How To Control Your Dreams With Lucid Dreaming
Oct 15, 2008 lucid dreaming
Lucid dreaming is where you are in a dream and actually notice that you're dreaming. Everyone dreams every night. Many times. But it's rare for us to recall what was in our dreams. When you start to take control of your dreams, you're starting to dream lucidly.
So how easy is it to learn to dream lucidly? And, given that most dreams are pretty odd anyway, why on earth would you want to start to control them?
Learning to lucid dream is like anything in life, it just takes practice.
Up until now, you've probably known when you've dreamed, but only if it was a particularly vivid dream. We all dream every night, several times a night. The thing is, we forget almost all the dreams we have. It's actually quite rare for us to remember our dreams unless we put our mind to it.
Keep your note pad and a pencil close by, maybe on your bedside table. If you haven't got a bedside light, you may want a small flashlight as well. This book is your own private dream journal.
Each time you wake up, the first thing you do should be to write down as many details as you can remember from your most recent dream. To begin with, there is unlikely to be much detail. It only takes a handful of days before you start to remember a lot more detail about your dreams.
When you look back over your dream journal, you're almost certain to spot themes that keep cropping up, over and over again, in the dreams you've written about. Possibly you have dreams about flying through the air or even space. Possibly your dreams involve water. It doesn't matter what your dream subject is, just go with the flow. It's one of your minds ways of resolving the various issues you come up against in the day.
You can interpret your dreams with one of the many different dream interpretation books you can find online or in Amazon.
After that, the next part of the procedure is to actually begin to control what you dream about. This is where the fun begins!
Lucid dreaming is a big subject but you're already a lot closer to it than most people, just by starting your journal of dreams. You can find out more about lucid dreaming here.
6 Common Causes Of Insomnia
Oct 9, 2008 Insomnia
Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders seen today and is characterized by restlessness, frequent sleep interruptions, shorter than normal sleeping time and sometimes by complete wakefulness.
Apart from being extremely annoying, insomnia can cause sufferers to lose their energy and enthusiasm, develop memory and concentration problems and to feel lethargic and frustrated. This in turn can lead to a drop in work productivity and also to accidents which can have serious consequences.
There are a host of different things that can cause insomnia but here look at just 6 which are commonly linked to this sleep disorder:
1. The Environment
Our environment is extremely important when it comes to getting a good night's sleep and things like light, noise or extremes of temperature can cause insomnia.
2. Substance Abuse
The most obvious form of substance abuse when talking about insomnia is coffee, together with other drinks which are high in caffeine.
Smoking too might fall into this category as heavy or chain smokers consume more than sufficient quantities of nicotine to cause problems sleeping. However, what is perhaps less well known is that this list of substances is fairly long and even includes many herbal remedies which are taken for a range of different problems and which can cause insomnia as a side effect.
Finally, we must not forget alcohol. Although alcohol can often induce tiredness, initially once it is metabolized it too can keep you wide awake.
3. Disturbance To The Biological Clock
Each of us has our own body clock or circadian rhythm which is controlled in part by light and darkness and which regulates the body's sleep/wake cycle. If this clock is thrown out of balance by things like staying up all night studying in college, partying into the small hours or jetting off around the world on business or for pleasure, then you will suffer from sleeping difficulties while the clock slowly tries to re-adjust itself.
4. Activities Prior To Bedtime
There are a number of things which can lead to insomnia if they happen within a reasonably short time of going to bed. Two of the most common are taking vigorous exercise shortly before retiring or eating a large meal when you are just about to go to bed. Both of these activities stimulate the body's metabolism and thus keep you awake.
5. Health Problems
There are a large number of health problems that are known to induce insomnia including heart failure, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, ulcers, and Parkinson's disease.
Asthma is also being seen more and more as a cause of insomnia, as is the need for frequent urination, heartburn and chronic pain resulting from things like arthritis and leg cramps. The list of medical conditions which can cause insomnia is very long and also includes other types of sleep disorder such as sleep apnea as well as a range of psychiatric conditions.
6. Emotional Distress
We all suffer from emotional distress from time to time and this can often lead to us becoming anxious or angry. However, when we bottle our feeling up inside ourselves rather than talking about them and seeking a solution for them then this frequently results in insomnia.
These six causes of insomnia are the usually the reasons most of us can't get to sleep. Figuring out which one is causing your sleep problems can help you determine the best course of action.
Tags: causes of insomnia, Insomnia, sleep disorders, sleep problems, sleeping difficulties
