When laying in bed, why do we have the urge to switch sleeping positions?
In: Biology
One function of such behavior and similar behaviors (Like stretching) is to induce blood flow and to make sure that the pressure is distributed well during the few hours that you’re asleep.
That’s why people in coma should also be rolled regularly, to prevent bedsore or pressure ulcers.
When you sleep, not all parts of your body have your weight evenly distributed, so depending on ho uneven that distribution is you’ll experience various degrees of switching positions. Another interesting thing I read somewhere (approach with skepticism), is that the body send a sort of roll over signal to the brain to check if you’re still awake before entering full body paralysis, which wouldn’t be ideal if you were still awake, but if you were to ignore the signal then it would mean you’re asleep. Lucid dreamers use this as a sort of cheat to induce sleep paralysis as a gateway to lucid dreaming.
But yes it’s probably mainly have to do with how well distributed your weight it. I recommend using multiple pillows and experimenting a bit, there’s some cool images out there where they show what the ideal angle is for every position, whether you’re a side sleeper or any other form.
Latest Answers