REM Sleep &
Remembering Dreams
REM (rapid eye movement) dreaming
sleep usually occurs in ninety minute cycles throughout the
night, before the onset of a period of SWS. As the night progresses,
these intervals of REM increase in length until finally, the
last two hours of slumber contain a high percentage of dreams.
Therefore, we are more likely to catch ourselves dreaming
towards the end of sleep - between the hours of five and eight
in the morning for the average person.
REM sleep is relatively simple
to identify in others. The brain-waves emitted are different
from SWS and bear a closer resemblance to the waking state.
In addition to slight twitches in the face, fingers and toes,
the heart may beat faster and breathing can become shallow
and rapid - apart from the actual rapid eye movement itself.
Unlike the state of being
awake, however, the body is subject to external paralysis
- only the eyes and respiratory, and other essential systems
remain functional. It is said that the inability to move while
dreaming is a safety mechanism inherited from our ancestors,
to prevent us from acting out our dreams. Although there is
no doubt that it stops us from wandering off during the night,
we prefer to think that this safety mechanism goes deeper
than that.
It is not just humans who
become paralysed while experiencing a dream. Anybody who has
ever watched a cat or dog dream of running will recognise
by the twitching paws that they are also affected. Just imagine
the consequences if all living creatures didn't experience
paralysis while dreaming.
At best, very few would wake
up in their own beds. The worst scenario, however, is one
of complete chaos. Throughout the night hours, the streets
would be a riot of people and animals, running, jumping out
of windows, fighting, fleeing from monsters, involved in love
tangles, attempting to fly and so forth.
Not one single shred of evidence
pertaining to living creatures who dream, has ever been uncovered
to suggest that paralysis during REM sleep is as a result
of evolution. Unless we suspect, that is, that dinosaurs failed
to develop this safety mechanism and went wandering in a body
during dreams into unseen hazards where they finally perished!
That things evolve is fact,
but is it reasonable to assume that by some sort of random,
quirky accident of nature, a few of our ancestors developed
this ability to 'freeze' physically during REM sleep, and
were the only ones who survived - their genes eventually being
passed on to the rest of humanity? As this is how the world
of conventional science explains evolution within species,
how did this same ability manage to bridge the species divide?
Another quirky accident? Evolution? We prefer to believe that
this safety device is the result of a much higher design.
Perhaps evolutionists might
argue that this ability developed before the division of species
evolved. In answer to that contention, let us consider briefly
the sleeping habits of a few other species.
To state the obvious, we know
that animals sleep, but do they all share the same type of
sleep? First, to support the fact that things do indeed evolve,
we will compare certain peculiarities which exist in species.
Like humans, mammals, except
the Australian spiny anteater, have been shown to exhibit
SWS and REM sleep. However, there are great variations between
species regarding the amount and quality of sleep - depending
on such things as whether they are predators or preyed upon.
Cats, for example, can sleep
perhaps as much as 16 hours a day. REM sleep appears cyclically,
roughly every 30 minutes. Birds show a SWS/REM cycle too,
with partial muscle paralysis - they clearly require a degree
of muscular control for perching. Rats may sleep for about
13 hours a day, but have many sleep periods, each of about
ten minutes, throughout the 24 hours.
But when we look at the sleeping
habits of rabbits, the distinction of the evolutionary argument
about paralysis during REM sleep evolving before species divided,
becomes considerably less convincing. Rabbits, unusually,
do not exhibit the paralysis of REM sleep. They sleep for
a total of about eight hours, but like rats - another species
of rodent - sleep is broken up into many short periods.
What really puts the argument
to rest, is the realisation that porpoises and dolphins exhibit
a strange phenomenon in sleep - one half of the brain goes
to sleep at a time. These creatures, also, do not show any
loss of muscle tonus in REM sleep.
These curious variations between
species as regards the REM-paralysis phenomenon show that
there are no clear cut explanations of these matters! There
are mysteries yet to be resolved and simplistic theories simply
will not do.
However, back to the human
animal. Often, when people are woken from REM sleep, they
find that they are incapable of functioning for a few moments.
They are, however, able to remember their dreams. So it is
essential, if we wish to record them, to ensure we waken during
these periods.
Apart from recording dreams
for the purpose of interpretation, there are other powerful
reasons. It is believed that the precognitive dream may be
a far more common event than is supposed.
According to the Time Life
book, 'Dreams and Dreaming', researchers were stunned when
they studied 290 random dreams and discovered that an amazing
8.8% could be classed as paranormal: they had aspects which,
under normal circumstances, could not be explained. Indeed,
the experience known as deja vu might occur as a result of
acting out part of an unremembered precognitive dream.
Because it is usual for most
people to remember only tiny fragments of dreams, it is hardly
surprising that the evidence to support this theory is not
stronger.
There is another cogent reason
why we should learn to recall dreams - in order to achieve
Lucid Dreaming.
Therefore, the following method
for remembering and recording dreams is recommended: Position
an alarm-clock near enough to turn off with eyes still closed.
It should be set to go off about an hour before the usual
time for getting up. Keep a Dream Diary - a pad and pen next
to the bed. Record what food and drink were consumed before
retiring, and any significant event which occurred during
the preceding day.
On retiring for the night,
use the power of suggestion. State firmly that you will be
able to recall a dream on awakenening.
When the alarm sounds, keep
one's eyes closed - the moment one opens them, dreams have
an annoying habit of evaporating. While maintaining your original
position while dreaming, recall as much of it as possible
- go over it several times. This way, more and more of the
dream will be brought to mind. When one is satisfied that
as much as possible of the dream has been recollected, write
it down in detail, including the date and time.
Then try distracting the mind
for a few minutes - perhaps with a crossword puzzle. Finally,
form the habit of going back to sleep until your usual getting
up time.
At first glance, this procedure
may seem rather strange. If, however, you wish to induce a
Lucid Dream, at a later date, it is important to learn to
waken, memorise a dream and then go back to sleep. Should
the idea of lucid dreaming hold no attraction, follow the
same procedure, but instead, set the alarm for your usual
time.
If this routine is followed,
you will be surprised how soon you will develop a capacity
for remembering dreams surprisingly quickly.
(Continued
In REM Sleep & Remembering Dreams Pt 2...)
Authors Details: David
F. Melbourne Web
Site
David F. Melbourne, who lives on a remote Scottish island,
has been studying dreams for 25 years and is known all
over the world for his accurate dream interpretations.
Apart from the general public, he has analysed dreams
for celebrities and famous authors, all of whom have
admitted a high degree of accuracy. |
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