🦁 Lyon Pride,

YOU are made up of four pieces: Heart (emotions), Soul (identity) , Mind and Body. That means that depending on the intensity of the dream, one of these areas may need your attention! So let’s explore what vivid dreams mean for you together! 🖤

Let’s imagine you are in a personal session with me, these are the questions I would ask you and the order in which I would ask them!

Your Body:

• 🍻💊 Substances: Certain substances, like alcohol, nicotine, and some medications, can affect your sleep patterns and the intensity of your dreams! Some medications are known to increase the vividness and frequency of dreams. I want to especially highlight stimulants like nicotine because these have some of the most significant impacts on the vividness of dreams.
• 🍃💨 Weed: smoking or consuming marijuana is known increase the amount of deep sleep you get in a night and reduce your REM sleep. When you stop consuming marijuana or reduce your intake, you can have a “REM Rebound” meaning your dreams will become very intense
• 🥱🛏️ Sleep Deprivation: If you’re sleep-deprived, you might experience more intense REM sleep when you finally do get to sleep, leading to more vivid dreams. This can also be the case if you are getting inconsistent sleep or do not have a bed-time routine.
• 🍰🍩 Food: Foods that are high in sugar or simple carbohydrates can also cause you to have very intense dreams! As these foods break down into sugar in your body while you sleep, they will stimulate your body and mind, causing your dreams to become very intense!
• ❓🤔 Questions to ask: “Have I made any changes to the substances, foods or medications I am coming? Do I have a healthy sleep pattern?”

• 😨👻Chronic Fear: Stress, anxiety, and other strong emotions can lead to more vivid dreams. When your mind is more active or troubled, it can create more intense dream experiences!
• 🌪️💔Emotional Instability: Big life events like a breakup, moving or grief can cause very intense dreams as your mind begins to process these changes and adapt to the new reality.
• ❓🤔 Questions to ask: “What strong emotions are taking place in my waking life that might be affecting my dreams? Do I have a solid plan to deal with my daily stress and anxiety?”

Your Mind:

• 🧠🔌Brain Activity: Individual differences in brain activity and function can influence how vividly a person dreams. Some people naturally have more vivid dreams due to the way their brain processes information during sleep.
• ❤️‍🩹👩‍⚕️Mental Health: People with certain mental health conditions like bi-polar, borderline personality, schizophrenia and those experiencing emotional disturbances will often have more vivid dreams. As you know, my life’s work has been dedicated to studying the intense dreams of those suffering from PTSD.
• ❓🤔 Questions to ask: “When was the last time I spoke with a therapist? Is my mind trying to warn me that my mental health needs a check up?”

Your Personality:

• 🎨🎶Creativity: People with a more active imagination or creative inclinations may experience more vivid dreams.
• 🔎🌡️Sensitivity: If you are more self-reflective and attuned to changes in your environment (we call this HSP, Highly Sensitive Person), you are also more likely to have intense and vivid dreams.
• ❓🤔 Questions to ask: “Have I always dreamed this way? Maybe my dreams are just different from those of my friends, and that’s okay!”