Sweet Dreams Solving Problems While You Sleep
By Yvonne Ventresca, Art by Helena Dominic

It's bedtime, so you rest your head on a comfy pillow and shut your eyes. Tomorrow is another day, another chance to finish a project that has you stumped, work out a tricky situation between friends, or look for something you've lost.

But nighttime isn't just for resting. You might be able to solve problems through your dreams. While you're asleep, some people believe that your mind is still tackling issues that bother you when you're awake.

Examples of Dream Solutions

Several famous people have used dreams to their advantage. For example, when Elias Howe was creating an automated sewing machine, he got stuck on the design of the needle. Regular needles used for sewing by hand are threaded through a hole in the bottom, but that didn't work with his machine. One night he dreamt that primitive men carrying spears had surrounded him. Oddly enough, the spears had holes through their tips. When Howe awoke, he figured out the answer to his problem. Instead of making the hole at the bottom of the sewing machine needle, he made the hole at the pointed end, based on the clue from his dream.

Another example is when guitarist Carlos Santana began to plan his musical comeback in the late 1990s. Santana has said that through dreams and meditation, he received instructions about the need to work creatively with others. More than half the songs on the resulting CD, Supernatural, were joint efforts, and it was a huge success.

It is also rumored that Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev, who had been working on the properties of chemical building blocks, dreamt of the table that would become the Periodic Table of Elements.

Jean Campbell, dream researcher and President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, stresses the value of dreams for solving both big and small problems. "I have known students to dream the answers to exam questions, and students who wrote prize-winning fiction from work with their dreams," says Campbell who has taught writing and literature to students of all ages. 

How to Problem Solve through Dreams

You too may be able to tap into the power of your dreams to resolve everyday situations. The key is to set the problem in your mind at bedtime, along with your intent to solve it. Try following these steps:

At your usual bedtime, rest comfortably and think about the problem you are trying to solve, such as finding a misplaced item.

State the problem as a specific question, such as "Where is my gold star necklace?"

Write the question down. You can put it on a piece of paper to slip inside your pillowcase, or you can write it in a special notebook you use to record your dreams.

Repeat the question in your mind several times before going to sleep.

When you wake up, write down any dreams you remember, even if they don't make sense.

Study the dreams for clues that might answer your question. For example, if you dreamt you stood on a stack of boxes in your bedroom to reach a high shelf, you may want to check high places for the missing necklace. Dreams can be tricky, though, so you may also want to check inside any stacked boxes as well.

Problem solving in your dreams may not happen over night. It can take some practice to remember your dreams and to figure out what they are telling you. It's worth exploring, because dreams can hold wisdom that you don't recognize when you are awake.

Sleep well and sweet dreams!

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