Dream Wellness Fact Sheet

Having bad dreams lately? Or not remembering your dreams at all? You may not realize it, but your dream quality and ability to recall your dreams says a lot about the quality of your sleep. Dream wellness has a major effect on your sleep, which in turn, has a large impact on how you function day-to-day.

Good dreams and remembrance of your dreams go hand in hand with improved daily function. In addition, sleep and dream expert Rubin Naiman believes, “Good dreaming contributes to our psychological well-being by supporting healthy memory, warding off depression, and expanding our ordinary limited consciousness into broader, spiritual realms.” Studies have also shown that dreaming is crucial for our ability to consolidate memories and our overall ability to learn new things. When we are asleep, this is our bodies time to rest and recover, as well as time for our brain to store new knowledge we gained during the day and to save and compartmentalize our memories for later use.

Promoting good dreams

The best way to promote good dreams, and to remember them, is by getting a full uninterrupted night of sleep. Dream and sleep experts agree that everyone dreams, but not everyone remembers their dreams. Remembering your dreams has a lot to do with how well your body flows through the different sleep cycles during the night.  If these cycles are interrupted, making you unable to progress through each stage properly, you will not only experience a less satisfying sleep but will have trouble recalling your dreams. Therefore, dream recollection is also a way to gauge how well you have slept during the night.

However, sometimes dreams can have a negative impact on our sleep, bad dreams in particular. Bad dreams, or nightmares, can provoke sleeplessness out of fear, and in some cases insomnia. But there is good news for those of you suffering from nightmares and the poor sleep that comes with them. Certain sleep and dream experts believe that you can have some control over your dream life. Now we don’t believe that you can one hundred percent control over your dreams every night, but we do believe you can satisfactorily influence them. Starting with a healthy amount of sleep and practicing sleep hygiene, you can negate bad dreams by thinking positive thoughts before bed. In particular, by focusing on a certain positive thought or scenario, it is likely that your dream will venture down this path in one way or another.

Getting a good night’s sleep

If you are experiencing poor sleep and in not recalling your dreams, or even believe that you do not dream when you sleep, you may need to make some lifestyle or behavior changes to address the underlying cause of your bad sleep and reason you may not recall your dreams. Some of the factors that may lead to insufficient sleep and difficulty remembering dreams include:

  • Consumption of alcohol, especially before bed or to aid falling asleep
  • High stress, or a bad day
  • Blue light emissions from electronics (cell phones, laptops, TVs, etc.)
  • Eating or consuming caffeine late in the day or before bed
  • Lack of exercise or exercise too late in the day
  • An uncomfortable sleeping environment and/or an uncomfortable mattress
  • Keeping an inconsistent sleeping schedule

If you are experiencing difficulty falling and staying asleep, or are engaging in any behaviors on the above list, we encourage you to make the necessary changes and get a good night’s sleep. Some useful strategies we suggest you try so you can sleep well and foster a healthy dreaming environment are:

  • Sleep in a comfortable environment. A dark, quiet, and cool room with a comfortable mattress and pillow.
  • Avoid stress before bed. If you are stressed, try some relaxation techniques such as meditation, breathing exercises, or a warm bath.
  • Daily exercise. Exercise earlier in the day and never within four hours of sleep.
  • Keep a consistent sleep schedule, falling asleep and waking up around the same times every day.
  • Avoid alcohol before bed.
  • Go to sleep when you are tired. If you aren’t tired at your bedtime, grab a good book and read until you are, or start reading thirty minutes before your bedtime to prepare yourself for sleep.

We hope you now have a better understanding of how your dream wellness is directly affected by your sleep wellness and how both contribute to your daily functioning, from feeling well rested to storing your memories. At Vitalisticswe care about your sleep and believe you can and should get a good night’s sleep, every night.

Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice; the Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.