6 Things That Influence Your Dreams
When we’re sleeping,
our bodies do everything they can to stay asleep. So rather than waking
us up, outside stimuli -- smells, sounds, sensations -- often become
woven into our dream narratives. “The dreaming mind has this really cool
way of seemingly flawlessly incorporating the outside interference into
the storyline of the dream,” explains Lauri Loewenberg, a certified dream analyst and member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams.
Which means that there are a lot of influences that can shape how your dreams play out. Just keep in mind that your natural dreams, i.e. those that aren’t at the mercy of what’s happening around you in the real world, help you process your thoughts and feelings about your day. Too much interference, Loewenberg says, “can be disruptive to the message your dreaming mind is trying to give you.”
If you’ve ever incorporated the sound of your alarm clock into your dream -- maybe it became a fire alarm or a whistle -- you know that real-life sounds can find their way into your dreams’ storylines. An app even monitors sleep and plays sounds specifically designed to evoke certain dreams. Loewenberg attests that soundtracks can influence the content of your dreams, and while she doesn’t recommend making a habit out of this -- again, it interferes with the cognitive work your dreams are meant to accomplish -- she says that “it’s OK, once in a while, if you want to influence a really awesome dream, to play your favorite album quietly while you sleep. Or maybe the sound of the ocean, if you want to dream about a romp on the beach with Ashton Kutcher.”
For a restful sleep, though, she recommends white noise: It drowns out the other sounds around you and should improve your sleep, allowing for organic dreaming.
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Which means that there are a lot of influences that can shape how your dreams play out. Just keep in mind that your natural dreams, i.e. those that aren’t at the mercy of what’s happening around you in the real world, help you process your thoughts and feelings about your day. Too much interference, Loewenberg says, “can be disruptive to the message your dreaming mind is trying to give you.”
1.Sounds
If you’ve ever incorporated the sound of your alarm clock into your dream -- maybe it became a fire alarm or a whistle -- you know that real-life sounds can find their way into your dreams’ storylines. An app even monitors sleep and plays sounds specifically designed to evoke certain dreams. Loewenberg attests that soundtracks can influence the content of your dreams, and while she doesn’t recommend making a habit out of this -- again, it interferes with the cognitive work your dreams are meant to accomplish -- she says that “it’s OK, once in a while, if you want to influence a really awesome dream, to play your favorite album quietly while you sleep. Or maybe the sound of the ocean, if you want to dream about a romp on the beach with Ashton Kutcher.”
For a restful sleep, though, she recommends white noise: It drowns out the other sounds around you and should improve your sleep, allowing for organic dreaming.
Smells
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