If only we all could control our subconscious mind and tell it not to give us nightmares! It can be so frustrating waking up in the middle of the night to crazy nightmares and feeling frightened as hell. Nightmares can be really haunting and keep us from sleeping which is not healthy for the body or the soul.
According to experts, nightmares are usually deeply etched in our day to day reality and get triggered because of the events in our lives that are uncomfortable or troubling. This means that if we are struggling with nightmares, the possible solution to get rid of them would be to make some changes in our environment and daily routine. The key is to handle the troubling situations positively and practically – to not keep issues inside for long and linger around, adding negative thoughts and feelings, but to talk it out in confrontation and letting go.
While this habit of bottling up is not healthy and can add to the fright of nightmares, there are some nightmares that you really don’t know the connection to and wonder why you get them because you don’t have any unresolved issues that you can think of.
Here are some pretty traditional ways to keep nightmares and bad dreams at bay and get some good sleep at night –
- Do not watch anything scary before going to bed
More often than not, a lot of our nightmares stem from the scary things we watch on television. The graphics get etched onto the brain and then work their way into dreams while sleeping. Your subconscious can feel unsettled because of the disturbing things you see, read or hear.
- Take a nice warm bath
A warm bath right before sleeping will help you relax and get into a peaceful state of mind, followed by a good night’s rest. This is said to keep bad dreams or nightmares away as your peaceful state of mind can have an effect on your dreams and give you good ones!
- Drink a glass of warm milk
You would probably hear your grandma say that this wards off bad dreams, but it also has a biological explanation. Drinking a glass of warm milk before sleeping helps in digestion and can give you a good sleep, thus keeping nightmares away. Milk makes sure that your appetite is happy before bed and give you good rest for the night.
- Try not to have sugar or eat anything right before bed
Sugar intake right before bed is not advisable as it makes it harder to fall deeper into sleep and this way can surface bad dreams because you feel uncomfortable trying to fall asleep. Similarly, it is advised to stop eating any kind of food at least half an hour before getting to bed. This is important so that the stomach gets enough time for digestion and you get good sleep.
- Maintaining a journal
Writing about your day and penning down your thoughts and feelings is a good way to process the day and all the emotions attached to it and thus give you peaceful sleep without the troubling unsettlement you would feel otherwise.
