The Basics

I love to talk about dreams and the dream world, I find it fascinating in the way that I can draw conclusions and analyse situations to further make a decision in certain circumstances because thoughts and impulses we repress during the day find a way out in extraordinary creative ways in dreams!


I thought to start with the Basics because in order to dream we need to talk about the sleep cycle in general and what this means. Every night we go through different cycles during our sleep and the most important is to be able to enjoy complete sleep cycles.




Inside each sleep cycle we can find four distinct phases, which exhibit different brain-wave patterns. Excluding the 5-15 or more minutes when you are falling asleep as a stage in the sleep cycle because some lists 5 distinctive phases but the transitional phase is not really part of the cycle, especially since this stage of sleep does not repeat itself. 


Each cycle lasts more or less 90 minutes: +-65 minutes of normal, or non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep; +-20 minutes of REM sleep (in which we dream, they say); and a final +-5 minutes of non-REM sleep. The REM sleep phases are shorter during earlier cycles (less than 20 minutes) and longer during later ones (more than 20 minutes). 
If we didn't have the alarm set and lets say we were on holidays we would wake up after a complete sleep cycle in a multiple of 90 min. Could be after 4 and a half hours, 6 hours, 7 and a half hours or 9 hours sleep. But not after 7 or 8 hours sleep because these are not multiple of 90 minutes.  I hope you see where I am coming from.
I heard many times people say that they slept so long that they feel really tired upon waking up, it was most likely 8 hours or 10 hours sleep!
Someone sleeping only 4 cycles (6 hours) will feel more rested than someone who slept 10 hours because he/she wasn't allowed a complete cycle.
Somewhat surprising how few medical studies are known about this. So 7 1/2 hours for me! If I know I'm going to get less than that, I'll go for 6 hours rather than 7 or 6 1/2. Try it!


I personally have an iPhone and track my sleep cycle every night for almost a year now. If you own an iPhone please check this app if you haven't done yet. This is the website: 


http://mdlabs.se/sleepcycle/


The Sleep Cycle alarm clock is a bio-alarm clock that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase. 




This was my statistics graph from last night. I knew I was off today so I didn't set an alarm, just woke up whenever I felt rested, I guess.

My sleep graph for the entire night

If you look at the graph above one can see I slept for 7 1/2 hours. Took me a while to fall asleep but after that I had a wonderful night sleep! Enjoying 6 complete cycles, HAHAH...
The peaks are about 90 minutes apart - these are the sleep cycles. 


In my view the dreams get downloaded into our consciousness the moment we go from sleep to awake, instantaneously. The moment we wake up we have the awareness we have dreamed, but most of the times we get busy with our day and forget them just as fast.

I remember my dreams very easily, I find this extraordinary and even though others might see it as a pointless skill I believe we can all tap into our dreams without disregarding information we have accessed for our own benefit! While doing some research about Gravity (see my other blog about it) I came across Dr. Katya Walter's work and the idea of a universe and a mirrored one. She calls it Double Bubble Universe.

I couldn't help but think about  “as above, so below”. When one falls asleep to travel in one's nightly journeys, one's vibration changes in ways that can bring that precise energy of the dream experiences into the experience of our conscious, waking day to day world... And the other way round. Conscious dreams of one's waking world change the feeling and essence of nightly dreams as well.

For a good night sleep there are some tips I found on Miller-Russo's work and even though we might all know about them it can be a good reminder.
For example I always sleep with my head towards the North. I sleep about 7 1/2 hours a night and have a very comfortable mattress (Tempur mattresses are amazing and I recommend them!) Luckily I don't need anything in particular to remember my dreams because I do recall them without effort everyday!

The Dreamwork Basics below are very explicit and easy to follow, you might like to read the Miller-Russo's work:

Dreamwork Basics

by Linda Miller-Russo
and Peter Miller-Russo

These dreamwork basics include tips on remembering your dreams and a special method for interpreting them. This information has been condensed from our study of the dream worlds over the past twenty years.

Remembering Your Dreams

In order to work with our dream self we must first and foremost remember our dreams. Often we may wake up in the morning believing that we have not had any dreams. But it is more likely that we have not yet remembered the dreams we did indeed have. Think of the many times you have gotten up and dressed and gone off to work or school and then, out of the blue, recalled a dream experience. Such recall comes suddenly and for no apparent reason. This is one way our dreams come back to us.

Don't feel discouraged if you do not remember your dreams on awakening. Dream recall can come at any time during your day, and you can do many things to encourage better dream recall. We've put together a list of our favorite ten.

Key #1: Get Enough Restful Sleep

Most people need at least six to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep in order to experience the highest level of dream recall. We need to go through the ninety-minute sleep/dream cycle several times before we become rested enough to have a conscious memory of our dreams.

With some exceptions, most people who only get four or five hours of sleep each night short-circuit their natural dream cycle. Only you know exactly how sleep much you need. You might want to experiment several nights in a row to discover the optimum number of hours you need to obtain the clearest dream recall.

Key #2: Sleep with Your Head to the North

Sleeping with your head pointing true north puts your body and its corresponding chakra system in alignment with the polar magnetism of the earth. Yogi masters, mystics, and psychics have long recommended this position for healthful sleep. We have found that sleeping with our head to the north strengthens our connection to the higher, intuitive self; promotes the health of the body and the central nervous system; enhances restful sleep; and stimulates the highest and most vivid level of dream recall.

A simple compass can assist you in determining true north in your bedroom. Sleeping with your head to the other three compass directions will also affect your sleep experiences. For example, sleeping with your head to the south grounds you to the earth. This helps to reduce the occurrence of nightmares and invasive dreams. However, the downside of the south position is that it tends to dampen dream recall.

Key #3: Set Your Intentions with an Affirmation

We have discovered that what we pay attention to most often grows stronger and bears fruit. And so it is with dreams. Giving conscious attention to dreams will allow you to receive important messages of healing and wisdom that the hidden parts of you (subconscious, emotional, higher, and soul selves) are trying to bring to your attention every night.

It is especially helpful to use a simple, strongly worded affirmation of intention before you fall asleep at night. Try something like, "I will remember my dreams in the morning." Repeat this affirmation, or one similar to it, several times as you fall asleep.

Key #4: Keep Dream Tools Handy

Acknowledge how serious you are about your dream worlds by keeping your dream journal or a tape recorder close to your bedside. Then make an inner commitment to use these tools each night. It also helps to have a small flashlight handy when recording your dreams; oftentimes turning on a bright light will drive your dream memories away. A bright light may also awaken you so much that you will find it difficult to fall back to sleep.

Key #5: Give Yourself Extra Time in the Morning

An obvious but sometimes overlooked aid to remembering your dreams is to simply set aside an extra fifteen minutes in the morning for remembering and recording your dreams. Set the alarm fifteen minutes earlier than usual or train yourself to wake earlier so that you don't have to jump out of bed in a rush to get ready for work or school.

Key #6: Keep Your Eyes Closed

Another key to remembering your dreams is to keep your eyes closed when you first awaken to reduce the amount of external stimuli that normally floods your brain in the morning. It also provides a blank screen upon which your dream symbols, memories, and images can form. Finally, it promotes a state of relaxation that is beneficial when trying to access dream memories.

Keys #7 and 8. Relax and Be Still and
Re-Create Your Dream in Reverse Sequence

Remember to keep your body as still as possible as you wake up. Wiggling, stretching, or sitting up can drive the memory of your dreams away just as quickly as a bright light can. Sometimes you may remember only one image or scene upon awakening. Don't worry! If you relax and lay still, you can often trace this one image backward and reconstruct your dream, frame by frame, from the last scene to the middle scenes and, eventually, to the beginning.

Key #9: Journal Your Feelings, Daydreams, Fantasies

Get into a daily habit of journaling your feelings, daydreams, and fantasies. You might be thinking: I don't have time for this! And it's true, many of us lead extremely busy lives and simply do not have a lot of extra time. But this type of journaling does not require a lot of extra time. Don't feel as if you need to record every event or thought of the day.

Simply jot down a paragraph or two (usually in the evening just before bed), describing any feelings, fantasies, or interesting thoughts you experienced that day. Even just a few words or key phrases will help trigger your memory of an idea or feeling you may want to explore later on. You will be rewarded with deep insights into your patterns and life processes when you connect your journal information to the issues being brought up in your dreams.

Dreams are internal manifestations of our thoughts, hopes, fears, and conflicts. They provide us with a stage upon which to examine our issues from the various viewpoints of our self-segments, and, most important, they often offer us creative solutions to dilemmas -- solutions that have eluded our conscious mind.

Key #10. Create a Dream-Sharing Ritual

Create a morning dream ritual. Make it as simple or as complex as you choose. For example, Linda's mother created a morning dream ritual for her family simply by encouraging everyone to talk about his or her dreams during breakfast. Even if you live alone and have no built-in dream partners, you can still create meaningful rituals. One way is to bring your dreams to work and share them with an interested co-worker. You could also call or email a friend. The feedback we get from interested dream partners can provide valuable insights into our relationships and our inner psyches.

Although all the keys we have discussed are simple, they do require you to change. During your efforts to use these keys, don't become discouraged if you find it difficult to change your old habits to make time for the new activities outlined in the keys. Replacing old habits with new energy patterns is not easy. In order to be successful in changing your habits and installing a new pattern, your desire to work with your dream-self must be strong. The good news is that once you do establish a new pattern, it will become easier and easier for that pattern to take hold. Eventually it will become automatic, and you will gain all the benefit without great effort.

This article is excerpted from the book:

Dreaming with the Archangels: A Spiritual Guide to Dream Journeying
by Linda Miller-Russo and Peter Miller-Russo. 

©2002. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Red Wheel Weiser. www.redwheelweiser.com