It has been a looooong time since my last blog...but anyway I wanted to share part of my experiences for those who are willing to listen. So it's been almost two years since my first visit in this forum and my enlightenment about lucid dreaming...and thank God I found what I was searching for, because I always knew that there is something more about dreaming. I can say that my practice in lucid dreaming was slow...very, very slow. But I never gave up and I can say that I am way better now. Of course, it still takes some efforts and time to get things right, but after they do, I know that it was worth it. Ever since I was a little kid /I still think of myself as a little kid, but...you know../ I had very interesting dreams...some were so weird that I was wondering how could my mind think of things like that. Anyway after trying real hard I succeeded in achieving my big lucid goal - meeting with my spiritual guide. Now, I know that most of you don't really believe in those stuff, but I've been reading books and watching stuff related with it, so I decided to give it a try. And it actually worked! I saw a big, round woman and she said stuff to me, that I couldn't understand and this made me a bit worried and sad. I said to myself after waking up that I should see her again and ask her more questions, but never really had the courage. Stupid me. Couple of months after that I had another strange dream and it turned out it was like a prophecy...and it wasn't good. That freaked me out even more. Since then I'm afraid to go back to lucid dreaming. Thins morning I had two perfect opportunities to dream lucid and I was a second away from them...but then I just gave up and woke myself up...And now I'm angry at myself. I want to get back in track so badly! Maybe it takes a little courage to beat my inner fears just one time...after that it'll be easier, who knows. Sorry if I wasted your time with this, but I feel like I need to share. So...thank you for reading!
Inception. If you haven't heard of this recent blockbuster movie yet, you should have. Here is the trailer. Take a look.
The movie revolves around a guy, Dom (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is specialized in entering someone else's dream state to steal or implement an idea. Sounds radical? Well, just go and buy a ticket to see the movie: it is an awesome complex high-order storyline, packed with good acting and an epic soundtrack.
I dedicate this review to explore ways in which this movie, either explicitly or implicitly, attempts to refer to lucid dreaming. Though the term "lucid dreaming" is not mentioned in the movie, it is clear that the director (Christopher Nolen) uses lucid dreaming as a vehicle to convey his brilliant story concept. Somewhat disappointing to me however: the movie doesn't go much further than explaining and demonstrating the depth of lucid dreaming other than allowing a few characters to say that they know that they are dreaming. Only two to three scenes of dream control and some semi-Reality Checks. Still, especially for the second part of the movie, I had a great time watching Inception and enjoyed getting a taste of how Christopher gives an exciting twist to the reality of our dreams.
Now, as an avid lucid dreamer, I need to justify my long-life passion and profession as founder of Lucidipedia.com by clearing up a few principles that Christopher uses in his Inception movie to present his unrealistic stage of the dream world.
Lie 1: Dream time moves faster than waking time. In the movie it is conveyed that we can have dreams that last up to days, weeks or even years, though we actually only dream about a few hours in waking reality. This is not true. Dream scientists reason that dreams should approximate the time flow of waking reality, since dreams function as helpful simulations of the real world in which we rehearse experiences or re-consolidate memories of waking life so that we could more effectively function (and survive) in the world. Our dreaming mind processes experiences as fast as it does when we are awake. Even though those processes are much more creative.
An interesting experiment was conducted by Stephen LaBerge, a renowned lucid dream researcher, who instructed lucid dreamers to count up to 10 while being hooked up to various sophisticated electronic devices while they were lucid dreaming. Dream researchers on the outside (meaning, in waking reality), would observe the counting of those lucid dreamers while they were lucid dreaming (by communicating through specific pre-instructed ocular motions that researchers could recognize). Stephen's study found that all lucid dreamers counted to 10 as fast and regular as any dream researcher or person in waking reality (meaning, counting in seconds): 10 seconds in our lucid dreams is equal to 10 seconds in waking reality (read: 10 seconds in our lucid dreams, not 10 seconds in ordinary dreams. Currently, there is no way in which we could investigate the same issue in ordinary non-lucid dreams, since a non-lucid dreamer is not aware that he or she is dreaming and hence could not intentionally signal to the outside world).
Still, some (lucid) dreamers claim to have had dreams that lasted up to years, while in waking life they only lasted up to a few minutes. Interesting. A highly probable explanation lies in the re-interpretation of dreams after we wake up. And is much like movies by which a director changes the way a story is told by changing the flow of time: flash forwards. Like in a movie, if we dream up one scene in which it is summer and in the next scene there is snowfall, we could mistakenly reason (either while we are dreaming or after we wake up) that 6 months must have passed for summer turn into winter. While actually, only a few seconds have passed. It is the illusion of flash forwards. Many variations on this theme are possible.
Lie 2: Dreams are made up by different layers of unconsciousness. We vividly dream only during certain and specific stages of sleep, called REM: Rapid Eye Movement sleep. In this stage, our brain is highly active and is able to generate vivid simulations of waking reality without any external input (though some input from the outside world could be subtly integrated). During REM, our brains show just one kind of brain activity (based on EEG). In REM, we cannot "travel" deeper into more slow-wave brain activity like dreams. We cycle through different stages of sleep throughout the night, after each REM period. But in those non-REM sleep periods, our dreams are far less vivid and far more thought-like. If dream scientists wake up subjects from non-REM dreams, they have far less to no dream recall (highly contrasted by subjects awakened from REM sleep who successfully recall vivid and immersive dreams in more than 80% of the cases).
Lie 3: Dream sharing/entering is possible. No, of course not. Again, in functional evolutionary terms it would serve no specific advantage to our survival (yet ). Speaking in physiological terms, our brains have no wireless way in which to share REM brain activity and communicate it with someone else. Cases of dream sharing are likely related to re-interpretations of people's dreams after they wake up and tell each other about their dreams (in which they unintentionally and unconsciously integrate each others dream elements to suit there case). Or cases in which people have had a shared and similar waking life experience, and thus dream dreams that are closely related to each other.
More realistically (though still very far beyond the horizon), it is more likely that we would invent devices by which we can extract neuro-psychomotoric signals from a dreaming brain of someone acting and behaving in a (lucid) dream and project that specific neurological activity onto a moving and behaving human model. We could attempt to make recordings of someone else's dream. If in the next decades dream science attracts the right kind of young and bright minds, we could enjoy such dream recording devices maybe even in our life time.
Lie 4: A spinning top can tell you whether you are dreaming. No, not quite. In dreams, our reality is constructed upon our own expectations and learned experiences (plus unconscious processing). Our own psychology and expectations govern the way our (lucid) dreams unfold. In this way, lucid dreamers intentionally use this knowledge to their advantage by applying their expectations to direct their dreams to anything their imagination can conceive. This also means that our dreams are biased and self-confirming. In the case of Dom, his spinning top would serve no guarantee whether he is dreaming. It depends entirely on his expectation whether the spinning top would keep spinning or would fall. Imagine a case in which Dom is in fact dreaming: a) if he knows he is dreaming, his expectations would make it very likely for the spinning top to keep spinning because it expects it to keep spinning, b) if he thinks he is awake (while in fact, he is dreaming), the spinning top would be very likely to fall, simply because he (either consciously or unconsciously) expects so. So, whether he is dreaming or not does not matter for his spinning-top ... it is all about his expectations.
In the movie, I understand that the spinning top he used was intended to know whether he was in fact in someone else's dream, not his own. Still, this technique seems shaky. But ey, it is just a movie right ;-)?
A more grounded and fool-proof technique to check whether you are dreaming right now, is making purposeful use of your expectations: in a dream your expectations affect dream reality in a very direct and visible manner, but in waking reality they (to a certain extend) do not. So if you intentionally apply your expectations to purposefully change reality ... you know when you are dreaming when you discover that you succeed. If you don't succeed in changing reality, you are most probably awake. This approach has a catch though. Dream control is not immediate once you are lucid. Lucid dreamers need to learn how to direct dreams even once they are lucid. It is not like lucidity automatically enables dream control. Theoretically it does, but practically many novice lucid dreamers struggle to apply dream control. Why? Well, simply because we are not familiar with lucid dreaming ... our minds still perceive dream reality as waking reality and don't expect us to be able to bend and direct reality in that way. So merely intending to change a certain element in reality is not a fool-proof method to check whether you are currently dreaming. Many novice lucid dreamers fail to change elements in their first lucid dreams, even though they know it is all just a dream.
Physiologically, dreams differ from waking life in just one other aspect. If you would compare a dreaming brain with a brain that is "awake", a specific brain area in the prefrontal cortex is quite inactive in the dream state. This is part of the brain that is related to working memory. In dreams, our working memory is quite deficient. In order to check whether we are dreaming right now, we could make use of this physiological fact. By combining the power of our expectations and using it in the context of working memory tasks, we can know with 99% certainty whether we are currently dreaming or not.
A proper Reality Check:
1) Take a look at a sentence of text and read it. Highly detailed and complex information that involves working memory to hold it.
2) Close your eyes and vividly imagine (visualize) a different sentence. Read it in your mind.
3) Intent that once you open your eyes, that the piece of text has changed according to your newly imagined ("expected") sentence. Making use of your expectations that govern dream reality, but not waking reality.
4) Open your eyes and check whether the sentence has changed.
... if it has changed, you are dreaming right now. But it has not. You are not dreaming. If you do these Reality Checks more often, chances are you incorporate the habit and do one in your dreams; resulting into a lucid dream. This is one of the most basic ways to induce lucid dreams.
Lie 5 (suggestive): Lucid dreaming makes you lose touch with reality. Lucid dreaming teaches one exactly the opposite, to get in touch with reality. Most people are never "in touch with reality" while they are dreaming: they think they are awake while they are actually dreaming. Lucid dreamers are not addicted to sleep, they love being conscious, to be in touch with reality ... even while they are asleep. Lucid dreaming teaches you to take responsibility of the reality you create each and every day of your life. As one can become lucid in a dream, one can also become lucid in the waking state. Get to know the ways in which your everyday life expectations govern how your life unfolds. Not by controlling other people or external events, but controlling one's own expectations and inner belief systems. Or as Morpheus would say in The Matrix movie, "Free your mind".
Truth: External signals can enter a dream. True. In some cases, external signals from waking reality could enter the dream experience. A popular case is one in which the sound of your alarm clock is integrated into your dream when you are slowly waking up. Whether gravity, like in the movie, would also be integrated in someone else's dream experience is likely. But in any case, not as stable and predictable as Christopher communicates in his Inception movie.
So, in my blog ´The sleep environment pt 1: the bed base´, I shared with you my brandnew knowledge gained on bed frames. For further explanation I refer to that blog, e.g. if you want to know why I decided to include ´electrosmog´ as a criterium.
Today I will add to it some information on how to choose the best mattresses and pillows. The mattress is one of the more important aspects to make a good bedroom. If you wake up with a back ache (like me, on nearly every mattress) the first thing that will probably come to mind is this back ache and not your last dream. Following is an overview of the different types of mattresses. It may be boring for anyone not currently in need of an improved night rest, but I promise one of my next blogs will be more directly lucid-related. And besides, it will be useful when at some point you do want to buy the right mattress. So there you go. (again, by the way, my apologies for the fact that I do not have any clue how to create a decent layout)
Mattresses
Polyurethane mattress - cheap on two levels (price...and comfort) Support At least it gets better with a higher SG indication, but you still get the ´holes´ Ventilation It has a closed structure so it will not absorb moisture well and feel warm Durability 3-5 years Price Yeaj!! Electrosmog Haven´t found anything about this
Sprung mattress- Coil springs packed together Support Good, depending on the amount of springs. The more the softer. Don´t put it on a slats bed base:
between the lats it will not give support. Ventilation Keeps cool and gives you a fresh amount of air with every movement Durability 10-15 years Price Doesn´t have to be expensive, can be if you want 7 zones with many coils Electrosmog You will come out of bed loaded with electricity
Latex - Rubber mattress Support Reasonably high especially with Talalaylatex Ventilation When open cell structure such as with Talalaylatex it ventilates very well, otherwise not at all Durability Naturelatex 5-7 years, Talalay open cell structure latex 10 years Price Not that bad Electrosmog Nope
Cold Foam mattress - High resilience next to best Support Great, especially if you go HR50 or up Ventilation Great Durability Great (15-20 years) Price Less great Electrosmog No
NASA/Tempur/memory foam mattress - La crème de la crème designed for ill people and astronauts Support +++++, it forms to the warmth of your body and it does not form a ´hole´ Ventilation When it is good memory foam with an open cell structure, the ventilation is very good Durability 15 years Price Thumbs down Electrosmog No
Some remarks: The only accredited form of memory foam is called Tempur invented by NASA. Many companies make memory foam but place more cold foam in it instead with only a thin layer of memory foam that hardly responds to temperature or way too much. You´d neither want a memory foam mattress with a higher density than 50 kg m3 because it otherwise gets too warm and offers less ventilation. And finally it seems to me that google does not make much of a difference between cold foam and memory foam in English. There are not many websites that mention ´cold foam´ and I really don´t know why that is.
Air mattress - Sleeping on air Support It is like lying on air and sometimes you can decide yourself on how much air you want to lie down Ventilation Big plus, very hygienic and anti allergic Durability 10-12 years Price Big no no Electrosmog When having to adjust the amount of air electrically there will be radiation
Waterbed - Would that make you walk on water in your dreams? Support You can tune it to the right support yourself as well as temperature and movement. However,
some people find it hard to turn around. Ventilation The sweat and the germs don´t get into your bed, but where then do they go? Durability Durable until it starts leaking... Price Ahem... Electrosmog I don´t know actually but I suppose there has to be some since it goes on electricity.
As for waterbeds, there is really much more to say. There are many things you want to take into account when considering one, like depth, stabilisation, heating, etcetera.
For boxsprings, check out my last blog on bedframes.
Summary Cheapest: Polyurethane. Best: Tempur Good and somewhat affordable: cold foam
Some other suggestions on mattresses
A mattress should be at least 18 cm thick and preferably between 20-22 cm.
If you want a two persons bed think about whether you prefer a two persons mattress or two one persons mattresses. With a two persons mattress you will sooner get a ´hole´ if you sleep together (depending on the type of mattress) but there will be no nasty line in between the matresses. If you find the nasty line in between nasty, you can buy a ´love bridge´ to put in between or a mattress pad to place on top of the mattresses. You can also put a mattress pad on your mattress to add in comfort and softness if your base mattress is too firm.
Finally try to find a dealer that offers you the possibility to test the mattress. Some have test matress showrooms where you can sleep overnight. Some stores allow you to test sleep on a mattress for 14 days, though it is said you need 21 days to get used to a new mattress. Even though everybody thinks my cold foammattress is amazing, I still wake up with a pain in my back. So unfortunately, nobody can tell you which mattress is best for you and the fact that everybody loves a certain mattress will not guarantee you that you will love it too. Take your time before you pay the price. Mattresses aren´t cheap and when you buy a good one, you can sleep on it for about 15 years.
Pillows
Pillows add to both support and comfort. They keep the head, neck and shoulders in allignment, so hopefully, you will wake up the next morning without a neck ache.
Down and feather pillows
Both goose and duck down are suitable for bed pillows. However, strong goose down is the best. It offers more resistance and less is needed of it to make a good pillow. Goose down is soft and for people who like to sink into their pillows. Goose or duck feathers are less expensive and firmer than goose or duck down. You´ll have to check the amount of down or feathers in it (500 grams should be right) but I´d sooner take one with more than less since you can then remove some of them when necessary.
Latex and kapok pillows
They stay in shape, are resilient but too hard and flat for some people. The moisture regulation is not that great.
Kapok does have a good moisture regulation but you can´t put it into the washing machine.
Both start to fluff soon so you´d want a good pillow-slip.
Polyester stuffed/holle vezel pillows
I was not sure on the translation for ´holle vezel´ but google gives me the impression it has to do with polyester fillings. Anyway, it is a synthetic stuffing for the pillow.
Cheap, looks like down and is reasonably firm. Holle vezels/polyester stuffing (?) treated with silicones are smoother and clot less easily. Pillows with polyester pellets are somewhat more durable.
NASA/Tempur/memory foam pillows
There are matresses of the same material. It sinks in based on your weight and body temperature and because of this gives the right support for your posture. You have to try it before you buy it; some people do not like the feel of it.
Customized pillows
Some firms offer the option of sending them your measures of neck, head and shoulders or/and sleep posture and based on those data they fabricate a customized pillow. This can be done for as little as 60 dollars. This may not seem cheap, but there are NASA and goose down pillows for 200 dollars and those are not customized.
So, that was my overview on mattresses and pillows for now. In my next blog on the sleep environment I will tell you more about sheets, quilts and anything else I can think of more or less directly related to the bed! Any experiences on these mattresses and pillows I would like to hear through you placing a comment on this blog.
You are running like crazy through a pine tree forest. A giant orange bear is chasing you while throwing apples for you to fall over. It makes you think of oranges and now the bear turns into an orange. A big orange the size of a bear who keeps rolling in your direction along with the apples. You are terrified: this orange is even worse, it rolls faster than the bear could run. It starts thundering. It is a long rolling sharp sound. Now that is strange, you think, can a thunder thunder on for that long? And how can it be it evolves more into a ringing sound, like an alarmclock? Oh...it is your alarmclock. You hit it on snooze and notice your blankets are all over the place. ´I must have had a wild dream´, you think.
Now I can use this intro for a lot of reasons, and I probably will someday. Today I want to talk about memory. How come you dreamt about a giant orange bear chasing you, throwing apples, then turning into an orange, again chasing you, and you wake up without remembering such a peculiar set of circumstances? If you would go for a walk in the forest and you would see even a regular brown bear, you would sure remember it, let alone an orange one. (unless you see bears everyday) So why not remember an orange/bear in your dream? First of all, I will introduce some basic facts about memory, that is, the most important aspects of what makes a memory a strong one. This will actually basically fill in this whole blog. So...
Second of allwill be food for the next blog on the subject and in this one I will discuss the theories I have encountered so far on memory of dreams and the related.
And all of all1, I will come to a conclusion weighing the pros and cons of the different theories. (not sure yet whether that will fit in blog 2 or will be a blog 3.) First of all..what makes you remember
Attention
Association and interaction
Arousal
Context
Familiarity
Elaboration
1. Attention, most importantly
Attention helps to feed-forward the signals in your brain to all those areas of perception. The more activity in those areas, the more conscious you are of what you are perceiving and the more you perceive. Funny enough, intention does not matter much. You can attend to something without intending to, and it will still signal from one area to another, linking those areas and making a stronger representation of the thing to be remembered.
2. Association and interaction
In the dream of the orange bear the bear himself turned into an orange. This happened based on association. You thought about oranges, probably because the bear was orange, or because there were apples, another type of fruit. In daylife, that could make you remember both the bear and the orange better, or the apples and the orange.
There was also some interaction: the bear threw apples and the orange bear turned into an orange. It all had to do with each other.
Now the Baddeley-Hitch model of memory states that there are three elements to working memory: the phonological loop
the visuospatial sketchpad
the central executive
The phonological loop is where spelling of words are linked to sounds and to meaning. Learning how to read, you link those elements of language, as in associating them to one another and it makes you remember what goes with what. So after a while, you know that the spelling of the word ´cat´ goes with the meaning of a small animal with a soft fur and a tail. And you know that the ´c´ of ´cat´ is pronounced with a hard c, like the letter k.
The visuospatial sketchpaddeals with visuals and space. As for linking things: if you simply imagine a bear and then imagine an orange, this will make you remember those elements less than if you imagine an (orange) bear turning into an orange. Or a bear eating an orange. Or whatever works for you. As long as the two are associated and even better, interacting together.
The central executive´decides´ whether to use the phonological loop or the visuospatial sketchpad to remember things and makes sure they run smoothly.
3. Arousal
Arousal can be physical as in stress, clammy hands, a racing heartbeat etcetera.
It can also be emotional: sad, happy, shocked, again etcetera.
There is a word for memories encoded in these type of situations: flashbulb memories. When something exceptional and unexpected happens and you respond with the clammy hands or/and you burst into tears, there is a chance this will become a flashbulb memory. For instance: your dear rabbit Bam Bam escaped from the run, got on the run and a car drove him over (Bam). Now apart from associating running with run and your rabbits name with Bam, this unexpected situation will probably evoke emotions.
Since this event is quite an event, you will pay extra attention to it, talk about it with people and mull it over later: How could I have prevented Bam Bam from being attacked by this car? All these things will enhance memory of the disheartening event.
Now it doesn´t necessarily have to be a flashbulb memory for arousal and emotion to enhance the memory of it. Some type of emotion will help, even small. In the brain, emotion and arousal lead to the amygdala to be more activated. The amygdalais the main room of the emotional housing in the brain and because of its activation, the hippocampus will work harder to remember this event. There you go.
However, sidenote: prolonged stress/arousal will make you remember less. It will lead to higher levels of glucorticoids and those reduce the firing rate of the hippocampus and eventually eat it up. Sidenote of this sidenote: this eating up is called atrophy and is what happens in people with Alzheimers. The brain literally ceases to exist.2
4. Context
In the science of memory, three phases are distinguished: encoding, consolidation and retrieval.
In encoding, the information a situation is providing to you is transformed in your brain into something called a representation. Encoding is what happens while the thing to be remembered is still happening.
Next is consolidation. In consolidation the representation of that what just happened is modified so it becomes stable and independent of certain brain areas needed for encoding.3 Retrieval finally, is what happens when you try to remember that what was encoded and consolidated. So if you wake up and try real hard to remember your dream and in a flash remember something about a forest, this is retrieval.
The right context then, can help retrieval. If you encoded a memory in a similar context as in the context you try to retrieve the memory, there is a better chance you will succeed.
So the best way to remember your dream again, is to let your friend dress up as an orange bear, take a bucket of apples and let him chase you in the forest. Since you don´t remember the dream, this will be of no use. However, if you would happen to go for a walk in the forest the next day, this can trigger the memory of the dream, apparently not yet ´gone´.
5. Familiarity
What if indeed you would go for a walk in the forest the next day. Maybe your brain would be triggered to run off some of the same brain tracks again, but not yet all of them. You start to feel as if you´ve been there, or as if there is simply something familiar about this forest, about something that has to do with this forest. You don´t yet remember what it is exactly. But then you see a half eaten apple down the road and it comes like a sudden flash: ¨Hey, that is what I dreamt about last night!¨ You may not immediately remember all details, and may never, but the apple and the forest will sure help you to remember the bear and everything else as well. Familiarity has a different path in the brain than recollection, but both can stimulate one another, allthough other elements such as attention and context I think have a stronger effect on memory.
6. Elaboration
Last but not least, elaboration. If you use up some of your cognitive processes by mulling over that what just happened, it will help strengthen the memory representation. As for rabbit Bam Bam, you could for instance keep thinking about the event, imagining him alive, talking to people about your loss, asking yourself why did this happen.
The depth-of-processing theory states that there are different levels of processing happenings and the deeper the level, the better the memory.
At the first level, we have the superficial type of processing where you only pay attention to the simple outward features of the event. You notice Bam Bam is bleeding, and that´s it.
At the second level is sound. If you would for instance scream ´Noooo! Bam Bam!´ and let it get through, that would be some sort of phonological (sound-type) processing.
At the deepest level, meaning becomes important. In the case of the rabbit, that would be pondering about the question why. That what is important to you is remembered better.
Footnote: most of this theory has tested ´implicit learning´, that is, not intentional. It is not sure then, that trying real hard to scream will make a difference. If it does, it does so without you noticing it.
But apart from this theory, in general it is proven that the more active you are busy processing, perceiving, thinking over something, the better it will be remembered. You need to work with the material.
Not too long ago I moved to another city and a new home with four times as much space as my former. That left room for a bed. That is to say, un upgrade from a one persons bed to a two persons bed. (you knever know, hehe) I had to buy everything new: the bed frame, the mattress, sheets, pillows, and so forth. And since I am quite thorough, I wanted it to be right. So there you go: I can now provide you with plenty of information on how to choose the right bed. As for layout I am aware of my inability to get a decent one with words written out on exactly the same line. I have been trying to figure that out for most of my life fruitlessly, so I hope you can forgive me.
Here is an overview of the different types of bed bases out there. I will not include much explanation of bed frames since those don´t have much to do with sleep comfort and are more about esthetics and durability. I will base my judging on the support the base offers, the amount of ventilation, the durability, price, and whether the base creates an electromagnetic field. This last thing may need some explanation. I will dedicate an entire blog to that so now I will keep it short: Lots of things create an electromagnetic field, such as mobile phones, phone masts, wireless networks, and such. Bed bases can create a small field too. Some people claim to get sick from it or can´t sleep well because of the field around their bed. Most research done is done bad and seems inconclusive. So now on to the bases:
Metal mesh base - strong steel framework Support Does not divide weight as it should Ventilation The best there is Durability Good Price Usually cheap unless you want an Auping Electrosmog Big field, no go for electrosmogphobics
Extra plus: They are great for bed jumping. A nice bed jumping ritual will prepare you perfectly for your next lucid dream. (you can imagine flying out of your bed)
Vlavrobase* - like a platform bed with holes in it Support About none, but for people who prefer a firm bed, not a bad idea Ventilation Nah Durability 15 years Price Cheapest Electrosmog Nope
* Since this bed is somewhat out of date and I am no native English speaker, no dictionary or google search could give me the exact translation.
Slatted base - a frame with (sprung) slats, usually ranging in number from 10 to 44 Support Depends entirely on your preferences: from 28 slats on support is good, especially if they are placed inside the frame. Some slat bases can be adjusted for hardness and others allow you to electrically rise up the foot or head end so you can watch television without ruining your neck. Cheap mattresses on a slats base are a bad idea unless there are enough slats to work with. So basically, it is up to you. Ventilation Medium Durability Usually good Price Depends Electrosmog No
Boxsprings - these things you always see in the home magazines Support It divides the weight pretty well Ventilation Hell no Durability 20 years if you don´t mind sleeping on something gross Price Can range from expensive to priceless Electrosmog Because of iron in the mattress: a lot
Schotelbodems* - The next best thing with a sort of scifi robotic edge to it
No need to give them a rating on specific terms. They are perfect for anyone who has too much money and a coldfoam or memory foam mattress.
* And again no translation. A little too modern to be put in the dictionary I suppose. You can see a picture by searching on ´schotelbodem´ in google images.
The height and width of the bed (in centimeters. Yes I am from Holland!)
Make sure you have the height and width right of both bed and bed frame. I think 160 x 200 cm is the best size for a two persons bed, since you can curl up together but also have your own space. In the US that would be a Queen bed size. I believe until 110 cm width a bed is a one persons bed, from 110-140 cm it is something in between (twijfelaar in Dutch), and from 140 on it is called a two persons bed. Some people feel lost sleeping alone in a bed with a width larger than 160 cm so take that into consideration. You might want to check out the article on bedding on Wikipedia for more on bed sizes: Bedding
Some other suggestions
Don´t let beauty tempt you. A canopy bed sure looks romantic and you can pimp it with draperies, pillows in soft pastel colors and all that cliche stuff, but make sure it actually fits in your room and you don´t end up lying there feeling ´trapped´ between four poles and your draperies. Allthough...lucid and all, you can do some pole dancing, so that would be a plus.
The same goes for those old wooden or brass beds with the heightened foot- and headboards. How would your tall (future) partner like his/her inability to stretch out those legs? Would be kind considering someone elses good night´s rest, right?
So that was part one. In part two, I will focus on the different types of mattresses and tell you about those things called pillows and sheets.
What are your experiences with bed frames and bases?
« previous page
(Page 1 of 23, totaling 112 entries)
next page »
). Speaking in physiological terms, our brains have no wireless way in which to share REM brain activity and communicate it with someone else. Cases of dream sharing are likely related to re-interpretations of people's dreams after they wake up and tell each other about their dreams (in which they unintentionally and unconsciously integrate each others dream elements to suit there case). Or cases in which people have had a shared and similar waking life experience, and thus dream dreams that are closely related to each other.
