Remember my love-hate relationship with coffee? I decided to become a caffeine underachiever again and stick with decaf after I read how caffeine greatly inhibits REM sleep stages. Being a lucid dreamer (or at least, trying to be), I value REM sleep because thats where lucid dreaming takes place.
It’s not as if I’ve had lots of caffeine lately. About 1/3 of the coffee beans I had been grinding have been caffeinated. Even that little amount provided a strong addiction, enough so that when I cut it down to about 1/10th this week I had a few days of unpleasant headaches. By the third morning, though, I was fine without it.
As for the REM sleep, I have to say I’ve noticed a dramatic difference this week. Over the past two nights, I have been waking naturally at night after a REM dream cycle, glancing at the clock, and promptly dozing back into another REM cycle. Last night I did this about six times in a row, coming back to near-waking consciousness almost exactly 90 minutes after I went under. Each time I felt rested and could clearly remember the dream I had just had.
Now, this isn’t a scientific study by any stretch, especially because for the past few nights I’ve been sleeping alone as Kelly’s been away for work. Even so, it’s quite intriguing to me.
Now to become better at recording my dreams and to save up to buy a Zeo Sleep Manager.