Advanced Software for Recording and Analyzing Dreams
Blog about random thoughts on dreams, dreaming, techniques, and anything (un)related.
I recently found this infographic on health benefits of sleep and I thought you might like it as well. 🙂 Shared from Supplement Mart
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.
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.
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.