Lately I have been paying close attention to my dreams, many of which have been nightmares due to the fact that I made a plan to watch horror movies exclusively for the next two months, every night, in preparation for Halloween and beyond. So far it's been over a week non stop! It's been awesome!
Last year, I did the same thing and binged on horror movies for 3 months straight until I literally couldn't do it anymore. Not only were they ruining my subsequent movie watching, but they were also effecting me psychologically, which was in essence the purpose of the "experiment". Too much of a good thing is detrimental so I stopped...for awhile.
Freddy came to visit often, but in other forms..
Never one to shy away from horror movies, I often seek them out as they are my favorite genre of movies. Last year, I wanted to see how they would affect my dreams if I only watched them, devoid of any other types of movies, television shows, Netflix movies, etc. It definitely did have an impact.
Some people have a hard time falling asleep and getting the full REM experience where your mind takes over due to lack of physical stimulation and motor response during sleep. The mind essentially, fills in the gaps. Some other people simply don't remember their dreams. Finally, some people dream but haven't mastered the ability to control themselves in the dreams and make them "lucid".
Dreaming is an essential part of self awareness and controlling the way in which you dream is not only possible, but advisable. Anyone can become aware of their own self in a dream but it takes practice. This is the pinnacle of dream weaving and I love it. Watching horror movies seems to be a catalyst for me because it increases the frequency of dreams, the intensity, and also sparks what I call being "awake" in a dream.
When I say that the binge I undertook last year changed the way I watched movies I mean that the adrenaline that I felt by being scared was hard to match in other movies that weren't in the horror movie genre. It took me awhile to become engaged in movies again, unless they were excellent movies that I enjoyed or past favorites. This isn't just an assumption, it is a fact (for me) because I put my self through a 3 month test period. I was the guinea pig. Over 70% of my dreams were nightmares and over 60% of the time I had "control" in them and they were lucid. Is it easier to make a nightmare a lucid dream because it frightens the dreamer?
Once I began to develop the skills to control dreams, they became more enjoyable, especially nightmares. I was the doing the chasing, not the other way around. I was in control and could do what I wanted to do. They were my escape and I loved them.
Becoming the aggressor in nightmares is a thrilling experience, provided you remember the dream!
Now that I am back to my horror movie binge, I find that my techniques have become more and more fine tuned. I have also researched some supplements that enhance this ability. Some, known as nootropics, act to stimulate portions in the brain that govern sleep, length of sleep, deepness of sleep and also enhance visuals (dreaming in color) and almost guarantee the recall of dreams. After all, what good is a dream if you can't remember it?
Recalling dreams is the first step to controlling them. Once you remember them, you can think back on them and if you fall asleep immediately after waking from that dream, you can "coax" your brain into returning into that dream by focusing on it while you fall back asleep. This period between sleep and waking is a great way to initiate a previous dream and start controlling it, making it lucid.
My favorite supplements are Alpha Lipoic Acid, Ashawanda Root, Valerian Root, Melatonin, Magnesium, 5-HTP, Skull Cap, Passion Flower, Lemon Balm, Tryptophan, Huperzine A, and Vinpocetine. I often include vitamin B6 because it aids in their absorption in the blood brain barrier. GABA also works well, but it is not known if it passes the BBB. All of these are safe but check with your doctor before trying these. In some cases, 80% of them are in one supplement, but they are hard to find and especially hard to find them with the quality, all natural ingredients listed above. These are two that are pretty good, but you still need to supplement with others.
Note, this is not an advertisement, I get nothing for mentioning these brand. Nor do I care if anyone buys them. I like them and they work for me. I use these instead of hard pharmaceutical brands that are habit forming and make you essentially a zombie in sleep, unable to remember dreams, let alone control lucid ones. Again, always check with your doctor to make sure that there are no interactions. Try these instead of Ambien, which is habit forming and has caused people to wake drowsy and even get into car accidents since they are still asleep while awake! I'd rather not sleep than have that issue.
So in your next dream, try to take control. It will enhance your life in many ways and could perhaps even provide wisdom and knowledge that you can use in your real life!
BECOME SELF AWARE THROUGH DREAMS.
No comments:
Post a Comment