"Pillows are like orthotics for our necks..."

To throw more fuel on the fire, I found the BMJ article below. You really won't believe the reason "Tribal people don't like lying on the ground in recovery position while wearing no clothes..." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1119282/


Okay, I have been playing with this and found I sleep better on the floor or our futon using the positions mentioned in the above article than on our Tempur-Pedic with my pillow.
 
Interesting to hear others' experiences above. I've been sleeping nearly 3 weeks now without a pillow and it feels pretty normal now, I can sleep comfortably on my back, side or front (I didn't used to sleep on my front before). I still go looking for that cushy feeling of the pillow when I first lay down, but then I realise I am comfortable just lying flat. I don't know if it's impacted on my posture yet (I will see how I feel on my next long race), but it definitely has reduced my mouth breathing. Without a pillow propping my head up, gravity acts to close my mouth rather than open it and as a result I'm not waking with a dry mouth. My dentist thinks thing is a good thing as mouth breathing is a significant risk factor for dental decay/issues... Strange how such seemingly unrelated things (pillows, teeth) can be connected!
 
There's no question that mouth breathing is bad not only for the teeth and gums, but for the upper respiratory system as well. The only unknown is the best way to prevent the practice.
If it turns out that barefoot activity is the key, I'll finally make the cover of the Journal of the American Dental Association. If instead pillows are proven to be the culprit ........ oh well.
 
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Yeah but don't those dreams end with a forced landing?
 
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My back and neck would love to lower pillow height, but my sinuses hate it. My sinuses tend to win, since they wake me in the middle of the night,whereas aches and pains in the back and neck don't register until morning.

Last week's upper respiratory infection reminded me of this. I generally sleep on my side or stomach and just one pillow, but last week, I found my sinuses stayed clearer if I elevated my head.

I can see the reasoning to this idea, that pillows are like orthotics and we're possibly causing bad stresses upon body parts by creating an unnatural sleeping position. I guess the question is when did we start using nests or pillow-like features for sleeping during our evolutionary history? Do we have any idea? We at least have some evidence which suggests when footwear first began being used.
 
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Sometimes I have flying dreams that seem pretty real.

You ever done any lucid dreaming? It's been those times when I've become aware that I'm dreaming, during pleasant ones, that I go flying. It's hard to maintain the flying and lucidity, but it's fun as hell while it lasts.

Strangely, if I become lucid during nightmares, about the only thing I can do is try to wake myself up. Because even though I become aware that I'm having a nightmare, I can't simply wipe out the unpleasant theme of it.
 
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Yeah but don't those dreams end with a forced landing?
Only when a physicist wakes me up. Otherwise, the dream stays with me and I spend the day taking little hops once in a while to pinch myself and make sure it really was a dream.

More than gravity however, it's 'time' I have trouble being really certain about. Here electrons come back into play because it seems that information processing at n bytes per second determines time's subjective quality. The faster the electrons spin, in other words, the more time slows down. That's why barefooters live longer, to make a short story long.
You ever done any lucid dreaming? It's been those times when I've become aware that I'm dreaming, during pleasant ones, that I go flying. It's hard to maintain the flying and lucidity, but it's fun as hell while it lasts.

Strangely, if I become lucid during nightmares, about the only thing I can do is try to wake myself up. Because even though I become aware that I'm having a nightmare, I can't simply wipe out the unpleasant theme of it.
Yah, that's how it works for me too. I find it easy to dream lucidly if I'm sleep deprived and close my eyes at my desk for a few minutes. The problem with lucid flying dreams is that once I'm aware that I'm having a flying dream, I'm often reduced to just hovering close to the ground, often when I'm trying to show someone I know that I can fly. Frustrating.
 
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Once I became a private pilot my flying dreams started getting too realistic. I was always getting airborne under my own power easily, but once I cleared all the neighborhood wires there was always another set much higher that I hadn't been aware of. I either was able to duck under or climb above them, but ANOTHER even higher set always appeared. Dream flights were way better before I learned how to fly powered aircraft.
I'm guessing those endless sets of wires really represented the economic challenges to human flight of any kind,
like they say......If God had intended for man to fly he would have given 'em more money!
 
Lucid dreaming is nice thing and I once practiced it, but then I became too lazy to keep dream diary. It seems it's all about remembering things. When you are dreaming, you just suddenly remember the lucid dreaming thing and become lucid after reality test or just leap of faith. I have never leaped through real window, so I guess it's pretty safe, although it feels bit thrilling while doing that. Other than general laziness is that I realized that when I'm lucid there isn't much story or people around. I just fly and that's nice, but in non-lucid dreams there are interesting stories and adventures and interactions with interesting people.


BTW, to have really weird dreams, try taking B-vitamin just before going to bed. Not too often as it wears out pretty soon.. Might cause nightmares also.

I have been pillowless sleeping also, my goal is to get better posture, not so slouchy shoulders, probably better breathing also...?
 
You want to inspire some really crazy dreams? Nicotine patches. Yes, I smoked once and used them to quit a few times before I finally quit for good -- 10 years this April, woot! But the dreams I had while wearing them were utterly bizarre and surreal. If people don't think that nicotine has effect on the thoughts of a person, they should just try wearing a nicotine patch to bed one night.

I've also heard people say that zinc and magnesium supplements before bed can make for some crazy dreams.
 
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my dogs love pillows and prop their heads while sleeping a lot. they also sleep on and claim anything left on the floor or couch. whether or not it's comfortable.
 
You want to inspire some really crazy dreams? Nicotine patches. Yes, I smoked once and used them to quit a few times before I finally quit for good -- 10 years this April, woot! But the dreams I had while wearing them were utterly bizarre and surreal. If people don't think that nicotine has effect on the thoughts of a person, they should just try wearing a nicotine patch to bed one night.

I've also heard people say that zinc and magnesium supplements before bed can make for some crazy dreams.
I had same problems when I quit. I ended up stopping using the patch and using the gum instead because the dreams were actually super vivid nightmares. It's been 5 years since I quit.
 
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You want to inspire some really crazy dreams? Nicotine patches. Yes, I smoked once and used them to quit a few times before I finally quit for good -- 10 years this April, woot! But the dreams I had while wearing them were utterly bizarre and surreal. If people don't think that nicotine has effect on the thoughts of a person, they should just try wearing a nicotine patch to bed one night.

I've also heard people say that zinc and magnesium supplements before bed can make for some crazy dreams.

I read this to my wife, and she quipped, "Try being pregnant," with a smirk. :)