11 Surprising Health Benefits Of Sleep [Infographic]
I recently found this infographic on health benefits of sleep and I thought you might like it as well. 🙂 Shared from Supplement Mart
Author Archive: Saso
Dream eXplorer is looking for sponsors!
I’ve spent the better part of the past two years developing Dream eXplorer as it exists today, but I’ve done so with very limited funding and in my spare time. I’ve decided that it’s time to focus my energy into…
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Dreaming with Supplements – Galantamine
The effects of Galantamine and Galantamine-based supplements on my lucid dreaming attempts
Galantamine is considered THE most effective supplement for lucid dreaming. A lot is already written on what’s, why’s and how’s so I won’t get into details here (for anyone interested, there is a great article on the subject by Ryan Hurd on DreamStudies: http://tinyurl.com/7cshkxu) and I’ll just focus on my personal experiences.
I first came across with this supplement back in 2006 when I got my hands on Thomas Yuschak’s “Advanced Lucid Dreaming – The Power of Supplements” (2006, Lulu Enterprises). Since I was a newbie in lucid dreaming back then and I was facing all the obstacles beginners usually face (lousy dream recall which led to no success with achieving lucid dreams which led to lack of motivation; lack of discipline was probably also one of the major obstacles), I was looking for a “quick fix” and Galantamine seemed to be just that. I found a guy who was also interested in experimenting with supplements, we placed an order and not long after that I was able to make my first supplement-supported lucid dreaming attempt.
How it all began
As a child I often suffered from nightmares, as do many other kids. My parents disregarded those experiences as something “not real” and thus not worth being bothered by. I’ve developed a way of dealing with them by myself and as I gradually adopted their point of view, years began to pass.
When I was around the age of fifteen, a memory arose in my mind of somewhat nightmarish childhood dream:
I’m running down the hill in the village I live at as a huge German shepherd is chasing me. My heart is pounding so hard I think it would explode; I know that if it caught me, I was done for. Thinking only about a way to escape the fearsome beast and saving my life, I‘m not paying attention to where I‘m going and I trip over a stone lying on the ground. I start falling head first but instead of hitting the ground something unusual happens – I stop in mid-air approximately 30 centimeters above the ground. I think the time had stopped; I’m floating like a bubble parallel with the ground for some time, then start gaining speed as I begin to move (fly) downhill. All of a sudden there is no more feeling of dread I felt moments before when the ferocious dog was chasing me; instead, there is this amazing feeling of being able to do whatever I want. Soon after I wake up in my bed and the dream is gone, leaving only a strange sensation in me that gradually fades away.
I don’t know why but I started to think about it again, though it was a long time since I’ve dreamt it in the first place. I wondered if I could “recreate” it, maybe even to dream it again and to my surprise the dream repeated itself to the minor detail the following night. Even though I was amazed at what had happened, the event soon sank into my subconscious and years have passed before I recalled this experience again.
Dreaming with Supplements
There was a question asked in one of the Facebook groups I participate in if there is a herb that enhances lucid dreams and AP. I don’t know about AP, but there are plenty of plants that enhance (lucid) dreaming and which I have tried out myself:
– Calea zacatechichi (also called ‘dream herb’) – should be used as tea or rolled up and smoked before bedtime and is supposed to increase dream vividness and the possibility of becoming aware within a dream (for some people). It’s extremely bitter which is why I find it extremely difficult to digest, besides that it never worked for me either as tea or rolled and smoked. I experimented with it a little and tried filling the herb into capsules and taking around 1 g per try (4x 250 mg per capsule) before going to bed which showed to be a completely different story – I became aware within a dream each time I took it this way. But I only took it like that a couple of times so it’s hard to say whether it’s actually because of the plant or merely a placebo. I also made calea tincture, but I didn’t try that one out yet.