Re: Controlling dreams
Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:06 pm
A post by -SWS back on 21 Dec mentioned "lucid dreaming". I happen to be one that has been able to use that.
When I was younger, I frequently had nightmares: monsters chasing and catching me, falling from heights onto rocks, and so forth. I'd wake up screaming and sweaty and too afraid to go back to sleep. I "learned" how to regulate those bad dreams, by becoming not just an victim in them, but by becoming the actor/ director of the movie that was being filmed. As the director, I'd yell "Cut!" and step aside to let a stunt actor get eaten, or fall, or whatever, when action resumed. I haven't had a nightmare since.
I'm aware, on some level of awareness, that I do stop breathing when I sleep. When I'm aware of it, it's because I'm holding my breath in a dream. Scuba diving, the tank runs out, and I have to surface. My race car slides off the track into a pond. I have to run through tear gas to get to safety, yadda, yada.
I am not claiming that I'm aware of all, or even a minority, of my sleeping breathing cessations. Nor will I claim that the ones I am aware of as they occur are semi-conscious intentional. It may well be that my breath holding in my dream is the result of, and not the cause of, the cessation. Just as a beeping alarm clock can become a dream dump truck backing up, my sleep apnea episode may trigger my dream.
But if I can be cognizant that I'm not breathing in my dream, I hope to be able to use the same nightmare modifying lucid dream technique to... I dunno, maybe dream that I pop a James Bond pocket aqualung in my mouth or something...and start breathing for real.
CPAP therapy? So far I discern no difference, other than mask irritation is making the bridge of my nose appear to be sunburned. I been asleep-aware of two apnea episodes since starting CPAP two weeks ago. The more recent one I lowered my dreamed race helmet face shield down almost in time to trap that air bubble. Not to worry, both my dream co-driver and I got out of the car and to the surface where we were rescued.
When I was younger, I frequently had nightmares: monsters chasing and catching me, falling from heights onto rocks, and so forth. I'd wake up screaming and sweaty and too afraid to go back to sleep. I "learned" how to regulate those bad dreams, by becoming not just an victim in them, but by becoming the actor/ director of the movie that was being filmed. As the director, I'd yell "Cut!" and step aside to let a stunt actor get eaten, or fall, or whatever, when action resumed. I haven't had a nightmare since.
I'm aware, on some level of awareness, that I do stop breathing when I sleep. When I'm aware of it, it's because I'm holding my breath in a dream. Scuba diving, the tank runs out, and I have to surface. My race car slides off the track into a pond. I have to run through tear gas to get to safety, yadda, yada.
I am not claiming that I'm aware of all, or even a minority, of my sleeping breathing cessations. Nor will I claim that the ones I am aware of as they occur are semi-conscious intentional. It may well be that my breath holding in my dream is the result of, and not the cause of, the cessation. Just as a beeping alarm clock can become a dream dump truck backing up, my sleep apnea episode may trigger my dream.
But if I can be cognizant that I'm not breathing in my dream, I hope to be able to use the same nightmare modifying lucid dream technique to... I dunno, maybe dream that I pop a James Bond pocket aqualung in my mouth or something...and start breathing for real.
CPAP therapy? So far I discern no difference, other than mask irritation is making the bridge of my nose appear to be sunburned. I been asleep-aware of two apnea episodes since starting CPAP two weeks ago. The more recent one I lowered my dreamed race helmet face shield down almost in time to trap that air bubble. Not to worry, both my dream co-driver and I got out of the car and to the surface where we were rescued.