As dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg puts it, “A vivid dream is one that is full of clear details, colors, involved storyline, produces strong emotions, and is remembered as if it were an actual, real-life experience.” Take nightmares for example. Therapist and dream expert Leslie Ellis, Ph.D., tells mbg that nightmares are a “prototypical vivid dream,” though vivid dreams aren’t always bad. (More on that later.) “Lucid dreaming is also another category of vivid dreaming. When this happens, the entire dream experience is intensified,” she notes. As Ellis notes, “It’s not clear why some people dream more intensely than others, but it is true that in childhood and early adulthood, our dreams tend to be more intense than they are later in life.” That said, here are a handful of reasons you could be having more intense dreams than usual: “Some medications have this effect too,” Ellis notes. And like alcohol, she says, as your body adjusts to a new medication, the intense dreaming should settle down, though if it doesn’t, you might consult your doctor. “In my experience and research,” Loewenberg tells mbg, “I’ve found that individuals who are creative, introspective, philosophical, and emotional tend to not only have better dream recall but also tend to have more vivid dreams,” adding, “This is because the better relationship you have with your deeper, subconscious mind, the better you’re able to remember your dreams and give them importance in your life.” As Loewenberg explains, what we think of as “vividness” comes from “the strength, length, and intensity in which we are able to remember the dream.” And what’s more, even though we average five dreams per night, we may not remember them all. “Those dreams could be very vivid too, were they remembered,” she says, adding that it’s almost like the chicken or the egg argument. The question then is, Was the dream “vivid” because we remember it so well? Or do we remember it so well because it was vivid? Either way, if you’ve always been good at remembering your dreams, your ability to recall them in greater detail will make them feel more vivid when you think about them while awake. And of course, the scariest dream you’ve ever had was probably pretty vivid, and you’d likely think of it as a “bad” dream. Though according to Ellis, Laz, and Loewenberg, you’re better off thinking about your dreams as messengers than inherently good or bad. “If your dreams are intense and upsetting, I always suggest paying attention to them, as they are clearly trying to get your attention,” Ellis says, with Laz adding, “Dreams help alert us to what is occurring beneath the surface of our conscious minds, and through these stories, we can later reflect and bring unconscious material and make it conscious—which can help us to feel better.” In fact, Loewenberg says, the more upsetting and intense the dream, the more important the message. “Dreams are a conversation with the self—a subconscious reaction to your current circumstances, behaviors, goals, struggles and relationships. So an upsetting, vivid dream is similar to you sending a strongly worded letter of concern to yourself,” she explains. In other instances, here’s what Ellis, Laz, and Loewenberg recommend: Other factors like temperature or eating before bed can also influence dreams. Sleep researcher Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D., has previously told mbg that sleeping in a room 70°F or higher makes us “more prone to worrisome dreams and fitful sleep,” and a big meal before bed can disrupt our sleep enough that we’re more likely to recall our dreams in greater detail upon waking up. A sleep supplement like mbg’s sleep support+ can also help you to sleep more soundly.* And if you need more info on good sleep hygiene, check out our guide for improving your quality of sleep. Consider starting with these baseline, physical factors, and see if that helps. “Those emotions from the dream are very real and exist somewhere in your real life, and when you are able to connect them to a current situation or even to a current person in your life, you now have your starting point,” she tells mbg. From there, she says, anything that was said or thought during the dream is also particularly important. “Whatever is said—no matter who says it—and whatever is thought while in the dream are your subconscious thoughts. They’re very insightful and will be relevant to, and make sense when, applied to the real-life issue you already pinpointed,” she adds. Once you’ve figured out what the general message of the dream is, Loewenberg says, you’ll be able to make better decisions about your next steps. “It may not be possible to change the situation, but it will help to process the emotions associated with it and to come to terms with what is happening in your life,” Ellis adds, noting dreams themselves may even help you to do so. “The main technique [to practicing lucidity] is through becoming more self-aware in waking life so that reflective meta-thinking naturally carries through into your dream life,” Laz explains. Simply put, by flexing your awareness in real life, you’ll be more likely to notice when dreams get wonky, and you’ll know you’re dreaming. Here’s our guide on how to lucid dream to help get you started.
