A new study states that by sleeping on your stomach you will have 'sexier' dreams. A dream researcher in Hong Kong named Calvin Kai-Ching Yu, of Shue Yan University says his study shows that those who sleep in the prone position were much more likely to score highly on what he calls the Dream Motif Scale (DMS), regardless of their personality type. Motifs like “persecution,” “erotomania,” and “sex” appeared significantly more frequently in the dreams of those who participated {he sampled 670 people, mostly university students, two-thirds of whom were females}. In other words sleeping face down is more likely to give you intense dreams featuring several common themes.

There are skeptics and there is good reason for it. First, a common problem in dream research is that people often don’t accurately recall their dreams even when they’ve just awakened. Also, while many people may think they know what position they sleep in, they’re often wrong. The dream scales Kai-Ching Yu used in his study were invented by him and, he said, they have not been validated by other researchers, though he has used them in many studies and gotten consistent results.

But the biggest reason for skepticism is that other scientists argue we’re cut off from the external world when we’re asleep. We’re in a completely internal realm – at the mercy of what sleep researchers from Harvard have called “a virtual reality system” without meaningful responses to the outside world, like the touch of sheets or the pressure of our bodies laying face down.

Yu doesn’t completely disagree, but said “I believe that the brain during sleep is not at all totally detached from the external world, and somatosensory stimuli, including those stemming from the environment, are probably incorporated into dream content more often than people observe or are aware of.” This is especially true, he thinks, at the unconscious level. That’s where our brains try to make sense, even if distorted, of what the body’s feeling.

My Experience From Sleeping Positions
A side note from my own experiences during sleep that may support Yu's findings. I have more vivid, memorable dreams when I sleep on my side. I normally sleep on my back {I do not toss and turn often when I sleep} and never on my stomach {too much discomfort in my arms}. When I do sleep on my side I tend to have more problems with digestion the next morning {I am very conscious of such things}. I have consciously sleep on my side often just to see if I do have more vivid dreams and every time I do the results are the same. I have a much easier time remembering my dreams when I awaken. Other times I have to have to be diligent if I want to remember my dreams.

Perhaps I should contact Mr. Yu and tell him of my experiences. I tend to examine many aspects of my life, conscious and unconscious. Especially as I have gotten older and wonder why the mind and body act in the way it does. I am my own Guinea pig.

A Plug for Physical Fitness & Diet
My regular physical fitness routine {something I have done for 32 years} has led me to many conclusions about how my body responds to such activity, or more specifically when I deviate from my routine. The same goes for diet. One important aspect of the combination of physical fitness and diet is how my back reacts. I have always have lower back problems and it has been exacerbated from continuous stress of physical activity associated with my fence work. But since I have taken on a more sensible diet {more so than previously when I thought it was adequate}, eliminating red meat and making sure I eat a lot of green vegetables and get enough fiber {most important for digestion}, along with an even more strenuous physical routine {you can see a short clip of my routine on this Youtube clip}, I no longer have the back pains. Notta, never. In the past those back aches have been mildly severe if not worse.
Jerry