Image by Karl Egger
In this Article:
- How can herbs like lavender and kava kava enhance your dreams?
- Tips for recalling dreams each morning
- What to do about nightmares.
- Natural remedies to foster peaceful, vivid dreams.
- How traditional Chinese medicine connects organ health to nightmares.
Natural Secrets for Sweet Dreams: Tips for Remembering Dreams
by Brigitte Mars.
Dreams are a way of clearing the subconscious and may give us insight about what lies deep in our psyche. They usually last anywhere from a few moments to more than forty minutes.
It is amazing how in just a few seconds we can traverse years of experience in these “fantasies of the night.” At the very least, dreams can be an opportunity for adventure and entertainment.
Tricks and Tips for Sweet Dreams
A dream pillow is a sachet filled with herbs whose scent can help us access the deep parts of the mind and make dreams more vivid. Make a 4- by 4-inch sachet filled with dried lavender, lemon balm, and rosemary. Add a few pinches of ground orrisroot, if you can get it, to help the fragrance last longer. Place the sachet in your pillowcase when you go to bed. Make a new pillow or refill the original every six months.
Kava kava is another option; it is said to induce epic-length dreams worth remembering. Damiana can be smoked or taken as a bedtime tea for vivid dreams. Since damiana is also an aphrodisiac, dreams may be of an erotic nature. Saint John’s wort is recommended in Europe to promote lucid dreams and help dispel nightmares. Burning jasmine incense before bed may help transport you to the Land of Dreams.
The amethyst is regarded as the stone for dreaming. Place some amethysts around the head of your bed to foster dreams.
Taking vitamin B6 and zinc before you go to sleep can enhance your ability to recall your dreams.
Set Your Intention before You Go to Sleep
Before you go to sleep, remind yourself that you wish to remember your dreams. You can also set an intention (“my dreams will reveal wisdom”) or ask for guidance on a particular issue. Keep asking.
Your final thoughts of the day will often have an influence upon your life. It may be helpful to read something spiritually uplifting before bed to put you into a state of exploring consciousness.
Natural Practices for Remembering Sweet Dreams
The best time to try to recall your dreams is when you first wake up, but if you begin the day with an adrenaline rush produced by a shrill alarm clock, you’ll have little chance of remembering them. Instead, try slowly waking up to soft music or a sunrise clock so that you have time for reflection. It is also possible to mentally program yourself to wake up a few minutes before the alarm ever goes off.
Once you are awake, try lying still with your eyes still closed. Let the images of your dreams drift into your consciousness.
Keep writing implements by the bed to record those flashes of recall. Every morning, write down something about your dreams. If you lack any recall, write, “Nothing remembered.” The important factor is to get in the habit of writing something daily. (Alternatively, you could record yourself speaking about them.)
If you can remember a feeling, but not the actual dream, try to think of what situation could bring up that feeling. It may facilitate remembering. Telling your dream to a friend may give you a bit more insight into its details and meaning.
A folk remedy to aid dream recall is to place a glass of water by the bed. Drink half the glass before going to sleep and the other half when you awaken.
Look up some of the symbols you dream about, even if it is just a brief remembrance of a color, person, mood, or image. You can find plenty of dream interpretation information online and in books. Enjoy the journey!
Dealing with Nightmares
Nightmares can be disturbing, but they get your attention, and you may want to explore what their significance is. According to traditional Chinese medicine, nightmares can correlate to organ deficiencies. For example:
▶ Dreaming of drowning or suffocating may indicate the lungs are overactive and need to be calmed.
▶ Dreams of crying can indicate lung deficiency.
▶ Dreams of failure, such as being unable to complete a task, may mean excess spleen/pancreas energy.
▶ Dreams of being rejected by loved ones may indicate a spleen/pancreas deficiency.
If the cardiovascular system is stressed and overworking, dreams of fire, explosives, and heat may occur. A person with a deficient heart may have dreams where they are unable to talk or scream.
Kidney excess may manifest as dreams of water and snakes. If the kidneys are depleted, the dreams are more fearful, such as being pursued by snakes or swept away by water. Liver excess can result in dreams of impatience, anger, and danger. Liver deficiency may bring dreams of indecision, doom, gloom, and even death.
Natural Remedies for Bad Dreams
Banish nightmares with calming basil, chamomile, dill seed, rosemary, and wood betony as these herbs promote deep rest and have long been used for calming the nerves. These herbs can be prepared as teas, wrapped up in sachets to tuck in your pillow, or hung as sprigs over the bed. Some find cannabis to be helpful, and for some people cannabis may decrease dreams in general.
The flower essences aspen, rock rose, and Rescue Remedy all help calm panic and prevent nightmares. Using the color violet in color therapy helps calm the spirit.
Skip This
Rich, spicy, or oily foods as well as foods you are allergic to can provoke nightmares.
May all your best dreams come true!
Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Adapted with permission of the publisher,
Healing Arts Press, an imprint of Inner Traditions Intl.
Article Source:
BOOK: Natural Remedies for Mental and Emotional Health
Natural Remedies for Mental and Emotional Health: Holistic Methods and Techniques for a Happy and Healthy Mind
by Brigitte Mars A.H.G.
Mental health and emotional well-being are just as important as physical health. And like physical health, there are many simple ways to improve and support mental wellness with the healing power of herbs and other holistic remedies and practices.
In this comprehensive guide to natural methods to maintain a healthy mind, herbalist Brigitte Mars and natural health expert Chrystle Fiedler explore many common mental health concerns and stress-related issues—such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks, anger, insomnia, brain fog, and trauma—and share remedies and practices to address and heal their root causes. The authors also explore holistic practices and treatments for moving through grief, breaking free from addiction, working with ADHD and epilepsy, supporting chronic conditions like bipolar disorder, PTSD, and Parkinson’s disease, and recovering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke.
Presenting a wealth of holistic self-care therapies for mental well-being, emotional balance, and neurological health, this guide enables each of us to heal the mind and nurture the soul, two essential keys to a happy, joyful life.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here. Also available as a Kindle edition.
About the Author
Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant with almost fifty years of experience. She teaches herbal medicine at Naropa University and the School of Health Mastery in Iceland and has also taught at Omega Institute, Esalen, Kripalu, and the Mayo Clinic.
A founding member of the American Herbalists Guild, she is the author of many books and DVDs including The Natural First Aid Handbook, The Sexual Herbal, Healing Herbal Teas, and Rawsome!
Visit her website at: BrigitteMars.com
Article Recap:
The article "Natural Secrets for Sweet Dreams" offers holistic tips for enhancing dream recall and preventing nightmares. Suggestions include creating herbal sachets filled with lavender and rosemary, using amethysts for dream clarity, and taking vitamins like B6 and zinc before bed. Setting an intention before sleep and waking up slowly aids dream recall. For nightmares, calming teas and flower essences can soothe nerves. Traditional Chinese medicine links nightmares to organ deficiencies, with specific remedies for different dream types.
