Understanding the impact of stress and trauma on different stages of sleep is crucial for improving sleep quality.
Non-sleep deep rest practices like yoga nidra can activate the parasympathetic nervous system and promote restful sleep.
Lucid dreaming offers a powerful tool for transforming nightmares, reducing PTSD, and accessing the unconscious mind.
Deep dives
Sleep awareness and normalization
The podcast episode discusses the importance of sleep awareness and normalizing sleep experiences. It emphasizes the need to understand one's own sleep patterns and how stress and trauma can affect different stages of sleep.
Deep rest and relaxation
The episode highlights the significance of deep rest and relaxation for improving sleep. The practice of non-sleep deep rest, similar to yoga nidra, is recommended to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and promote restful sleep.
Transformation of nightmares
The podcast explores the role of lucid dreaming in transforming nightmares and reducing PTSD. Lucid dreaming provides an opportunity to face and heal from recurring nightmares, offering a powerful deconditioning effect on the brain.
Lucid dreaming for trauma integration
Lucid dreaming is presented as a powerful tool to integrate trauma. It offers hope and empowerment to individuals with PTSD and has been found to reduce PTSD scores even without achieving lucidity. Lucid dreaming is also beneficial for creativity and accessing the unconscious mind.
Exploring the spiritual aspects of lucid dreaming
The episode touches on the spiritual aspects of lucid dreaming, noting its roots in Tibetan Buddhism and the potential to connect with the infinite self or higher power. It highlights the profound spiritual benefits and the ability to access wisdom beyond the limits of the egoic mind.
Today’s episode is an energetic dive into the healing potential of the nighttime mind with Charlie Morley. Charlie is the author of several much-loved books on lucid dreaming, including his newest: Wake Up to Sleep: 5 Practices to Transform Trauma and Stress for Peaceful Sleep.
Charlie guides us in two practices: a powerful protection practice inspired by the Bön tradition of Dream Yoga, and a simple Yoga Nidra practice, meant to help reset the nervous system. Both help create a safe and supporting space for overcoming insomnia and getting a good night’s rest. We also explore what he’s learned about supporting veterans – and regular folks – with PTSD, how to renegotiate our nightmares, and the role lucid dreaming can play in all of this.
These are fascinating practices; we had an animated and wide-ranging discussion.
To go straight to Charlie’s 7 minute sleep protection practice, it starts at 21:30 and ends at 28:20.
