) as a first-line treatment for both short- and long-term insomnia.
However, a recent Freedom of Information request found that only 17 (12 per cent) of the 132 NHS Trusts that responded offer both face-to-face and digital CBT-I.
Commenting on the charity’s findings, deputy chief executive Lisa Arti said: “While public health campaigns around healthy eating and physical activity have been going on for decades, sleep has fallen by the wayside. “solution box,” even though evidence shows that poor sleep increases mortality by 13 percent and is linked to significant physical and mental health problems. We believe it is time for this to change.
“At a time when the government has never been more focused on preventive measures to tackle poor health, our report clearly demonstrates that sleep can play a huge role in supporting this ambition and having a positive impact on six major health conditions in the UK, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and mental health problems.
“Its impact extends far beyond our health – sleep problems are estimated to cost the UK billions of pounds each year in lost productivity.”