5 Most Effective Herbs for Sleep and Relaxation
July 13, 2010 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under 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 average pharmaceutical.
Folk medicine was suppressed in Europe thanks to the cultural forces from Rome, and many herbalists were burned at the stake for their uncanny knowledge of the natural world. Much of this suppression was due to women herbalists’ promotion of safe and effective birth control through the use of herbs, as well as their wisdom in procuring altered states of consciousness for healing and shamanic information retrieval. Western culture sent these healing methods underground and repressed all kinds of herbal knowledge along with it.
Allan Hobson and the Neuroscience of Dreams
January 7, 2010 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under Theories of Dreaming
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 tireless work, is also perhaps the greatest provocateur in the field of dream studies, stirring up old philosophical conflicts such as the value of objective science over experience, and mechanism over meaning.
Calvin Hall and the Cognitive Theory of Dreaming
December 3, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under Theories of Dreaming
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 among the first scientific theories of dream interpretation based on quantitative analysis… rather than wishful thinking.
The Dream Theories of Carl Jung
November 25, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under Theories of Dreaming
Except for Dr Freud, no one has influenced modern dream studies more than Carl Jung.
Contemporary Dream Theories Starting with Freud
November 19, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under Theories of Dreaming
I’ve been brewing this post series for a long time. Many readers have asked me to review the influential theories of dream formation that are still at work today. Unfortunately, in our Western culture, where dreaming has long been considered insignificant, advances have been slow due to a lack of funded research. And no one has yet offered a holistic theory of dreaming that accounts for how dreams form in the brain, what they mean, and why human cultures around the world draw significance from them. Instead, we have many competing theories, all of which look at different aspects of the dreaming world.
Lucid Dreaming: a Hybrid of REM and Waking Cognition
September 18, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Where does lucidity comes from? Image by ocean.flynn
A study accepted in the journal Sleep last month (but not yet published) claims that lucid dreaming should be not be considered a REM dreaming phenomenon but rather a unique state of consciousness (Voss, et al., 2009). Poetically, the assertion that lucid dreaming has elements of waking consciousness and dreaming has been made for years. But this study, conducted at the Neurological Laboratory in Frankfurt, Germany, backs the assertion with physiological data taken with an EEG.
The Link Between Depression and Dreams
September 15, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under Dream & Sleep Research
Image by Eddi 07
Sleep plays a major role in mood regulation; that’s a truism that is behind every mother’s call for “time to go to bed!” But while the links between dreams and depression are well documented, the role of dreams in maintaining mental health is still one of the most confusing components in the function of sleep.
PsiberDreaming Conference Coming up!
September 8, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
There’s less than 2 weeks until the premiere Dreaming event on the web. I’m talking about the 2009 PsiberDreaming conference: a two week online conference that features over two dozen presentations from leaders in the fields of dream research and consciousness studies.
Keep in mind, this is not a boring academic conference, but an open forum for everyone who is interested in the strange and amazing possibilities of dreaming.
Managing Cancer Pain with Healing Dreams
July 20, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Often the claim is made that dreams are healing. Usually, dream workers are talking about psychological healing, or the knack for dreams to highlight the areas in our lives that need attention, courage and renewal.
Are Dreams the Original Psychedelic?
July 7, 2009 by Lee Adams
Filed under Theories of Dreaming
I have spent the last 6 years of my free time from my normal job researching the similarities between dreams and psychedelic hallucinations. Many people from the psychedelic community would disagree, claiming that their experiences are unique.
Not surprisingly, the lucid dreaming community or even normal sleeper may claim either that their dreams are unique or that “I don’t do drugs!”
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