Remember that time you rode your Brazilian unicorn across Jell - O Lake to save Venus Williams from the burning spaghetti manufacturing plant ? Ahhhh , those were the good onetime days …
Bizarro dream are kind of like an acid - trip lottery : you never know when you ’ll hit the jackpot . But there may be ways you may play the odds in your favor . Like your teenage self , dreaming are jolly well influenced , so examine your hand at a couple of these techniques , and you might see your trustworthy unicorn again in no time .
Be intentional
The first step to stimulate crazy dreaming is actually remembering them , and in the immortal words ofMarty McFly : " If you put your mind to it , you may accomplish anything . " A 2007 meta - analysis conclude that someone ’s attitude toward dreaming is thestrongest indicatorof recalling dreams . essentially , if youwantto remember dreams , then you ’re more likely to commend them ( deep , correct ? ) .
Most multitude dreamfour to six times per night , but you ’re not paying enough aid to remember them . Before going to sleep , mentally expectingto " have " and remember dreams might just be your best bet in making trusted youfeellike you ’re actually having them .
Write it down
Once you ’ve got it in your head that you ’re going to dream , the next footfall is recording it . softly set a camera on your mind ’s eye , then … wholly kidding , though the idea of stay fresh a " dream daybook " in all likelihood granary just as many eye rolls .
Unlike show your mind ’s eye , keep a logbook about your dream is aproven methodfor increasing dream recall . Intending to daydream create you pay attention to your sick dreams . log the dream now after waking up helps you remember that craziness . Just tag your dream journal something like " Accounting Records , " so no one has any desire to scan it or make sport of you for having it .
Play video games
Excuse me . Finish study first . Thenplay video games . Lucid dreaming , or the ability tocontrol your dreams , is a rarefied attainment pursued by medium and clinical scientists likewise . The science of lucid dream has been inconclusive ( to say the least ) , but recent research might be on to something that could justify those dailyCall of Dutymarathons .
Research perform over more than a decade detect that gamers cover havingmore lucid dreamsthan non - gamers . The lead researcher hypothesized that gamers can exercise control over aspiration thanks to live controlling phantasy worlds in video game . Further studies suggest that coherent dreamers potentially possessgreater insightinto solving real - domain problems with their dreams . So disregard everything your parent and ex - girl ever told you : video games are for winners ! They ’re for winners , dad ! ! !
Sleep on your stomach
Are your dream lacking a certainva - Old Dominion State - voom ? Do you ever fantasize about being smash ? Have you ever enquire about auto - erotic asphyxiation ? Then boy , do I have the sleeping stance for you ! A2012 studyfound that people who sleep venter - down report gamy instance of intimate and suffocation dreams ( not clear how often they were combine ) . The outcome is n’t fully understood , but might have something to do with body compaction . Whatever it is , perhaps hold off until you ’re in a bed alone to try this . Things could get really sticky for the mortal next to you .
Smell the roses
If your way smells like a foot had a baby with a Taco Bell , your dreams might be suffering the consequences . Asmall studyout of Germany display 15 quiescency voluntary to the smells of either rosiness or rotted eggs during REM sleep sleep , the most dynamic aspiration state . Upon waking , the volunteers were asked to describe the overall feeling of their dreams . Every single player report having positivist dream when exposed to the smelling of pink wine , while most reported negatively charged experiences with the crappy eggs . If rotten eggs auditory sensation appetizing compared to your sleeping accommodation ’s " musk , " it might be time for some air freshener .
Suppress your thoughts
What happens when you ’re say something is off limit ? You ca n’t press thatonebutton . You ca n’t open thatonedoor . You ca n’t date thatoneco - proletarian . The more you attempt to dissent the itch , the exponentially more you fix on it .
A2013 studydiscovered that this kind of suppressed fixation can cross over into your dreams . When study participant were ask to suppress thoughts about certain objects before sleeping , they reported high absolute frequency of said aim seem in their dreams . Your subconscious clearly has no deference for your willpower . So come bedtime , try really hard tonotthink about that rooftop pool party with Beyoncé , and you might be really " disappointed " when you wake up in the morning ( particularly if you sleep on your stomach ) .
Herb it up
People are always telling you to deplete more greens . Try starting with Calea zacatechichi , well recognize as the " dream herbaceous plant . " Used by the Chontal Indians of Mexico to bring on soft hallucinogenic trips , the aspiration herb is one of the few ( sound ) herbs that mightincreasevivid - dream frequency . It ’s pretty promiscuous to discover in tea material body , although you probably should n’t have a afternoon tea company with it , unless you desire that company to end up as a sleepover . Other herb , like mugwort and Huperzine A , get a lot of hoopla in the lucid - dream man , but there ’s not much evidence to corroborate these claims .
If you’re desperate, load up on meds
Your brain is a delicate balance of chemicals . So delicate , in fact , that even something as on the face of it harmless as Nyquil can mess up it up . While the precise cause is unreadable , nightmare and wildly vivid dreams are aknown side effectof Nyquil .
Nicotine patch up , especially the 24 - minute kind , have been shown to cause exchangeable experience . Nicotine has a unequalled relationship with Einstein activity and paradoxical sleep sleep , creating an environment ripe for not justhavingcrazy dream , but also for remembering those dreams in the morn . Most commonly prescribed drug formental and aroused disordersaffect dream in the same way . So if you ’re a influenza - ridden recovering smoker on benzodiazepines , you ’re probably in for some wild rides .
With the survey of aspiration being largely subjective , there are hundreds more claims out there about how to work your dreams . Hell , one studyeven say different cheeses might cause dissimilar types of dreams ( never mind that it was funded by the British Cheese Board ) . Whatever you end up trying , keep off riding that unicorn too intemperately .
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Nicholas Knock is a freelance author for Thrillist who pass last Nox dance with the daemon in the wan moonlight . you’re able to follow him on Twitter:@nickaknock .
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