Blog

Can you choose what you dream about?

People have been trying to steer their dreams for thousands of years. The research on dream incubation suggests it actually works — just not the way you'd expect.

Jacob Lowe

Published on May 5th · 6 min read

Your first dream of the night and your last one are nothing alike

Early-night dreams replay your day. Late-night dreams get weird. Research explains why, and what it means for anyone keeping a dream journal.

Jacob Lowe

Published on May 4th · 5 min read

Why your dreams are more emotional than your actual day

Dreams aren't randomly intense. Research shows your brain strips away stress chemicals during REM sleep so it can safely reprocess the feelings you didn't finish dealing with while awake.

Jacob Lowe

Published on May 3rd · 6 min read

Why last week keeps showing up in your dreams

Your dreams aren't random. Research shows they pull from your waking life on a predictable schedule, and the emotions matter more than the events.

Jacob Lowe

Published on May 1st · 6 min read

I took melatonin for a week and my dream journal filled up

I tried melatonin for jet lag and ended up with the densest dream journal entries I've ever written. Here's what the research says about why.

Jacob Lowe

Published on Apr 30th · 6 min read

My dream journal solved a problem I'd been stuck on

I found a research connection in a dream that I'd missed awake. Then I went looking for the science of why dreams do this.

Jacob Lowe

Published on Apr 29th · 5 min read

My stress dreams aren't nightmares, and that's what confused me

I spent a month tracking the dreams I had during my most stressful weeks. They weren't scary. They were just relentlessly ordinary.

Jacob Lowe

Published on Apr 28th · 4 min read

I tracked whether running changed my dreams

I started tagging my dream journal entries with whether I'd run that day. The difference was bigger than I expected.

Jacob Lowe

Published on Apr 27th · 5 min read

I tested three ways to record my dreams

I spent a month switching between handwriting, typing on my phone, and voice memos to see which method actually captured the most dream detail.

Jacob Lowe

Published on Apr 25th · 6 min read

I journaled my dreams every day for a month, then switched to three times a week

I felt guilty every time I skipped a morning. So I ran a test on myself to find out if daily journaling actually matters more than a few times a week.

Jacob Lowe

Published on Apr 24th · 6 min read