The starfish position means lying on your back with your arms and legs spread slightly apart, so no limb touches another limb or the side of your body. It’s the starting point for a lot of shifting methods, because it’s easy to relax in and easy to hold still for a long time.
You don’t need a perfect starfish to shift. A comfortable version you can lie in without fidgeting beats a textbook one that makes your shoulders ache.
What is the Starfish Pose?
The starfish pose is lying flat on your back, face up, with your arms and legs splayed out and not touching one another.
Shifting didn’t invent it. In yoga it’s Shavasana, also called Mritasana or Corpse Pose, and most classes end with a few minutes of it. Practitioners say it eases tiredness and leaves the mind calm.
It’s also the usual position for Yoga Nidra, a deep relaxation practice often called yogic sleep. You lie still while a teacher or recording guides your attention around your body, and you drift toward the edge of sleep without quite crossing it. Yoga Nidra is hard to sum up in words, but the tradition describes that sleep-like state as a path toward the experience of pure consciousness. It’s easy to see why shifters borrowed the pose.
Why Shifters Use the Starfish Position
With your hands off your stomach and your legs uncrossed, there’s less touch reminding you where your body is. Many shifters say that makes it easier to lose the sense of your current reality (CR) body and turn your attention to your desired reality (DR). It’s also just restful, so the stress of the day has less to hold on to.
You’ll sometimes see the pose described as a gentle kind of sensory deprivation. That’s an idea shifters share rather than a tested finding. What the pose dependably gives you is stillness and calm, and both help with any visualization.
As you settle, you may notice what shifters call shifting symptoms: tingling, a heavy or floating feeling, your body seeming to fade, or flashes of light behind your eyelids. Plenty of shifters take them to mean the shift is near. Most of them also turn up as anyone drifts toward sleep (that guide goes through why), so on their own they’re nothing to be afraid of.
Other signals have nothing to do with shifting. A racing or pounding heart, trouble breathing, chest pain, fainting or strong dizziness mean the session is over: stop there, tell someone at home and have a doctor look you over. Chest pain is the one not to wait on. If it comes on suddenly and doesn’t ease, spreads into your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or arrives with sweating, nausea, light-headedness or breathlessness, phone your country’s emergency number right away.
Notice how you feel once you’re up, too. Feeling detached from yourself, as though you’re observing your own thoughts and actions from a distance, or finding that people and things look lifeless or foggy, is a reason to stop shifting for a while. So is practice that’s cutting into your sleep or pulling you away from school or meals. Either way, bring it up with a parent, a teacher you trust or your doctor.
Tips for Using Starfish Position Effectively
For many people the starfish pose is deeply comfortable. For others it feels awkward at first, and a few small changes usually fix that.
○ Supporting Your Neck and Back
Make the pose as kind to your body as you can, especially if your neck or back already gives you trouble.
- Pick a pillow that keeps your head level. Too low and your chin points at the ceiling; too high and it tips toward your chest. If your pillow can’t manage that, a rolled towel or neck roll under your neck helps keep its natural curve.
- If your lower back hurts, slip a small pillow under your knees. With your legs flat, your lower back can arch too much. Bent knees are common in Shavasana too, and the pillow does the holding, so you can let your legs go completely.
If you’re pregnant, don’t drift off in this pose later in your pregnancy. The NHS says going to sleep on your back after 28 weeks of pregnancy can raise the risk of stillbirth, and that the safest position to fall asleep in is on your side. Any method you’d do in the starfish pose works lying on your side instead.
○ What to Do With Your Arms
Some people take “starfish” very literally and stretch their arms out wide, or even up above their head. If you have neck or shoulder pain, that’s the hardest way to do it.
Keep your arms close to your sides with a small gap instead. If a shoulder still aches, rest that arm on a folded blanket or a low pillow so it isn’t sagging.
All that matters is that your arms aren’t touching your sides or any other part of your body.
○ The Importance of Stillness
Once you’re in position, try hard not to move. Shifters say every twitch and scratch pulls your awareness back into your CR body, while the longer you lie still, the easier it gets to start sensing your DR body instead.
Lying still is much easier when nothing is bothering you, so sort the room out first. Make sure it’s neither too warm nor too cold, and that your bedding and clothes don’t itch, chafe or annoy you in any way. Some shifters also like a crystal on the bedside table, often black tourmaline, which tradition links with protection; there are more ideas in our guide to crystals for shifting.
Real discomfort is different from a passing itch. If a leg cramps or your back starts to hurt, adjust and settle again. One movement won’t ruin a session, and lying there in pain keeps you far more tied to your body than shifting your weight ever could.
Methods You Can Try With Starfish Position Shifting
The starfish pose fits almost any shifting method. It works especially well with Lucid Dream Shifting, Julia Method Shifting, Pillow Method Shifting and the Void Method, and with most sleep shifting methods. If you always drift off before anything happens, pair it with one of the awake shifting methods instead.
Prefer to sit up? You can still use it. Recline against a headboard or a pile of cushions with your knees propped up and apart, and your arms resting at your sides without touching your body.
Shift to Waiting Room in Starfish Position
You can shift to your waiting room from the starfish pose, and the pose itself can become part of the plan. Add it to your list of waiting room shifting ideas.
The simplest version is going from the starfish pose in your CR bed to the same pose in your DR bed. Or get creative and arrive floating on your back, arms and legs spread wide, in a warm pool in your desired reality.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Starfish Position
Does sleeping on your back in the starfish position make dreams more vivid?
Not reliably. Some research suggests back sleepers may be more prone to nightmares and may have a harder time remembering their dreams, though sleep varies a lot from one person to the next. Reality shifting isn’t the same as lucid dreaming, and many shifters still find the starfish pose the easiest position to relax into. If bad dreams keep waking you or make you dread bedtime, try falling asleep on your side for a while and mention it to a doctor.
Does sleeping on your back in the starfish position increase the odds of sleep paralysis?
Yes. Lying on your back is one of the things the NHS links with a higher chance of sleep paralysis. During an episode you’re waking up or drifting off, but your body won’t move and you can’t call out, because you’re still in sleep mode while your brain has become active. You might sense someone in the room or feel a weight pushing you down, and it can last up to several minutes. The NHS calls it harmless, however unsettling it feels at the time. Some older shifting advice treated it as a way into your desired reality, but there’s no need to chase it. Falling asleep on your side may help. If episodes keep coming and you’ve started dreading bedtime or feel worn out every day, put your practice on hold, tell a parent or an older relative, and see a doctor.
Do you have to be in the starfish position to shift?
No. Plenty of people shift in other positions. Any position works if you’re comfortable, relaxed and able to keep your mind on shifting. If you like the starfish pose but can’t fall asleep on your back, use it with an awake method instead.
Is the starfish position a bad idea if I snore?
It can be for sleep methods. The NHS lists sleeping on your back as one of the things that makes snoring more likely, and suggests sleeping on your side. Use the starfish pose for awake practice and turn onto your side to fall asleep. If you feel sleepy during the day, your breathing stops and starts in your sleep, or you gasp or choke while asleep, see a doctor, because those can be signs of sleep apnea, which can be serious if it isn’t treated.
