Thread: Sleeping position affect lucid dreaming?

Ive heard that sleeping on your back helps a bit with dreams but im wondering how true it is. What is your go to sleeping position if you plan on trying to LD and why?

I am curious. I like sleeping on my side just because its comfortable but could sleep on my back if it really did help

I find sleeping on my back after waking in the middle of the night helps me with WILD. I doubt it makes a difference in DILD, but maybe.

I don't know how you guys manage to sleep on your backs, if I try to sleep on my back it gets literally painfully uncomfortable soon. So I hope the position doesn't have an effect on dreams. I do sleep on my side too and I've had many WILDs in that position, just by rolling out of my body when the conditions were right.

Does WILDing effect your rest?

Originally Posted by XxFlybyNightxX

Does WILDing effect your rest?

To some extent. Every WILD techniques has a small impact due the fact that you're loosing sleep time, which is why WILD may not be the recommended technique if you have troubles falling asleep or can't sleep for many hours.
We still don't have much research on this subject, but it would make sense (giving that the lucid state seems a middle spot between sleep and wakefulness) that scenarios in which you wouldn't be so comfortable and maybe a bit more prone to wake up could impact your ability to lucid dream (there's also quite a few reports on it), which makes sense.

I agree with sivason about the back--all of my intentional WILDS have been from this position.

Tibetan dream yoga suggests three sleeping positions: full lotus, rishi posture (seated with knees pulled to chest), and sleeping lion (on side, head facing north, face pointed west, back of hand covering top [?] nostril).

I'm guessing that the seated postures help you stay alert, but I haven't noticed anything with sleeping lion. I don't cover my nostril though.

If you believe sitting a certain way helps you WILD, then that position will help you WILD. Positions while WILDing are just habit combined with placebo, as long as you are comfortable and can feel safe and secure in your position , then that position is right for you.

I personally WILD on my side because that's how I sleep. I've tried WILDing using the positions ThreeCat describes and, due to habit, I've only been successful using the sleeping lion posture. Although I can meditate in the other two positions, I don't feel comfortable enough to fall asleep.

I do not like full lotus for anything. It is not useful in my experience. It is almost like yogi wanted to look mysterious. I can of course sit in full lotus and it is fine, but I just find it silly.

The very fact that many including me do not sleep on their back is why it is useful in WILD. It creates a slight dis-ease that is more likely to result in a lighter sleep.

Originally Posted by Dodge631

Ive heard that sleeping on your back helps a bit with dreams but im wondering how true it is. What is your go to sleeping position if you plan on trying to LD and why?

I am curious. I like sleeping on my side just because its comfortable but could sleep on my back if it really did help

Wow! That's interesting that you say that, because I've always wondered why I tend to have more lucid dreams while sleeping on my back! Maybe it is a thing.

I think Zoth is onto something here; I'm not sure about LDs, but I find my dream recall increase dramatically by sleeping on my back instead of some other more comfortable position, and the reason Zoth mentions is at least a factor, I think. Also, if my memory serves me right, all but one of my lucids so far have been while sleeping on my back.