How to influence a dreams content before sleep? Research shows there are ways to train yourself to take control of your dreams.

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Updated 20/05/2020 and before Updated 03.12.2018


If your dreams are particularly boring, or if you just want to have a little more fun at night, scientists say you may be able to control what you dream about.

Even better is that it’s possible to take control of your dream and do whatever you want!

There’s only one obstacle – you have to practice.

If you have no self-discipline, forget about it. However, if you can easily make a plan and stick to it, these research-based techniques (suggested by many psychologists and sleep experts) could be just what you need to change your dream life.

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Problem solving

It’s possible to use your dreams to find solutions to your problems. Start by thinking about the problem before sleeping – if this generates an image, hold it in your mind so it’s the last thing you see before falling asleep.

You can also place objects on your nightstand that represent the problem. For example, an artist experiencing a creative block could place a blank canvas next to the bed. In order to remember your dream, stay in the same position you wake up in. The distraction of moving can cause you to forget half of what you dreamed about.

Lucid Dreaming: Can You Control Your Dreams? The Ghost Diaries

Choosing your dream


If you want to dream about a particular subject or person, or if you used to have dreams of flying and want them back, use the same technique described for problem solving. Looking at a photo of the person or idea you want to dream of could be enough to trigger it.

New technique increases chance of lucid dreaming Cosmos Magazine

Lucid dreaming

This is the difficult part. The other techniques have a much higher success rate and don’t require as much practice or discipline.

Lucid dreams aren’t easy to come by, but studies show that following these steps can help you achieve them:

Color Lucid Dream by sheikhrouf23 on DeviantArt

1. Start keeping a dream journal


Place a pen and notebook next to where you sleep. When you wake up after dreaming, remain still until you’ve remembered everything you can. Then, write down as many details as possible.

Keeping a Dream Journal Lucid Guide

Over the coming weeks, you’ll be able to see patterns that will help you with some of the other steps in the process.

2. Give yourself “reality checks”

If you stop to ask yourself if you’re dreaming, you’ll likely know the answer. But getting into the habit of asking yourself during the day increases your chances of asking yourself while you’re dreaming – and the only way to have a lucid dream is to realize that you aren’t awake.

How to Avoid Nightmares and Get More Restful Sleep Amerisleep

Throughout the day, keep asking yourself if you’re dreaming. Do it as you read text or flip on a light switch. It may seem silly, but if you were asleep, those tasks wouldn’t work in the same way. If you flip a light switch and the sky turns purple, and you’re able to ask yourself “Am I dreaming?”, you’ll know that you’re inside a dream and you can begin to control it.


3. Redistribute your sleep

Scientists believe that late morning dreams are the longest and most intense, and many agree that redistributing your sleep is the most reliable method for inducing lucid dreaming.

I had a dream … between Heaven and Hell. Now, I want some answers.' image OB Rag

This is how it works: set an alarm to wake you up four hours earlier than normal. Get up and go about your business for two hours while imagining that you can control your dreams. Then get back in bed and sleep for another two hours.

Those delayed final two hours of sleep are the most rich with REM activity, and they’re your best chance at achieving lucidity.


4. Identify your personal dream signs


Here’s where your dream journal comes back into play.

Go through your dream entries and highlight anything that appears more than once. Identifying the objects, animals, or people that recur is another way to tell yourself that you’re dreaming.

Infinty model of healing

For example, if you always dream about your deceased grandmother, keep saying to yourself “The next time I see Grandma, I’ll be dreaming.” With any luck, the next time you dream about her, you’ll realize you aren’t awake.

Many of these techniques seem either simple or extraordinarily difficult to put into practice, but sleep experiments have shown that about half the people who consistently use them are able to see results.

What do you think? Can you make it happen? Let us know in the comments or send us your best dream stories!



Other articles on the same theme:

• Why we have nightmares? What produces these depraved nocturnal deliriums, and what purpose they serve?

• Tunnel of light "between life and death has found scientific explanation

• After millennia, Harvard researchers appear to have finally discovered the origin of forming consciousness

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Didyouknowfacts. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length

Why we have nightmares? What produces these depraved nocturnal deliriums, and what purpose they serve?

Updated 03.12.2018

What produces these depraved nocturnal deliriums, and what purpose they serve, are questions that neuroscientists, shamans, and technicolor dreamcoat-wearers have attempted to answer since the dawn of man. And while the meanings of our nightmares may remain engulfed in shadowy mystery, we are at least beginning to understand why our hidden demons sometimes choose to visit us while we sleep.

What is a nightmare?

University of Colorado School of Medicine associate clinical professor James Pagel told IFLScience that “there’s actually a bunch of different types of frightening dreams occurring at all stages of sleep,” not all of which are classed as nightmares. Night terrors, for instance, tend to strike midway through the sleep cycle, during the deep sleep phase, and have no clear form or plot, but simply cause people to wake up with an intense and unexplainable feeling of fear.

Lakeshore Public Radio

Nightmares, on the other hand, are experienced during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase, which occurs at the end of the sleep cycle. According to Pagel, nightmares are simply “dreams with a frightening story,” and are extremely common, affecting almost everybody at some point in their lives – especially during childhood and adolescence.

According to one study, between 5 and 8 percent of adults have recurring nightmares, while between 20 and 39 percent of children under the age of 12 regularly find themselves plunged into the haunted house inside their minds after lights-out. In the majority of cases this is not a serious problem, as Pagel says that scary dreams are to be expected from time to time, particularly if we have experienced something a little unsettling during the day, like watching a horror movie.

Lakeshore Public Radio

Things can get a little problematic, however, if a person develops nightmare disorder, whereby frequent nightmares stop them from sleeping properly and start to cause them distress during waking hours.

Why do we have nightmares?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been identified as a major cause of nightmare disorder, as people who have been through major traumatic experiences are often plagued by fear and anxiety even while they sleep. A recent study found that 80 percent of those who suffer from the condition report regular nightmares, while another discovered that 53 percent of Vietnam War veterans often have scary dreams, compared to just 3 percent of the general population.

UBC Wiki

Medications that disrupt the hormones and neurotransmitters that regulate REM sleep can also lead to terrifying dreams, while people with psychological disorders tend to be particularly nightmare prone as well.


How these conditions turn the slumbering brain into a ghoul-infested realm of terror is not yet fully understood, although abnormalities in neural activity have been observed in people with nightmare disorder. For example, a brain region called the amygdala, which controls fear and learning, has been found to be overactive in PTSD patients who complain of regular nightmares, while some of the brain’s emotion centers, such as the paralimbic system, also often tend to be highly active in those who experience frequent nightmares.

As scary as nightmares may seem, they can't hurt you and can actually help you understand your own mind. Kiselev Andrey Valerevich/Shutterstock

Can nightmares hurt you?

“I think nightmares are wonderful,” says Pagel enthusiastically. “Dreams are basically a cognitive feedback system on how your brain is functioning, and nightmares, more so than other dreams, give you feedback on what’s going on inside your head.” Rather than harming us, therefore, nightmares actually help us to understand our own psyche, and for this reason can actually be extremely beneficial, especially in terms of unlocking our inner creativity.

Because of this, Pagel says that “people with frequent nightmares tend to have more creative personalities, and almost all creative types report nightmares more than others do.”

However, he does warn that having too many disturbing nightmares can also play a part in causing, or at least aggravating, PTSD, which in turn massively increases the risk of a person committing suicide.


On top of this, some people may also suffer from REM behavior disorder, whereby they physically act out their dreams while they sleep. Strangely, this condition is most common among middle-aged men, and arises when a brain area called the pons – which is responsible for paralyzing our muscles while we sleep – doesn’t function properly, causing us to get up and move around. Though you don’t have to be having a nightmare for this to be dangerous, it’s not hard to imagine how dreams about running away from monsters or fighting for one’s life could place sleepers and those around them in serious peril.

Other articles on the same theme:

• After millennia, Harvard researchers appear to have finally discovered the origin of forming consciousness

• How to influence a dreams content before sleep? Research shows there are ways to train yourself to take control of your dreams

• The discovery that changes everything about the human brain

• Tunnel of light "between life and death has found scientific explanation

Story source: 

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Ilf Science . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Tunnel of light "between life and death has found scientific explanation

A respected neurologist founded a compelling new theory about the experiences of life and death.

The experiences of life and death

Gillian MacKenzie remembers he was worried about his unborn child's condition when the world around them was swallowed up in darkness, except for one bright spot. It was aware that the task had problems and lost much blood during it, but he felt comfortable in that light.

"Initially it was a single point, and then I noticed that I was dragged toward him, he thereby increasing increasingly more. The brightness was so strong that I felt that I was in a tunnel" claimed it .

"I felt no fear when I was in the tunnel and immerse me in the light. It was not a very pleasant feeling. I can only describe as a feeling of trance" continues Gillian.

"Suddenly I heard a male voice shouting:" Gill! ". It was a voice very cute and I thought, 'Oh no, I stand before God, and I do not even believe in him." He asked me if I know who is and I replied: "Yes, but I'm afraid I can not pronounce your name." it turned out he had a good sense of humor, because chuckled upon hearing my response "resumed it.

Gillian's experience has happened many years ago, before the appearance of stories about the experiences of life and death. And today that it looks real feeling for Gillian, who suffered a haemorrhage during childbirth.

No one can know for sure, but scientists believe that about one in ten will experience between life and death, most likely during a cardiac arrest.

In general we see light, we go through a tunnel, we meet with a loved one or we will gravitate over our body, watching doctors and nurses trying to revive us.

Those who have gone through such an experience described this event as cheerful and thinking what has changed for life.

Most people think that had a flash and threw it on the afterlife. Often this experience strengthens their faith and lead to the disappearance of fear of death. For these people, the events seem real, lucid and valuable.

For them might come as a shock news that a respected American neurologist believes he can explain in terms of physiological symptoms totate experiences between life and death. These explanations will refute the ideas that the souls leave their bodies to make a journey in the afterlife and to return to Earth.

A neurologist provides scientific explanation

Kevin Nelson, a professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky, studied for 30 years experiences between life and death.

In his new book, he explained all the experience of life and death, his central argument involving REM (rapid eye movement). At this stage of sleep most dreams occur while the person sleeps has paralyzed body except the eyes, heart and diaphragm - the one that controls breathing.

Professor Nelson believes that some people are more sensitive than others to what is called "intrusion of REM", when the paralysis that accompanies REM occurs when a person is waking and is often accompanied by hallucinations appearing real.

The study led by Professor Nelson examined 55 cases of people who claimed to have had an experience of life and death. Of these 60% had experienced previous episodes of REM intrusion, compared with 24% of participants who were randomized.

"Instead of passing directly from the REM state of wakefulness, the brains of people who claim to have experiences between life and death, tends to combine the two states", explains Professor. This leads to positioning the subject in a state called "borderline conscience."

"Many people go through this state for only a few seconds or minutes, to pass the state of REM or waking. Being« borderline of consciousness ", paralysis, lights, hallucinations and time dreaming are normal. During a crisis such as cardiac arrest, this condition might explain what is known as the experience of life and death "continued Nelson.

In his study, Professor stressed that such experiences are encountered situations where borderline between life and death (such as trauma or cardiac arrest). These episodes have in common interruption of blood flow to the brain.

"Normally, 20% of the blood pumped by the heart to the brain. If blood flow is reduced and reaches a third of the usual amount, the brain remains active up to 10, up to 20 seconds before losing consciousness. The brain suffer injury, even if blood flow remains low for hours, "says the researcher.

"When blood is ejected from the head immediately before blackouts, tissue that is most affected is the retina, not the brain. When the retina is affected, there is a feeling of darkness that comes from outside to inside, and thus tunnel effect "explains Nelson.

"Light at the end of the tunnel can come from two different sources. It can be an ambient light - the light of a hospital room, which may be the only element recognizable when the blood is drained from the brain. Alternatively, REM system, which is known to activate visual system could generate an internal light that exists only in the brain ", mentioned Professor.

"Part of the brain associated with out of body experiences, temporoparietală region, near the area responsible for the sensation of movement." This could explain why people feel that a move during these experiences.

"Normally, this portion of the brain is involved in the REM, but in some cases, this system is not working properly, and during the transition to the state of REM brain can get some sensations of movement" added Nelson.

To explain the sensations of liberation of the soul and leave the body, Professor Nelson made reference to a study by Swiss neuroscientist Olaf Blanke. He and his team made an amazing discovery while preparing a woman for 43 years for surgery. This woman suffered seizures and the surgeon and applied a series of electrical impulses in the brain to detect where the problem comes.

Suddenly, the woman, who was conscious during the procedure, said he had an experience of leaving the body and was looking down at her. When the electric current has been interrupted, it was "back" into the body.

"Feels like the woman of being outside or inside of the body can be altered as simple as activating a switch to turn on or off a light bulb," said Professor Nelson.

The feeling of bliss could be explained by the reward system of the brain. During moments of crisis, the body eliminates a number of chemicals that causes a feeling of relaxation and wellbeing.

If during a hunting trip, the group was cornered by a predator, and people were sure to be killed would have had more chance one of them would be left behind without fighting to save other. Predator would spend time and energy on one person, it is easier for the rest of the group to escape.

During the experience of life and death, Gillian MacKenzie met his grandfather who died two years ago. It's said that gave birth to a boy - the right thing, but that would not have been where it knows - and he had the feeling that leaves his body, floating above him and he saw doctors and nurses how it operates.

It also noted that hovered over her husband and Hamish, who followed him in the corridors of the hospital, seeing as it gives him a phone to her mother.

"I was not scared, but I wanted to Hamish can announce that everything will be fine and I will return in a way back into the body," explained Gillian.

"I told my grandfather that they must leave and go back to take care of the baby and husband, but he I warned that I must have strong arguments to be allowed to go back into the body," continues Gillian.

During this episode, Gillian relived different times in the past, both good and bad, and had returned with a different perception over their lives. For example, she never forgave her mother for having left her boarding school and remembers that she cried when she left.

"Reliving those moments, I realized it was very hard for her to see me crying, but was not allowed to look back. I understand better the situation and I told my grandfather that I should return to share this new view of such problems and to help the others. After I came back, "said Gillian.

In the years that followed, Gillian became an adviser. "Before this experience I was intolerant people, but I've changed and I became a different person."


"You can come up with a rational explanation regarding this kind of experience, but it would be in vain. For us these episodes are real and have a profound effect on us and how we live our lives afterward. After this experience I ' gone any fear that ought to have in relation to my death and I think this turned me into a better person. you can call hallucinations, if you want, but they are part of our reality "said Gillian .

God's existence is denied by the scientific explanation of this phenomenon?

Professor Nelson said he did not intend to deny the existence of God or to diminish the importance of this kind of experience.

"There is a schism growing between those who believe that God is an anachronism and believes that all spiritual experiences are a dangerous illusion, and those who say that religion is the basis of their lives," explains Nelson.

"I thought it would be shown as a neurologist trying to explain the nature of spiritual experiences, not to make false theories. I treat with great respect such experiences because they are very important for those who had them. They can be considered the most influential experiences that could ever have to "continuous teacher.

"So I must try to explain in terms of physiological causes and ways in which these experiences, but I could demonstrate that they are not inconsistent with people's faith in God for the religious," he said.


"After all, who can say that this mechanism was not created by God just to give people comfort when they need it - when approaching death?" Concludes Professor neurologist Kevin Nelson.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Daily Mail . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.