Thread: Questions on reading before sleep

I haven't really studied this and I searched the forums a few times looking for any thread like this without success so...
I was wondering if for those who read novels often before going to sleep, does it effect vividness of dreams since your brain is already in an imaginitive mode and would it make it harder to go lucid since imagining fictional things might make you more susceptible to accepting your dreams as reality?

I've never notticed a difference myself from reading novels before sleep, but others might say differently.

As far as vividness goes, mine goes up if I try to clear my mind before sleeping, or if I consume alot of sweets (Ice cream in particular).

Hmm, no, I haven't noticed a difference in vividness either. But I read just about every night before falling asleep.

Though I do often dream about what I was reading - kind of like an incubation. Which is why I always suggest people read LDing-related material before falling asleep.

Originally Posted by Burns

Which is why I always suggest people read LDing-related material before falling asleep.
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One of the reasons I only read the forums at night before I sleep

Well I'm not sure this was exactley a dream, but I once went to sleep shortly after reading a novel while stoned (it was orson scott card's ender series). And I woke up with memories of living in the area the book was set, and remember asking myself "where the hell am I, this isn't my bed" because my mind expected me to wake up in a colony on another planet. Very strange indeed.

Originally Posted by Bu5hman404

Well I'm not sure this was exactley a dream, but I once went to sleep shortly after reading a novel while stoned (it was orson scott card's ender series). And I woke up with memories of living in the area the book was set, and remember asking myself "where the hell am I, this isn't my bed" because my mind expected me to wake up in a colony on another planet. Very strange indeed.
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Dude, we are twin souls! I also enjoy being stoned and the Ender's series very much!

Hmmm... I used to read a lot before I went to bed, and it never really affected my dreams at all. If anything, it would que me to question my situation. Most of the normal dreams that I don't really become lucid in are based on realistic situations, with only few things out of the ordinary, instead of my entire surroundings. Say I just read a Lord of The Rings book. I'm walking around with a ring and I'm with some short fat kid wearing a green cloak, and when I look around me, I realize I'm in the middle of a volcano. The odds that I'm going to do a reality check are about 80%. Sure, my subconscious may manage to distract me and take my attention to a charging orc, but chances are the I am going to question my situation.

I'm not sure if your dreams are normally drastically different than real life, in which case it may just seem like a normal dream where everything seems ordinary. I'm pretty sure I could have phrased all of this better, but I'm pretty tired.