We spent around a third of our life sleeping, which is quite a while! Fortunately, our brains make this downtime its own adventure by displaying brilliant and often mystifying visuals that become entire storylines. Even when they are bizarre and skip key plot points, dreams are hours-long adventures that lead to world unknowns. They are often rooted strangely to reality by featuring friends, family, workplaces, and buildings from the past - but what does it all mean? Do these eyes-closed viewings hold deeper meanings and if so how do our actions while awake impact our dream patterns? About Town took the deeper dive and is ready to report back our findings on things you can change to impact your dreams.
What You Watch
Even the biggest scary movie lovers may need to take a break from viewings before going to bed. Research shows that what you watch prior to sleep impacts the storylines you follow after closing your eyes. Creepy movies, TV shows that provide accounts of murders and other crimes, and similar showings can lead to more intense dreams that may lean towards the spookier side.
What’s Taking Your Attention
I spent quite a few years in the retail world, and the intensities of the job would often bleed over into the dream world. Cash registers would star in these films, with a long line of customers waiting for me to get to scanning and bagging. It’s been over 5 years since those days and while the line to use when answering the phone has stuck with me (“Welcome to Party City where nobody has more party for less, this is Tim. How may I help you today?) the dreams have gone away.
How You Sleep
Are you a stomach, side, or back sleeper? The position you choose impacts a lot of things - snoring, comfort, and even dreams. It’s been said that left-side sleepers see more nightmares while right-siders have peaceful visions. Stomach sleepers have a wide range of dreams that come with their rest - many of which are said to be soothing and even erotic at times.
Cheese!
There are plenty of foods and beverages that impact how well we sleep. Hotter meals and beverages with caffeine can cause us to have a less productive 8 hours of rest. But one eating item in particular is known to be a heavy influencer on the types of dreams that we have - cheese! Studies have been done on this magical food, with the British Cheese Board saying that cheddar is a great option for pleasant dreams and blue cheese might give you more vivid dreams.
Cover image from Pexels
