Sleeping To Dream And Dreaming To Wake Up

Sleep is the natural state of bodily rest, common to all mammals and birds and also seen in many reptiles, amphibians and fish. For most species, regular sleep is essential for survival, yet the specific purposes of sleep are still only partly clear and are the subject of intense research. This volume is comprised of the editors’ selection of the most relevant articles on sleep from the Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, resulting in the first comprehensive collection of introductory articles on the neuroscience of sleep. Articles explore sleep’s impact on neural functioning, sleep disorders, the relation between sleep and other clinical disorders, a look at sleep from a developmental perspective, and more. Chapters offer impressive scope with topics addressing neural functioning, disorders, development, and more, carefully selected by one of the most preeminent sleep researchers Richly illustrated in full color with over 100 figures Contributors represent the most outstanding scholarship in the field, with each chapter providing fully vetted and reliable expert knowledge

Dreams play a significant role in our life, meaningfully affecting us in the development of our personality and our spiritual journey. They are an everyday experience for any human being. Dreams have always been of great interest to poets and philosophers alike since ancient times and examples are aplenty in Indian and Western scriptures. However, it is an uphill task for an ordinary person to fully appreciate the intricacies and significance of dreams in the day-to-day life. It is here that this book proves as an invaluable guide providing deep understanding on the nature of dream and sleep. This book is a repertoire of human wisdom – gathered for centuries and attested by the modern science – offering enormous insights into our dream and deep-sleep states. It asks, from a common man’s point of view, many a question that perturb us and provides answers to them from the scientific and spiritual perspectives in a captivating way. Some such questions include: • Do we see dreams in black and white or in colour? • What does a visually-challenged person see in his dreams? • Why are some of our dreams extraordinarily vivid with electric colours, the clarity and brilliance of which, we may never encounter in our ordinary waking lives? • Why are we non-reflective, irrational in our dreams? • Are the dream time and waking time equal? • How does our memory work in dream state? Why do we forget our dreams and is it possible to improve dream recall and cultivate awareness in dreams? • Why do we fail to distinguish a dream object from the physical world object while we are dreaming? • If the dream experience exactly feels like the real world and we fail to distinguish it from the waking world while we are dreaming, how can we be certain that we are not dreaming now? • How does a dream contain various persons exhibiting opposite emotions at the same time when all the dream characters including the witnessing dreamer are produced out of single mind of the dreaming person? • Can we intentionally transform the dream scenarios? If so, what would be the philosophical implications of it? • Can dreams and sleeps be utilized for spiritual elevation? ... and many more questions we always wondered about the daily eight hours of our bed time, but never got the right answers to! We find new meanings and ways in dealing with our dreams in this volume, therefore, it is a must read for every dream enthusiast as well as any serious spiritual seeker.

"Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity ... An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now ... neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming"--Amazon.com.

"A truly comprehensive, scientifically rigorous and utterly fascinating account of when, how, and why we dream. Put simply, When Brains Dream is the essential guide to dreaming." —Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep Questions on the origins and meaning of dreams are as old as humankind, and as confounding and exciting today as when nineteenth-century scientists first attempted to unravel them. Why do we dream? Do dreams hold psychological meaning or are they merely the reflection of random brain activity? What purpose do dreams serve? When Brains Dream addresses these core questions about dreams while illuminating the most up-to-date science in the field. Written by two world-renowned sleep and dream researchers, it debunks common myths that we only dream in REM sleep, for example—while acknowledging the mysteries that persist around both the science and experience of dreaming. Antonio Zadra and Robert Stickgold bring together state-of-the-art neuroscientific ideas and findings to propose a new and innovative model of dream function called NEXTUP—Network Exploration to Understand Possibilities. By detailing this model’s workings, they help readers understand key features of several types of dreams, from prophetic dreams to nightmares and lucid dreams. When Brains Dream reveals recent discoveries about the sleeping brain and the many ways in which dreams are psychologically, and neurologically, meaningful experiences; explores a host of dream-related disorders; and explains how dreams can facilitate creativity and be a source of personal insight. Making an eloquent and engaging case for why the human brain needs to dream, When Brains Dream offers compelling answers to age-old questions about the mysteries of sleep.

From work-related stress to the serious effects of trauma, this book teaches practical techniques to achieve the best possible sleep. Struggling with restless nights? Achieve better sleep with this scientifically verified, holistic approach to healing stress and trauma-affected slumber. Inspired by his work with military veterans, sleep expert Charlie Morley explores how to combat the harmful effects of stress and trauma in order to achieve restful sleep and healing dreams. This guide shares more than 20 body, breath, sleep and dreaming techniques, all proven to help reduce anxiety, improve sleep quality, integrate nightmares, increase your energy and transform your relationship with sleep. You'll discover: · a five-step plan that improves sleep quality in 87 per cent of participants · the science of how stress and trauma affect sleep · yoga nidra and mindfulness practices for deep relaxation · breathwork practices to regulate the nervous system · lucid dreaming methods to transform nightmares Whether you're experiencing stressed-out sleep or not, these powerful practices will help you optimize the time you spend dreaming so that you can sleep better and wake up healthier.

Lucid: Awake in the World and the Dream is a primer for the evolution of human consciousness. A biconscious writer, Gardner Eeden, lays the groundwork for how to live simultaneously in the world and the dream world, relating his unique experience as well as dissecting the current scientific and spiritual notions of what dreams are. This is a provocative, often irreverent work that blends fiction, science, real experience and metaphysical ideas that will guide readers to new possibilities in their own consciousness and will have readers wondering what they are truly capable of in the world and the dream.

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath belongs to Lovecraft's famous Dream Cycle. The protagonist Randolph Carter dreams three times of a majestic sunset city, but each time he is abruptly snatched away before he can see it up close. When he prays to the gods of dream to reveal the whereabouts of the phantasmal city, they do not answer, and his dreams of the city stop altogether. Undaunted, Carter resolves to go to Kadath, where the gods live, to beseech them in person. However, no one has ever been to Kadath and none even knows how to get there. In dream, Randolph Carter descends "seventy steps" and speaks of his plan to the priests Nasht and Kaman-Thah, whose temple - the Cavern of Flame - borders the Dreamlands. The priests warn Carter of the great danger of his quest and suggest that the gods withdrew his vision of the city on purpose. Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. He is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. Some of Lovecraft's work was inspired by his own nightmares. His interest started from his childhood days when his grandfather would tell him Gothic horror stories.