Because learning about your brain and sleep can be fun . . .
Buy 10 drinks, your 11th is free. Stay five nights, your sixth is free. Accumulate 10,000 points by flying, shopping, and bonuses, and you get a free flight. All kinds of businesses have customer loyalty programs. Should you make a personal loyalty program where you reward yourself for being loyal to yourself? Almost every business…
One common reason people take narcotics and hallucinogens is to “relax” and “chill out.” They want to take the edge off of the hardness of life. The dangers and disadvantages of those often-illegal drugs are well known. Who hasn’t heard of overdoses, the lost families, the problems that they cause? Why in Hell would anyone…
The rhythm of life, for most people, goes something like this: every day they’re awake, every night they’re asleep. The hours awake and asleep change as do some of the other particulars. Sleeping is something we do every day. We all sleep. We all need to sleep. And we need to sleep for several hours…
The first few lines of the dream journal entry read like a list: A park in summer with a bandstand. The Beach Boys song “When I Grow Up to Be a Man” playing in the background (The bandstand was empty. Neither the Beach Boys nor any other band was playing in the bandstand. The song…
You can’t really massage yourself to sleep. Not really. When it comes to yourself, stretching works better, though there are instructions for massaging yourself. For massaging yourself, you’ve got to use the more active parts of your mind. That makes it hard to drift off. Even if it doesn’t take much thinking to massage yourself,…
A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. And they’re right, though 1,000 words is approximate. It very well might be much more. Drawings show. Words tell. Sometimes it’s easier, quicker, and clearer to show than tell. Make drawings of your dreams Do it even if you think you don’t draw well, even if…
Everyone should have a dream journal. And they should use it, too. If they did, it could help them learn more about themselves, boost creativity, and solve problems. Keeping one is like going on a cool adventure in your own mind every night! Write down your dreams. You might see patterns or themes that mean…
When you wake up in the middle of the night, is it better to record your dreams with your voice or write them down? If you sleep with someone, it’s better to write them down. You don’t want to wake them up. Talking into a recorder or a recording app might do it. If you…
In your dreams, you can and will explore alternate scenarios—even if you rarely do so when you’re awake. It’s a good idea to be ready for it. Otherwise, when it happens, it can throw you for a loop. You/I can’t think that. It’s wrong. It doesn’t work that way. That’s stupid. You’ve got to hurry.…
Can your dreams foretell the future? If they can, how do you know when a dream is prophetic or precognitive—or just a reflection of your subconscious thoughts? Why would prophetic dreams be limited to St. Joseph, Edgar Cayce, and a few special other people? Why couldn’t you and I have prophetic dreams too? Great questions!…
Hopefully your body works like a well-oiled machine, sending signals to keep everything running smoothly. Have you ever thought about the messenger behind these communications? Enter acetylcholine – the unsung hero of your nervous system. Responsible for muscle contractions, memory formation, and even regulating heart rate, it plays a role in keeping you on top…
Did you know that your brain might be overfitting? The overfitted brain hypothesis suggests that our brains can become too specialized, hindering adaptability. Imagine being stuck in a mental rut, unable to pivot when needed. Get ready to challenge your thinking and consider how flexibility plays a crucial role in cognitive processes. Let’s uncover the…
Sometimes something happens during the day. Whatever it is, you can’t stop thinking about it. Or maybe you watch something on the Internet. Whatever it is, it fills your thoughts when you sleep. They’re not dreams. Oh, no. Dreams have more form and shape than these thoughts. These are ideas that you’re mulling. It would…