Is there anywhere to make yourself have dreams? or reasons why some nights you have dreams and others you dont

Question

Just wondering, can anything affect if you dream or not. I enjoy dreams but I don't have them anymore. Is their any way to sleep or help you dream. Why do some people have them and others dont?

also can loss of memory affect it then? because i've recently lost a little more than 20 lbs and I've heard losing weigh can also make you loose your memory

Answer 1

i think you only have dreams when u have problems or something....like me i dream of stuff every night..and it changes into several different scenes in one dream its crazy..i can even dream about dreaming, i can wake up in a dream and still be dreaming its so weird...i always dream of jumping really high and running really fast. but when im fighting im really weak and when im being chased im slow. But i have lots of issues in my life i think thats the reason why.

Answer 2

There are four stages of sleep:

Stage 1: The first stage of sleep. It is a very light sleep. Stage one usually lasts just a few minutes. If the sleeper is not disturbed by anyone or thing, he or she will quickly journey into stage 2 sleep.

Stage 2: This is a much deeper sleep than stage 1. Dreams start to brew around stage 2. Although there are no clear images, vague thoughts and ideas drift through the sleeper's mind. If the sleeper remains undisturbed, he or she will drift off into stage 3.


Stage 3: A deeper sleep than stage 2. The sleeper's muscles are all relaxed by now, and his or her heart rate has slowed down. The sleeper's blood pressure is also falling. His or her breathing is steady and even. The sleeper is very difficult to wake now. Only two things can wake the sleeper now, a loud noise or an repetitious calling of the sleeper's name. Before long, the sleeper will venture into stage 4 sleep.

Stage 4: The deepest sleep of all. This is the time the dreams occur. The sleeper is almost impossible to wake now. If there is a loud noise or if the sleeper is shaken, it will take the sleeper a few seconds to wake up. Both the sleeper's blood pressure and heart rate fluctuate, the sleeper's brain heats up. Then comes the REM (or better known as rapid eye movement). If the sleeper is woken up during this time, he or she will be able to remember a recently dreamt dream. The first REM period will last only about ten minutes. After that, the sleeper goes back into a deep stage 4 sleep. Again, the sleeper goes into a REM stage after a short period and cycles through REM and stage 4 until the sleeper is woken up.

Answer 3

One probably has say 100 dreams a night. Most of the time they are just random things that your brain does to keep busy, or help you work out problems and such while your sleeping. The only dreams you are likely to remember are ones you're having right before you wake up. If you don't remember them it could be for a number of reasons. A lot of the time since they are random, and don't make sense, you don't remember them because you don't know how to relate to them, think about them, or interpret them in a waking state. Other times, if you move and get up really fast when you wake up, you lose the zone of the dream and it slips away.
To remember them, you can try meditating before you go to sleep to clear your head. Stay in the position you are in when you wake up for a few minutes, relax, clear your mind, and it might come to you. Also, get in the habit of keeping a dream journal, to document what you do remember, and more and more you will be able to interpret them and remember them.
You can also look into dream pillows, or other alternative things. There are tons and tons of books on the topic!

Answer 4

Anxiety over a thing can actually program the mind to do the thing that one is anxious about, i.e. tripping with a plate full of food if one is anxious about carrying such.

It could also be that your life is so full of anxiety that you sleep intermittently, therefore not allowing your brain to progress deep and relaxing enough into sleep to be able to have the dreams. Stress and anxiety in many different factors can affect the 'pleasures' that we are able to process and experience, preventing us from finding release in them.

Imagine if you are stressed, and you love watching football, but as you are trying to watch football, your mind is constantly running through the stresses that you have bene through. Your enjoyment of the game will be greatly diminished, if not totally, so that you will become even more stressed and frustrated because you can't enjoy what you want.

Try finding some way to relax before going to bed, not even trying to concentrate on dreaming but on letting go of whatever worries you are having. The pre-release should be enough to allow your mind to relax to the point where you can start remembering your dreams again.

Answer 5

I believe we all dream every night. Some people just sleep lighter and some go into a deeper sleep. Things that happen in your life can deffinately effect your dreams. It is not always a cause though. What you eat can also do this. Over-eating can, Your sudconscious is really complex. Look at things that go through your head every day, colors you see, feelings you have, fears you face, things you dread, things that make you happy.. Every little thought is in your mind still and can make a difference in your dreams. And as you said, there are times,you don't even remember them.

Answer 6

I like most of the answers the other posters have given. I just wanted to add that weight change does not affect memory. I have lost 40 pounds recently, and that has done nothing to my memory and in all the psychology classes I have taken and articles I have read, I have seen nothing that suggests such.

I would like to add that life factors such as stress, life changes (marriage, moving, death in the family), new relationships, etc. can affect whether or not you remember your dreams. As others have mentioned, everyone dreams every night, it is a matter of whether or not you remember them.

Answer 7

I have heard that if you have a banana before bed, it increases the vividness of your dreams (seriously).

Also, before you go to bed, tell yourself 'Whenever I wake up, throughout the evening, or in the morning, for whatever reason, I will immediately remember the dream I was just having'.

And finally, when you first wake up in the morning, consciously, immediately try to remember what you were just dreaming. Have a journal next to your bed and start writing your dream(s) down using this process.

This will train your mind to remember them and will give your mind a reward for doing it.

Everyone dreams, some just don't remember, that's all.

Answer 8

Everyone has a dream every night... when i was in my psychology class my professor made us write down what things we remembered in the dreams we had through out the night. after a while of writing them down you start to remember the whole dream all the time. its just sometimes you wake up and concentrate on things like what you have to do in the day or you just try to wake up and you forget what you dreamt by the time your done. just keep a ... sort of journal of what you remember... you will remember it all soon enough :)