sleeping on the ground

Lying on the ground, on hard ground, on a hard mattress. I sleep on a hard mattress now and notice how different and how satisfying it feels. It feels safe, I'm safe because I'm on the ground, because I cannot fall, because if I reach out, I'm touching the floor and it's right under me, supporting my weight without fail, with a secure and steady force that I can almost feel.
I cannot sleep on my stomach anymore, like I used to when I had a softer mattress. It’s uncomfortable because I cannot breathe. It was a surprising discovery but it makes sense. You see, there is no space for me to breathe when I’m lying on my stomach because this harder mattress doesn't give in, doesn't make space for my belly and my ribcage to expand, to draw the air in. It’s hard work to breathe like that - you have to lift the weight of your body with each breath - and I change to a fetal position.
For sleeping on the ground the fetal position is the best, the most natural. You are not troubled by the hardness of the surface. You do not feel so much if the ground is cold or wet and you are always ready to stand up and face whatever might be in front of you. The fetal position is really the best, the most practical and the most natural too. And sleeping on the ground naturally forces it to happen, naturally makes you revert to your animal sleeping ways.