Nightmares unbound lately

[shadowknows69]

Anyone else have dreams that are really exhausting and literally physically painful? I have some doozys that when I wake up I feel literally like I've had the crap beaten out of me. These dreams are all usually horrible, if sometimes ridiculous, disaster or doomsday scenarios. Almost always the same cast of people, usually the same locale, and I can't wake myself up from them even though they seem nearly lucid. I seem to have full conciousness in them or at least my memory of them is of being cognizant. They usually start out pretty mundane but something happens out of the blue and then the rest of it is pure terror. They seem like they go on for days as well, I know that's pretty standard in dream land.

[crikkett]

1. It's not uncommon. Here are my thoughts on treating nightmares:

I experience bouts of terrifying dreams, and so has everyone I've spoken to about it.
They seem to come in groups and they are exhausting.

The last time it happened to me, my husband and I both had terrifying dreams at the same time, they were about home invasions. During the day we were arguing about how locked up the house should be on hot summer nights, and boy did we get each other wound up and paranoid. The dreams persisted until we discovered one night that our dog actually pays attention to what happens outside and guards us, and that's where it ended. So we luckily had an obvious cause and effect, and a satisfactory resolution.

So, aside from trying to figure out what you're being warned about/reacting to, I suggest you take a day off, to find a way to change your scenery, to ease your mind and see beauty in the world. Take a break from bad news of any sort. Have company over if you're so inclined.

Also increase vitamin & mineral intake (eat good food, or take a multivitamin). Pay attention to your calcium/vitamin D intake. Calcium deficiency is widespread, kind of a silent epidemic. One early symptom is uneasiness (think PMS), and that can carry over into dreams.

Whatever you do to up your vitamin intake, do it conscientiously for a few days so your body can replenish whatever you're short on.

There are several herbs/extracts that will help you ease your sleep in the short term, I'll tell you about two. They both interact with prescription meds so you need to be sure that they're compatible with whatever other medicine you take. I'm in CA so I can get this stuff at a regular drug store, you may need to find a health food store. Ask your pharmacist. Pick one or the other, not both.

5-HTP is a precursor to seratonin, mine was extracted from a bean. You take it at bedtime, and your body converts the stuff to seratonin. It's very gentle. You wake up the way a kid wakes up, kind of sleepy and groggy and you are in love with being in bed, but you have great energy once you get up. Wikipedia sez it's being used to treat children for night terrors! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-HTP

St. John's Wort helps you sleep peacefully too. You actually feel rested when you wake up, as if you had a really nice long, healing slumber. It's good for kicking insomnia, SARS oops I meant SAD = the winter blahs, and other forms of short-term blues. I didn't dream on it. It has to build up in your system though, so it will work really well the 2nd night. The side reaction is that your skin becomes sensitive to sunlight, enough to warrant a warning. Don't take it for more than a week and a half.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John%27s_Wort#Use_as_antidepressant

I hope this helps. Fellow ASAH contributors, plz add info or correct me where I'm wrong.

[shadowknows69]

2. Lot of great advice, thank you crikkett

[crikkett]

3. Thanks to YOU for your great contributions to DU.

I know your work. You help a lot of people here and in the real world.

I'm glad I could help.
:hug:

[havocmom]

6. Re vitamins & supplements: Folate or folic acid is another good one for sleep

Read lots of studies that people with chronic sleep problems and/or depression are highly likely to have deficiency of folic acid. I take supplement with my evening vitamins/herbs and I do seem to sleep better. When I get naughty and fail to take my evening supplements for several days, sleep is the first thing to go.

All the B's are important for nerve function and helping deal with any tendency toward depression. Lots of dark green veggies! Lots of whole grains!

We do need the building blocks for our incredible human system to work, don't we.

[Shallah Kali]

9. B vitamins are vital for the mind and emotions but don't take after 4pm

Many people I know can't sleep worth a darn if they take any b vitamins or a multivitamin w/Bs past around 4pm. Just be aware that some find bs too stimulating when taken late in the day so if you find yourself more lively than you want to be take your bs earlier in the day.

As I have celiac disease which causes malabsorption of nutrients and other food sensitivities I found sublingual liquid b vitamins work best for me. I feel more of a change from a few drops of the liquid bs under my tongue than a big dose in a tablet.

[Ino]

4. I used to have frequent, recurring nightmares...

about matter-of-factly killing one of my cats for dinner. I would wake up in a panic and run around the house checking that they were all OK. One night I gave my unconscious a stern talking-to:

"You will NOT give me any more dreams about harming animals. I don't like these dreams, and I don't understand them. Whatever the hell it is you're trying to tell me, just come out with it or find some other imagery!"

I've not had another one since and they weren't replaced by any other type of nightmare.

[havocmom]

7. Damn, that sort of dream coupled with that sleeping pill that makes many get up and cook/eat...

would be a BAD combo!

[havocmom]

5. Been having a lot of bad dreams lately too.

I generally have lucid dreams, and these nightmares are lucid, BUT I am unable to influence the dream content/outcome like I normally can. Wake up completely exhausted. Some have left me quite disoriented too, which is very odd for me. My dreams have DEFINITELY been odd lately, both in content and effect on me.

[demgrrrll]

8. I had a horrible nightmare last night about people being harmed and

other people trying to cover it up. I dont remember all of it except I think I was trying to save people and couldn't do it. It was bloody and awful, I have not had a dream like that in years.

[Shallah Kali]

10. I have but in my case when that happens it is usually me picking up others anxieties

and it's a sign I need to be more thorough about shielding my home and myself before going to sleep. I have always been sensitive and the past few years I keep getting even more so to the point if I slack off it seems like I pick up everyone's nightmares for miles around where I wake up praying for protection from the mad jumble of disasters I can never recall once I am awake. Plus it is very hard to come back to myself as i feel very unreal and have to focus hard to remember who I am and where I am at. These dreams usually wake me up half way through the night which is actually good because then i can do a quick energy clearing and reinforce my shield so i can have a proper sleep after with only normal dreams if any to recall.

There have been a few times I had awful dreams that I knew to be my own but to me they felt like I was discharging old fear and worries and so while unpleasant I knew they were useful and soon would pass.

[shadowknows69]

11. "I pick up everyone's nightmares for miles around "

Interesting and I wonder if that happens to me too sometimes. I've always been an empath to a fault. I abosrb other people's emotions (usually the negative ones) until they incapacitate me.

[Shallah Kali]

12. You might find it useful to practice grounding and shielding to see if it works for you as well

Some empaths can stand to remain fully open but I am not one of them so if I want to function around other people without feeling their stress and headaches for them I must ground myself and shield.

Grounding can be done in several ways. I use visulization to send roots deep into the earth as if I was a tree. Often I also send a direct line of energy from my root chakra down into the core of the earth. I then breathe up these roots and cord until it fills my body, overflows out my crown charka and flows back into the earth with my thanks. Then I image a coating of purple energy around my aura that transmutes any negativity that it encounters. Or I will picture a fine mesh of silver metal topped with a layer of find gold mesh such as a window screen gently wrapped around my aura filtering out any bad vibes the way a window screen keeps out bugs but lets the fresh air flow freely. I also find it useful to pull in my aura until it is about 2 feet out from my body as for some reason I tend to let my energy leak about without a smooth and firm boundary. If I am some place private I will use my hands to reach out and gather in any energy, then smooth out my aura as far around as I can reach, and then reaching out with imaginary hands to finish the job where I can't reach. If I am around others I will just quickly imagine this happening.

One quick way to be rid of other's energies, and is a good way to tell if how sensitive you are, is to imagine your hands are like dust cloths that collect bad vibes even minor ones. Then wipe down your aura, or where you know it ought to be as intention is all that is needed for this to work. Go as far around, up and down, as you can comfortably reach and then use your imagination to reach the rest of the way. Once you are done clap 3 times to discharge and transmute the energy you collected. Some prefer to imagine a fire and shake the energy off their hands into the fire. I was first taught to clap and as this works wonderfully even for people who doubt this sort of thing I stick with it. I have swept the auras of others who doubt but are willing to humor me and once I collected the energy in my hands rolled it into a ball and put it in their hand. They usually make a face like I handed them a slimy slug and try to shake off the energy. After that they usually enough for them stop doubting there is anything to this energy stuff :P

[kentauros]

13. That's pretty cool about demonstrating what negative energy feels like :)

I know I need to ground more often (but don't; I get lazy.) Although, I do have to "ground" my body throughout the day or get shocked, painfully so, by static!

I don't normally get nightmares, and the only ones I've had in recent years had to do with my divorce (I won't go into those.) However, I'm not looking forward to tonight much after watching some part 6 of 6 BBC documentary about the coming start-up of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. There's a thread on it in the Lounge. But there's a tiny chance either a black hole or something called "strange matter" could be formed. Suffice it to say, the graphics are good, and plenty scary. I'm probably another empathic-type since realistic movies and shows sometimes get to me. Even just a good story (like the "Ori" in Stargate) can get to me.

So, with all that background, how do you shield against your own memories and imagination? Or does the technique you detailed above work on that aspect, too?

Namaste
Eric

[Shallah Kali]

14. Actually I feel kinda mean as I enjoy people's shocked and grossed out expression

as they go from bored and let's just humor her to get this over with to YUK! EW! I *do* explain before hand that everyone picks up stuff although some are more sensitive than others just as some people can tolerate artificial fragrances and chemical cleaners and others become ill just walking past the laundry aisle at the grocery store. So think of bad vibes people emit when distressed and stressed like smells that cling to one's hair and clothing and how you have to wash and wash to get the smoke smell out if stuck in a room full of smokers. Everyone feels at least a little better after an aura cleaning. Some feel a lot better and loose the headache they picked up from a coworker or friend earlier.

As for shielding against my own stuff I have never tried it. As I have an anxiety disorder I know that eventually my own emotions run their course and out of energy. Even a panic attack will stop unpleasant as it feels. It is with other's emotions that I continue to feel that emotion unrelenting. If something goes on and on I know it is either totally other's energy or that other's energy is making my own stuff worse - a lot worse - and it's time to clear my energy, ground, and shield.

In therapy I learn to face my fears and anxieties one piece at a time and let them run their course. Eventually they totally wear themselves out. Of course the worse the fear the harder it is to face so I take the hardest stuff to therapy and work on the smaller issues on my own. For one I have found it very useful to practice with worry wort issues like being late for an appointment when I am stuck in traffic and similar what-ifs and awfulizing. Getting wound up over being late won't make the traffic move so I just sit with it and feel the feeling as much as I can. Grounding and steady breathing helps me stay calm as I let the worried part of me worry until it wears itself out. So I practice on the small things and work on the hardest things with a support person.

Occasionally I will get wound up over something going on in my life or the national/world situation as I am trying to sleep. That is not a good time so I will tel myself I will deal with it tomorrow and ask my guides for help and surprisingly this usually works enough to let me drop right off to a decent sleep. And sometimes just telling myself repeatedly before sleep that I am in control of my dreams and that when anything scary starts to happen I have the power to instantly change it to something pleasant thankfully usually works as well. Then the next day i try to deal with the issue myself or if it is tougher wait until I have support.

I have a vivid imagination so I have to be careful what I watch and read. Horror and most suspense movies and books are impossible for me to watch. Sometimes even science programs like the one you mentioned end up bothering me which makes me angry as I can't help but wonder if someone is deliberately trying to freak people out with so many mega-disaster shows on discovery and tlc. Again in the end I have to sit myself down and let myself panic a bit at a time until it wears itself out. Oh and sometimes I can put that adrenaline spurred energy to use like vigorous chores such as snow shoveling. I feel so much better if I put that energy to use instead letting it sit and feel like it is curdling inside of me. Even movies that have action sceens get my adrenaline up so I have to get up and move during ads or pause it so I can march around the living room.

[conscious evolution]

16. Here is a good grounding tai chi

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhX4a_6ApV8&feature=related
Very similar to what you are describing Shallah.

[Shallah Kali]

17. Ooo! Thanks!!! One of these days I will take a tai chi or qi gong class

so I can stop trying to reinvent the wheel by putting together the bits and pieces I have learned from healers and various western metaphysical books.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. Perhaps you are working out some karmic debt

or simply ridding yourself of energies you don't need any more. I had read your post before, but nothing came to me then to say to you. Tonight this is what came. Also to let you know you remain in my heart and prayers, surrounded by light.