The way you sleep may not be a hot topic around the dinner table–or
any other table for that matter–but maybe it should be.
Studies show that there are various insights to be
gleaned from how someone sleeps. Here we examine a few, and explain
what you might be able to learn about yourself from your own sleep
habits.
Personality
A study conducted by Chris Idzikowski, who heads
the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service in the
UK, focused on the six most common sleeping
positions and how they reflected people's
personalities. Here they are, in order of prevalence.
"The Fetus" is the most common position, with the sleeper lying curled
up on their side. It is said to reflect someone with a tough exterior
shell but a
soft, sensitive core.
"The Log" position is that of someone lying on their side with their arms
down. "Log" sleepers are sociable and outgoing, but gullible.
"The Yearner" sleeps on their side as well, but with their arms stretched out
in front of them. This positions tends to reflect a cynical straight shooter:
someone who is hesitant to commit or trust but once they do, they're all in
and mean business.
"The Soldier" position is on the back with the hands at the side. This
is a common one for more
reserved, less dramatic folks.
"The Starfish" is the least common position, but when you find a
"Starfish" sleeper, hang onto them!
This position is associated with people who are selfless, generous,
humble individuals.
How It Impacts Your Waking Life
Not only does your sleeping position reflect your personality, it can
also affect how you behave when
you wake up. Dr. Mark Kohler at the University of South Australia's
Centre for Sleep Research suggests
that sleeping postures can clue us into what's rolling around inside
someone's head. "Just like our
waking posture and position can influence our emotions – for example,
if you are leaning forward and clenching your fists, you are most
likely to feel angry – our sleeping position is thought to influence
our emotions or represent our personality," he says.
What It Says About Your Relationship
Obviously, having another body in the bed with you changes things a
great deal.Not only may your
position be different in order to provide you the best comfort, it may
also shift to reflect your
relationship to that bedfellow of yours. The same Australian experts
say that close contact, while
reflective of intimate feelings, is not particularly sustainable for
longer relationships. A slight distance
between partners does not suggest a poor partnership. Little things
like interwoven hands and feet are indicative of not only strong
feelings, but of high quality sleep as well. So relationships turn out
to be beneficial for providing more than just one healthy bedtime
activity.
Which position do you find most comfortable? Are those personality
traits accurate for you? Maybe you
should head to Australia, find an Australian mattress, and test the
theories out for yourself.
(Data Courtesy: Marianne Ross. She is a freelance blogger on topics
related to health and wellbeing.)
