Now Entering Dreamland is a podcast that centers around dreams, sleep and everything in between. Sit back and relax- you’re now entering Dreamland.
Season 2; Episode 5 features a discussion of sleep positions and how sleep positions influence dreams and sleep. It allows details a follow-up regarding how my dreams are causing me to sleepwalk and act out my dreams.
Part 1/2.
This episode contains research from Psychology Today. Read the original article here: Your Sleep Position Affects Much More Than You Think | Psychology Today
Episode Transcript:
Are you ready to wake up? You are Now Entering Dreamland.
Hi everyone! Welcome to Now Entering Dreamland, a podcast about dreams, sleep and everything in between. Welcome back to those of you who have been to dreamland before, we are happy to have you back, and welcome to all of you joining us here in Dreamland for the first time.
It’s time for a new episode. This is going to be a two-parter since we are covering A LOT of material.
At the start of Season Two of this podcast, I talked about how I believed that my dreams, more specifically, my nightmares, were causing me to sleepwalk. I have a really big update about these dreams and nightmares.
Because of this, I have been thinking a lot about what causes nightmares. I’ve talked about this in previous episodes, and scientists and doctors are not sure of the exact reason, or reasons, people dream. But I went one step further- what physically causes the type or types of dreams we have? Is this in any way dictated by the environment we sleep in or the type of sleeping position we favor?
I did some research, and the wonderful people at Psychology Today had a really interesting article on this subject. I will link this article here. There is one passage I like in particular:
And what about dreams? Research suggests a correlation between sleep position and dream type. If you sleep on your side and experience disturbing dreams, you might want to consider switching sides? Right-side sleepers may experience fewer nightmares than left-side sleepers. Back sleepers also may be more likely to have nightmares—and research indicates they may also have a harder time recalling their dreams. Stomach sleepers, according to studies, experience dreams that are more vivid, intense, and sexual. They’re also more likely to have dreams in which they’re immobilized or restrained.
I try to sleep on my right side, I have mentioned I think it is lucky, but I often move in my sleep and wake up on my back. Could this be a reason I have nightmares? Yes… apparently.
This is a great segue to an update on my nightmares and my sleepwalking and the correlation between the two. As I often say on this podcast, I am not a doctor or medical professional, or scientist. This is just what I noticed about my sleep and dreams.
Right at the top: Am I still sleepwalking more than usual? Yes.
Do I think my dreams are causing this? Yes.
My dream has morphed from the one I reported in an earlier episode.
The dream now takes place in a theater. This is interesting to me because I used to spend a lot of time in theaters as a child and young adult. I enjoyed plays and musical theater and went to theater camp. When I was in middle school and high school I performed a lot of theater. That continued into college when I also began doing improv and standup. All of this to say that I have spent many hours in theaters throughout my life and I often think of theaters as a “happy” place, though I hate that phrase, and I place I feel very comfortable.
But this is where the dream becomes weird. Because in my dreams, it seems like everyone in this theater is upset. The actors are upset and nervous. The techies are angry at the experts. The stagehands are mad at the director. The audience seems upset at everyone. Audience members are leaving the theater. I am unsure of my role in this production, but I am in the back of the theater, and I decide to leave.
I leave and I am in a downtown area. This is not a downtown area I know from real life, but I do know this area from a “dream logic” standpoint. I know it because I have dreamed about it before.
I walk to a bar. Again, not a bar I know in real life. The bar kind of looks like a bar I used to go to with my friends in DC in the time before COVID. But inside, the bar looks very different from the one I know in DC.
The last time I had this dream, I went into the bar and I was upset because my “normal” bartender wasn’t there. It was another person. And this person told me that they couldn’t make a gin and tonic. That upset me. And that was the last part of the dream I remember.
I woke up in my living room, near my couch. No longer in bed. SO maybe when I physically walked to the bar in my dream, I walked to my living room in “real life”?
But one thing stays with me. And that is that my dreams are getting vivid. And maybe, that is why I am sleepwalking because of them. And if that is the case, can they cause other sleep states or sleep issues?
Well, that’s a loaded question. Because I have an answer. An answer particular to me. A dream caused me to have sleep paralysis. I was trapped in a dream. And I will tell you more about it in the next episode.
That’s it for this episode of Now Entering Dreamland. You can find all episodes and additional information on nowenteringdreamland.com. New episodes are released on Sundays, and you can get the latest episodes in your inbox by hitting that subscribe button.
You’re now leaving Dreamland. But we’ll see you next time.
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