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SLEEP THINKING:
THE REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAM THAT HELPS YOU SOLVE PROBLEMS,
REDUCE STRESS, AND INCREASE CREATIVITY WHILE YOU SLEEP
Eric Maisel, Ph.D., with Natalya
Maisel
Holbrook, MA: Adams Media Corporation. 2000
Paperback, 230 pages, $10.95
ISBN: 1-58062-445-6
Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg
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When something's bothering us, most of us acknowledge
that "Sleep on it" is good advice. Quandaries that loom large at bedtime
often prove more manageable in the morning. Shakespeare described
this experience when he called sleep "nature's soft nurse."
In this book, Eric Maisel, a psychotherapist and creativity coach, and his daughter Natalya claim that people can enhance their problem-solving abilities by tapping the power of their sleeping mind. They assert that sleep thinking can help you change aspects of your personality, improve relationships, lose weight, quit smoking, alter other patterns of behavior, and help resolve other pressing concerns.
To accomplish these goals, they say, you need to open yourself to
the possibilities at bedtime, record thoughts that occur to you if
you awaken in the night and in the morning, and reflect on them. They
provide numerous anecdotes involving people who reportedly expanded
their lives with these tactics.
The authors claim that problem solving occurs mainly in quiet, non-dreaming sleep. They offer no sleep laboratory findings to affirm that's true, however, or that the people they describe actually experienced the epiphanies they relate in this state of sleep.
Sleep lab studies show that we think about the same things day and night. If awakened from sleep and asked, "What was on your mind just now?" it's highly likely that you'll report matters that preoccupied you the previous day. Mental activity occurs in both dreaming and non-dreaming sleep, which alternate in 90-minute cycles throughout sleep. Most of the vivid mental imagery we call dreams occurs in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, named for one of its best known features, eyes darting beneath closed lids. When roused from non-REM sleep, people often report mundane thoughts, akin to those of ordinary waking. Merely telling yourself, "I want to remember my dreams," is likely to boost your recall. If you adopt the tactics described in this book, you probably will soon feel more attuned to your inner life.
Best to read this entertaining book not as science, however, but as inspiration: most of us benefit from making time to reflect on life goals and to consider various possibilities. If we do this regularly at bedtime, as Maisel and daughter suggest, weighing options, not worrying about them, we just might get closer to achieving those goals. We might also feel less anxiety about how to proceed. Decreasing stress at bedtime also may help foster a good night's sleep. Now that's a thought to dream on!
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