Lying down directly is more convenient

Pillows are common in many regions. They are used to elevate the head while sleeping, allowing our naturally curved spine to maintain its natural curvature.

If you want to maintain a good night's sleep for an extended period, keeping the spine in its natural state is essential. Otherwise, excessive pressure on the spinal joints and surrounding muscles can lead to various muscle and skeletal issues.

The reason our spines are curved is closely related to our ability to walk upright. A curved spine helps balance the body's center of gravity, absorb shocks, and support the head.

Due to this physiological structure, pillows clearly allow us to sleep more comfortably and enable us to sleep in more positions (with a pillow, many sleeping positions can ensure that the spine remains in its natural state). Therefore, when conditions permit, most people want a pillow when they sleep.

However, this does not mean that we have evolved to need pillows to sleep. In fact, it has been proven that we can sleep just as well without pillows!

For example, there are still various primitive tribes living on Earth today who do not use pillows and can sleep without using anything (including parts of their own bodies) to prop up their heads!

I found a study where the author carefully documented the sleeping habits of people from several pillow-less tribes. He observed that these individuals, who live in simple, natural conditions without modern bedding, show almost no signs of muscle tension, neck pain, or skeletal misalignment. In contrast, over 90% of people in pillow-using societies experience related musculoskeletal problems at some point in their lives. The research suggests that the absence of pillows may promote healthier spinal alignment during rest, reduce chronic strain on muscles, and prevent long-term posture issues—highlighting how certain aspects of our modern comfort culture might actually be undermining our physical well-being.

For example, this gorilla sleeps on its side. This sleeping position does not require anything to support the head and allows the spine to naturally align. This is because the lower shoulders are fully bent, providing good support for the neck.

This sleeping position has the advantage of keeping the mouth closed under the influence of gravity, preventing insects or other animals from crawling into the mouth.

However, the author notes that people in primitive tribes do not prefer this sleeping position because it exposes their private parts to the ground, making them susceptible to insect bites.

This issue can be easily resolved by adjusting the sleeping position, such as this:

Sleeping on one's side in this manner protects the private parts.

However, it requires using one's hand as a pillow, which is likely uncomfortable for extended periods, and perhaps primitive people did not need to sleep for as long as we do.

In addition, people don't even need to lie down to sleep, as shown below:

This sleeping position is common among children. Adults can actually do it too, but most of us are just not used to it.

When surviving in the wild, if the ground is cold and damp, this sleeping position is an excellent choice because it greatly reduces the contact area between the body and the ground, helping to minimize heat loss, prevent moisture from seeping in, and maintain better overall body warmth throughout the night.

Therefore, there are many ways to sleep without a pillow, especially since our flexible limbs can effectively serve as a headrest.

Moreover, it is not difficult to notice that some sleeping positions without a pillow are indeed beneficial for regulating our muscles and bones, thereby reducing related health issues.