14 Tips for Getting...

14 Tips for Getting Rid of Nightmares

By Ryan Hurd

how to stop having nightmares e1283456721438 14 Tips for Getting Rid of Nightmares

Sometimes the only dreams we remember are the ones we wish we could forget. Nightmares can be instructive, and most psychologists believe that they are a healthy part of life. But if you are plagued by repetitive nightmares and are losing sleep, sometimes changing your daily habits can reduce nightmare frequency. In general, nightmares can be caused by insufficient sleep, poor exercise and diet, and stress.  The tips below all are aimed at cultivating a healthier sleep and dream life, drawn from my ebook Enhance Your Dreamlife.

1. Don’t go to sleep angry or stressed out. Give yourself time to cool down.

How to Have More...

How to Have More Lucid Dreams: Through Lucid Living

By Ryan Hurd

have more lucid dreams 600x400 How to Have More Lucid Dreams: Through Lucid Living

Movies like Inception and Avatar have made lucid dreaming a household word. The buzz around the idea that we can wake up in our dreams ripples outwards, rocking our collective boat as more us realize that the world as we know it is malleable and magical.

But lucid dreaming can be difficult to learn. Some people are more inclined to lucid dream than others. For everyone, though, it can be frustrating to try to have more lucid dreams, especially if you’ve spent money on products like herbal supplements or technological assists and are not seeing improvements.

The Journey East

The Journey East

By Ryan Hurd

River dreams e1281589470537 The Journey East

A few nights ago, I dreamed of a house floating down a river. I ran up a hill to a bridge to see if I could jump on. On the way up, I noticed I was barefoot and my feet had great traction on the loose soils of the path.  I missed the boat. But then I saw that someone had left a dagger for me. I picked it up and appreciated its solid feel.

No doubt about it, my dreaming self has finally noticed I am about to leave California. My house is on the move and I’m bucking up for the journey. In less than a week, my wife and I will begin the 3400 mile adventure to the east coast. Destination: Philadelphia.  It’s a move back to our roots, closer to old friends and family.

Book Review: Dark...

Book Review: Dark Intrusions by Louis Proud

By Ryan Hurd

dark intrusions louis proud sleep paralysis1 e1279932747604 Book Review: Dark Intrusions by Louis Proud

Dark Intrusions by Louis Proud is a much needed investigation into the paranormal aspects of sleep paralysis visions. Proud digs deep and views SP within the philosophical and literary traditions of spiritualism, mediumship, ghost hauntings and channeling. Hands down, it’s pretty much the spookiest book I’ve read this year.

Proud is a sleep paralysis experiencer himself, so his narrative is grounded in his first-hand knowledge of what it feels like to be held down while you sleep by various unsavory entities. This is the classic sleep paralysis encounter, recounted by millions around the world in many cultures as the old hag, the incubus effect, and being ridden by the witch. Proud uses his experience as a touchstone as he reviews the connecting threads of SP with the fortean literature.

Dream & Sleep Research

The sleep aid industry has a powerful grip on the world, but even the most effective prescription drugs have their downsides: side-effects, limited access and prohibitive costs.  That’s why countless people turn to herbs, which have been tested for hundreds of years by herbalists and naturopaths –versus the standard 6 months of testing for the [...]
The neuroscience of dreaming is a relatively new enterprise but has quickly become the major paradigm of experimental dream research today.  J. Allan Hobson, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at Harvard University, is the undisputed celebrity of this scientific outlook, and the author of several popular books on the topic.  Hobson, in his 30 years of [...]
Any survey of modern dream research must include Calvin Hall (1909-1985).  Hall was a behavioral psychologist who explored the cognitive dimensions of dreaming.  His work began before the discovery of REM sleep, so little was known about the biology of sleep and dreams.  Hall drew worldwide attention for his cognitive theory of dreaming, which was [...]
Except for Dr Freud, no one has influenced modern dream studies more than Carl Jung.

Dreams & Media

Dark Intrusions by Louis Proud is a much needed investigation into the paranormal aspects of sleep paralysis visions. Proud digs deep and views SP within the philosophical and literary traditions of spiritualism, mediumship, ghost hauntings and channeling. Hands down, it’s pretty much the spookiest book I’ve read this year. Proud is a sleep paralysis experiencer himself, [...]
Inception came out over the weekend and I was not disappointed. The movie felt like a dizzy sci-fi lucid dream and I stumbled out of the theater afterward like I has just crawled out of a hall of mirrors. Don’t worry, there’s no big spoilers in this review. I have already covered the actual possibilities of [...]
I’m usually not so wrapped up in the release of summer blockbuster movies, but I have to admit I’m enthused for Inception, Chris Nolan’s latest film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. And I want to share my joy for being interviewed by Empire Magazine on the topic of how endangered we really are by dream-hacking super spies. I [...]
I’ve been following the movie Inception, due out in theaters this summer. The movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, involves a pseudo-government dream research team who can access people’s dreams, and perhaps construct their reality too a la the Matrix. About two weeks ago,  a video showed up on youtube, showing a rough 6 minute cut of [...]

Working With Dreams

Sometimes the only dreams we remember are the ones we wish we could forget. Nightmares can be instructive, and most psychologists believe that they are a healthy part of life. But if you are plagued by repetitive nightmares and are losing sleep, sometimes changing your daily habits can reduce nightmare frequency. In general, nightmares can [...]
Movies like Inception and Avatar have made lucid dreaming a household word. The buzz around the idea that we can wake up in our dreams ripples outwards, rocking our collective boat as more us realize that the world as we know it is malleable and magical. But lucid dreaming can be difficult to learn. Some people [...]
This piece about sexual spirit encounters and ghost rape is adapted from chapter 6 of my ebook Sleep paralysis: a dreamer’s guide. The historic fears of succubi and incubi must be reconsidered in light of contemporary psychology.  As the medical community disregarded the narratives of sleep paralysis until David Hufford’s ground-breaking work in the 1970s, we [...]
Since I was a child, I have had conscious dream experiences that take place in immense, spacious realms devoid of light or objects.  Sometimes these spaces are truly voids and my own dream body does not exist.  Other times, these spaces become filled up with abstract geometric patterns, or multi-colored buzzing particles that resembles the [...]
False awakenings are dreams that seem like waking life… until you get out of bed and fall down a bottomless chasm. True story. False awakenings can be frustrating, terrifying, and may even begin to impact your daily life, especially when they occur 5 or more times in a row.

Consciousness & Health

A friend recently wrote in an email; “I’m coming to realize that this transformational path I’m on isn’t exactly productive. I don’t know what it is but productive it’s not.” Her comments, coupled with my own experiences of times when I am not accomplishing as much as I would like, caused me to reflect on [...]
Listening to Carrie Fisher’s encapsulated biography, “Wishful Drinking” on audiobook recently, I thought about how the Baby Boomers, and their Greatest Generation parents, had no choices when it came to depression, mental illness, homosexuality, or pain and grief.
I received this gracious email a few days ago: Hi Ryan, Here is a quote I read from your bio: “Principally, I am interested in pursuing a more radical materialism for both the sciences and the arts.” Would you say more about what you mean by this? I’ve studied material religion & theology, but [...]
I”ve been spending a lot of time recently listening to the podcast interviews from Skeptiko. Run by Alex Tsakiris, this site is a breath of fresh air for anomalous psychology and psi research. Neither a believer nor a materialist skeptic himself, Tsakiris walks a fine line as he interviews his guests about their research. [...]
Fiscal conservatives in the US aren’t happy, but around the world there is a sense of hope, promise, and a fresh start for American leadership. As Oprah was quoted as saying to CNN News in Chicago, IL last night: “We”ve just experienced a profound shift in our consciousness.”