Some medications dampen REM activity, dull your dreams, and interfere with dream recall. Others stimulate vivid dream activity, though not always in a good way. Through a couple of recent experiences, I've also discovered prescription meds can impede your lucid dreaming efforts.

Muscle Relaxers and Hyperdreaming

A few years ago, I hurt my lower back and was left with a chronic ache punctuated by frequent sharp, stabbing pains. After an MRI and weeks of physical therapy, the problem got worse instead of better. Acupuncture and massage therapy had no effect either. I couldn't sit or stand for more than twenty minutes without pain, and I couldn't find a position comfortable enough to sleep in.

My doctor prescribed Flexaril, a muscle relaxer that was supposed to dull the pain. I don't like taking medication of any kind, and I was resistant to the idea of taking a muscle relaxer but gave in because at that point the prospect of being without pain overrode any misgivings I had. The prescribed dosage was one 10mg tablet three times per day, but the doctor recommended starting with only half a tablet before bedtime so I could get a better idea of how the medication would affect me.

Half a tablet, only 5mg, makes you very sleepy but also has the entertaining effect of turning your muscles to lead and distorting your sense of balance and space. Your motor skills and muscle control are so dulled you can't walk down the hallway without listing sideways or swerving back and forth like a drunken sailor. A simple trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night becomes an adventure.

But that's only half the fun. The next day, you feel like a zombie. Your mind is foggy, your body is sluggish and your energy is sapped. This feeling usually wears off by late afternoon but by then you've already wasted an entire day. If this is what half a 10mg pill can do, I can't even imagine what effect the prescribed 30mg daily dosage would have.

In the end, Flexaril did absolutely nothing to dull the pain, but it did have a bizarre effect on my dreams.

Without the influence of medication, my dreams are nearly always vivid and I typically remember two or more dreams each night. That's the product of practicing many different dream techniques over the years. If I take just half a Flexaril tablet at bedtime, my dreams go crazy, and there's nothing fun about them. They become a frenzied rush of flickering images, a raging flood that goes on and on at top speed until my body and mind are utterly exhausted. I wake up with my jaw tightly clenched and my muscles aching even worse than they did before.

Lucid dreaming on Flexaril is impossible. You careen through your dreams so wildly there's no chance for a reality check, no chance to pause and look around, no chance to achieve even a modicum of lucidity. I've experienced this phenomenon only a few times before. I call it hyperdreaming because it feels like you're traveling at warp speed through the dream events. The dreams are vivid but everything moves so quickly you have almost no hope of remembering individual details, let alone becoming lucid.

Nightmares That Overwhelm Lucid Dreaming Efforts

In November I was given a single tablet in the lowest available dosage of another prescription medication, and I paid the price for weeks afterward. The worst of it occurred the night I took the medication. I experienced a non-stop stream of vivid nightmares, each one more violent than the last. It was horrifying and draining. I woke up several times throughout the night, shaking and aching all over, but slipped right back into another nightmare every time I fell back to sleep.

The most frustrating aspect was that each time I found myself in another nightmare, I was able to reach a state of lucidity but the lucidity did nothing to ease the horror of the dreams. I was aware that I was dreaming, but somehow that awareness didn't bring any sense of relief. Despite knowing I was dreaming and knowing the events weren't real, I was still terrified in each and every dream. This is not typical for me at all. Lucidity usually brings with it a sense of calm, an inner peace that radiates outward into the dream. No such luck this time.

I was unable to gain enough control to influence the dreams, so changing the course of the dream events wasn't an option. I eventually came to the conclusion the only thing I could do was ride it out until morning. I assumed by then it would be over with once and for all.

I was wrong. The nightmares went on for several weeks. Whether it was a residual effect of the medication or a placebo result triggered by the intensity of the first night's experience, I don't really know. It was a miserable time. I woke up every morning feeling as if I'd hardly slept at all. Most of my attempts at lucid dreaming were unsuccessful. And it was all thanks to one little pill.

What Does This Mean For You?

It's amazing how strongly even the smallest dosage of a medication can influence your dreams or interfere with lucidity. If you're a dream enthusiast or if you are learning how to become lucid in your dreams, be sure to ask your doctor what effect any medication might have on your sleep and dreams. I'm betting most doctors won't have any idea about potential side effects related to dreams, but it's worth asking just in case.

Instructions for using this track:

1. Do not listen to this audio track while driving.

2. Listening without headphones will provide light relaxation. Listening with headphones will give you access to the brainwave effects and will provide better relaxation.

3. Listen to it at a soft comfortable volume. Turning it up louder will not make the underlying brainwave technology more effective.

4. You don't have to listen with your eyes closed, but I recommend it. If you prefer to keep your eyes open while listening, the brainwave technology will be more effective if you listen in a quiet place where you're not likely to be distracted by noise or flashing lights.

Please feel free to share this MP3 file with friends, or point them to this page so they can download the most recent version.

Listen to a sample of the file:

[See post to listen to audio]

To download the file and save it to your computer:

1. Right-click on the link below.
2. Select "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" from the menu.

Here's the link: 10-Minute Light Relaxation (9.1MB)

If you enjoy this file, you might also like the Insight CD for deep relaxation or meditation.

I'm guilty of it myself. I like to think it's because we're all deep thinkers and need some time to ourselves to spend in quiet contemplation. In my case, the silence is partly because I've had an unusually long span of nightmares not worth writing about and partly because I've been working on content for a different project.

Last month, we added a new blog to my company's web site. We'll be posting articles, book reviews, relaxation and meditation techniques, and other new content a few times each week. Any articles related to personal growth and wellness that I would have posted here will now be posted to that blog instead.

The Reality Shifter blog will continue to focus on dreams and lucid dreaming, with occasional forays into the realms of consciousness and mysticism. Here is a taste of what's to come (listed in no particular order):

• Can a Computer Become Conscious?
• What Dreams Teach Us About Reality
• Feeling Physical Pain In Dreams
• Why You Should Stop Trying To Be An Early Riser
• Brain-in-a-dish Study Raises Questions About Consciousness
• Discovering the Hidden Meaning in Recurring Dreams
• The Most Common Dream Themes
• Can Prescription Meds Interfere With Your Dreams?
• Prophetic Dreams: Can Your Dreams Tell the Future?

Stay tuned for these articles and much more. The first of the new articles will appear on the site this week. If you'd like to receive it via email as soon as it appears online, please subscribe to receive email updates.

From what I can tell, NeuroSky's headset is not as complex as Emotiv's headset but they're working with a few other companies to incorporate accelerometer motion, eye-tracking and surround sound. NeuroSky's CEO, Stanley Yang, has mentioned other intriguing uses for the technology, such as controlling your cell-phone or MP3 player with your mind.

One big difference is that NeuroSky doesn't seem to have a software program that allows you to map game controls to headset detections, a feature already offered by Emotiv via their EmoKey software. I believe the mapping feature is going to set Emotiv's EPOC headset apart from the others because it means their headset can be used immediately with any existing PC games.

Without that feature, users will be forced to wait for video game companies to develop games specifically for use with these headsets. It could take years for any of the game companies to get on board, and who wants to wait that long for game designers to develop games specifically for NeuroSky's headset when instead they can get Emotiv's headset and use it right away with games they already own?

I should clarify that I'm not 100% positive NeuroSky doesn't have a similar mapping program in the works. I've read every page of their web site but it's not entirely clear whether they've already developed a similar program. If I'm correctly interpreting their information, they're expecting video game companies to design games that can use the headset's signals, instead of providing a software program that can translate the headset's signals into data that will work with any existing video game. They're also hosting a Developers' Challenge — a contest for developers to design games that work with their headset — which also indicates they don't already have a program that allows the headset to function with existing games.

One other significant difference between the two headsets is the number of electrodes used to detect brain activity. NeuroSky's Mindset headset has one electrode. I counted a total of fourteen sensors on Emotiv's EPOC headset, most of which appear to be electrodes and a few that might be motion sensors instead.

NeuroSky has some interesting videos on their web site to demonstrate how the Mindset works. There is also a video on the TG Daily site where you can watch some of their editors try the Mindset with a neat little demo game. It's not Halo or Final Fantasy, but it's still pretty cool.

There is also a video on the PC World site featuring both neuroheadsets being demonstrated at the Game Developers Conference in 2007. Just keep in mind the headsets worn in the video were test models and in the past year both companies have designed consumer versions that look much more stylish and sleek.

Emotiv has also created software that allows you to map any keystroke pattern to a specific thought or emotion detection in the neuroheadset, meaning the EPOC can be used to control any PC game. Have you ever wanted to cast a spell, hit a homerun, or blast your alien enemies just by thinking about it? The technology to make it happen has finally arrived.

In a recent BBC News segment, Emotiv president Tan Le announced plans to release the EPOC later this year, just in time for the holiday season. If the headset works as well as they claim, it could forever change the gaming industry, and I'm sure it won't be long before other industries find innovative ways to make use of the product too.

Did I mention how much I can't wait to give this gadget a try?

This technique won't just help you sleep better. It also will reduce stress and will teach you how to view events in your life from a different and more productive perspective. The method is simple but the effect it can have on your outlook on life is quite profound.

There are two parts to this technique. The first part is easy. The second part is where you'll take things to a whole new level. It might be more difficult in practice than the first part but I can promise you it gets easier every day and it's the area where you'll reap the most reward.

Step 1

As you lie in bed at night before drifting off to sleep, think of something you're thankful for. It doesn't have to be something huge. Even the little things count. Being thankful for the comfortable bed you're about to fall asleep in is a good place to start.

Once you've come up with one thing you're thankful for, use that as a foundation and branch out to other things you're thankful for. If you're thankful for the bed you're lying in, you can extend that feeling into gratitude for your home or gratitude for the electricity that keeps so many things in your home running from day to day or gratitude that you live in a safe neighborhood or gratitude for your spouse/partner lying next to you in bed. As you can see, the possibilities are endless.

Keep branching out that gratitude to touch upon other things in your life. Your job, your family, your health, your freedom — all of these areas provide a wealth of things to be thankful for, and I'm sure you can come up with dozens of other aspects of your life to be thankful for.

Spend a few minutes thinking about all these things and letting that feeling of gratitude wash over you. Let it really soak in.

When you first use this method, you'll probably be practicing it not for the gratitude itself but for the other benefits I mentioned earlier in this article — the improved sleep, reduced stress, and more meaningful, vivid dreams — but after a few days you'll realize you're practicing it for the sake of the gratitude itself, not just for the extra perks that come with it. Pay attention to that subtle change in your approach. It's a good sign.

Step 2

You've spent a few minutes thinking of all the great things in your life, all the things that bring joy and prosperity and make you happy. You've probably built up a nice surplus of good cheer. You might even be thinking, "Wow, I really do have a lot to be thankful for."

This is where things get tricky.

Now it's time to think of something that makes you unhappy, something that frustrates you or annoys you or just plain makes you feel bad.

Maybe your boss is piling more work on top of your already overwhelming workload, or you've had an argument with your spouse, or your child is failing math, or someone rear-ended your new car. As before, it doesn't have to be something huge. Little things count as much as big things. Just as I'm sure you could find plenty in your life to be thankful for, I'm guessing you won't have too much trouble coming up with one thing that's frustrating you or causing concern.

Have you come up with something yet? Good. You're ready to tackle Step 2.

Think of that one thing that's frustrating you or worrying you or making you miserable. Now find a reason to be thankful for it.

You're probably wondering how — or why — you're supposed to be thankful for something that's obviously an unpleasant part of your life. Let's start with how to do it and then we'll move on to why it's definitely worth doing.

How do you express gratitude for the bad things in life? You need to start by reframing the situation, by viewing the problem from other angles and determining how you benefit from it. Sometimes it's quite easy to reframe a bad situation, while other times it's more difficult to take a step backward and view it in a new light. You might have to ponder all the details for a while but in time you'll come up with something.

Here are a few examples to give you an idea of how you might reframe a bad situation:

1. If you've had an argument with your spouse or significant other, you're probably having a tough time trying to find anything good about that situation. After all, it's much nicer when we all get along. But try to look at the situation differently, explore it, probe it, and discover what it can do for you. If you've had an argument, be thankful you've been given an opportunity to learn patience. Be grateful for the chance to work together to find a solution and build a foundation for a stronger relationship.

2. If your child isn't doing well in school, it's clearly a troubling dilemma and it's difficult to see anything positive in it. How about being thankful that circumstances have given you an undeniably solid reason to spend extra time with your child each night, even if that time is spent helping him or her with schoolwork? Or, if that's still pushing the limit a bit too far this early in the game, how about just being grateful your child is growing up in a country where education is available to all children?

3. If your boss is piling on the work, reframe it as a challenge rather than a struggle. View it as an opportunity to test your own skills, to push yourself to excel. Be grateful for the opportunity to challenge yourself. If you need to break the situation down into a more practical form, be grateful for the job and the steady paycheck.

The goal is not to attempt a Pollyanna approach of denying that bad things happen or of refusing to think about the bad things that have happened in your life. That approach doesn't really accomplish much. Bad things happen. They're part of life, and if you refuse to think about any of the bad things that have happened in your life, you'll fail to learn the lessons those struggles could teach you. If, instead, you view those events from another perspective and reframe the situations in a different light, you can uncover the lessons buried in them and grow stronger, mentally and emotionally.

If you spend a few minutes at bedtime each night thinking about things from the perspective of gratitude, you'll sleep better and you'll feel less stressed but you'll also eventually notice a shift in how you think about things throughout the rest of the day as well.

The more gratitude you express each night and the more experience you have in reframing your view of unpleasant situations, the more things that once caused you frustration and stress will start seeming less frustrating and less stressful. You won't eliminate the cause of the stress but you'll significantly limit the effect it has on you. This technique produces a cumulative effect. The more gratitude you express, the less stress you feel. The less stress you feel, the more gratitude you'll feel. It builds on itself and the benefits reach into every corner of your life. The investment of just a few minutes each night is well worth it.

These two tricks take very little time, can be done while lying in bed before falling asleep, and will work for just about everyone.

If you are already able to remember most of your dreams, or are at least able on most mornings to remember the last dream you had before waking up, you'll probably notice an almost immediate benefit in the form of more interesting and meaningful dreams. If you aren't yet able to remember your dreams, it might take longer for you to notice a difference in your dreams but in the meantime you'll probably notice a slight improvement in your dream recall. Regardless of whether or not you remember your dreams, the quality of your sleep will improve.

Technique #1 — The Daily Rewind

I very briefly touched on the concept of a Daily Rewind in a previous article titled How to Analyze Your Dreams More Effectively, but I'll go into it in more detail here and will provide some tips and suggestions to help you make the most of this technique.

A Daily Rewind is a swift and painless way to clear all the clutter out of your mind in preparation for sleep and dreaming. All that is involved in the technique is a quick mental replay of the events of your day. You can do this in one of three ways:

1. Start at the beginning of your day and mentally replay the events of the day until you reach the end.

2. Start at the end of your day and mentally replay the events backward until you reach the beginning of your day. You don't have to imagine everything moving backwards as if you're rewinding a video. Just start with the last event before bedtime and review it, then proceed to the event prior to that one and review it, and so forth.

3. Write about the events of the day in a journal.

As you mentally replay the day's events, you don't need to recall every little detail or replay every action or every conversation in a minute-by-minute recount of the day. Replay each event calmly and objectively and then move on to the next event. The entire process should take only a few minutes.

Also keep in mind the point is not to get caught up in regret about how the day went but instead to simply acknowledge each event that occurred throughout the day and release it. Don't get stuck replaying a situation over and over in your mind and thinking of all the things you could have done differently. As you replay your day, let go of any mental attachment, anxiety, or concern about the events. The goal is to perform a quick review of your day so you don't spend the night tossing and turning, dwelling on the "should haves" and "could haves". If you clear out the mental debris now, you'll sleep deeply and peacefully and your dreaming mind will be free to explore other things rather than rehashing trivial everyday events in symbolic form.

Use this time to relax your body as well. As you mentally replay the day, check your body for any tension associated with the memory of the events. Consciously release the tension and relax.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2 of this article, which will describe the second technique for improving your sleep and your dreams.

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. I'll be giving away other prizes in the coming months so stay tuned for more contests.

These companies attempt to lull prospective customers into a false sense of security by littering their marketing copy with catchy phrases that sound high-tech or scientific, despite their so-called science being nothing more than made-up nonsense. You've all heard the buzzwords before. (Can anyone say "quantum"?) They fill their advertisements and web sites with pseudoscience and hope consumers will be hypnotized by the apparent magic of it all.

Yesterday someone sent me a link to a personal development web site so I could check out a video featured on the site's home page. In the video, the host explains how her company's system can release your subconscious fears and transform your life by "tapping into the quantum field", and their method is supposedly an effective cure for all your problems because "every single perception you've ever experienced is stored as images in the water molecules in the microtubules of your brain" and "those images are projecting onto the quantum field and reflecting back at you."

I'm sure neuroscientists around the world would cringe upon reading such claims. Quantum physicists probably would cringe right along with them.

Did you notice how in just a few brief sentences she managed to incorporate enough buzzwords to sway many viewers into believing her method is based in real science? Quantum fields, molecules, microtubules, she's got it all covered. In the end, what she's actually selling is nothing more than a guided visualization technique.

Another company — this time selling brainwave entrainment MP3 files — describes their products as featuring "the sophisticated new technology of isochronic tones" to stimulate the brain. The word "isochronic" sounds very high-tech, doesn't it? Unfortunately for them, and for anyone duped into buying their products, there is nothing new or sophisticated about isochronic tones. An isochronic tone is simply a pulsing tone in which the length of the tone and the length of the silence between each tone remain steady or repeat in a specific pattern. The same effect can be achieved with a drum or other instrument, and the method has been used in drumming sessions for many years (and likely for many centuries). High-tech, indeed.

The founder of the above mentioned company also claims to be a "Certified Brainwave Entrainment Specialist" and even includes a handy little photo of his certificate on his web site. What's the problem with his claim? There's no college, university, or regulating agency that certifies anyone as a "Brainwave Entrainment Specialist". It's a title he made up and bestowed upon himself.

Yet another company claims to be able to tune up your biofield through the use of "non-Hertzian frequencies" (conveniently deployed in the form of tiny pieces of metal jewelry selling for two to three hundred dollars each). For those unfamiliar with the term, a Hertz is the basic unit of measurement for frequency, just like a degree is the basic unit of measurement for temperature. Therefore, if you have a frequency, it can be measured in Hertz. If it can't be measured in Hertz, it's not a frequency, it's something else. To say you have a "non-Hertzian frequency" is akin to saying you have a "non-degree temperature". It's pure nonsense.

I have no problem with companies selling guided visualization techniques or personal development programs. There are some very good products out there and I even endorse a few of them. I work in this industry and have great respect for people and companies who devote their time and resources to researching the human potential. I simply don't like it when dishonest companies make a deliberate effort to bury the reality of their product in nonsensical jargon in the hopes of convincing people the product is based on some new untapped field of science. These companies aren't on the cutting edge of science. They're on the cutting edge of marketing.

That is one of the worst aspects of the situation because, while they take advantage of unsuspecting consumers and that in itself is bad enough, they also make things far more difficult for companies selling effective products that are based on legitimate scientific research. The unconscionable behavior of these companies taints the marketplace and gives the entire industry a negative reputation, making it much harder for those of us who develop legitimate products to be taken seriously.

Next time you come across a personal development product and feel tempted to buy it, stop and ask yourself whether or not your desire to purchase it is based on the legitimate research presented by the company or instead is driven by persuasive marketing copy with a bit of pseudoscience worked in.

Be an educated consumer. Do your research first and make sure the company is reputable and their product has enough real science to back it up. A few minutes of research up front can save you plenty of money, not to mention the time and effort you would've wasted on using an ineffective product in the hopes of attaining the promised results.