There are times when we want to stop dreaming because our imagination only supplies us with nightmares and thoughts where we are subjected to something that will hurt us. Repressed desires or interpersonal conflicts which have not been addressed can generate unwanted thoughts that make us anxious serving as a stimulus for nightmares.
According to the data we have on nightmares, it is common for you to experience one or two nightmares per month as so many things are going on in your life that you may slip and not deal with a particular issue. However, if you are having nightmares more frequently than this then there is some underlying anxiety which is bothering you, and you are grappling with figuring out a solution to a problem that is both on the surface and inside.
# 1. Cool Down
We get mad, we do get mad at the silliest of things and at grave situations, our anger is something that makes us behave irrationally and it is just the things we have just encountered right now not settling. All of us live with a particular frame of mind and keep ticking and crossing on the checklist that corresponds with our belief system in our head so when something happens that is not okay with us and we need time to reframe our mind we get angry and heat up. There is only something about our mind can be fixed. The others we have to deduce, depending on the context and situation so whenever you are anxious or angry at something that has annoyed you or caused you discomfort. You need to cool down so that you don’t store those feelings. This is because storing them will mean that our frustration returns in symbolic forms or manifests itself into our behavior.
# 2. Respect Your Circadian Rhythm
Unless your body has a problem with the production of melatonin, it is your sleep routine that is causing nightmares. Once a body has done a thing day in and day out it knows what to do at a particular hour and sleep is just like that. Light has a direct effect on our circadian rhythm that’s why most of us are awake during the day and sleep during the night. Sleeping during the day for too long or having irregular sleep hours can disrupt your circadian rhythm making you petulant and more prone to nightmares.
# 3. Cut Down On Caffeine and Alcohol
Regular alcohol can make you feel tired and sluggish throughout the day and caffeine can alert your senses for longer than you would want. The regular administration of both these substances can promote unpleasant thoughts and nightmares that make you cranky and mean.
# 4. Revamp Your Room
One of the reasons for experiencing nightmares could be the constant stridulation of the cricket, or the hollow sounds termites make. Even if you sleep alone and there are no accompanying sounds, the silence of the night can send a chill up your spine and keep you from sleeping soundly. Aromatic oils and soft music can play a big role in reminding you that you are not alone through the night and decrease your nightmares.
# 5. Exercise
Regular exercise is known to create a positive narrative for the stories we tell ourselves. A sound body is instrumental in having a sound mind as exercise triggers an increase in body temperature and post-exercise drop in temperature helps you fall asleep. Another thing that happens is that the neurotransmitters exercise releases to make your mood more positive.
# 6. Be More Grateful
It is very easy to develop a critical mindset and allow negativity to dictate your life when there are so many things you can be happy about. You need to tell yourself daily that you are neck deep in gratitude for the life that you have been given so that you do not store negative material in your head which tells you that you are unwanted and insignificant. The way you say 'thank you' should be such that you don’t feel at the mercy of anyone but just thankful for the support you get from people.
# 7. Control What Material You Feed Yourself
Most of the time, our subconscious surfaces fears in our dream that stem from what we see watch and hear which makes a filter you put on the material you want to expose yourself to a must-have. You should never believe the judgment of anyone for anyone else as you must form opinions about everyone yourself. Staying away from violent images and avoiding horror movies will help you get rid of nightmares than threaten your sanity and your sleep.
# 8. Join A Support Group
Some of us have a childhood trauma that we need to get out in the open so that it stops haunting us. The simplest of things very easily haunt all of us- from saying no to an invitation that we refused with a lie as we could not summon up the courage to tell the person the truth to a deed that we thought is harmless but ended up damaging someone or the other. A support group consisting of other people like you will help you stop the suffering as you hear and learn about the things haunting them and understand that you are not the only one with emotional baggage that troubles you. A support group will not only unleash the troubles of every member but present solutions for the same.
# 9. Avoid Late Night Snacks
Eating foods especially the one which has high sugar content can trigger nightmares as it makes your brain more active, leading it to throw projection which scares you or distress you. Other than this, you must always avoid food that takes long to digest as digestion is easier in upright positions and not when you are lying on the bed.
# 10. Envisage A Safe Place
A terrible nightmare can grip you from the inside and shake you from the core activating current grief or anger over a past incident. Visualizing a safe place that could be a beach which you visited in your childhood to a movie outing with your friends where you were in a cozy place can be your refuge from the terror you start experiencing.
# 11. Probe Underlying Disorders
All of us don’t easily admit that we may have a condition as we constantly take care of ourselves and this stops us from getting a diagnosis. However, when the symptoms begin to show, we yield to the truth and get ourselves checked. Sleep apnea, narcolepsy, REM Disorder are conditions which need the help of a trained professional and don’t go away only after self-care.
# 12. Stay Away From Gadgets
The blue light emitted from screens can significantly influence the behavior of sleep hormones by smothering them and thereby taking away that drowsiness which is essential in bringing you sleep.
# 13. Manipulate Stress
Stress occurs when we are obsessed with a particular thought and throw all our determination behind it which makes us rage at it and wish that we change it immediately. There are things which happen in life that is not in our control and still affects us up close. So, when we get agonized over them, we won’t get anything out of it but agony. However what you can also do is tell yourself that it is bothering you but it occurred because of external factors which were not in your control and entertain yourself with the prospect of influencing those external factors from now on. This is so so that you don’t see it as your mistake or fault and focus on safeguarding yourself from a similar future instance.
# 14. Practice Meditation
In order to not take your worries to bed with you, you need to be in emotional equilibrium, and the way in which you can be in emotional equilibrium is to know that you will only get as much as you give. This entails that you will get from work as much as you give to work and you will get from loved ones as much as you give to them. Breathing deeply and contemplating about the factors in your life is a sure way to know about their value and importance which in turn will tell you how much worry you need to give to it.
# 15. Write Your Nightmare Down
Sometimes we keep having the same nightmare over and over again and do not realize so. Our mind is more creative than we think as it plays all kinds of tricks on us making us believe it ain’t so when we have figured the thing out. When you will write about your nightmare in which a monster is chasing you in a dark alley and then about the other one in which a werewolf is chasing you in a tunnel, you will notice that the theme is a tunnel replaced the same in which werewolf and alley replaced monster. Once you have understood this, you will realize that you can replace the monster with something that doesn’t scare you like a stuffed toy or your friend and replace the alley with a crowded street or the place of a party. This will tell you that you can control the matter of your nightmares and help you stop them altogether. In order to better understand your dreams, you can read our article.
Share with us ways in which you helped eliminate your nightmares. Drop your comments in the comment section below.
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