Not Surprising That I'm a "Yearner"

I was reading the other night about sleep positions and what they indicate about your personality. The article suggests that once you select a sleep position, you are usually unlikely to alter this habit. However, I think that I have had a few different sleep positions over the years and most of them were influenced by something specific, not just a random way I chose to sleep.

As a young girl, I remember that I used to love sleeping on my stomach. I especially remember this, because it was quite noticeable when I found that I could no longer sleep in that position, due to growth into my adult body shape (wink!). At times, I would try to return to that beloved position by placing an additional pillow underneath my belly. Eventually, I gave up and switched to my back.

During my first year in college, my sleep position shifted again, from necessity. I had a room-mate who snored. I mean she SNORED! For a while, I employed the "clapping strategy." I would hang over the top bunk and clap loudly. This would rouse her, just enough to make her turn over or to her side and the snoring would subside for a bit. I tried ear plugs, but found them uncomfortable. In the end, I merely began sleeping on my back with my arms up over my head beneath the pillow (which forced the pillow to serve as a sound buffer to my ears).

If I tried to sleep that way now, I doubt I could manage it, but back then I kept that position for several years. In fact, I was in agony several years ago, when I had surgery on my toe and had to lie on my back with the toe elevated for several weeks. I have become, in marriage, a side sleeper. Perhaps, that is because it was the first time I ever had to share a bed.

Still, I have been wondering if my husband has shifted his sleep position because a year or so ago, I began to find it really difficult to sleep with him. He has always wanted the left side of the bed (as you face it, the right side as we lie in it). I don't remember this ever really being a problem before. Perhaps, I am the one, once again, who has shifted. I think I used to always sleep on my side facing the outside of the bed. At some point, I must have begun to favor facing the middle of the bed and am now discovering that he favors facing the middle of the bed as well. I'm sure years ago that wouldn't have been a problem, but now, I feel like we are breathing right into each other's faces and it annoys me to no end.

Early in our marriage, I also used to sleep on my side, with my hands folded together underneath my pillow supporting my head. For the past five years, though, I find that I experience tingling up and down my arms (to the point where it wakes me) if I try to sleep with my hands tucked under my head. Thus, another shift, I began to sleep with my arms out in front of me or dangling off the side of the bed (which alleviated breathing another's exhaled air).

The above mentioned AOL article, declares this "the yearner position." How apt! How I yearn for a good night's sleep now! Of course, I would say I'm a yearner in other aspects of life, as well.

I guess my husband was "yearning" to share a bed again, because in June he returned to our room. He had been sleeping in the guest room merely because the little boys have been waking so often in the night that it disturbs his sleep and renders him drowsy at work. So, instead, I'm the one who gets to be drowsy at my work! Ha! Of course, if he is drowsy at work at the bank, it could lead to a bit more difficulty than if I am drowsy while tending to the boys at home. I'm sure his customers appreciate his quality sleep!

While it makes me happy to know he yearns to share our bed, I also miss my yearner's position. I think if I'm going to keep this position, we will have to upgrade to a king size bed. It doesn't leave him much room if I sleep on my side of the bed with my arms outstretched to the middle of the bed.

I don't think I really buy the personality assessments, though. My YS often sleeps with his butt up in the air. What does that say about him? It is a variation of what they call the "fetal position" since his knees are tucked up under his chest. Maybe he's gassy. Maybe he's worshiping his bed. Maybe he just wants his derriere to get the best air! I don't care what position he sleeps in, as long as he stays asleep the whole night through!