Sleep Habits to Promote Dreaming

General Well-Being

• Exercise: Don’t exercise within at least 5–6 hours of bedtime. Exercise causes the body to release adrenaline, raising its core temperature. After you exercise, your core temperature remains high for 5–6 hours before it starts to drop. This drop in core temperature helps the body achieve a deeper level of sleep. You should exercise, just not right before bedtime.
• Alcohol: Consuming alcohol within three hours of bedtime can reduce the time you spend in the deeper stages of the sleep cycle. Less sleep in the deeper stages means less time dreaming. Moreover, drinking alcohol close to bedtime can cause you to wake up abnormally early, denying you yet more sleep and dreaming time.
• Caffeine: Because caffeine is a stimulant, it can affect sleep for up to six hours after you consume it, preventing you from falling asleep and disrupting your REM cycles.

• Nicotine: Nicotine raises the body’s blood pressure and heart rate and stimulates brain wave activity. If you smoke, you’re more likely to have trouble falling asleep. When you do fall asleep, you’ll tend to spend less time in the deeper stages of sleep and wake up more frequently than a nonsmoker.
• Barbiturates: Though barbiturates cause your body to relax and fall asleep more readily, they also decrease the time you spend in deep sleep.

Environment

• Design: The design of your sleep space is also important for your sleeping comfort. The ancient Chinese art of feng shui gives a number of suggestions to allow a good flow of energy, or qi, in the room to create balance and calm. Three basic tenets of feng shui include softening the corners of your room with furniture, placing your bed in a secluded space out of the direct line of doors and windows, and clearing clutter in your room. (For more information on feng shui, see the Quamut guide to Feng Shui.)
• Colors: The color of your room can affect the way you feel in the space. For bedroom purposes, colors are best in muted tones rather than in their brightest hues. The calmest colors—and therefore those best suited for use in a bedroom—are blue, green, and gray, though purple and brown can be used as well. Use bold colors such as orange, yellow, and red only as accents. Pay attention not just to the colors on your walls but also to the colors in your bed linens, curtains, and furniture.
• Your bed: Your physical comfort in bed is important, so a good bed is a worthwhile investment. When shopping, look for a firm mattress that evenly supports your entire body. Try a number of different sleeping positions on several mattresses. After narrowing down your selection, lie on each mattress for at least a few minutes to see if any pressure points begin to act up.

Physical State

• Aromatherapy: This technique uses smells to improve your mood or health. Scented candles, herbs, and essential oils are the most common methods of practicing aromatherapy. Candles release scent as they burn (but be careful to put them out before you fall asleep), herbs are typically used wrapped in muslin or as potpourri, and essential oils can be put in a bath. Popular sleep-promoting scents include jasmine, lavender, sandalwood, and ylang ylang. (For more information on aromatherapy, see the Quamut guide to Aromatherapy.)
• Sound: Listening to music at a low volume can help relax your mind and block out both thoughts about your life and distracting external noise. The music you choose is a matter of personal preference: you might want to listen to your favorite classical piece, a rock group you particularly enjoy, or a recording of sounds such as ocean waves or whale sounds. Alternatively, you might use a white noise machine to produce white noise that masks other sounds.
• Herbal tea: Many herbal teas, such as chamomile, help relax you before bedtime. Just make sure you drink herbal tea, not caffeinated tea or even decaffeinated tea, which can still contain marginal amounts of caffeine.
• Snacks: A complete meal just before bed can inhibit sleep, but a small snack can help. Foods containing the amino acid tryptophan (such as milk, cheese, bananas, and turkey) are particularly good to snack on before bedtime.

Meditation

1. Get yourself and your sleep space ready for bed: brush your teeth, go to the bathroom, and put on music and/or arrange your aromatherapy, if you’re using either. Turn off the lights.
2. Lie in bed on your back, with your arms loosely by your sides and your legs stretched out in front of you. Close your eyes.
3. Put your hands on your stomach with your palms touching the skin next to your navel. Concentrate on your breathing, feeling your stomach go up as you breathe in and back down as you breathe out. Breathe in this manner at least five times.
4. Keep breathing in the same slow, relaxed manner. You can bring your hands palms up, by your sides, or leave them on your stomach—whichever position you prefer.
5. Starting with your feet, feel each part of your body sink into the mattress. Imagine the muscles in your body loosening and melting down. Work through each major body part: feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, pelvis, stomach, back, shoulders, arms, neck, and head. This is primarily a mental exercise, but you may wish to readjust physically along the way, which is fine. The most important thing is to keep breathing in long, deep breaths throughout the process.