Sleep Posisition

I've been thinking about various sleeping posisitions, and was wondering, do you think that they have an effect on dreaming? I had a rather interesting expeirence once...

I think it was a year or two ago, that I was really into Astral Projection and what not when I had an idea... See, I associate doing spiritual things like Lucid Dreaming and APing with laying on my back. So, I figured why not sleep on my back that night? I did, and it was friggin' nuts. I remembered nothing, not a single thing of my sleep and when I woke up, only one thing had moved - my right arm.
I was in the posisition they put people in when they go into coffins. And my right arm had went from my solar plexis and ontop of my left to the wall. It pivoted and my elbow.



What do you guys thin?

I don't think arm position has any effect on NORMAL dreaming. It does change how difficult it is to get to sleep, though.

As far as WILDs go? Yep, it definately makes a difference, I think, even though I haven't had any successful WILDs yet. The key, I think, is to have your arms as comfortable as possible, but so that no part of your body, including your arms, touches any other part of your body. Your joints, etp. elbow, should be bent, but not too much.

But that's just my experience...

Body position doesn't seem to have an affect on my dreaming, but that's probably because I can only fall asleep when I'm in one of two positions. Neither of those two positions seems to make any appreciable difference on the number or vividness of my dreams. Of course, I must admit I haven't paid much attention to this before, either.

When I read this thread, I also remembered an interesting article I read a couple of years ago about the relationship between one's body position during sleep and some of one's dominant personality traits: Sleep position gives personality clue (bbc).

The lucid dreams that I remember have all occurred when sleeping on my right side.

However every time I sleep on my right side does not give me a lucid.

The Lucidity Institute is running an experiment on sleep positions.

There are some physiological studies on nasal laterality that suggest there may be connections between the side of the nose that you breath through, and the activation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

International Journal of Neuroscience

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The effects of unilateral forced nostril breathing (UFNB) on systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate (HR) were studied in 88 male and 41 female right-handed subjects. In men, both the right and left unilateral forced nostril breathings significantly increased the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and HR, but had no effect on the diastolic blood pressure (DBP). In women, the right UFNB increased, but the left UFNB slightly decreased the SBP and DBP. The results suggested that there may be a nostril laterality affecting the autonomous nervous system differentially.[/b]

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When you sleep on your right side, generally the left nostril is less impeeded and more open, and vice versa.

All I was taught is that WILDing is best done when lying flat on your back, with your arms to your sides, but that this is also the position that you are mostly likely to experiance the Old Hag syndrome.

I am intrguied as to weather or not the position you sleep in has repurcussions on your non-lds however... I may have to experiment!

I've read that sleeping flat on your back will increase the chance of sleep paralysis, but that's about it.

http://www.castleofspirits.com/sleepparalysis.html Look under "Causes" in the article.

I just can't sleep lying on my back, so it doesn't help.

I sleep on my side with my arms curled up and my hands next to, or slightly under my pillow. Legs stretched out.

Either side is fine for sleeping, but I usually roll over while I'm asleep anyway. I've never noticed which side I sleep have any effect on my dreaming.

I would say just sleep however you're most comfortable.

I've noticed that majority of my LDs, especially the good and long ones, happen when I'm lying on my back. I can lucid dream also in other positions, but LDs are shorter, less stable.

I wouldn't say though that sleeping position has anything to do with me becoming lucid. It just influences the quality of LDs. At least in my experience.

Well, see, personally I don't actually have any CHOICE in sleep position.

My shoulders are too broad for me to comfortably sleep on either side. As for sleeping on my stomach? Ach, I can't twist my head around like that for a whole night. No way!

So, I HAVE to lie on my back.

I have read before, I think in a dream yoga book, that sleeping on the right side is more condusive for LDs. It has something to do with constricting the flow of bad energy (traveling down the right side of your body) and encouraging the flow of good energy (up your left side). You lie on your right side, as a lion on the hill, or something like that. I found this on www.khandro.net :

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Go to sleep on the right side, as in the Lion's [of the Shakyas -- Buddha in Parinirvana] final position. With the thumb and the ring-finger of the right hand, press the pulsing throat arteries; plug the nostrils with the fingers [of the left hand]; and let saliva collect in your throat. (As a consequence, the dreamer is able to experience dreaming more vividly and so it is easier to see the similarity between the waking and dreaming states. Also in passing from one state to another, one may experience no break in the continuity of memory.) In that way the content of the dream-state will be found to be quite the same as the content of the waking-state, in that it is wholly phenomenal and therefore illusory... .[/b]

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Thinking about it, does anybody know why sleeping on your back helps? I've never wondered about that until now... how strange of me!

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Originally posted by Jacky-Woo
Thinking about it, does anybody know why sleeping on your back helps? I've never wondered about that until now... how strange of me!

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Well, I'm just gueesing, but...

The primary visual cortex is right smack bang at the back of the brain, as is ya visual associaltion cortex. Basically, thet's the part of ya brain that allows you to see shit, whether that's thru ya eyes or ya "mind's eye". So, like, maybe when you're on your back, there's more blood flow to that part of your brain (cos it's like... at the back) or summin'.

Hey, f%$&ed if I know, I'm only doing like one first-year psych paper, I'm practically layman...

So it's down to the layout of your brain and gravity? That makes sense!

Does anyone have any experiance of sleeping in space or possibly sleeping upright somehow? How did that affect your dreams?

Anyone else can speculate too!

I've got this

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9. BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS, THE NASAL CYCLE & DREAMS [X: NL 3(1); U: NL 3(3)]

In studying the relationship of lucid dreaming to the daily cycle of
waking and sleeping, it is essential to consider the biological rhythms
involved. In addition to the well-known 24 hour circadian cycle there
are shorter cycles, called ultradian. One of these appears in the form
of shifting dilation of the nostrils. If you hold one nostril closed and
breathe through the other, and then switch nostrils, generally you will
find that one nostril is easier to breathe through than the other. The
change from left to right seems to follow an approximately 90 minute
cycle.

Some research has suggested that the nasal cycle may be connected to
cycles of activity in the brain and also to cognitive abilities.
Furthermore, a shift in nostril dilation can be produced by pressure on
a reflex point on the side along line beneath the armpit. Possibly,
then, one could effect a change in cognitive activity by deliberately
pressing on this point.

In the oldest available references on lucid dream induction, the
thousand year old text on Dream Yoga in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition,
is the advice to the initiate attempting to achieve a lucid dream that
he should sleep "on the right side, as the lion doth." It is possible
that the purpose of this posture is to encourage the type of brain
activity conducive to lucid dreaming. After all, most of our current
knowledge about reflex points on the body is found in ancient yogic
texts.

This experiment examined the effect of sleeping posture on chances of
lucid dreaming and attempted to assess if nostril laterality bore any
relation to posture and lucid dreaming. The results were complex and
difficult to interpret, showing that this type of study is probably best
done in a laboratory under well controlled conditions. The procedure
asked people to note when they awakened in the night, whether they had
been dreaming, or lucid dreaming, which nostril was most open and to
rate their dreams on several scales. The finding to take home from this
study is that indeed, people had three times as many lucid dreams when
sleeping on their right sides (as the lion doth?) than when sleeping on
their left sides. Back sleeping presents a more complicated picture,
also seeming to be better than sleeping on the left, but here we must
examine other factors, such as which nostril is open. Further conclusion
is deferred until a laboratory study is accomplished.
[/b]

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Taken from http://www.lucidity.com/NL42.1001Nights.html

It basically says that the research showed that people who slept on the right side had three times as many lucid dreams. But that the research wasn't done under the right conditions and it other factors have to be taken in consideration.

Still, it might mean something

SMASHING FIND!!! *promptly falls asleep on right side*

Everyone try that out over the coming week, and all post your results back here!

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Originally posted by Umbrella
It basically says that the research showed that people who slept on the right side had three times as many lucid dreams. But that the research wasn't done under the right conditions and it other factors have to be taken in consideration.

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Huh. See, that makes sense.

The right side of the brain where most of the creative shit happens, in general. The left brain is mainly language. So, the same principle applies, I guess. Probably not blood flow, probably summin else, but nevertheless, ya favour the side of the brain that's down, I guess.

Probably also explains why WILD is tried lying on yer back: you use your visual association cortex to make sense of all the hypnogogic imagery. Or maybe you need the primary visual cortex to see it in the first place...? Both at back of brain.

Of course, this is a major pain in the ass for me. I sleep on my back all the time. Huh... so, I might be missing out on dreams...? That sucks. You see, I have broad shoulders for someone my height, so it's kinda uncomfortable for me to sleep on side.

Yeah, I don't sleep on my side either. I don't see how anyone could, really. I'd just roll over kinda... Anyway, I actually sleep on my front, since I couldn't fall asleep on my back either, so I still tilt my head to one side or the other. I've noticed that I usually start out on the right side (when I lie down), and then when I want to fall asleep I have switch to the left side for some reason. I have no idea if Blue Meanie's theory has got anything to do with this, but I would say I'm "left-brained".

Anyway, I'd say that if sleeping on your right side really improves your chance of having lucid dreams (which, like I said, the research I was talking about in my previous post implied, but by no means proved), then it probably has to do with your level of conciousness being higher in that position for some reason. It's the only logical explanation I can think of, anyway.

I usually sleep on my stomache if I don't plan on WILDing. It's most comfortable for me, but I fall right to sleep, so if I WILD, I must sleep on my back to keep my mind awake.

I kept trying to WILD on my back, becouse it is more easy to concentrate that way. However, I can just Not fall asleep on my back, so I guess I should just ly on my belly or side.

once you are dreaming, it doesn't matter I think.