We all dream, of course, and I assume the process is more or less the same for all of us. That is, as we slip into slumber, we all enter a strange sort of state, where our minds are taken over by strange, often fantastic images and sounds. Sometimes they are images that correspond to sights and scenes in the real world, but often they are fantasmagorias, nonsensical and otherworldly.
I suppose my own dreaming pattern is typical, consisting usually of dreams that address some event or events that happened earlier during the day, before the night of the dream. Events that apparently my subconscious mind is going over, analyzing, perhaps trying to make sense of, or something.
My own dreams are mostly of the nonsensical variety, although occasionally with stretches of the real-world-experience kind. Mostly my dreams are set in a "mild anxiety" setting, and I almost never have nightmares. Occasionally, although rarely, I will have a "lucid dream," a truly fascinating experience, when, while still asleep, I become aware that I am indeed dreaming, and may even attempt to "take over" and run the dream, although I usually wake up before that happens to any degree. So I assume I am a "typical dreamer."
But I have sometimes wondered, could it be possible to take some sort of steps or actions that in some way or ways would increase the chances that the dream(s) I wind up having on a given night would be the pleasant, enjoyable kind, and my dreams during that night would be a nice experience?
I mean doing things like eating certain foods before retiring, or doing certain exercises, whether mental or physical, or other things, which in some unknown way might enhance the chances that my dreams that night might be pleasant ones?
As one might expect, there are numerous web article on this topic, with many of them indeed offering tips or techniques to try to do just this, to make for nice dreams, so they claim. The article linked at end below ("12 Tips to Have Better Dreams at Night") is one such article, and has some suggestions.
From this article:
Quality sleep is essential.
Regular exercise during the day is helpful, but " ... if you exercise too close to bedtime, you might actually have trouble winding down and falling asleep."
Make your sleeping area as quiet and non-distracting as possible.
Starting an hour before bed, de-stress (suggestions for doing this are given).
Avoid alcohol before retiring, since " ... with alcohol in your system, you’re more likely to have vivid dreams and nightmares."
Eat melatonin-rich foods (list of them is given), as this substance " ... improves overall sleep quality, though effects are modest." But also " ... some people may find that melatonin improves dreams, others may have more vivid and potentially scarier dreams."
Also,
"Dreams are a jumble of your daytime thoughts and experiences. Bad dreams may reflect things that are stressing you out. Try writing about
the details of your dreams as soon as you wake up, including the emotions you felt. This exercise may help you connect your dreams to real life situations. Confronting the issues in your waking life may help improve your dream life."
And, rather interesting
"According to a 2019 study, playing physically interactive games was positively correlated with lucid and lucid/control dream frequency. Overall gameplay makes it more likely that game content will make its way into your dreams and may increase lucid dreaming. This is also known as the Tetris effect."
And another
very interesting thing. The article contained this link:
https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/how-to-lucid-dream#how-to-wake-upwhich is to another article on techniques to try to create lucid dreams when next falling asleep. It's interesting because what's discussed are
specific mental steps one can employ to increase the chances of creating a lucid-dreaming environment.
So maybe some of these are worth a try? Well, I'm afraid I have to confess that I have actually tried some of these over the past week's worth of nights or so, and so far my dreams have been what they usually are, with no observable increase either in the "pleasantness" or "lucid dreaming" departments.
Or maybe I just need to give it more time.Or try harder.
But if any of you have discovered yourselves any ways that you have found that impact the nature or quality of your own dreams, please do post and share them with us.
But if dreams are indeed the "windows to the soul," then it would be nice indeed if the ones we look through are pretty and attractive, rather than dark and foreboding.
In any case, sweet dreams, everyone!
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-have-good-dreams#how-to-get-good-dreams