Science points to sleeping position in inducting different kinds of dream states.
In a 2004 study published in Sleep and Hypnosis titled “Sleeping Position, Dream Emotions and Subjective Sleep Quality,” researchers studied the correlation between sleep quality and dream frequency in 63 subjects (45 male, 18 female). They asked 41 to sleep on their right side and 22 on their left. Afterward, they interviewed the subjects about their ability to remember dreams, their dreams’ vividness, frequency of nightmares and waking emotional state. They also asked the subjects to fill out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, a widely used sleep questionnaire.
As it turned out, nightmares were far more frequent for those who slept on their left side, with 40.9 percent reporting disturbing dreams, compared to just 14.6 percent of right-side sleepers. Those who slept on their right were more likely to report dreams with feelings of relief and/or safety. Right-side sleepers, however, reported lower qualityof sleep than lefties.
Overall, researchers suggested that sleeping position does, indeed, affect our dreams.
In another study, Dr. Calvin Kai-Ching Yu of Hong Shu Yan University looked at the sleeping habits and dream positions of more than 670 adults. Those who slept face down, he concluded, have the most vivid and positive dreams. These subjects reported UFO sightings, love affairs, “being locked up,” “being unable to breathe” and “having a sexual relationship with a [big shot] or celebrity.”
Yu concluded that personality wasn’t a factor; rather, sleeping position was the primary causation. This also falls in line with previous studies linking sexually themed dreams to the prone position.
Interestingly, many lucid dreaming practitioners say they’re better able to induce an out of body experience by sleeping at an incline. We’re more likely to awaken easily, the thinking goes, when we’re standing up, leaving us in-between sleeping and wakefulness. None of that, however, is backed by any credible research, as it’s mostly reported by boots-on-the-ground lucid dreamers.
While the research certainly suggests sleeping position affects our dreams, is it enough to switch from your preferred tuck? It can’t hurt to roll your loved one over when you sense a nightmare coming on. Assuming you can avoid the flailing arms, that is.
Source :
http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/could-you-have-prevented-your-worst-sleep-nightmare-sleeping-your-right-side
