“To sleep, perchance to dream.” – Shakespeare
People are waking up to the importance of quality sleep, raising questions about the role dreams and nightmares play in the quality of our sleep, and how might they benefit or harm us. There’s a lot we know about dreams and a lot we don’t. Here are a few things we do know:
- Most of us dream several times a night.
- Dreams generally last between 5 and 20 minutes.
- Almost everyone forgets their dreams on waking.
- Dreams occur during REM sleep.
- Young people are more likely to dream in colour.
While the REM phase of sleep is most often associated with dreaming, the onset phase (the transition zone between sleep and waking) plays another important part. There is strong research indicating that during the onset phase, the brain goes farther afield in associating disparate thoughts, memories and experiences. The result is a boost in creativity. Dreaming about a specific topic during sleep onset may improve creative performance in the chosen area, task or project. The onset phase may provide the difference between a painting that hangs in a local gallery and one that finds its way to the Louvre!
When the body goes to sleep, the brain goes to work.
The brain is a complex organ that performs a variety of functions throughout the day, contributing to cognitive, emotional, and physical activities. However, at night, we put our itinerary and activities to bed, allowing the brain to get on with repairing any damage, sifting through the debris of the day and preparing us for the next. The brain can go freestyle executing a number of important tasks.
- During memory reprocessing, the brain consolidates learning.
- From memory, the brain prepares to deal with threats and simulate real-life experiences.
- Fears and threats that would be unsettling while awake, can be visualized and rationalized while we sleep.
When the dream becomes a nightmare.
During lucid dreams, the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. They may even exert a degree of control over their dream. Some people claim to be able to restart a dream: get up, go to the washroom and return to episode #2. While there is no evidence that dreams can predict the future, it may be that when the brain is doing its overnight cleanup, it brings forward thoughts and memories that influence our future. On the other hand, we have little control over nightmares, which often stem from stress, emotional difficulties, illness, a suppressed fear, or a number of other factors including illegal and prescription drugs. Due to PTSD, many combat veterans experience nightmares, compared with a very small segment of the civilian population. It would be nice if the brain took sleep-time to erase all the bad memories and put our minds at rest, but there’s no evidence that it does. The good news is that during REM dream sleep, the brain creates a kind of paralysis that protects us from acting out our dreams and possibly hurting ourselves.
NIKKI works the nightshift.
NIKKI is a dream device, A bioenergetics-based wearable using frequency technology designed to restore and optimize how cells communicate to keep us alive and well. Just as the brain uses night-time to organize thoughts, threats and experiences, NIKKI Night-Time is designed to help the trillions of cells that make up our bodies perform the way nature intended them to. NIKKI Night-Time prepares the wearer for the day ahead and access to a full suite of daytime lifestyle support frequencies.
Share your dream.
Do you dream? About what? How do your dreams affect the decisions you make and the lifestyle you lead? Do you own a NIKKI? If you do, how has NIKKI affected the frequency, subject and quality of your dreams? Tell us here »
