Dear LPG,

Now that I don’t need to get up to go to work anymore, and my time is my own… well let’s say more my own than it will ever be again, isn’t it ironic that I find myself less able to sleep at night?  I find that many of my friends of a certain age tell me that it is exactly the same for them.  I think that this is why I found one particular post that I read on your pages recently which really got me googling.

I read with interest what WD wrote about lucid dreaming when she shared some information that was learned from the internet (►►►).  That post did start with a brief reference to the question that I was left with but then focussed on actually shaping your dream so that the outcome is what you want it to be.

I think that I am more interested in getting to sleep but as science appears to have proved dreaming to be a large component of successful sleeping I decided to focus on something that can make sleeping worthwhile and give me another reason to get better at it.

I know that I dream and often remember little excerpts for a short while when I wake up, but by the time I get hold of the pen and paper that WD mentions it is usually too late and the thoughts of what I want to do with my day have taken over. 

So I thought that it would be a good idea to see if there is any information about how to improve your memory of what you have dreamt online and Google did not let me down. 

Writing it down as soon as you can, does make perfect sense and appears to be the way to go.  I was interested to note that the way you write is significant with a lot of advice which pointed to not going into too much detail at first.  I was surprised to learn that we should go for a rough outline of what happened in the dream to start with; a colour, a situation, people that appear in them or where and when you are at the time of the dream.  This might prompt you to remember other details later.  From what I have read it is all about practise so keeping a diary which includes the date of your dreams is also a good idea.  

It is ironic that getting up during the night is supposed to help because most of us have quite a few dreams throughout each one, but I don’t think that I am just talking about myself when I say that as we get older our bladders take care of getting us up at least a couple of times each night.   Meditation and vitamin B6 can also help.  Perhaps a banana and a bath at bedtime should become part of the bedtime habit we adopt. Even if they don’t work in your case, these two activities are a good excuse for enjoying bed-time preparation.  I am lucky because I live alone which means I can lock myself away, work at meditation and have no worries about looking stupid or wondering who is watching each evening while I am thinking and saying odd things to myself with my eyes shut. 

As with most things, practice makes perfect, so even if you think it is not working, you have to keep at it.  Hopefully all this practice will, if nothing else, help you to get more sleep.

JN, Croydon

JN shares her research…

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… at a bit of meditation that could help but could also really drive you scatty…

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