Vivid dreaming is something that is both desired and feared by different individuals. Vivid dreams can be pleasant, attractive and meaningful but they can also be very frightening. What are vivid dreams, you ask? Simply put, these are dreams that feel real or immersive in some way, involving multiple senses: when one is in a vivid dream it can often be difficult to tell whether or not one is actually awake, unless one has worked with various techniques to become lucid in dreaming. When it comes to the cause of vivid dreams, there are quite a wide variety. These can vary from diet to emotional state to medication. As long as the cause of vivid dreams is not an adverse health condition, vivid dreams can be an extremely valuable tool for achieving lucid dream states and increased awareness in dreams.
One cause of vivid dreams is related to psychology and the situations you are experiencing in your life. People who are about to go through big life shifts, such as moving, marriage, pregnancy, or career changes are also more likely to experience vivid dreams. So, if you want to know the cause of dreams that seem unusually vivid, or a general increase in dreams, the first thing you should consider is any major life changes you may be going through.
Vivid dreams causes may also be dietary. Many individuals notice that eating spicy or fatty foods just before bed can lead to nightmares. Supplements may also be part of the cause – for example, individuals who are supplementing themselves with vitamin B6 often notice an increase in vivid dreams. There are many other nutritional causes of weird dreams, so definitely look to your diet if you are unsure why your dreams are so intense. Many people notice that if they eat pizza or Stilton cheese before bed, such foods can be what causes weird dreams for them! In fact, it is well known that the consumption of any pasteurised cheese close to sleep will cause strange dreams.
Low blood sugar can also be one of the causes of vivid dreams. When the nervous system senses low blood sugar levels, it produces adrenaline in order to balance out the body system. This adrenaline can lead to greater instances of vivid dreaming and you may also find yourself waking up often during the night. If this is the case, try eating a small, high protein snack just before bed – even a glass of nut milk can make a big difference!
Various herbal supplements and medication can also be a cause of extremely vivid dreams or an increase in dreams. For example, individuals who start taking anti-depressant medications will often notice an increase in vivid dreaming. Certain herbs, such as valerian root and chamomile, which are used to induce sleep, can also induce vivid dreams. And finally, there are, of course, a number of traditional herbs such as Calea zacatechichi which can be used to induce vivid dreaming states. If you want to know how to have more vivid dreams, herbs may be a great option for you! Vivid dream causes may be a result of a variety of supplements which people take either intentionally to figure out what causes lucid dreams, or to treat another symptom. Valerian root vivid dreams are very common, although many people who take valerian root do so to try to treat insomnia, not to do dream work. So if you want to know what causes vivid dreams, look to your medication and supplement regime and see if anything you are taking may be one of the causes of dreams that seem more than usually vivid or strange.
Finally, a very interesting cause of vivid dreaming is meditation and mind training. Meditation seems to help individuals to become more aware, and therefore more likely to realize that they are dreaming and to notice the details of their dream states. It has also been shown to make individuals more capable of remembering their dreams. Another factor which seems to increase vivid dreaming is mind training, or determining to have vivid dreams. Individuals who think about dreaming a lot and who tell themselves before going to sleep that they are going to have a vivid dream are in fact much more likely to do so! Therefore, if you are trying to teach yourself how to have vivid dreams, this may be one of the simplest and most effective ways to go about that.
If you are looking for the causes of dreaming vividly during your sleep cycles, or if you are looking to increase or decrease vivid dreaming, it is important to keep in mind that there are an incredible number of intricate factors involved. Furthermore, every individual’s brain chemistry is different, and so different individuals will experience vivid dreams based on different causes. If you try something and it does not induce vivid dreaming more regularly, don’t be concerned. Simply try another tool and see how that one works for you. Be patient! Working with your dreams is a lifelong practice that requires effort and consistency. However, if you put in the time, you are sure to not only discover the causes of your vivid dreams before long, but you will also begin to be able to learn what you need to from your dream experiences!
I can smell, eat, feel, see clearly, hear, walk, go to the bathroom, go though a whole day while I’m dreaming. I wake up I can do all these things again but in a different house. And ill lay on my couch and wake up in my dream house, in my dream I think on a different couch. Well that’s the problem. Which reality am I really living. I am writing right now. I know it’s real. But my other place, I have the same tablet and I still feel cold and I can still type and feel real. I lay down, close my eyes and I wake up to a different place. This is what happening to me. I fall asleep in random places all the time. I wake up in my dream , I think it’s my dream, I do things. Than I lay down in that dream and wake up in my other dream. I don’t know which one is real. I never told anyone because when I do, they don’t know what to do. I don’t even know what to do. All I know I am at two places. With the same people. Different stuff happens. It happens throughout the day. In both worlds, I have the same dad, sister, and husband but different house. I have ask my dad in both realities why we have two different houses since I was 3. So this been going on since I was 3 years old. I’m 25 now. I live in two different worlds but same people with the same attitudes and personality. I have the same job and same employees but both are different scenes. I can tell you about both worlds since I was a little girl. In detail!!!! I even shower in both realities or dreams. I live in two worlds and people don’t believe me i guess. I can lay down any where and I can fall aleep anywhere and wake up in a different place. I’m use to it now. Both houses I know very well. I can draw out to. I can tell you what I cook everyday and what happens in detail. Both are real to me. Is there anyone who goes though this?
Mandy. Sounds similiar to the plot of the movie “Passion of Mind” with Demi Moore.
Throughout the last few years, I’ve been having the most violent, vivid, realistic, and frightening dreams. I (apparently) talk a lot in my sleep, as well as cry. I’ve woken up crying before, which was obviously very alarming to my family. The dreams I have often involve very dark themes, and I believe I am lucid dreaming due to the very realistic fear, sounds, and often scents. I do not take any prescription medication, though I do often snack before i go to bed. Any advice or helpful hints? Thanks.
i been having very intense dreams, causing rude awakenings with my heart racing, and stessed. It usually causes my day to be unproductive, worn out, and tired. It seems to be more then normal, for the past 6 months . no major episode has happen , though I have many in life
I want to stop dreaming at all!! Need to relax my mind as i am having bad migraines due to irregular sleep. I am teacher and just today i felt i taught a whole 40 mins class in my dream. When i wake up, my head is always heavy and sometimes i need to remind myself that it was a dream. Need advice, thanks
Ive been having these weird nightmares very vivid nightmares of me waking up to the sound of the door alarm beep of someone opening a door at night. This would usually be my mom coming home from work, but my mom died very recently. I would then walk into my parents room and my mom would be there standing with her head looking at the floor. Then for some reason I always run at her with my eyes closed, I cannot remember the rest of the dream but I do know there is more to it because of the overwhelming sense of fear that I had. How do I stop having vivid dreams?
Hi Dun!
It sounds like your dreams are pretty stressful recently. I’m sorry to hear that!
To stop having vivid dreams, try drinking relaxing tea (like chamomile and passionflower) before bed, make sure you don’t eat at least four hours before going to sleep, and get lots of exercise during the day. These things all may help. Also, working with the pain surrounding your mother’s death during the day when you’re awake may assist you so that you won’t have to process the experience when you are asleep.
Happy Dreaming!
I thought chamomile caused vivid dreams??
Herbal (especially chamomile) teas seem to be what causes my vivd (and dark) dreams and a racing heart.
Vivid dreams can also be caused by certain pharmaceutical medications. For example, the antidepressant Zoloft produces dreams that are visually and emotionally vivid in some people.
Thanks for the info, Mark! 🙂
Good to know! My doc just upped my dosage and I’ve been having very vivid dreams this last week.
Stress could also being doing it too. My daughter has just come home from a week in the hospital, and I was with her the entire time (she’s 15 months old).
I also agree with the pizza thing. I had pizza before bed last night and had a rather vivd dream involving a group of people I knew who happened to have created a band, and then they were all thrown into a bottomless pit, and I woke up to me running for my life. And somehow a thrift store was incorporated into it too. o.O