September 16, 2003

More about sleep

Apparently there are six primary sleep positions, according to this article. Eighty-nine percent of the world sleeps in one of these positions, and the sleep that way pretty much all night. The other 11 percent apparently either sleep in different positions throughout their slumber or in positions too strange to mention.

I'm one of the few (5 percent, according to the article) who change positions through the night. I tend to fall asleep on my back in "Soldier" position (you really need to read the article to understand what I mean by this), but I'm nearly as likely to fall asleep on my side, sort of halfway between "Yearner" and "Foetus." But I often wake up on my stomach, which would be "Freefall." I'm guessing they need an additional category: "Thrasher."

Supposedly these positions each match up with a personality type, but what does that mean for someone like me? Am I a split personality, or am I just hard to pin down psychologically?I lean toward the latter.

In the meantime, I worry about whether my sleeping position is doing me physical harm; I woke up on my stomach the last couple days, and now my lower back feels like I pinched a nerve. I really need to see a chiropractor, or pick yoga back up. Maybe I'll do a little tonight when I get home.

Posted by Andrew Huff at September 16, 2003 02:11 PM
Comments

I, too, am a "Thrasher." I begin either stomach down, with my hands at my sides or in the fetal position. I usually wake up in the middle of the night in either of these positions. I wake up in the morning on my back, appendages everywhere. Unless, of course, there's another person there with me, which usually means I'm on my back or my side & rarely move around at all. Makes it awfully difficult to find a pillow, eh?

Posted by: Niki at September 16, 2003 04:38 PM

yeah, i think i'm also b/t fetus & yearner. and, funny enough, last night i awoke at 5 am with one of those nasty calf cramps.

i'm sure being in a strange hotel bed is not great, but i've felt like ass all day today. hmmmmmmm, 13 hour days will do that, too ;) ok, enough whining!

Posted by: miss ellen at September 16, 2003 07:00 PM

Ah yes, stomach sleeping is not good for the back. I'd read a line about that in a book on Ayurveda and it (and my friend Ame) mentioned exactly what you felt.

And this is how I slept for the longest time. Until I began to dabble in the Eastern meditative arts.

I went to a chiropractor for the first time on Tuesday; they offered free exams and x-rays. So I got to see how curved the last two vertebrae really were, exactly how much higher the right hip is than the left as a result of that curve, and what can nerves/organs are affected by this imbalance.

So aside from that correction, it might well be time for me to do yoga also.

Posted by: Anatomy Lord at September 18, 2003 01:36 PM