Dreaming and sleeping
I wonder why it should be that I hardly dream at all nowadays. There used to be a time that all sorts of wierd and wonderful things would be presented to me during my sleeping hours but now, since a month or two, the flow has stopped and I hardly have more than a vague recollection of having dreamt something but not knowing what.
Dreams have always been important for me, I've had quite a few which were gentle but clear reminders of choices which could be made, new insights into old situations, puzzlingly enigmatic confrontations in large dark places and words spoken which intuitively contained more meaning than a lifetime of conversation.
Perhaps deliberately, I've never dug too far to find meanings or explanations of my dreams, fearing that if I did so I would upset the natural explorations of my mind within itself during the moments of rest. I suspect there's a danger in trying to (over-)analyse the motives and methods used by my subconscious without the proper insights, as well as lacking the necessary objectivity in doing so and perhaps seeing what I'd prefer to see instead of unravelling the messages in a less personal fashion.
Nowadays, since my treatment, I've taken on a different sleeping pattern which is more natural to me. I've always been an early waker, no matter how late I go to bed, I'll usually wake up in the (very) early morning and sleep fitfully until about 5 a.m. Having gone to bed around 10 p.m. I find it a bit of a waste of time trying to sleep after that so I usually get up and put the quiet early morning hours to good use. I find the quietness to be healing, being able to focus without external distractions and feeling less tired than in the evening hours when concentration tends to drop off as my body prepares itself for sleep.
Early morning is a time for reflection for me, a moment for myself in which I can prepare myself for the day which is coming and organise myself sufficiently for the tasks I've set myself. Perhaps these are the moments I've always needed to be able to regain a form of sanity needed to survive the day, perhaps the relaxation found in these moments take over part of my need for dreaming... who knows?
I miss the dreaming though. I guess I'll have to do a little more in a different way... daydreaming perhaps?
Keep well...
---------------
Dreams have always been important for me, I've had quite a few which were gentle but clear reminders of choices which could be made, new insights into old situations, puzzlingly enigmatic confrontations in large dark places and words spoken which intuitively contained more meaning than a lifetime of conversation.
Perhaps deliberately, I've never dug too far to find meanings or explanations of my dreams, fearing that if I did so I would upset the natural explorations of my mind within itself during the moments of rest. I suspect there's a danger in trying to (over-)analyse the motives and methods used by my subconscious without the proper insights, as well as lacking the necessary objectivity in doing so and perhaps seeing what I'd prefer to see instead of unravelling the messages in a less personal fashion.
Nowadays, since my treatment, I've taken on a different sleeping pattern which is more natural to me. I've always been an early waker, no matter how late I go to bed, I'll usually wake up in the (very) early morning and sleep fitfully until about 5 a.m. Having gone to bed around 10 p.m. I find it a bit of a waste of time trying to sleep after that so I usually get up and put the quiet early morning hours to good use. I find the quietness to be healing, being able to focus without external distractions and feeling less tired than in the evening hours when concentration tends to drop off as my body prepares itself for sleep.
Early morning is a time for reflection for me, a moment for myself in which I can prepare myself for the day which is coming and organise myself sufficiently for the tasks I've set myself. Perhaps these are the moments I've always needed to be able to regain a form of sanity needed to survive the day, perhaps the relaxation found in these moments take over part of my need for dreaming... who knows?
I miss the dreaming though. I guess I'll have to do a little more in a different way... daydreaming perhaps?
Keep well...
---------------
Labels: dreaming, quietness, reflection, sleep
posted by bart | 06:07
5 Comments:
Sleep & dreams are fascinating, indeed. In bed by 10 and up by 5 works best for me, too, but if falling back to sleep isn't working at 3 or 4, I'm with you: taking advantage of the quiet hours before the rest of the house awakens. I think it was Chopra who suggested that the two hours we get before midnight are the most restorative, so keeping to a regular bedtime ritual seems wise. As for dreaming, I've read it's possible to bring the dreams back simply by intending to, by keeping a dream journal, for example.
I love a really vivid dream, but most of them are elusive, sketchy things I can't quite grasp.
I've either read or heard somewhere that people dream every evening unless sleep deprived or dream deprived via some form of drug. I think you could have a lot less weighing on you lately and you're getting a better rest so you're not remembering your dreams as easily as before. I think it's a good thing, and in time you'll start to remember your dreams more, maybe even start lucid dreaming.
thanks for your input zilla, there's a lot of wisdom in those words... :-))
my grandmother used to tell me that the hours before midnight would count double and i didn't really believe her at the time... until i needed to try it for myself...
like you say, there's such a lovely, ephemeral quality which i can't quite grasp... puzzles all round :-))
i think you're right papa... i'm in a bit of a transitional stage at the moment, having shed one way of life and trying to get on my feet again in a new one... life is stabilising and i guess the dreams will follow once my mind is more or less balanced again...
I suppose I dream every night, lots of times I remember those dreams, am nagged by them to give them attention. Sometimes it's because they were so frappin' weird, or they contained people who are important to me.
My grandmother used to analyze dreams, she used a dreamers dictionary and some handed down information from her mother. I try to interpret my dreams too, as best I can.
You know I had professor who believed that you could learn to control your dreams, and even begin and end them any way you wanted, and when you wanted. I've stopped in the middle of a frightening dream and asked the fear what it was, it didn't tell me but it did go away...The professor had suggested that we confront fear in our dreams.
Also from my dreams I have predicted several of my friend's pregnancies, not what they will have but that they are pregnant. Odd, yeah.
They'll come back to ya.
good points you've noted here fineartist, many people try to record dreams and find it useful... i've got my hands full trying to remember anything :P
you're right, there is a category of dreams that can be controlled and in which one is an active participant, as papa mentioned with lucid dreaming...
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