Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Dream on!

By Dr. Matthew Edlund for Oral Care And Health Daily

Have you seen the movie Inception? I thought it was cool because it got people to talk about one of my favourite subjects: dreaming. The average person spends six years in dreamland. And besides giving you some good fantasies and conversation topics, dreams have another extremely important purpose: improving brain health by helping the brain consolidate memories.

When you dream, which usually takes place during a phase of sleep called REM (rapid eye movement), the brain gets a chance to go over what happened during the day and make connections to previous activities. I like to think of it as brain rewiring. We usually go in and out of REM sleep for approximately 90-minute cycles, with the amount of time we spend in REM increasing through the night. The last REM period lasts about an hour. It’s ideal to spend about 20 to 25 percent of your sleep in the REM phase.

Here are my tips to maximise your time in dreamland:

• Sweat It out. To make sure you’re getting enough dream time, don’t slack off on your exercise routine. Working out for 20 to 30 minutes each day helps you grow new cells in areas of the brain responsible for memory. It also helps increase blood flow to your noggin so you can get more REM sleep. If you missed your workout, take a hot bath before bed. Sweating a little before bed is likely to give you more REM sleep that night.
• Write It Down. Since dreams tend to leave your mind the second you put your feet on the ground, I like to keep a pen and notebook next to my bed to write down what I remember, just for fun.
• Get up Earlier. Another trick I use: Every once in a while, I’ll set my alarm to wake me up five minutes earlier than usual. Since one of the greatest periods of REM sleep tends to happen close to the time you usually get up, you might catch a dream that has just ended -- and you’ll be more likely to remember it.

Wishing you sweet dreams tonight!

How often do you dream? Comment below or connect with us @OralCareHealth (Australia & New Zealand)

Dr. Matthew Edlund is an expert on rest, biological clocks, performance and sleep. He is the author of several books, including The Power of Rest.

Photo: @iStockphoto.com/mediaphotos