A nightmare dream wake-up

One way I'd successfully tried seeking lucid dreaming ages back, was MILD (mnemonic-induced LD). This is when you first try to open the waking mind to the possibility of dreaming lucid, by active suggestion during the day... then build on that to full, true lucidity.

For example, you write on a small piece of paper or carstock 'I will lucid dream tonight', and place in wallet or something you'll refer to often. Every time you open wallet, you'll see, focus on and read the mantra to yourself once, then forget and go on with your day. The 'forget and move on' part, is crucial.

If you want the subconscious mind involved (and you do), focus the waking mind on a task / subject for a moment ('setting intention'), then disconnect from it completely, moving to the next thing. Waking mind functions best when paying 100% attention to the present moment; the subconscious needs the high overhead of waking mind to move out the way, so can do its thing. So if waking mind's constantly trying to replay moments in itself on loop without returning to the here and now, the way into your dreams in a sense gets choked out.

I once held my arms and hands in the classic military 'attention' posture, of turning palms inward toward my legs, as if to grasp the hem of the dress greens trouser, just as trained. When taking up bodywork, learned this resting arm posture weakens the shoulder joint due to not seating all the muscle attachments to the upper arm correctly -- your natural resting arm posture, should be thumbs towards the body, palms back, elbows directly facing outward.

When trying to un-learn the habit from my nervous system... had to do a wordless version of the mnemonic trick: whenever I'd noticed my hands and arms unconsciously assuming the military posture, made the change to correct posture, then forgot it and moved on. Every time that happened, repeateed the deed (committed to doing it as long as it took) -- and after ~ 2 - 3 wks, were noticing it wasn't as necessary... and 3 mos later arm posture were unconsciously enforcing the new order 100%.

Give that a try on dreaming, and update us on what happens

 

Had physician visit yesterday. The doc takes wifey and I at the same time. Doc suggested wife and I take a magnesium glycinate supplement as poor magnesium levels are common in older people, especially women

Went to Costco and they had a bottle of the pills for 20 percent off. O.K.

Took two at bedtime. I had dreams; lots of dreams. My fitness watch said I had an amazing amount of REM sleep. Maybe the glycinate helped. I also remembered much of them.

Wife did not notice any difference. Doc did say it can take up to two weeks to notice anything and may notice nothing, but that does not mean it is not doing some good.

Of course, no proof of anything, and it all could be placebo on my side.

 

Oddly I also take a dose of Mg glycinate before bed -- no fitness watch, but I doze off sooner, and wake up refreshed rather than still tired.

Mg deficiency is a sort of loaded topic, as you can be deficient in Mg in a certain way in the body, and be taking wrong type for your issue.

Mg citrate's good for things like muscle metabolism & nerve function, as Mg's used in just about every metabolic process in cells. Glycinate's really good for brain-related issues, like cognition and sleep. You can be deficient in more than one way, so need to space out what you're taking, so doesn't collectively cause the runs -- really the only downside to moderate use of Mg, are the trots if I take slightly too much for what I've absorbed from diet.

BTW... lots of things deplete or block absorption of Mg in the small intestine -- sugary foods, highly-processed grains, too much salt, too much coffee... so need to consider that before supplementing Mg...

 

When I was a teen, I got a job in the dishroom for a local steakhouse. They moved me over to the kitchen to be a potwasher for a night. Basically, you had to scramble to get all the dishes done from the prep that they did during the day. A good potwasher could do that and take it easy for most of the night. It was my first time, so it took me most of the night to catch up. Then they tore apart the kitchen, and I got to wash just about everything. It was the 70s, so the soap was harsh and I was bare handed. My hands got pretty raw and scraped up.

I woke up in a cold sweat that night, dreaming I was washing a pan with mashed potatoes in it. I tried and tried, but I couldn't get the potatoes to wash out. I woke up in a cold sweat, trying to get the mashed potatoes out of my pillow.

 

LOL...
Nope.
They just make us "suck less."

GIGO.

I probably dream every night, as most of us do.
I rarely remember my dreams, so I'm hoping that this means that my REM cycles are mostly uninterrupted and my squash has performed at least most of its file and memory maintenance tasks.

My Apples do not normally nag me about low sleep scores, and I'm usually down for the count before I reach "Amen" during my nightly spiritual ablutions - made lengthy by many daily sins!

The only recurring dream I can recall from years ago is being awakened(*) during my 11th submarine patrol by a flooding alarm and a simultaneous and violent pitch in the 'down' direction.
I only made 10 patrols.
This was probably a combination of an involuntary extension on my last boat and an incident during a drill where our full WRT tank vented into the Torpedo room during an evasion drill (causing much noise and the flooding alarm) immediately followed by a 25+ degree down bubble (**) owing to an order given by the diving officer that I would have normally heard over the "white rat" (open mic into the ops spaces) but didn't.
I may or may not have experienced a slight elevation in my adrenaline levels at that time, but I didn't blow sanitaries and we immediately stopped all drills and made for shallower depths and angles.

(*) Most bubbleheads never "wake up" on patrol.
They are awakened by all manner of things including but CERTAINLY not limited to:
Fans spooling down.
The 'click' of the 1MC before an alarm.
The 'piss monster.'
A wake-up tap on your rack curtain for any one of 10,000 different reasons - or no reason at all if they 'got the wrong rack.'
A 200-degree, full cup of coffee placed on your chest if you are not normally awakened by the tap on your rack curtain.
Water.
A 30-degree roll or pitch - sometimes.

(**) Boomers are not normally given to large angles and rudder movements, and we normally used to plod along at "Patrol Flank" - meaning a very low speed instead of the small unit tactics kind.
Usually before going on 'alert' we used to do "angles and dangles" where even those portly old ladies could and DID pitch up and down at well over 25-degrees and do the sprints and 'snap rolls' that SSNs enjoy so much.

It's NOT quiet, and it's not good for Comms.

 

isn't there a test for magnesium, or should we supplement it for no known reason?

 

Tests for magnesium...

Tried to keep my post short. I have been having lots of those "scream in agony" leg cramps. Wife has poor sleep. Doc said our age etc. magnesium might be warranted.

She said testing for magnesium is next to worthless and a trial run of supplements is cheap and safe and easy enough.

At least I think that is what she said. After years of sitting in worthless corporate meetings, I have a bad habit of letting my mind wander once someone talks for more than a minute or two...

Wife said she has no difference in sleep. I have had heavy REM last couple days
Too early to say the pills are causing any of it.

 

^ Cinchona bark!
Available everywhere.
Read up on it - and why they removed it (quinine) from the Pre-2000s leg cramp medicine.
You may not be a good candidate.

I went from 'getting struck by lightning at 0200 after a 15,000 step day' to zip, zero, nada....

Sample size = 1.
YMMV.

 

there are so many potential symptoms, it would seem that everyone has to something

 

Yep, and with magnesium, there are several types and the glycinate form does different things than say the citrate form etc.

Glycinate seems more tuned to sleep than other forms, but doc seemed more concerned about wifey's complaints of sleep than my complaints of hell on earth cramps

 

Yep, back atcha -- a blood test for Mg is next to useless, because very little Mg is ever in serum at one time, and once consumed, absorbed and getting to bones and tissues... lowers serum amts drastically. Agree that supplementation (starting from minimum dosage and trying 1 - 2 wks each chg) is the safest way to see if a Mg deficiency's to blame for certain problems.

See how you feel in a couple of weeks at the same dosage -- gonna be a fine line (esp if you're like me, familiar with where every head on this island is, with existing IBS) to keep dosage making sense, and also not suddenly increasing your ability to sprint to a spot out of sight before your ring gives

 

I believe my very infrequent overnight cramps disappeared back when I got mixed up with long distance bicycling events and preparations, a quarter century ago. Bananas were the first go-to for treating and preventing cramps while riding, but many very electrolyte products have become available.

As above, sample size = 1.

As for steps, during the brief period I wore a tracking device before handing it over to the spouse to replace her failing unit, I learned that when placed on my ankle, it rolled up about 40,000 steps for a 100 mile bike ride. Am still aspiring to do the annual Seattle To Portland ride in one day (206 miles) once more before it is too late for my aging body, but fear that it might already be too late. Will have to settle for the two-day version, as the majority of participants do.

 

I have the poster child for bananas the past several months. Don't seem to help with these back of the thigh cramps.