[mr_t]

I've started to sleep on the floor (better said, on two or three blankets on the floor) a year ago because I've read somewhere it helps with back aches. The first week was weird and uncomfortable, but I got used to it quickly.

I've never slept that well (frequent sleepless nights before switchting to the ground) and my aches almost vanished.

I got rid of my bed since I didn't need it anymore and realized how much space it took (I live in a single room in a shared appartment). Now my smallish room seems so much bigger, I literally can't even use all that space efficiently (I live quite minimalistic).

Sure, this isn't for everyone, but overall I can't stop thinking that something I took for granted (everyone needs a bed, right?) is in fact nothing but an accessoire that, in retrospect, even decresed my quality of sleep, therefore even my quality of life.

[tomglynch]

Do you sleep in the same spot every night? I'm chuckling at the idea of you getting tired and just picking a random bit of floor within your house to lie down.

[jcims]

You have to bless the spot by circling it three times first.

[kylek]

There's a great spot by the window but i have to roll 90 degrees every 15 minutes to stay in the sun

[mr_t]

You made me laugh, thanks! I do have three blankets (on which I sleep) that I store in my closet during the day. Most of the time I put my bed on the same spot, but sometimes I move it slightly (towards the windows on hot days, etc.), although not that much.

[madengr]

I slept on the floor for 6 years, only getting a bed several months after I bought my house. No furniture either other than two fold out tables for old Unix work stations and a bean bag.

It’s an excellent method of birth control; no bed that is. The work stations don’t help either.

[vageli]

> I've started to sleep on the floor (better said, on two or three blankets on the floor) a year ago because I've read somewhere it helps with back aches. The first week was weird and uncomfortable, but I got used to it quickly.

> I've never slept that well (frequent sleepless nights before switchting to the ground) and my aches almost vanished.

> I got rid of my bed since I didn't need it anymore and realized how much space it took (I live in a single room in a shared appartment). Now my smallish room seems so much bigger, I literally can't even use all that space efficiently (I live quite minimalistic).

> Sure, this isn't for everyone, but overall I can't stop thinking that something I took for granted (everyone needs a bed, right?) is in fact nothing but an accessoire that, in retrospect, even decresed my quality of sleep, therefore even my quality of life.

Do you sleep directly on the floor with no padding whatsoever? I tend to sleep on my side or stomach and have never been able to sleep well on a bare floor.

[mr_t]

I sleep on 2-3 blankets, so a little padding. But too much padding gets uncomfortable for me. Let me try to elaborate what I think I learned during the past year. But take it with a grain of salt, it's just subjective perception:

I slept on my side or stomach most of my life, it was the only comfortable way to sleep for me. I started to sleep on the ground just like that and guess what, the first nights were horrible. Once I started to sleep in different positions, everything changed. My theory is that there is no real feedback on a mattress/very soft ground. I can sleep like I want and it will be comfortable, even though it might be "bad sleeping posture". If I do the same on the ground, there is no padding, my body gets real feedback and reacts with pain in bad "sleeping postures". But what does the pain tell me? In one way: Sleeping on the floor is bad because it hurts. In another way: My way of sleeping is bad because it hurts, so I need to change it.

An example: Sleeping on the stomach on a mattress is still somewhat "comfy" for me (even though I don't like sleeping on a mattress). Sleeping on the stomach on the ground is a no go, because my weight presses my chest against the ground, making breathing way harder than sleeping on my back with no weight on my chest. I just got so used sleeping on my chest that sleeping on the back was horrible at first, but once I got used to it I felt more replenished the mornings after. So if I sleep on my stomach like in this example, is sleeping on the floor bad because I can't breathe properly, or is sleeping on a mattress bad, because I don't get the necessary feedback to realise it affects my breathing? I guess that is something everyone needs to decide for himself, but for me the answer is: sleeping on a mattress is bad.

[kenneth]

How does that affect your romantic relationships? I imagine you're single since you don't mention a co-living situation which would otherwise be relevant. I imagine taking a girl home you without a bed might not be ideal.

Also, does it affect your ability to sleep on a regular bed without issues?

[mr_t]

I do have a girlfriend, but she's studying in another city. We see each other almost every weekend and agreed that I visit her place most of the time, since she can't stand sleeping on the floor.

It does affect my ability to sleep on a regular bed a lot (I sleep in her bed when I'm at her place). It's super uncomfortable for me, I don't feel as rested the next morning and she tells me that I am snoring very loudly and frequently in her bed. Sometimes I sleep on her floor as well, and according to her I my snoring almost disappears on the floor.

[vinayms]

The biggest problem I have with sleeping on floor is that I have to literally walk on the mattress or blanket in order to lie down or get up, which is just so icky to me.

If that is strange you'd find it stranger to know that I am Indian and sleeping on floor is both tradition and sometimes compulsion due to poverty (though I was never poor). I was fine with it all these years and don't know what changed recently.

[mr_t]

Your point that sleeping on the floor is "compulsion due to poverty" is something I started to think about alot since sleeping on the floor. It made me realise how much we ("wealthy people") isolate/distant ourselves from the ground. Sitting on the floor? That's weird, better sit on a chair or the comfy sofa. Sleeping on the floor? Even weirder. Walking barefoot (something I don't to, btw)? Ew thats gross!

But the result (or at least what I can say about myself) is that our range of motion gets worse every year, which ultimately leads to aches, pain and even worse stuff.

If one of the main arguments (that I hear all the time) against sleeping and sitting on the floor is "but you have to get up from the floor all the time, I couldn't do that", I'd argue that proves my point. Altough its might be just a biased gut feeling.

[PeterStuer]

I slept in a sleeping bag on a stone tile floor for 3 weeks as a student when my furnishings hadn't arrived yet. When my bed got there, I still reverted to the floor the first few nights a I had so gotten used to it. I think I could have gone your path, but did not because I required (some) more cleaning (dust on a hard floor is more noticeable), and admittedly out of convention/habits.

[ghaff]

Even camping I like having a decent sleeping pad.

But there’s certainly nothing wrong with a futon you roll up (or a sofa bed or Murphy bed) if you’re short of space.

I like a good futon and use one at home (on a platform bed).