D – Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

What if we could control our dreams?

When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Lyrics from the song Dream by the Everly Brothers

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbU3zdAgiX8)

There is much information about dreams on the web. What scientists think cause them? What are the meaning of dreams? (think Freud). Can we manipulate them? Are they based on real happenings and desires, or just our brains having fun scrambling ideas in our heads? I’m not going to answer any of these. Most of the information that I want to share will be based on one article in Scientific American By Jordan Lite on July 29, 2010. Here’s the link if you are interested in reading the whole article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-control-dreams/

According to the article, the literal definition of a dream is “a narrative experience that occurs during sleep.” I’m sure there are other definitions including definitions of things such as daydreams. But I’m going to stick with that definition for now.

There are different types of dreams. One is the story that you create that is somehow connected to things you do. For instance, a problem you’re trying to solve, some particular content that you might be thinking about (a movie or book you’ve just experienced, a bad day at the office, etc.), or dreaming that you are in a dream (sometimes referred to as a lucid dream).
In terms of controlling your dreams, it depends on what type of dream you are having or want to have. Do want to solve a problem in real life? Are you having nightmares that are overwhelming you (called Mastery Nightmares) and want to stop them or make them less nightmarish (by creating a Mastery Dream)? Do you want to specifically dream about something or someone?

Here are some of the solutions that were recommended to try. I have not tried any of them yet as of this writing, so I’ll have to let you know sometime in the future, or through the comments on this blog entry if any are successful.

If you want to problem-solve in a dream, you should first think of the problem before bed, and if you can get a picture in your mind, hold on to it in your mind so it is the last thing in your head before falling to sleep.

Next, don’t jump out of bed when you wake up. Research seems to show that almost half of your dream content is lost if you get distracted. Lie there, don’t do else but try and recall the dream. If you can think of the emotions that occurred in the dream.

Often a simple photo you may have might be a trigger to help you dream of someone or something you want to dream about. The suggestion is if you used to have dreams of flying, find a photo of a human flying.

As to nightmares, try to rehearse in your head, while you are awake, the scenario in which you conquer whatever it is that you are being traumatized about. You can use other people to help talk you through this scenario. These mastery dreams seem to carry over into

DOGGIE DREAMS

helping you feel safer and even more healed in your daytime state.

So there are some techniques to try. Now take control of your dreams and good luck with them.

Then again, what if we can’t control dreams, but they foretold the future? I don’t want to think about that.