How to sleep on your back?

[midnightfire]

How to sleep on your back? Just wanted to know if anyone has gone from being a side sleeper to being able to sleep on their back? Whenever I try to sleep on my back it is like trying to fall asleep while standing – it just doesn’t happen for me. It often leads me to being wide awake and just lying there for a long time until I finally give up and roll to my side. I have tried progressive relaxation and can become very relaxed but I still won’t fall asleep in this position. I would really like to be able to sleep on my back for many reasons including: * I have heard it is easier to lucid dream/astral project from this position *It is easier to remain still when waking from this position * It is the best position for the spine * I have had imbalances due to habitually sleeping on my side with one side tighter than the other and neck tension * Side sleeping = increased wrinkles Does anyone have any tips or is this just a matter of continued persistence? I’m kind of scared of training myself into being an insomniac so I tend to give up after 30 min or so of trying to fall asleep on my back.

[gab]

I don't like sleeping on my back so I never do. But I WILD from reclined position on my sofa. I found that WILDing in different place than my usual sleep place helps me WILD. Plus I'm used to this position from watching TV like this. I know people do WILD from any position though and I did WILD from laying on my side as well. But majority was from reclined. This is highly individual though, and since yo have to fall asleep to LD, you should be sleeping in any position that is comfortable for you.

[Martijn0162]

I used to always sleep on my sides or on my belly. Over the past few months I've 'learned' to sleep on my back. I think it's a lot easier to fall asleep when you let your head hang to one side, so that you're not looking straight upwards. When I do look straight upwards, I always get the feeling that I can't fully relax.

[midnightfire]

Yeah I have thought about doing that to give myself the feeling that I am still sleeping on my side but I always worry about getting tension in my neck. Might give it another go since it seems to work for you and probably will move once I fall asleep anyway Good to know that you have had success learning to sleep on your back.

[Lichi]

I've been trying to do this aswell. I always gave up after 30 minutes to 60 minutes, even though i sleep on the floor (which makes sleeping on the sides more unconfortable). It is just a matter of trying and not giving up until you fall asleep. My grandmother always slept by sides, and recently she had a surgery so she couldn't sleep on sides anymore. She told me the first two days were difficult but then she could fall asleep, unconfortably, but she could. She would wake up several times at night, maybe because she was unconfortable to keep the position (well, she was like that all the day, not just 8 hours) or maybe because of the pain. But after two weeks she would only wake up once at night, and that would be to go to bathroom. In my opinion a perfect ocassion to do a WBTB and try a WILD. In my experience i think i managed to fall asleep once in my back not so long ago, and it was a cool sleep, very confortable. Also i had about twice a sensation of falling asleep, like falling, which is known also as a stage in WILD. Stage or not, it was very cool to feel it. When you manage to relax in that position you can feel very calm and relaxed, so it is worth it. My recommendation for you and for me as well, is to keep trying and not give up. Maybe it will be unconfortable at first for you to train yourself that way, but it is like an investment you make that on the future could allow you to WILD, DEILD, sleep and lucid dream easily.

[RelaxAndDream]

Yea for me it helps a lot too to let the head fall to the side and maybe bend the leg in which direction i let my head fall. then i can fall asleep. with the tension of your neck: you can vary the angle if your head is looking "down on your feet or up behind you" therefore you can get outthe tension of your neck because you listed a lot of pros for sleeping on your back here is an artical about why one should sleep on your side Sleeping On Your Side Is Good For Your Brain | IFLScience

[midnightfire]

I think there is a very strong mental addiction for me to sleeping in a certain position, that even if I tell myself I want to sleep on my back, my brain won't believe me. I think when we get an injury or some other thing that stops us from sleeping in that position it is a quicker transition, plus we have the pain to remind us. I am still trying but now it's mixed in with just generally trying to sleep better. Maybe one out of 6-8 times I actually fall asleep on my back, but this happens when I am really tired and when I lie down I feel a wave of relaxation straight away. Problem is the majority of the time I go to bed I am mentally and physically tense so it is much harder to fall asleep in a position that is not my normal habit, let alone on my side. That is a interesting article about sleeping on your side and good to point out those benefits! But the last part scares me “Many types of dementia are linked to sleep disturbances, including difficulties in falling asleep" since I so often have trouble falling asleep now days and wonder if my practising WBTB isn't helping. I am doing research into how to improve m sleep overall so that hopefully I can get to the point where I can alternate sleeping positions and find them all equally relaxing.

[snoop]

I'm going to apologize in advance for not reading the entire thread, but I can't sleep on my back either. I always have to sleep on my belly or sometimes on my side. Oddly enough, every time I wake up, I'm on my back though, lol. Anyway, my suggestion is to try waking up later in the night if you want to sleep on your back, and try it then. Usually after having been asleep for a while, as long as I don't wake myself up too much, it is far easier going back to sleep and feeling comfortable in whatever position I do it in. As an added bonus, any kind of lucid dream inducing, OBE inducing, or astral exploring you plan on doing is often much easier (in many cases, it's necessary). So, unless for some strange reason it's imperative that you get to sleep on your back before ever having slept at all for the night (or time that you plan on going to sleep), this way might help out.

[Eonnn]

I can't sleep on my back either, I've done it maybe 2-3 times in my life as its extremely difficult like you say 'sleeping while standing up'. The times I did achieve it my dreams weren't very pleasant. I found it easier moving my head to the side.

[midnightfire]

I'm going to apologize in advance for not reading the entire thread, but I can't sleep on my back either. I always have to sleep on my belly or sometimes on my side. Oddly enough, every time I wake up, I'm on my back though, lol. Anyway, my suggestion is to try waking up later in the night if you want to sleep on your back, and try it then. Usually after having been asleep for a while, as long as I don't wake myself up too much, it is far easier going back to sleep and feeling comfortable in whatever position I do it in. As an added bonus, any kind of lucid dream inducing, OBE inducing, or astral exploring you plan on doing is often much easier (in many cases, it's necessary). So, unless for some strange reason it's imperative that you get to sleep on your back before ever having slept at all for the night (or time that you plan on going to sleep), this way might help out. Maybe good advice for some, but I find if I have a chance of sleeping on my back it's only when I first go to sleep if i'm really really tired. When I do WBTB even if it's only for 2 min and then try to sleep on my back, it wakes me up more tried it last night and it was as if I was sending my brain a message that I was still walking around or something.

[CaesarVD]

I am also a side sleeper but the tricks that I read in this thread are really interesting. Thanks in advance, hopefully :^)