If you think that the dreams you have when you go to sleep are just a jumbled assortment of random thoughts and observations from your busy life, then you might want to think again.

It has been proved by countless experiments that when we are asleep, our mind and subconscious can continue to work on problems, seeking solutions for which we might have been struggling to find for some time.

Our subconscious mind is like a computer which never sleeps, whilst our physical bodies require regular periods of rest.  During this physical down-time the brain conducts a little bit of housekeeping, tidying, sorting and filing away many of our everyday thoughts.  It also has the capacity to tap into our innate creativity and problem solving skills, acting like a super computer to help us forward in our daily lives.

When confronted with a problem we are often advised ‘to sleep on it’ and there might indeed be occasions when we do just that.  The pity of it is that most times when we awake, although we intend to remember important aspects of our dreams, life quickly gets in the way and possible clues and solutions to everyday problems disappear, just as the overnight mist is dispersed by the heat of the morning sun.

This is why some people like to keep a ‘dream journal’ by their bed, so they can jot down their recollections the minute they awake.  And it is an irrefutable fact that many famous inventions and creative works of art and music came into being, inspired by dreams which were remembered in those valuable seconds upon wakening.

In 1965 during the filming in London of the movie Help, Paul McCartney, of Beatles fame, awoke from a vivid dream where he had listened to a classical string ensemble playing a beautiful piece of music. Once awake he knew that, not only had he not written it himself, but that he wished that he had, as he liked it so much.

Paul headed straight to his piano to recreate the melody which he had just heard.  The tune from his dream became the bestselling chart hit Yesterday, and Paul has always maintained that the original melody was inspired by a dream.

In 1964, the famous golfer Jack Nicklaus was having a bad slump and routinely shooting in the high seventies.  Almost overnight his overall performance and scorecard improved.  On enquiry Jack revealed that he had dreamt of a way of improving the grasp of his golf club, resulting in a perfect and fluid swing.  He replicated his dream in reality and was suddenly right back at the top of his game.

This ability to harness the power of our dreams to help us in our daily lives is not solely the preserve of the rich and famous.  We all have the ability to tap into these hidden reserves to resolve problems, both large and small, in all areas of our lives.

The first step of course is to systematically give the whole process a fair chance.  The trick is to focus with laser sharp clarity on the specifics of what we are trying to resolve or achieve during the day.  Write the specifics down in detail and review what you have written regularly throughout the day, and especially just before bed.  This is where a dream journal comes in handy, placed nearby, to jot down our immediate thoughts and impressions the moment we open our eyes.

I can’t tell you how many times, when stumped for a solution to a problem, I have mentally handed it over to the universe to resolve just before bed.  Often (but not always) I have had that forehead slapping moment as a simple solution floats into my mind in the morning.

Many of us do this as a matter of course, but some people do it more regularly and systematically and as a result achieve more benefits. In fact many people take this process one step further and achieve a ‘Lucid Dreaming state’ on a regular basis.

A lucid dream is one where we not only remember the dream details the morning after, with extra sharp clarity e.g. flying, but it is also defined as a dream where we become aware and know for certain that we are dreaming whilst still in the dream state.

We can control these ‘super aware’ dreams and control the direction the dream is taking, in a similar way to a movie director, to assist us to resolve problems and help us become more creative in our normal waking state.

If you would like to learn more about how Lucid Dreaming can help create more health, wealth and prosperity, you might be interested to take a look at a new book on the subject I have just published on Amazon’s Kindle:

www.amazon.co.uk/Lucid_Dreaming/dp/B00MYGPXIM/

It’s currently available to download for only $0.99c.  It will be free this Friday 29^th August and thereafter will increase in price. (Any positive reviews are of course very welcome).

Until next week – Sweet dreams!

Richard