Thread: body position effecting dreams?

Hi everybody! This is my first post here so forgive me if I'm asking stupid things

Well, I've been having this problem with going to sleep. I remember from my early childhood (ok, I'm just 16y old atm..) that if I fell asleep while lying on my back I'd get pretty bad nightmares. I remember actually testing it by trying to fall asleep in different positions. In my childhood I had a pretty good dream recall (which I would love to get back.), compared to now.
Well it's a problem that's not really hard to solve, but lucky as I am, I actually find lying on my back a comfortable position, if it weren't for my fear to have nightmares.

So I guess my question is: Is this a known issue, is it solvable, or does someone experiencing the same thing?

Furthermore I am starting in my journey to have lucid dreams, the thing that actually brought me here, and have some questions about that too.

First of all, I know it is said that in early childhood people remember dreams better/more often. This was the case with me too. But I actually remember having (what I think are) lucid dreams in that period (to a certain extend).
I wish I had written the memories down, but still have some vague memories:
-I was swimming (actually just keeping my head out of the water) in the water and got dragged into a stream. The evironment was not a river or sea, but rather water flowing in a man-made environment, maybe something industrial. I'm not sure why but I got aware of the dream. Then I tried to get out of the stream and somewhere there it faded away.

and probably the most amusing thing I succeeded in:
-The whole dream is a blur but I remember that I injected myself with something that could make me fly. (atleast I think it was to fly. whatever it was, it was great!) Anyway, the dream was slipping away and I felt I was getting pulled away to reality. I guess at that point it was quite clear it was a dream . But unlike before I just wasn't willing to let go of it. I think I actually "went" to my real bed in my head, but I kept my eyes closed and thought of nothing but the dream. Somehow I managed to plug in to the dream again, now lucidly (if that even is a word) it's kinda blurry from then on
(I have to add that the fact that i injected myself with something just came to my memory again... I thought I could only remember flying..)

Now, is that lucid dreaming or merely part of the dream?

I'm going to try to get lucid dreams again and will be around this forum.

oh, i kinda forgot to ask, but do hovering(2 or 3) hoola hoops that are spinning around their axel in a dream have some sort of meaning?
I've had that scene in a start of a nightmare once (I was not really in control of my body and I had to go through the hoolahoop to "continue". The trick was that if I entered the hoola hoop on the wrong side, bad stuff would happen... I got in through the wrong side.) and it has made such a strong and deep impression on me, but I just don't know why...

Originally posted by Deere
Hi everybody! This is my first post here so forgive me if I'm asking stupid things

Well, I've been having this problem with going to sleep. I remember from my early childhood (ok, I'm just 16y old atm..) that if I fell asleep while lying on my back I'd get pretty bad nightmares. I remember actually testing it by trying to fall asleep in different positions. In my childhood I had a pretty good dream recall (which I would love to get back.), compared to now.
Well it's a problem that's not really hard to solve, but lucky as I am, I actually find lying on my back a comfortable position, if it weren't for my fear to have nightmares.

So I guess my question is: Is this a known issue, is it solvable, or does someone experiencing the same thing?

Furthermore I am starting in my journey to have lucid dreams, the thing that actually brought me here, and have some questions about that too.

First of all, I know it is said that in early childhood people remember dreams better/more often. This was the case with me too. But I actually remember having (what I think are) lucid dreams in that period (to a certain extend).
I wish I had written the memories down, but still have some vague memories:
-I was swimming (actually just keeping my head out of the water) in the water and got dragged into a stream. The evironment was not a river or sea, but rather water flowing in a man-made environment, maybe something industrial. I'm not sure why but I got aware of the dream. Then I tried to get out of the stream and somewhere there it faded away.

and probably the most amusing thing I succeeded in:
-The whole dream is a blur but I remember that I injected myself with something that could make me fly. (atleast I think it was to fly. whatever it was, it was great!) Anyway, the dream was slipping away and I felt I was getting pulled away to reality. I guess at that point it was quite clear it was a dream . But unlike before I just wasn't willing to let go of it. I think I actually \"went\" to my real bed in my head, but I kept my eyes closed and thought of nothing but the dream. Somehow I managed to plug in to the dream again, now lucidly (if that even is a word) it's kinda blurry from then on
(I have to add that the fact that i injected myself with something just came to my memory again... I thought I could only remember flying..)

Now, is that lucid dreaming or merely part of the dream?

I'm going to try to get lucid dreams again and will be around this forum.

oh, i kinda forgot to ask, but do hovering(2 or 3) hoola hoops that are spinning around their axel in a dream have some sort of meaning?
I've had that scene in a start of a nightmare once (I was not really in control of my body and I had to go through the hoolahoop to \"continue\". The trick was that if I entered the hoola hoop on the wrong side, bad stuff would happen... I got in through the wrong side.) and it has made such a strong and deep impression on me, but I just don't know why...

Welcome to the forum!
If you knew you were dreaming, then it was LDing!
Sleeping on your back wouldn't cause nightmares, unless you were seeing HI while falling asleep, in which case, just try to relax!

Sorry, but I'm not sure what HI means.

Also, I have gathered all my courage to try and fall asleep on my back tonight Heh, I find it a bit emberassing to talk about my fear of nightmares. Anyway, I'll post what will happen.

Originally posted by Deere
Sorry, but I'm not sure what HI means.

Also, I have gathered all my courage to try and fall asleep on my back tonight Heh, I find it a bit emberassing to talk about my fear of nightmares. Anyway, I'll post what will happen.

Hypnotic Imagery
Nightmares cannot hurt you, especially once you have gained a higher LD level. What you need to do is stand up to them, no matter what! Just remember that they are only dreams & they cannot hurt you!

True, but I think I would be less easy to convince in my dream
Oh well, the thought that a dream can't hurt is comforting too.

Originally posted by Deere
True, but I think I would be less easy to convince in my dream
Oh well, the thought that a dream can't hurt is comforting too.

I didn't say it was easy, but just do it!

I can't really remember if it was because of nightmares or what, but I too have had a kind of negative assosciation with sleeping on my back since early childhood as well. So 95% of the time I do sleep face down or on my side. Nowadays, if I sleep on my back I will most likely encounter sleep paralysis. I find that the vibrations felt during SP can be a bit unnerving for me, so I still avoid the position. But certainly no one can speak for us all and say that "sleeping on your back does/dosn't cause nightmares" or "sleeping on your back does/doesn't cause sleep paralysis." I guess that it is also possible that somewhere along the line you/we decided that sleeping on your back caused nightmares out of mere coincidence, and made it true for yourself.

oh, i kinda forgot to ask, but do hovering(2 or 3) hoola hoops that are spinning around their axel in a dream have some sort of meaning?[/b]

I'm not really big on having one person interpret another person's dream. There is no reason why you should think that someone else can tell you about whats going on in your mind better than yourself. Thats my opinion anyway.

You're right that if one person experiences something it doesn't make it a general fact. It is interesting though, that I'm not the only one having such a problem. Your last point about it is something I have thought about myself too, but I just don't know.

About the hoola hoops, you probably right there too, but as I've had the chance to think about it for years and have found no connection whatsoever, I thought anyone's 'guess' would be as good as mine.

well I think I fell asleep on my back tonight and don't recall any nightmares. I'll repeat it a couple of times and see what happens.
But I did actually recall my last dream, which hasn't happened for a while.

copy-pasted from another post:
from the journal:
"game with my life on stake
barriers
pointing mouse on screen to move around"

the last one might be a sign too, because I might have felt similar experiences before.
I think a better description would be to say that I move(actually I can only remember actively turning in this way, not moving) myself in third person. But I'm sure it wasn't a lucid dream.
Also the dream felt slightly negative, but not nearly as bad as in a real nightmare.

I didn't have my pen and paper at hand atm I woke up, so it's really vague, but I'm pleased I actually remembered something!