2008 July | dream studies portal

Meditating Slows Down HIV Virus

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 30, 2008 | No Comments

In case you missed it, Science Daily reports that mindfulness meditation slows immune degradation in AIDS patients by lowering stress.
“Mindfulness meditation is the practice of bringing an open and receptive awareness of the present moment to experiences, avoiding thinking of the past or worrying about the future. It is thought to reduce stress and improve [...]

Filed Under: Consciousness & Health

Techno-Intermission

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 25, 2008 | 1 Comment

Wow, I just upgraded my blog and it was completely painless thanks to Keith Dsouza’s plug-in that automotically does all the techno-gobbly-goop that makes me want to give up and take a nap. Highly recommended if you use the wordpress platform for blogging.

Tags:random

Filed Under: Hearsay

The Logos of Dreaming

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 23, 2008 | 3 Comments

What is the logic behind dreams? Is dreaming only a pale imitation of our waking abilities, as some say, or does it represent an entirely different ability? This question has forever shadowed the scientific exploration of dreams.
The question can be summed up as: is dreaming a failure of cognition, a breakdown of logic, [...]

Filed Under: Theories of Dreaming

Head Shrinking and the Power of Dreaming

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 21, 2008 | 4 Comments

To start off my review of this year’s International Dreams conference in Montreal, here’s a fun factoid: head shrinking in the Amazon is alive and well.
Know to the West since the 1940s, head shrinking is an important ritual for the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin (the Jivaro clans, especially the Shuar). The vengeful [...]

Filed Under: Lucid Dreaming

Does the Full Moon Effect your Dreams?

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 16, 2008 | 48 Comments

Tomorrow is the full moon, depending on your ancestral tradition it is known as the Buck Moon, Thunder Moon or the Hay Moon. In all traditions, it’s gonna be big and round. But more pertinently, will this rising stone of Artemis effect your dreams?
Studies on this subject are hard to find, but [...]

Tags:Dream Interpretation, moon effect

Filed Under: Eco-Dreaming

Dreaming but Not Sleeping

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 11, 2008 | 2 Comments

The International dreams conference is now half over. I”m sitting in the lobby of the hotel tapping this out before I collapse on my bed. Yes it’s true, you get no sleep at academic conferences, even ones about dreaming. It’s the best kind of exhaustion, though: I can really feel my mind [...]

Tags:dreams conference

Filed Under: Dream & Sleep Research