12 Tips to Have Better Dreams at Night

You can’t completely control your dreams, but there are things you can do so you’re more likely to have better dreams at night. Read on for 12 dreaming tips.

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As you might imagine, it’s incredibly difficult to study dreams and to draw firm conclusions about them. Although there are certain themes that are seen across wide populations, dreams are very individual, often elusive experiences of the mind.

The fact is, we can’t completely control our dreams. They’re filled with snippets from our daily lives and our innermost thoughts.

However, there are things we can do to improve sleep and manage stress so we’re more likely to have better dreams at night. Keep reading to learn how.

How to have better dreams

Nothing can guarantee good dreams. But here are some tips for getting better sleep, de-stressing, and increasing the chances of having more fulfilling dreams.

1. Get enough quality sleep

Adults generally need 7 or more hours of sleep each night. Try these tips if you’re having trouble getting good sleep:

Try to make bedtime and wake-up time the same every day.

Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature.

Turn off all lights, including nightlights. Remove any glowing screens from your field of vision. You can even try room-darkening window shades.

If you still can’t fall asleep, get out of bed and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you start feeling sleepy.

2. Exercise

A 2021 meta-analysis found that getting regular exercise can improve subjective sleep quality. Studies have found that regular, high intensity exercise performed 2 to 4 hours before bedtime did not disrupt sleep in healthy adults.

3. Dedicate a sleep zone

Having good sleep hygiene is important. Remove the TV, computers, smartphones, and other electronics that glow and beep. If you must have a workspace in your bedroom, use a room divider to keep it out of sight at bedtime.

4. De-stress before bed

Take the hour before bedtime to de-stress with whatever relaxes you, such as:

meditation or deep breathing

aromatherapy

taking a bath

reading

During this hour, avoid:

work

eating and drinking

screen time

5. Skip the nightcap

Alcohol can make you sleepy at first, but it impairs your overall sleep quality. Drinking can decrease total sleep time and sleep efficiency, as well as alter sleep architecture.

6. Change your sleep position

If you’re prone to unpleasant dreams, try changing your usual sleep position.

In a small 2004 study, people who slept on their left side reported having more nightmares than people who slept on their right side. And a 2012 study found that sleeping on their stomachs may promote dreaming of sexual or persecutory material such as being smothered, locked up, or unable to move.

7. Eat foods with melatonin

Melatonin, a hormone that your body makes naturally, may improve sleep quality. Melatonin is also found in various foods such as:

eggs

fish

meat

milk

nuts

some cereals

germinated legumes or seeds

mushrooms

tart cherry juice

8. Try melatonin supplements

A 2021 meta-analysis concluded that melatonin supplements were not significantly effective in improving sleep onset latency, total sleep time, and overall sleep quality in adults.

In 2018, researchers detailed the cases of three people who experienced nocturnal hallucinations. The hallucinations were reduced when participants took 5 mg of melatonin.

Taking melatonin for dreams can affect everyone differently. While some people may find that melatonin improves dreams, others may have more vivid and potentially scarier dreams.

Melatonin can interact with some medications. If you’re having trouble sleeping or having bad dreams, talk to a doctor about the benefits and risks of taking melatonin supplements.

9. Manage anxiety

In a 2021 study of 76 adults, those who had anxiety disorders had lower numbers of friendly interactions and higher numbers of failures, misfortunes, and negative emotions in their dreams compared to those without anxiety.

A 2020 study suggests that those with anxiety have nightmares more frequently than those who do not, although more research is needed. It also suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy can help people with anxiety to reduce bad dreams.

10. Create a dream journal

Dreams are a jumble of your daytime thoughts and experiences. Bad dreams may reflect things that are stressing you out. Try writing about the details of your dreams as soon as you wake up, including the emotions you felt.

This exercise may help you connect your dreams to real life situations. Confronting the issues in your waking life may help improve your dream life.

11. Take up virtual gaming

According to a 2019 study, playing physically interactive games was positively correlated with lucid and lucid/control dream frequency.

Overall gameplay makes it more likely that game content will make its way into your dreams and may increase lucid dreaming. This is also known as the Tetris effect.

12. Practice lucid dreaming

Lucid dreaming is when you know you’re in a dream while you’re actively dreaming. You can learn how to lucid dream.

By training yourself to test reality in a dream, you can gain a certain amount of control over how it goes and how you react to it.

Takeaway

Dreams are difficult to control, but there are some steps you can take to promote better dreams at night. It may help to make lifestyle changes like exercising or adjusting your sleep environment to ensure you are getting quality sleep.

If you aren’t sleeping well or are troubled by stress-related dreams, talk with your doctor.

Posted : 2024-09-30 09:08

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