As many continue to wonder if there is a way to control one’s dreams, the DREAM: ON app may be something to check out. Although it is still in the experimental stages, you have to wonder if there is such a thing as being able to control your dreams.

British Psychology Professor Richard Wiseman is doing a research on such and is collaborating with Yuza to do it. With the hopes of recruiting about 10,000 participants, his experiment aims to find out what controls individual dreams and how they can influence own dreams to get the most restful sleep possible.

With the app, a participant indicates the type of dream he would want to experience and when they want to wake up. They will have to place their phones next to their head though before they go to sleep and the app will do the rest.

When the app senses they are dreaming, it plays a carefully designed ‘SoundScape’ to help create the desired effect (dream). If you are curious about this app, you can download it for free over at iTunes and give it a try.

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As far as programming dreams are concerned, nothing concrete has been laid out to probably set the tone to aid people in sleeping better. But it seems that tech-savvy Japan has come up with an iOS app which may bring us closer to that reality, all through an app called the Yumemiru.

Apparently the app can detect when you enter sleep after which it plays a soundtrack which “influence” what happens in a person’s dreams. The app uses a timer and the Apple device’s microphone to detect when a user has entered REM sleep, which is when they’re most susceptible to dreaming.

Though it seems close to impossible, people who want to “program” themselves to sleep by picking out what dreams they want may want to try it out. What have you got to lose?

However, a problem does exist and this has to do with perhaps having to figure out what the language and commands are since they are written in Japanese.

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“During REM sleep, memories are being reactivated, put in perspective and connected and integrated, but in a state where stress neurochemicals are beneficially suppressed.”

Apparently it all boils down to the dreams you get when you sleep, something that cannot evidently hurt you.

To study this, researches split 35 people into two groups. They showed each the same emotion-triggering photos, then allowed one group to sleep. They showed each group the photos again. The electrical brain activity of each group was recorded with electroencephalograms (or EEG), including during sleep.

Those who slept showed a decrease in activity in the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that processes emotion.

Sounds neat ey? Well, the next time you break it off with your mate or are troubled for some reason, sleep on it. Maybe the dreams can ease the burden and pain out of it!

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Soldiers are susceptible to trauma, something that is easily traced to the environment that they are normally exposed to. Apparently a lot of soldiers have become casualties of war, reaching an extent to which many call as them possibly reaching a “cuckoo” state which perhaps only military personnel can easily adapt to.

But if this new program called the Power Dreaming project pushes through, then soldiers may yet get the help that they need. This is actually another form of bio feedback mechanism that aims to counteract nightmares which are prevalent for combat veterans.

The hope is that these “power dreams” can be watched from laptops and “home training and 3-D goggles work to gradually enhance the strength of these new neurological images,” according to the presentation that outlines the program’s aims.

Sort of reminds you about the Inception movie a bit eh?

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Balladeer and legendary recording artist Barry Manilow revealed that a lot of his hit songs were made when he was asleep. Manilow revealed that in his dreams, he would hear a tune. He wakes up and sings it into a tape recorder. After recording what he dreamt, he would go back to sleep.

In fact, he pointed out to his 1979 hit “One Voice” as one of the products from such dreams.

People are known to have some subconscious activities going on when they are in slumber and apparently Barry Manilow was able to put it to good use and actually capture it a bit. Surely, this claim is tied up with the brain waves and subconscious nature of humans. And from the claims of Mr. Manilow, it is safe to say that he is a light sleeper and his uncanny ability to wake up once a tune pops up is certainly something mysterious.

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They came up with a straightforward test to do the trick. They would teach a motor task to sleepwalkers and people with sleep behavior disorders, who typically move their bodies in tandem with dreams. If test subjects repeated the motions while sleeping, it would clearly demonstrate replay.

Participants were trained to hit an array of color-coded buttons in response to computer prompts, then taped while asleep. Taken in aggregate, their sleeping movements tended to resemble those in the test. One woman in particular performed the test choreography with uncanny precision.

If you don’t believe me, check out the video for yourself to put everything to rest.

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Here is an update for you. It seems that for people who find themselves shouting or crying are most likely to find themselves to develop Parkinson’s disease. This is of course based on finding by scientists who found that people who suffer from REM sleep disturbance.

Normal sleepers are effectively paralysed during REM or rapid eye movement because the brain shuts off the muscles allowing the body to properly rest.

But this doesn’t happen to those with REM disorders, who often act out their dreams with violent movements.

Scientists in Barcelona found that a fifth of those over 60 suffering from the condition went on to develop Parkinson’s, and other degenerative diseases such as Lewy body dementia.

Image Credits

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Perhaps only in our dreams will we be able to imagine sleeping with the popular celebs and super models we drool on when we see them via the TV or the big screen but here is yet one way to fulfill such a wild dream.

Though it sounds a bit skimpy and too good to be true, sources have it that you simply have to book a room at Fashion 26 in New York to make it happen. Fashion 26 offers special deals to modeling agencies and has no limit or fees on how many beauties can share a room.

Now before you go on heading over there, remember that such a treat will come with a price. Unfortunately, before you dream of sleeping alongside Cindy Crawford, be ready with a lot of cash to book yourself one. No pricing but this type of setup doesn’t come cheap!

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It certainly does help to carry something even in naps or sleeping and now a study from the Centre for Sleep Research at the University of South Australia proves that dreams can be a good boost to the learning curve. It has always been believed that sleeping after a learning task can help them perform better, something that may be attributed to being able to relax and recalling the last things you did prior to dozing off.

To test their theory, the researchers taught people how to locate a specific shape somewhere in a computer-generated maze. They made one group of participants have a nap before trying the exercise again. A second group of people were kept awake. A third group were allowed to sleep, but the researchers woke them up several times to check whether they were dreaming.

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You would think that insomnia would hit only the adults no thanks to their own doing. Some inherit them due to their preference to stay awake and sleep when they feel like it. However it seems that this is not the true case of where insomnia originates.

In fact a 4 year old girl has been discovered to be suffering from insomnia in Britain, often awake by midnight despite a structured bedtime routine. And while many would say that parents or specialists could teach their kids how to practice sleeping patterns but apparently the case is a lot serious than that.

Doctors discovered the reason for Jess Tinsley’s problem. It was all tied up to acting out her dreams, a lot of what she has done for the day. This ability to conjure up accurate mental images is known as eidetic imagery. It generally only affects children, as they tend to grow out of it. So technically, some psychological factor was associated with it which the Tinsley’s acted upon.

Sleep is important particularly for Jess’ age of four. And the solution? The psychologist suggested that rather than having her bedtime story in the sitting room, she would have it in bed, so that she knew that was where she had to stay.

And apparently it worked and results were seen after three days.

(Source) The Daily Mail

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We all have our own types of dreams. But while that is a given, it is apparent that some dreams stand for something. They carry certain representations both as a whole and in detail. By detail we mean parts of the home such as the bedroom, kitchen and the living room.

So if you suddenly dream of a house, here are some dream interpretations you may find handy:

• An open front gate or door displays a sense of openness and invitation—perhaps to opportunity or a relationship.
• A locked gate or door is just the opposite and signals unconscious awareness of a blocked path.
• The attic, situated at the highest point, represents the contents of the mind and reflects intellect, curiosity, aspiration.
• Bedrooms usually imply places of peace and serenity, but also of sexual energy.
• Bathrooms are the designated spaces we engage in acts of purification.
• The living room is the familial center of home life.
• Kitchens represent the treasured place of food preparation and consumption. It’s here that the individual and family’s needs are met through provision of much needed sustenance.

So there you have it. Believe it or not, well it’s totally up to you. But at least now you have some basis for finding out what your dreams are actually telling you.

(Source) Examiner

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For the sleep deprived people, here is something that may help you get some well-deserved sleep. Sit ‘n Sleep announces its sponsorship of SleepBook.com — a new educational web site designed to educate people about the importance of quality sleep. Site visitors are encouraged to take a short, but comprehensive survey about their sleep habits. Once the survey is complete, a free, customized “Sleep Book” of approximately 35 to 40 pages is generated and delivered to the user’s inbox.

Sleep Book users have two sleep survey choices — instant or multi-day. The multi-day survey includes questions that are emailed over the course of three days and inquire about the user’s previous night’s sleep. The multi-day survey provides users an in-depth and detailed analysis of their sleep habits and quality.

Once the sleep survey is complete, users receive a customized Sleep Book outlining how the person is sleeping now and how he or she can sleep better in the future. The book addresses dreams, environment, sleep routine, diet, and more.

The Sleep Book is filled with individually-tailored sleep health advice, and also includes a wide range of tips and strategies for achieving a better night’s sleep.

(Source) Press

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Aside from trying to remember what you dreamt about (assuming that you have slept soundly) other forms of trying to interpret dreams can be hard to do if you don’t have the right equipment and resources to determine just what they exactly mean.

Dream interpretation has been something many are curious about but no one really focused on it in general. We relied on books like the ones by Sigmund Freud, but now it seems that science is trying to intervene to shed more light towards what dreams really mean.

“By applying this technology, it may become possible to record and replay subjective images that people perceive like dreams.” The mapping of dreams is possible because “While looking at an object that the eye’s retina is able to recognize an image, which is converted into electrical signals sent into the brain’s visual cortex.”

(Source) Associated Content

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Apparently, parenting can be a nuisance if you don’t know how to handle your kids and get them to bed on time. Especially if they have these distractions such as computer games, gadgets or even have friends over, chances are even you may lose sleep with all the racket that they may be making. So how do you deal with them?

The key is to set some rules when its time to hit the sack. No playing of games or even placing them outside the room towards a neutral place in your home would be nice. Also, the usual lights out can always do the trick as kids constrained in the dark can force them to sleep as they have nothing else to do to distract them.

Some kids may have nightmares from trauma from these practices. But you can do some things to turn them into dreams. Just set your rules and stand by them. It may be hard for parents with soft-hearts but health and good sleep is bound to be the best result to negate all of it.

(Source) Telegraph.co.uk

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No one knows what sudden change of odors may soon set on the place where you are sleeping. It can be your room or perhaps outdoors when you decide to rough it. Either way, did you know that these aroma issues have a bearing on what you can potentially dream about once you doze off?

Just take the whole idea of bad odors in the simplest way and perhaps you could perceive that you are in for something bad when you sleep. It may sound fictitious but not according to the German researchers who have found that sleepers exposed to an unpleasant smell will have negative dreams.

Because our sense of smell involves such a sensitive and neurologically complex function, and because it’s so powerful in its influence on our behavior, it’s not surprising at all that so many scientists have studied the effect of different scents on emotion, memory, appetite, energy, and sexual arousal.

So the next time around, try to do something about an unpleasant odor. It can make a difference between nightmares and sound sleep.

(Source) The Body Odd

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Scent coming from lavender has been proven to help us sleep. While I have made previous posts wherein scent plays an integral role of aiding sleep, perhaps it is but fitting that in these hard times where everyone is at a standstill on what tomorrow holds for them.

Lavender in your room can really hit the spot. In fact, if you think about it, you may just find yourself sleeping soundly with the right ambiance and aroma therapy manner of falling asleep perfectly.

Oneirology, the scientific study of dreams, still has a lot to discover (was Freud right to say they reveal unconscious wishes? Are they responsible for déjà vu?).

But even if science still doesn’t know much about dreams, this research was surely worthwhile given that an estimated six years of our lives, or two hours a night, are spent dreaming. At the very least, the results will provide parents with some intellectual ammunition in the all-too-frequent quest to ensure teenage offspring clean their rooms: unpleasant smells, it seems, can influence negative emotions in dreams.

(Source) Telegraph

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When we sleep, we are susceptible to various kinds of things that go around in our dreams. Normally for some reason, we are given sign and signals on what to do. This includes business. To most, it may seem as foolish and fictitious but for others it can do wonders.

While some may call it a sudden burst of idea, perhaps one good explanation is that when we sleep, we are relaxed and not under pressure. Further, before we hit the sack, chances are we have had a certain business issue in mind and normally it can be carried onto us even in our sleep. So the result may be guides on what and what not to do.

A lot of people have benefited from it and perhaps many more entrepreneurs can get the same tip if they are thinking of what business to put up. Crazy but it can work and you have nothing to lose!

Alan Stafford, an executive coach and self-described “sleepworker” interviewed by Fortune Small Business, offers tips on how entrepreneurs can boost their creative and problem-solving juices during sleep, such as identifying business problems that need to be solved right before falling asleep, waking up slowly instead of with an alarm clock and keeping a dream journal on the nightstand.

(Source) Wall Street Journal

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It has been either a myth or something apparent that the right kind of music would help most people sleep. Now the right type of music normally falls under the category of soft to gentle music, something that will really calm us down and eventually get us snoozing.

There are various explanations made by Japan scientists and it would be great to know what they gathered based on their experiments.

In his limited laboratory experiments, Dr Endo honed a playlist from that third category down to a smaller collection, most of which was played to the Tokyo audience.

However, the audience at the extraordinary mass experiment in sleep-induction in Central Tokyo is still not sure whether Dreams Kaimin was a success or not.

But one firm conclusion was that a lot of men fell asleep as soon as the female vocalist began.

(Source) The Times of India

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Dreams can mean something or nothing. To some people, they stand for something like a symbol of things to come. To others they are callings to which they have to address some things which they deem as unfinished business. But overall there would be people who would just plain forget what they dreamt about.

To classify dreams, we can see them in these categories:

1. Guides for believers who want to find out what they mean.
2. Dreams are a calling for people who have to accomplish something
3. Subconscious thoughts stemming from experience
4. No relevance to people who don’t care what dreams they encounter in sleep.

Here is a good sight to visit on Understanding Dreams.

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Our brain needs to rest and exercise. During sleep, there is a portion of our brain which is unused which is exercised. This is the work of dreams where our subconscious selves go to work.

For health reasons, people with less sleep are more prone to illnesses and related problems such as heart diseases. Productivity is one thing but without health to support it, you may as well sign your death sentence.

(Source) Your brain needs sleep because it exercises the parts of the brain you don’t normally use. Your body needs that downtime to repair and refresh its systems. When people don’t sleep for three or more days, they sometimes become psychotic.

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Colors themes and ultimate designing concepts that are not yet used may eventually be the key towards making people stand out above the rest. Most of these ideas come from times when we are sleeping. However, the problem is at the time when we think of recalling what we dreamt since normally, we would forget these subconscious thoughts which may make a difference.

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The key towards restful slumber is sleeping with positive thinking or freeing thought from any issues that may end up leading people not to sleep. Sleep leads to dreams and to get ideal and comforting dreams, the things running around at the back of the minds of most people need to be on a wonderful aspect rather than forgettable ones.

“Wouldn’t it be great to fall asleep easily, while manifesting positive thoughts through the subconscious? DreamAid, Inc. thought so. Just launched, is a collection of extraordinary Pillow Covers, each designed with a “dream” or “wish” for the person who receives it. They were specifically created to help individuals of all ages, tap into a blissful dream state.

DreamAid Pillow Covers enhance life in a positive manner by actually letting a person sleep on the wish that they desire and erase the stresses of the day. With decorative borders and over 34 inspirational messages such as “Breathe in to Slow Down, Let sleep Turn Things Around” and “Peace, Love, Rest”, there is an appropriate wish for every personality and situation.”

Source: DreamAid Introduces a New Trend in Bedding – Pillow Covers Which Help to Achieve Dreams Through the Power of Positive Thinking

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People often toss and turn to get that right sleeping position but to no avail. While prescribed drugs are perhaps the supposed last resort for people suffering from lack of sleep, this new advent of sleeping soundly and having better dreams may be the answer they are looking for.

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So what is the video commercial trying to tell us? No one can resist the products and services that leading food chains such as McDonalds has to offer and that is a fact especially to the market they are catering to.

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For babies, foams or mattresses are not really the key towards being able to sleep soundly. Sometimes if they get to satisfy that position and overall softness when they lie down, they can openly sleep despite the distractions such as loud snoring, that may hinder their sleep.

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One product that has been getting attention is that of an all natural beverage that helps consumers relax and fall asleep. This and many other healthy all natural products are in the roster of Dreamerz Food and Ruder Finn knows that the partnership will be something worth to address the rapid increase of sleep disorder patients located worldwide.

You can read more about at Dreamerz Foods and Ruder Finn Partner to Promote Healthful Sleep.

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We have all heard of technology becoming an integral part in helping businesses and advancing to the next level today. But in sleeping problems, can technology offer the same advanced solution as well?

There have been a lot of sleeping aids and gadgets offered in the market today but none have come close to providing software aids to pose as an alternative solution towards needed sleep. Pzizz aims to become the alternative solution that can address the sleeping problems of people today with the use of advanced technology. With the uniquely designed modules, people can expect various alternatives and solutions towards the usual sleeping problems known in the world today.

For more information, visit their website and know more about their products at Pzizz Life is Better.

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But when it is time to get up; this is where the fuss begins. People have to decide on who will be first to get up, brush their teeth or just simply take a bath to carry on their day.

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In the Philippines, this is known more commonly as “Bangungot”. A lot of people have experienced this and while there are medical explanations, some Filipinos still point towards overeating and improper digestion of food as key factors that lead to this dreaded traitor in sleeping comfortably.

It is best to take the necessary precautions especially for infants who cannot differentiate night from day. It is best to do the preventive measure to avoid heinous events from occurring.

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Many of us would want to help analyze our dreams and find their actually meaning. While sleeping soundly may be good, people just cannot help wonder what dreams really have in store for them.

We usually find dream interpreters to help us out. But with this video, we can find out that the best one to interpret our dreams is not anyone else but us.

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Dreams are believed to be made from what people remember or would want to think. Ideally, people would have no idea on how these came about. But with the proper explanations as brought by this video excerpt, people may have a detailed understanding on how to understand why such dreaming habits were made and where they came from initially.

VideoJug: How To Do Wake Induced Lucid Dreams

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There are a lot of things said about dream interpretation. Some believe that dreams are the opposite of real life while others believe they are signs of things to come. All people have their superstitious beliefs but the main point of it all is that dreams will always be around whenever we take naps.

Concerning the area of how to deal with dreams, they are subconscious thoughts that are geared towards presuming and believing what prior occurrences have offered. The end of it all would depend on how a person would handle them in fictitious thought. But dreams are unreal at times. We tend to have that feeling of being able to do anything, something like being existent in a fantasy world.

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Clinophobia (also known as Somniphobia) is a condition for people who fear sleeping. Whether you have fearsome monsters in your dreams or you wet your bed, this can be a serious condition if you have it. You can get some professional help if you have clinophobia here. (below is an excerpt from their website)

Defined as “a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of sleep”, each year this surprisingly common phobia causes countless people needless distress.

To add insult to an already distressing condition, most somniphobia therapies take months or years and sometimes even require the patient to be exposed repeatedly to their fear. We believe that not only is this totally unnecessary, it will often make the condition worse. And it is particularly cruel as somniphobia can be eliminated with the right methods and just 24 hours of commitment by the phobic individual.

Picture via worth1000

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Check out this DIY on how to make a lucid dreaming mask! If you’ve experienced lucid dreaming before, this is the one you can make and help you stay awake even in sleep!

For the uninitiated, lucid dreaming is a phenomenon whereby a person who is asleep and dreaming realizes that he (or she) is dreaming, and continues to control the dream, acting out fantasies or gaining special powers all within the dream.

I find it a wonderful concept – every night you enter a fake reality (your dreams) and have the opportunity to break out of it (just like Neo in The Matrix).

[via] zedomax

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