Dreams fascinate us–whether fantastic or frightening they never fail to astonish, intrigue, haunt, amuse; wise advice and even great ideas have come from them. But despite their amazing range of people, places, and episodes is there some way to center these strangest journeys upon one’s immediate or enduring problems? What if a dream could be directed to realistically answer questions like, “How will I meet that deadline, lose weight, stop smoking?”, “Is this true love?”, “Where can we get the money?”, “Why did that happen to me?”, ”How might I forget that event?”, feature any person living or not–friend, relative, celebrity–travel worldwide or imaginary, select any theme. Is there hard science to support such speculation?
What are dreams?
The standard interpretation of sleeping recognizes both its physiological and psychological value, without which vertebrates—notably mammals—rapidly decline in functionality. Lately, extending our earlier knowledge, dreams are seen as crucial for more comprehensive maintenance—reviewing unresolved issues, anticipating weaknesses, rehearsing scenarios against perceived threats, providing solutions to
personal or even cultural challenges, sometimes inspiring innovation in the arts or sciences.
Two major discoveries are particularly relevant. Robert L. Van de Castle, in Our Dreaming Mind (1994), summarizes the first, referring to research in the 1960s: “A new conceptualization of the mind’s activity during sleep was now required. The previous model . . . held that dreams emerged abruptly at regular intervals during sleep and were nonexistent in the interim periods. The non-REM [rapid eye movement] and sleep onset findings, however, indicated that there is no period during sleep in which our mind is `blank`; some kind of mental activity is always occurring.” He then reviews evidence that such subconscious industry includes continuous dreaming at various levels, this conclusion elaborated by Mark Solms, whose 2003 study, “Dreaming and REM Sleep are Controlled by Different Brain Mechanisms,” presents new technology’s confirmation that REM sleep is not the exclusive province of dreams but sometimes contains no incidence of them. Earlier, David Foulkes—following his research in the 1960s—and Corrado Cavallero had written (1993), “there almost certainly is REM sleep without dreaming and . . . there is certainly dreaming without REM sleep.”
In 2003 Antti Revonsuo postulated threat simulation theory (TST): “Dream content
shows a significant bias toward representing threatening elements . . . ” Out of prehistoric times a genetically encoded survival mechanism had evolved in the dream process, responding to the subject’s critical issues, particularly where fear, anxiety, pain, loss, frustration, grief, and regret were concerned; this preemptive defense system, rehearsing dangers already encountered—at least to some extent—across an endless spectrum of often weird scapes and situations peopled with familiars or strangers, acts as a supportive counterpart to innate biological preservatives, namely, a mental immune system which fortifies against possible cognitive, psychological, emotional, and behavioral hazards, also adding nonphysical but equally curative scar tissue to injuries of this nature in the recent or remote past. Individuals possessing such an advantage would therefore be more likely to thrive, placing them preeminently on the Darwinian fitness scale for preferable mate selection, a classic example of evolutionary psychology’s impact upon genealogy.
Why dream prompts?
It has been known since the work of Hervey de Saint-Denys in the mid-1800s that not only does the brain record surrounding events unperceived by the sleeper yet retrievable under hypnosis, but that multisensory stimuli alter dream content; in 1969 Fernandez
confirmed electroencephalographic detection of auditory stimuli by the brain during sleep. Also, Castaldo and Holzman verified in 1969 that verbal cues are most successful if spoken by the dreamer, their own voice–its tone, pitch, syntax, and rhythm—best recognized by that brain which initiates the very vocalization; Van de Castle’s 1994 statement reaffirms this: “the dreamer’s own voice noticeably increases dream activity and assertiveness.”
The science behind Dreamprompter
Dreamprompter is a portable device app both simple to use and a proven technique based upon established empirical parameters for achieving targeted results:
1. The brain stores data—information, experiences, thoughts, and emotions—its scope in subject or time virtually unlimited if accessed effectively.
2. The dreamstate is a normal brain activity, and not restricted to any particular stage of sleep.
3. Throughout sleep, the brain registers sensory stimuli, including external sounds, with dreams often reflecting such awareness.
4. As dreams depict, the brain best relates to one’s own voice during sleep.
5. Prerecorded short question or statement prompts by the sleeper, regulated for
volume and playback cycles, influence dream content without initiating consciousness.
6. Drawing upon the sleeper’s unconscious resources, Dreamprompter demonstrates the personal effect of its repeated prompts by their focused response in immediate or later dreams.
Tips:
1. We do not always like to hear our recorded voice—but the subconscious knows who speaks for it. Simply regard this sleepstate exercise as if conversing with a close relative, friend, or that most informative dream host of your inner selves. Speak quietly in your native language and with whichever tone feels most comfortable. Additionally, instead of complete sentences consider experimenting: expand prompt options by single word repetitions (a place or person’s name), reciting a poetry line, imitating animal sounds or birdcalls, etc.—even if favoring a dreamer’s identity is favored, other sonic cues may be acceptable guests (spouse or partner could record some queries or directives for you) . . . possibly with revealing effects!
2. To whom or what should a prompt be addressed—that first-person participant (the inner twin or dreamself), their objective bystander (given a name by the dreamer), or perhaps the process itself . . .
dream leader (or simply prompting unnamed with “I would like to ask . . .)? Varying these viewpoints may elicit unexpected clarity, while each person’s internal dynamics (even their mood) can influence where prompts are directed—try alternatives for fruitful dreamworld exploration! Further, since the major religions encourage prayer before sleep (source of divine guidance or visions), a dreamer’s deity might be invoked according to tradition, whether in speech or song—mantras appropriate.
3. A bedside notepad permits jotting key words to help recall dream content immediately after or upon later waking, with voice recording another option; even focusing upon a single word, event, face, or scene and repeating this mentally or aloud before resleeping aids retention. A dream journal for details can be invaluable should prophetic proof—wakestate particulars foretold in sleep—be sought; dreamt origins of innovations obviously benefit if specifics are freshly memorialized, as famous discoverers found.
4. Connecting to the app device, headphones or earbuds may be utilized for not disturbing a nearby sleeper.
5. If a prompt keeps repeating in your head longer than desired, you can reset it by substituting another query, miscellaneous
words alone may also help—silently or spoken.
Dream Recall Technique
While innate dream retention varies between individuals, Dreamprompter’s unique enhancement can be accessed upon waking immediately therefrom-by means of single -word repetition characterizing the slept experience, that mental or spoken cue being more likely remembered once fully awake after nighttime or nap because visual recollection of a dream is more complex, vague, elusive, unfocussed; the method works most successfully if the dreamer asks themselves, ’What is one word which best describes overall what I just witnessed ?’”fire”, ”running”, ”storm”, ”flower”, etc. -but the most comprehensive way is to summarize the entire dream in brief, then echo it several times. Why wrack waking memory—a keyword unlocks the dream!
Sample Prompts:
Sample prompts Questions and directives—how to address your subconscious chaperone: could I see / will I be / which is best / how can I / should I / can I/ tell me / show me / why is . . .
1. Dream leader, please guide me to _____________ (fill in blank).
2. How can I better _______? (fill in blank)
3. Should I go back to school?
4. Should I find another job?
5. Should I move?
6. How can I break my ______ habit? (fill in blank)
7. Can I be a bird?
8. Could I see __________ again? (name of deceased)
9. What can I do about ________? (fill in person or problem)
10. How can I block my memory of __________? (fill in blank)
11. If I had a past life, who was I?
12. Can I become ___________? (name of someone famous)
13. Can I see myself as a child?
14. Why is/are _____________? (fill in blank)
15. Please help me __________ (fill in blank)
16. Show me how to _________ (fill in blank)
17. Where can I find ________? (fill in blank)
18. Might I ever learn to ____________? (fill in blank)
19. Would you kindly send me a pleasant/happy/peaceful message?
20. Could you please show me something that will happen shortly?
21. Dreamguide, may I know when I am dreaming? (a lucid dream)
22. Create your own question.
