By Robert Zucker ©
Dreaming is like watching your own videos- for free.
Have you ever suddenly awakened with the incredibly strong feeling that only a few moments ago you were in some distant place?
You may have been surprised to open your eyes and discover yourself lying in bed.
Each night, in the midst of sleep, we are guided on a spectacular journey.
As we travel in our dreams, we become a part of a mysterious world where life seems to exist in another dimension.
We are taken to places we may never have seen before and do things we would never expect to do.
Our nocturnal wanderings carry us along on a continuous flow of unusual sights and happenings.
We meet people and beings who constantly involve us in bizarre and often dramatic adventures.
We
find ourselves in unfamiliar surroundings which constantly change on
us. We are taken to new places in a matter of milliseconds. Throughout
the night, we find ourselves acting as performers on the stage of this
surreal world.
This
other world that engulfs our minds during sleep reaches each and
everyone of us every night. We need not move any further than where we
are right now to get there. It comes to us under the disguise of a dream
and carries us away.
Unfortunately,
the daily pressures and demands of our waking lives cause use to miss
out on the enjoyment of these spectacular nocturnal adventures.
Upon
awakening, our dreams slip from our consciousness as our mind
immediately fills up with the meticulous concerns of the coming day. The
experiences of our dream journeys become haphazard and incomplete
images are clouded over by the veils of sleep.
Record Your Dreams
As
the alarm jolts us into wakefulness, we lose awareness of one world as
we begin our activities in another. Our "trip" into the dream world
becomes no more than an elusive nighttime fantasy.
Instead
of cluttering your mind with thoughts of things today as soon as you
open your eyes, take five minutes to bring bad into awareness the places
you saw and the things you experienced just a short time ago. Your
recall will be at peak during these precious minutes after awakening.
Don't let them slip away. They may be lost forever.
Write
down as much as you can remember about your dreams after you reflect on
them. Record as much detail as you can get down. This will help bring
you into closer contact with your subconscious mind. After awhile, your
dream recall will be easier. They will become more vivid as you pay
closer attention to them.
Some
people sleep deeper than others and cannot remember any dream upon
awakening. As soon as their head hits the pillow, they drift into
never-never land until blissful sleep is interrupted by a blaring alarm
clock a quarter day later.
If
heavy sleeping causes you to miss out on remembering your dream
episodes, bring them nearer by re-setting your alarm clock a couple of
hours earlier than normal waking time. Do this a few nights each week
and notice how much clearer your dreams appear.
This article was originally published in "Magazine" in April 1983, Tucson, AZ.