As I lay down to get some much-needed sleep last night, I sat there for a moment and relaxed, got myself comfortable, took a few deep breaths, and prepared myself to drift off to what I assumed would be a good night’s rest. I would soon find out that I was as far off as I had been in a long time from that peaceful slumber which I love so much.
You may be wondering why my night didn’t go well. That’s because my brain decided to for some reason kick into overdrive and make me live out another life while I slept.
Here is a topic that I have very mixed feelings about. Mainly based on my own experiences with this concept. For those familiar with regular dreams, it could be quite easy to dismiss “Vivid dreaming” as just being a more intense version of a dream or nightmare. I only wish this were the case.
In this article, I want to explore this topic in more detail, drawing upon some of my own experiences as well as some brief scientific research. First, I’ll provide a brief overview of what vivid dreaming is and how it differs from more typical dreams. Then, I’ll delve into some of the potential causes of vivid dreaming, including factors like sleep quality, stress, and medications. Along the way, I’ll share some personal reflections on my own vivid dreams, and what they’ve taught me about myself.
Ultimately, my goal with this article is to help readers gain a better understanding of what vivid dreaming is, and why it matters. Whether you’re someone who rarely remembers your dreams, or a frequent vivid dreamer like myself, I hope that this exploration of the topic will be both informative and thought-provoking.
What is Vivid Dreaming?
Vivid dreaming refers to the experience of having exceptionally clear and detailed dreams, often extremely lifelike. In vivid dreams, the dreamer may even feel like they are fully immersed in another reality and that the events and experiences within it are in fact really happening. The dream can involve a wide range of sensory information, including sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Additionally, the dream may involve a high level of emotional intensity, with the dreamer experiencing strong feelings of joy, sadness, fear, or excitement.
In my own situations, I have actually felt as if I had been actively experiencing true events. This has been so lifelike, so intensely realistic as to make the waking world almost feel fake. I remember seeing everything, such as the people being interacted with, the events that took place, the colors, smells, even the items location within the surroundings within the dream. I can fully remember and describe the events, replay them in my mind and even have residual emotional responses based on the overall circumstances of the dream.
What is the point of Vivid Dreaming?
Have you ever woken up from a dream feeling like you were really there? That’s the experience of vivid dreaming, a phenomenon that can leave a lasting impression on the dreamer. In this article, we’ll explore what vivid dreaming is, how it differs from other types of dreaming, and why it’s important to pay attention to our dreams.
Vivid dreaming is a type of dream in which the dreamer experiences intense sensory perceptions and emotions, as if the dream were really happening. These dreams are often characterized by vivid colors, sounds, and smells, as well as a sense of presence and engagement with the dream environment. Unlike lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming, or nightmares, which are marked by intense fear or anxiety, vivid dreams can cover a wide range of topics and emotions.
To give you an idea of what vivid dreaming might feel like, here are a few examples: one dreamer described feeling as if they were flying over a beautiful landscape, with the wind in their hair and the sun on their face; another dreamer felt like they were on stage performing a song in front of a huge audience, and they could feel the energy of the crowd. These experiences can be powerful and memorable, and they can have a lasting impact on our thoughts and feelings even after we wake up.
In truth, were not entirely sure what the purpose of vivid dreams really are. It will often depend on how you look at them, and through which lens you examine them. Lets take a few common examples:
If you are religious, such as a Cristian, then you very well might interpret a vivid dream as a sign from God, or maybe even the Devil, depending on the content or context of the dream.
If you are a spiritualist, you may be open to any number of interpretations styles. Many cultures have experienced these vivid dream states for millennia. In fact, many of them will often seek to induce such vivid altered reality states through the use of psychedelics, chanting, meditation, and other methods.
In essence though, we do not truly know what they mean, as they are all open to interpretation, and interpretations are going to be different based on cultural references, personal experiences, and even one’s knowledge of the world around them. there are so many potential ways in which to interpret them, that it would often be a mix of conjecture and speculation at best.
What Research on Vivid Dreaming shows us.
When I was younger, during my high-school years, I was a football player. I often would fall asleep so deeply after a hard day’s workout, that I would have extremely vivid dreams of “being located on the practice field”. These confused me at first because I would see my bed on the practice field, watching the practice happening in a “real-time” mode. These visions were so clear, that even after I sat up in bed, could see that I was in bed, and knowing that it was a dream I would still envision the football practice around me. My visual cortex was so overly stimulated that it would take several minutes to convince myself that it was just a dream.
These had an overall impact on my football practice though, as I often found that when I dreamed this deeply, those skills I dreamed about got better in my real life. One major drawback was that I often felt more tired when I woke up. Having felt like I was actively training, instead of resting.
I was forced to make a bit of a choice within my own mind each night that effectively told myself “not to dream”.
If I dreamed every night, I could do all sorts of things. I could get better at football, guitar, and even experience the feelings of flight”. So why would I want not to experience those? Well, because it was exhausting. Imagine if each night when you fell asleep your mind didn’t switch off. In a near “Avatar-like fashion”, my brain wasn’t shutting down. We’ll come back to this in a moment.
First, lets quickly take a look at what interesting findings some research on vivid dreaming has already made, such as:
- Brain activity during vivid dreaming: Neuroimaging studies have shown that certain areas of the brain are more active during vivid dreaming, particularly regions involved in visual and emotional processing.
- REM sleep: Vivid dreaming is most commonly associated with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is a stage of sleep characterized by fast, irregular eye movements and high levels of brain activity.
- Memory consolidation: Some research suggests that vivid dreaming may help to consolidate memories and facilitate the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory.
- Emotional processing: Vivid dreaming may also play a role in emotional processing, allowing individuals to work through and process difficult emotions in a safe and controlled environment.
- Sleep disorders: While vivid dreaming can be a normal and healthy part of sleep, it can also be associated with sleep disorders such as nightmares, sleepwalking, and REM sleep behavior disorder.
Where my problems presented itself was my brain was struggling to properly disseminate “imaginary vs reality” as far as my body was concerned. Let me explain it better.
The point of going to sleep is to let your body, AND your brain relax. Mine was not doing both. Sure my body would go to sleep. But once the vivid dreams kicked in I would live a lifetime of events within a few moments. I’ve had such vivid dreams that I have lived anything from a quick 10 or 20-minute event to experiencing weeks of events. In many cases, my physical sleep cycle would be broken down into only a few hours. Each time I would wake up “feeling” as if I had lived those events in real time. Almost like as soon as I fell asleep my mind would switch out to another body, live through the events and then come back.
Where most normal dream states often fall out of memory after a few short moments, which is why dream journals are so important, my vivid dreams are so indelibly marked into my memory that I often never forget them. They have somehow incorporated themselves into my neural network as new memories. This is not a condition of “simply remembering” things that have happened to me in the past. In many cases my dreams do not repeat themselves, there are exceptions, which I will talk about in a moment, but remain unique experiences.
To give you an example: In one case I vividly remember partaking in a specific event, in a house, where specific people were located. I remember the conversations, the events, and even the imagery of the location. It is not an interaction I have ever physically had in this lifetime. Also, the people who were there are all people from this lifetime. This leads me to potentially reject the concept “of it being a past life experience”. Nor was I thinking about the events that took place before going to sleep. Nor did I eat anything spicy, fermented, or otherwise likely to cause any chemical conditions. I don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, and do not even drink regularly.
So Why Are My Vivid Dreams coming back?
now to the point of this article, at least for me, is why have they suddenly returned. In the last few days, I have had a total of 3 new experiences, each of which was a completely new, random occurrence, 2 of which happened within the same few hours between midnight and 3 am. Over the last few weeks, I had been experiencing a handful of these types of dreams, more along the lines of what I might expect to have, such as arguing with people from my past or dealing with issues I might have on my mind.
Normal dreams I do not mind, and while I can concentrate to control my vivid dreaming, in the event I wanted to cause them, I have not been looking to do so on purpose. Over the years I have come to understand that if I “wanted to” focus on something before going to bed, such as football in my example earlier, or learning a language or guitar practicing, that I could in fact “learn” those skills much faster than normal. I have used that technique almost subconsciously when I start a new passionate endeavor. But something has changed recently and I am not sure what I should do.
In the past, I had to “effectively shut off” this gift/curse (depending on your viewpoint), because it truly does become exhausting feeling like you have lived another life while you are trying to sleep. They are so vivid, that I have been able to incur emotional responses, deep triggers, references to touch, taste, and smell, and just about overload my normal nervous system. Also, depending on the nature of the dream, I am worried that it could almost be somehow linked to stress, emotional pain, trauma, or even neurological conditions. Aftercall I have a medical history of seizures, blackouts, and autoimmune issues that hopefully are not playing havoc with my brain.
I spent a large amount of time in active and passive meditation, doing breathing exercises as well as a ton of reading. These have never been an issue before, and I hesitate to believe they are at fault now. Something has changed. I do hope it is not for the worse, and I will have to keep you updated as time goes on. Perhaps I will even post a few of these here in the future. For now, just know that while vivid dreaming can be useful, quite beneficial even, it does have potential side-effects and side effects that if left uncontrolled or unchecked could present you with difficulties. Make sure to write down anything you are not sure you will remember and remember that you can still cause yourself some pain, anguish, or stress in the real world based on those dreams you encounter.