“The person with dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts” – Albert Einstein.

I’m sure Einstein was talking about those dreams which are our hopes and aspirations, rather than what goes on when we are asleep. I would like to posit that those movies we play when we are unconscious are important. Therefore, you should record your dreams so that you may benefit from them.

Why do we have dreams?

Why do we have dreams in the first place? Are they just an evolutionary quirk from when we first became conscious beings?

Flotsam and jetsam

Materialistic scientists would say that they serve no purpose. Dreams are just the useless items of our daily lives being washed up as we sleep, so that we can clean them out and forget them. Are they the de-fragging of the mind?

To make sense of the world

Other experts suggest that dreams help us make sense of the world and help with our memory building. It’s certainly true that lack of sleep can cause poor memory retention and recall.

Warnings and opportunities

I do believe that it may be true that some dreams serve no purpose or that they are our brain’s nightly decluttering. However, some dreams are there to warn of certain threats or to highlight opportunities.

The problem is that you don’t know which dreams are useful and which aren’t. That’s why I record my dreams so that I can look back to see what patterns there are.

How to record your dreams

How do you record your dreams when you don’t remember them. Dreams are like the will-o’-th’-wisp, they disappear shortly after you wake. Here are some tips to help you record your dreams

Say to yourself “I will remember”

When you are in bed just about to sleep, say to yourself, that you will remember your dreams. You are sending your unconscious mind an instruction and it will obey.

Notebook

Have a notebook next to your bed. If you wake up in the night or first thing in the morning, write down your dreams, before they evaporate.

Dream journal

It’s often a good idea to put these dreams into a dedicated Dream Journal. I used to put my dreams into a normal daily notebook journal, but looking back it was hard to find the entries. A dedicated dream journal will make it easier for you scan your past dreams to look for clues and trends.

Problems & puzzles – ask a question before you sleep.

Your unconscious mind will obey your commands if you give it a specific directive. If you are struggling to solve some conundrum in your life, try asking for an answer in your dreams. I’m sure this is where the phrase to ‘sleep on it’ came from.

Take a nap

Why wait for bedtime? You might be able to make use of napping. Often during a nap you will have dream-like visions or maybe you will hear yourself say phrases. These again can be useful if you have directed yourself beforehand.

Many famous people have used afternoon naps for this purpose. Thomas Edison would lock himself in a dark room to sleep on a problem. He would then wake up refreshed and usually with an answer to whatever was puzzling him.

Try it yourself. Get yourself a blank notebook and pen start recording your dreams. Also read my other post on dreams and how to interpret them.

The post Record your dreams appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

The older I get the more I realise the importance of sleep. When you are younger you can afford to burn the candle at both ends, but eventually there comes a point where you must take sleep seriously.

Lack of sleep

A few nights of reduced sleep and you will soon start to struggle mentally and emotionally. Recent research has also shown that lack of sufficient sleep can also affect your physical health.

I have therefore made it a priority to get the correct amount of sleep. I listen to and read about the modern gurus who say we should rise at 5am to attack the day. We should hustle till we drop. I just smile to myself and think ‘you’ll see.’

Getting enough sleep

So, what is enough sleep. Well, that depends on you. The amount of sleep you need depends on a lot of factors such as your age and how physically active you are. I’ve experimented with the amount of sleep I need and it is just under 8 hours per night.

Are you getting enough sleep? Do you find yourself dropping off when reading a book in the early evening? I remember when I was in field sales and was driving home in the afternoon, I would start to feel drowsy, especially on monotonous motorway journeys. I would have to pull into the services to have a quick nap.

If this is also you, then maybe you aren’t getting enough sleep.

The Effect of Drinks on Sleep

The amount of sleep is important but so too is the quality of sleep. There are many things that can affect the quality of sleep such as what you drink during the day, leading up to sleep.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant which will stay in your system for hours. If you drink tea or coffee in the evening, you will struggle to drop off to sleep. Consider having your last caffeine drink earlier in the day.

Alcohol

Drinking alcohol can often make us fall asleep sooner, but the quality of that sleep will be diminished. Research on brain waves of sleepers has shown that we do not get enough of the deep restorative sleep, whilst alcohol is in the system. Again, experiment by having that last drink earlier or maybe not drinking alcohol at all.

The Effect of Looking at Screens on Sleep

The blue light from screens mimics that blue sky we see in the morning. Consequently, after looking at screens in the evening, our circadian rhythms go out of sync and we become more awake when we are usually getting ready for sleep. Looking at mobile phones, tablets and laptops before bedtime is therefore bad for sleep hygiene. Try to limit their use to at least an hour before bedtime.

If you are struggling with your sleep patterns, one remedy is to try to get outside in natural sunlight first thing in the morning whilst avoiding blue light from screens in the evening. This resets your circadian clock, as we then naturally will feel sleepy in the evening and awake in the morning.

Once you get in the habit of the right amount of quality sleep, every day, you will see wonders in your mental, physical and emotional health.

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