Here's what your sleeping position reveals about your relationship

How you sleep with your partner can tell you a lot about your relationship. Do you stay stuck together in a meltingly warm embrace? Or perhaps prefer a little space now and then?

According to research carried out at the Edinburgh International Science Festival, summed up beautifully in a Bright Side video, when we settle down for the night all the signs are there.

Any change in the relationship immediately effects partners’ sleeping positions, the research says. This isn’t the position you fall asleep in, but the one you sleep in throughout the night and wake up in.

And here’s what the different positions mean:

The Honeymoon hug

Picture: YouTube / Bright Side

This is for new couples, ones who’ve spent some time apart, and happily married couples.

The dialogue position

This position, laying side by side facing one another, is common among partners who have a strong connection, but could benefit from spending more time together and communicating more closely.

The stargazing position

Aka using your partner as a pillow.

The person on the top, who’s resting on their partner’s shoulder, is the more dependent one in the relationship.

This couple has “great chemistry,” but sometimes one “feels uncomfortable being forced to take the other one’s point of view into consideration”.

The sweetheart’s cradle position

This is similar to the last position, but much more intimate.

It’ common among couples who aren’t afraid to show their feelings to each other. It “typically means the man is more bossy and domineering in the relationship”.

The “I cherish you” position

Picture: YouTube / Bright Side

This position is a sign of a happy relationship where couples respect each other’s personal space. When there’s more space between the backs, however, this could be a sign of going to bed on an argument, or that each partner is just very independent and needs a lot of personal space.

The king of the bed positon

Partners who spread themselves across the bed are usually those who “feel the need to assert themselves”. Their behaviour can be selfish

Here's the full, beautifully illustrated video from Bright Side :

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