Can I stop my dreams?

[AstralCody]

I know dreaming is normal, but is there a way to make it to where I don't have goofy, sometimes violent, or just flat out strange dreams every night? Not only that but they seem to last forever. I wake up and sometimes I don't even want to go back to sleep because of the dream activity I sometimes have. I don't want to stop them completely because I am trying to train myself if I have dreams about particular things to start the OBE process. It worked once. I must have been aware enough. Usually I am so out of it though I can't seem to remind myself "This is a dream, okay now I am lucid."

I cannot (Wouldn't know where to start)decode my dreams and they can be very annoying at times. They make absolutely no sense. I try and make sense of them but I can't. I would much rather just have a very good nights sleep with no dreams, then wake up. I wish I could explain some of my dreams but I really couldn't. They are so goofy and out there it blows me away.

Now.. My OBE's are totally different but I am not talking about them. Just these dreams... Sometimes I wish I was like some people who very rarely dreamed. I hear some people say it's good to dream. It sure doesn't seem like it for me.

Sometimes they upset me. Until I wake up... I know time is irrelevant but some nights my dreams last for DAYS it seems. How can I stop this? I feel it is not helping me in anything at all. Especially the violent ones.


It has come across my mind could this be neg abuse? Or is this just my wild imagination while I am sleeping? I am not a violent person, but I will never forget a dream I had where this large demon looking thing with horns ran up to me and ripped me in half. I saw my ribs fly everywhere. I woke up of course frightened to death.

I had another dream once where I was looking into a picture. The picture was a Forrest. I saw myself like in 3rd person walking in the forest. Then way off in the distance I saw this figure looking thing. I couldn't make out what it was... but it was there. All of a sudden a face popped up and screamed very loud. Woke me up jolting out of bed.

Another dream... quite some time ago I was walking down by my neighborhood. There were police cars everywhere and lots of injured people lying around. Like some massive incident. I just kept walking observing... I noticed a lady behind me walking toward me. I looked in front of me and I sensed her getting closer from behind me. I turned around and she was right there and made this very angry like moan and swung at me. I ducked... and woke up and if I remember right I punched my wall by my bed.

These have subsided a bit... But I still do get violent ones sometimes. Mostly now they are goofy and extremely annoying and I wish they would just stop...

[SoulSail]

Hey AstralCody,

There are natural methods you can use to suppress REM stage sleep and the intense dreams that can come there, but honestly I'd avoid them all for one big reason: REM rebound.

What this mean is that if you manage to find, say, a natural supplement or waking routine that disrupts your heavier dream cycles, you're essentially building up a dam of brain activity that will rebound when you stop, thus giving you more intense dreams than you're currently experiencing. It's an overflow situation.

So that's a losing game, and I only know this because for years I had to take a medication that essentially shut down my REM cycles and when I stopped...ugh. There are other problems with doing this as well, namely, your quality of sleep will diminish since you're hijacking the brain's natural rhythms.

Now with that said, you may want to look into natural supplements that promote more pleasant dreams. There are several. I sometimes use L-Tryptophan or 5-HTP. Both of these are natural precursors to Serotonin, which is your pleasant sleep neurotransmitter among many other things. Your mileage may vary. Google around on this and I'm sure you'll find plenty of other options that are totally safe, natural, and available through a vitamin store or online.

Of course, I first recommend you keep up a dialogue with your higher-self and specifically request clarity on what's happening, or for things to simmer down until you can catch up with what your mind is trying to tell you.

Soul

[CFTraveler]

What Soul is trying to say in a nice way, is, no, unless you want to get sick or lose your mind.

I know dreaming is normal, but is there a way to make it to where I don't have goofy, sometimes violent, or just flat out strange dreams every night?

There are various stages of dreaming, and the more chaotic ones usually are 'indexing' dreams- that is, your brain classifying images and making associations as a computer would do when storing something holographically. It seems chaotic to a linear-thinking mind, but it makes sense as a filing system. Other stages show you stories, and the symbols usually mean something, even if at first they don't seem to make sense.

Not only that but they seem to last forever. I wake up and sometimes I don't even want to go back to sleep because of the dream activity I sometimes have.

You may be having a paradoxical reaction- the deep dreaming stage is the part where you don't usually remember your dreams- the ones you usually remember are the REM stage dreams, but if you get uptight and try to stay awake you end up 'not getting deep enough', and it causes you to remember them more. So really, what you want is to be very deeply relaxed so that you only remember the last dreams, which usually are more decodable.

I cannot (Wouldn't know where to start)decode my dreams and they can be very annoying at times. They make absolutely no sense.

Why not use a diary and have help decoding them? There are very talented people here that can help you with that. As you build a 'symbolic' vocabulary and get used to seeing them a certain way, they will stop being so 'undecodable' and unravel 'the mystery'.

I don't want to stop them completely because I am trying to train myself if I have dreams about particular things to start the OBE process.

You don't want to do it because if you could, you 'd end up having a psychotic episode and possibly get sick. You need all your brain cycles, regardless of what some say.

Your best bet is to get relaxed, cut down on caffeine, and don't worry about it. Get sunlight at noontime, and darkness at nighttime. Also no nightlights, blue led lights, or things that tick or beep in your room; complete darkening at night and nothing that transmits in your room if you can help it.
The lighter you sleep the more you'll remember your dreams, so try to cultivate a deep sleep, and keep a dream diary, so that you get to know your subconscious better, instead of trying to avoid it.

[AstralCody]

Thanks for the replies folks.

CFT- I leave my TV on at night behind me could that be causing these? I also leave some lights on in the hall away from my room in case I do have a OBE I can see better. (I guess it wouldn't matter though if I did the whole "clarity now give me light thing")

I use a fan, but it's deeply relaxing and I can't sleep without one.

[ButterflyWoman]

I leave my TV on at night behind me could that be causing these?

Good heavens. I can tell you that when there's a television or radio or something on when I'm dreaming, it's extremely common for the sound to work its way into my dreams and get woven in, sometimes in weird ways. What you're doing makes me actually shudder to think of it. You're trusting that whatever is on the television is going to be something you want in your subconscious.

I also leave some lights on in the hall away from my room in case I do have a OBE I can see better. (I guess it wouldn't matter though if I did the whole "clarity now give me light thing")

Sleeping in a lightened room (because of sunlight or artificial light) is shown to produce inferior sleep, but having a light on in the hall may or may not affect that. But, unless you need the light on because you get up in the night (physically) and want to be able to see, the physical light won't make much difference in an OBE.

I use a fan, but it's deeply relaxing and I can't sleep without one.

I guess you're not Korean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

(For the record, I don't believe that "fan death" is what it appears to be. I believe it happens, but I think that's because people believe it might, or it can. I often sleep with a fan on in the summer, and I do appreciate the pleasant hum-whirr that it makes.)

[AstralCody]

Butterfly- I shut off everything last night (Just woke up) Had 1 dream that was very short and was OBE related. It was even quite pleasant.

PS: I always muted the TV. It was just a light source for me.

Just had my fan on last night. It was darker than... well I couldn't see anything. It was actually very relaxing! We will see if this keeps up.

I been sleeping with fans my whole life!!!!



Edit: Did some sleeping in this morning and had more vivid, goofy and some violent dream activity. I try and sleep in and do my snooze button so I can help create OBE's... Didn't work this morning. It seems I have a ton of dreams that revolve around the subject of OBE though so I suppose that's good...

[CFTraveler]

PS: I always muted the TV. It was just a light source for me.

The 'on and off' flashing will cause Delta disruption, and it's just not good for you.
I do enjoy the noise of a fan, but not the wind, and my husband doesn't like it) - if it's a continuous noise it won't disrupt your sleep; but if it goes on and off it just may. It's the 'all of a sudden' click or bang or strobing that causes the problems, and all blue lights cause deep brain disturbances.
Ps. the snooze button will cause REM sleep, so Don't do it if you don't want dreams. However, in the morning I don't think it would cause health-disrupting problems.

[AstralCody]

Will try this CFT I need to work on just GETTING UP. No snooze... then lay down for a nap later. I am not a morning person...

PS: My fan goes around. It's the tall one that goes from left and right. But I can make it just stay in one spot blowing in one direction not on me. Could this help? The pure darkness worked like magic. The TV really was doing it I think.

[Korpo]

Hello, Cody.

You basically get the good with "the bad." I put it in quotes because it's not really bad.

For one thing, good, extensive dream recall is helpful for recalling your OBEs as well. So, the fact that you recall your dreams is a good thing.

Then, dreams have a cathartic effect in that they release whatever accumulates in your energy bodies, be it desires or be it problematic energies. This effect itself is very helpful as it will in the long run improve the quality of your OBEs. Your desire to OBE might even intensify this, as your desire to experience more OBEs and APs might require some "house cleaning."

If you happen to play much violent computer games or watch horror movies or other movies primarily designed to stimulate your nervous systems through thrills, you'd better cut down on those. Elsewise your house cleaning has to happen over and over as you accumulate new events to process in your energy bodies.

I'd also recommend to sleep with the lights off as it is said to be better for the overall system in several regards. Deep sleep is vital for both bodily and mental health. Also, keep electronic devices to a minimum, also limit electric fields - no running computer, TV, wireless access point, switched-on mobile in your bedroom and especially not close to your head.

On the other hand, if you don't mind the fan I don't think it will be a problem. Besides, if this is your primary source of air conditioning you might be worse off without it anyway.

Back to the topic of dreams and their quality. Dreams mirror something about yourself. If you consider your dreams problematic, one of two things might be going on - either you're releasing something that's going on for you right now in your life. Then it might be helpful to identify the stressors causing it and see if you can do something about them. If you cannot find a current reason, your dreams might also release accumulated stuff from the past. Then it just needs to happen and is part of your personal development and actually signifies progress.

You might want to take up a meditation practice. It might help process more stuff while awake and hence lead to a quieter night.

[CFTraveler]

Yes, or, what Oliver said.