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Put Your Dreams to Work: How to Maximize Your Sleep

The amazing benefits of dream incubation and sleep seeding.

Posted January 17, 2022 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

This article is a repost which originally appeared on Psychology Today

Edited for content

Key points

  • How to use dream incubation for creative problem solving.
  • Understanding the difference between lucid dreaming and dream incubation.
  • How artists put their dreams to work.

Researchers call it dream incubation, but I like to think of it as sleep seeding. I like the near-rhyme of it. How it invokes intention and release. Sleep seeding feels personal and mysterious, but with enough science behind it, I know I’m not just making it up. The science is interesting, but I would no sooner need someone to explain the inner workings of my favorite cozy blanket.

Sleep seeding is about consciously dedicating a few moments before falling asleep to telling my brain what I want from it. Often, not always, my brain listens and I wake up with results. How thrilling and curious to have an influence on the ineffable.

Here’s a common example: As a writer, I might find myself not knowing where to go next with a story. When I’m in bed in that most relaxed state just before falling asleep, I invoke the part of the story I’m struggling with and ask my brain to find a solution. Dear Brain, What should happen next?

Similarly, if I’m in a poetry state of mind, I’ll ask my sleep-brain to provide me with some poetic inspiration. Even if just a great line or two to work with. Incredibly, it often delivers. If I’ve been wanting to write about a particular idea, I’ll focus my intention on that topic as I’m falling asleep. Otherwise, I’ll simply think to myself: Sleep, please deliver something interesting tonight. I might then wake in the middle of the night with a line that has me reaching to jot a note. Sure, sometimes I wake up to words full of gibberish, but more often I wake up to some great ideas. Ideas that come from beyond the limitations that the logical brain imposes on imagination.

One might ask, isn’t this just lucid dreaming? We’ve been talking about that for centuries. But I think of sleep seeding as a cousin to lucid dreaming and nuanced from dream incubation. Lucid dreaming tends to be associated with an element of consciousness. The dreamer, though sleeping*, maintains a semi-conscious awareness of their dream. Some to the extent that they can control the content of the dream, dialogue with it, or observe the dream while maintaining an awareness of themselves and their environment.

*It has been hypothesized that lucid dreams are actually micro-moments of wakefulness, explaining why we have a consciousness of ourselves and our surroundings. Lucid dreaming and dream incubation appear to be associated with hypnagogia, described as the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep: the hypnagogic state of consciousness, during the onset of sleep. Its opposite state is described as hypnopompic — the transitional state from sleep into wakefulness. Mental phenomena that may occur during this phase include hypnagogic hallucinations, lucid thought, lucid dreaming, and sleep paralysis.

With sleep seeding, I can’t recall having the experience of witnessing my dream state, nor do I appear to have the ability to “steer” my thoughts. In fact, it’s not like I’m having a dream at all. There does not appear to be (as far as I’m able to self-assess) imagery or story associated with this state of sleep. I simply suddenly wake up with the information I’ve asked for in my pre-sleep cognition. I call these “arrivals.” The arrivals trigger me awake and I’m able to roll over and jot down the thought. It’s kind of like waiting for a notification on your phone that an anticipated email has arrived. In nearly all cases, if I don’t write down the arrival as soon as it appears, I will not remember it once I get out of bed.

These experiences are not unique. In her 2001 book The Committee of Sleep, Deirdre Barrett documents some of the great artists and writers throughout history who have reported using sleep similarly—for creative problem solving and inspiration.

I am not a sleep or dream expert, nor an interpreter of dreams. Dreams have always felt rather pragmatic. Despite their strangeness, I can typically understand their triggers. Something within my long-term memory or a recent experience are the seeds. They may grow wildly at night, but that doesn’t make the seeds unreal. In fact, recent research has turned the whole mystical (and lucrative) business of dream interpretation upside down. Dreams are memory processors.

Understanding that dreams are triggered by recent thoughts and experiences, it stands to reason that we can seed our sleep and dreams with a specific intention. Perhaps we would like to experience a different outcome to a situation. Perhaps we would like to experience again what it was like to fall in love for the first time. Or, revisit a childhood place associated with warm memories. I’ve even been able to revisit dreams that were left unfinished or seed a recurring dream that I’ve found pleasant. But more often than not, my sleep seeding is for inspiration or creative problem-solving. Like waking up with the last line for a story I’ve been working on.

The next time you’re reading fiction or poetry, you might just be reading the author’s dreams. (That last line arrived in my sleep at 12:22 am on 1/15/22, with an email to myself as proof.)

References

Dreams reflect learning.

An Herbalist On The Best Bedtime Herbs For Super Vivid Dreams

A Herbalist Spills The Tea On What Herbs Can Give You Vivid Dreams

This article is a repost which originally appeared on MBG

Edited for content.

mbg Spirituality & Relationships Writer
By Sarah Regan

May 30, 2021

Few things are more fascinating—and mysterious—than our dreams. If you’ve dipped your toes in the dream interpretation realm, you might be wondering how you can have more vivid or lucid dreams (and the resulting peeks into your subconscious) on a nightly basis.

According to Rachelle Robinett, R.H., the founder of herbalism education company Supernatural, certain herbs are here to help. Here’s what she had to say about achieving vivid dreams using herbal allies, plus a ritual to get you started.

The herb-dream connection.

According to Robinett, certain herbs can have a powerful effect on sleep and dreams. “The typical blends for lucid dreaming and dream recall, or vivid dreaming, are generally nootropics and hypnotics or sedatives,” she explains to mbg.

Nootropics are drugs or supplements believed to improve cognitive function, including memory. And hypnotics or sedatives, which Robinett notes are pretty interchangeable, allow you to be relaxed and somewhat sedated.

“Nootropics are stimulating cognitively but not caffeinated,” she adds, “and hypnotics or sedatives create this tension where you’re partly awake and you’re kind of sedated, so you’re able to be in that lucid state for longer or be more aware of your time in that space.”

And this isn’t a 21st-century discovery by any means: Cultures around the world have been incorporating herbs into their dreaming regimens for generations. From Mexico to China to India and even ancient Aztec civilizations, our ancestors have long believed in the power of herbs for dreams.

11 herbs for dreams.

Robinett says that these 11 herbs are great for getting us into the relaxed, receptive state where dreaming can occur. As always, talk to your doctor before adding any new herbals to your routine, as they can interfere with certain medications:

  1. Gotu kola: An herb that would be considered a nootropic, found in research to improve cognitive function and promote healthy aging.
  2. Ginkgo: A plant native to China, ginkgo is another nootropic, Robinett says. It’s thought to improve cognition as well as memory.
  3. Bacopa: Long used in Ayurveda, bacopa is a nootropic herb that has been found in research to improve cognition and memory and even increase cerebral circulation.
  4. Rosemary: It’s great in your food and for dreaming, too! Rosemary, according to Robinett, increases cerebral circulation and may improve dream recall.
  5. Cordyceps: A type of fungus, cordyceps have actually been found in animal studies to increase nonrapid eye movement sleep.
  6. Lavender: A favorite herb when it comes to calming down, Robinett notes lavender can also help open your mind.
  7. Valerian: Moving into the sedative and hypnotic herbs, Robinett says valerian is one of the biggest heavy-hitters. Research suggests valerian can help improve sleep quality in some people.
  8. California poppy: The California poppy has hypnotic and sedative effects, Robinett tells mbg.
  9. Hops: Believe it or not, hops can actually help you sleep. It’s known for its calming properties, and in one study, researchers found nurses who worked rotating shifts were able to fall asleep faster after consuming it.
  10. Blue lotus: Robinett notes blue lotus is a favorite for dreaming and achieving a “trippy” state. It’s been used as far back as Ancient Egypt, and it can produce a somewhat “dreamlike” effect.
  11. Mugwort: “If you had to choose one herb for dreaming, it would be mugwort,” Robinett says, adding that “it’s a must.” It’s believed to help induce vivid and even lucid dreams.

How to take them.

If you’re looking to have some fun and interesting dreams, start by brewing the herb of your choice into a tea. A strong, small cup is better since you don’t want to drink a ton of tea before bed, for obvious reasons! From there, you can put a few drops of an essential oil blend on your wrist, perhaps light some incense, and just relax before bed as you sip your tea. Next stop: your subconscious.