Thread: What affects how much we dream? Can we change it?

You mentioned physical sleeping position... Apparently leaning on your right-side gives you a higher chance of obtaining lucidity. Maybe you could try this and learn to lucidify your dreams into something more pleasant.

TB

I think your main problem with not feeling rested comes from the fact that you wake up in the middle of the night. That's happened with me too, and I wake up when I normally do and feel exhausted.

Here is something that might help with your bad dreams: Nightmare Tutorial

I've heard that it's not really whether we have dreams; it's whether we remember them... I'm not sure if this is true, but I do know that most people have REM sleep just about every night. Not having it is considered a sleep disorder...

Is the problem here that your dreams are waking you up? If that's so, anything that helps you sleep more deeply is recommended. Try white noise (it will take a while to get used to), like running a fan or a radio between stations. Make sure your room is dark and that you are comfortable (cotton sleepwear, blankets just warm enough but not too warm).

You might also attempt to learn a few techniques to control your dreams; that way you may be able to prevent waking up unless you hear your alarm clock.

According to Stephen LaBerge's book Lucid Dreaming, studies show that we experience more delta sleep (the non-dreaming kind) if we've engaged in a lot of physical activity over the day, and more REM sleep (dreaming) when we've engaged in more mental activity. So my suggestion would be to spend a few days reading books, doing puzzles, and other things that engage your intellect, and see if that doesn't do anything for you.