From Darkness to Vivid Dreams: Why I Suddenly Remember My Dreams Again

 For some people, sleep feels like nothing but darkness. Night after night, there’s no memory of dreams, just a blank space. For me I rarely have dreams, particularly since I had my son and went through a traumatic birth experience that created a fear of sleeping and landed me with a PTS diagnosis.

Then suddenly, almost overnight, the dreams have returned: vivid, colourful, powerful, and potent.

So this got me thinking… why does this happen? 

What has changed for me recently that has opened my mind to allow myself to dream so vividly after so many years of nothing but darkness and a blank mind overnight. 

So I started to feel into it and explore whats changed recently for me

1. My Nervous System Feels Safer

When we’re in survival mode - Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn - our body prioritises survival, not dream recall. 

We still dream, but we don’t always access or remember them.
As we heal, regulate, and feel safer, the subconscious has more freedom to process. 

This can unlock vivid dream recall.

2. I’ve Activated My Creativity

While in Spain I got a strong download/intuition that I needed to embarrass more of my passions. To embrace my inner child and allow my creativity to blossom out of me. As a kid i LOVED anything creative, art, drawing, painting, ceramics, you name it i thrived on it! - It was my escape, it allowed me to relax and do whatever I felt called to do. But somewhere along the way I felt I needed to grow up, I had a mortgage and entered the corporate world and squashed all my desires to be creative.

Reading, drawing, journaling, and art all awaken the imagination. 

They stimulate the same brain pathways that fuel dreams. When you give your mind images and stories during the day, it gives back to you at night.

3. I’ve Reduced Overstimulation

Constant scrolling or digital overwhelm can block the space the subconscious needs. Reducing screen time - especially at night - often leads to richer, more memorable dreams.

In Spain I only used my phone to phone home and speak to my husband and kids and take some beautiful pictures of the retreat women for them to take home and cherish. Having this time to detox social media was beautiful and I find myself somewhat repulsed by the doom scroll and how it made me feel. Feeling numb but craving more like it was going to make me feel something or understand something. When really it was creating high levels of cortisol in my brain and begging for more. Rather than choosing to sit in silence and space and allowing my brain the time it needed to be creative.

4. My Sleep Quality Has Improved

Alcohol, stress, or poor sleep habits can reduce REM sleep (where most vivid dreaming happens). When sleep deepens and becomes more restorative, dreams naturally become clearer.

Ive worked really hard over the years to support my sleep. I’ve opted for a natural sleepy tea at night that has a blend of beautiful mushrooms and melatonin. I've reduced screen time and sleep with my phone on the other side of my room in the wardrobe, to sleep more. I've also over the years chosen to eliminate alcohol. Initially it was due to flaring up my endo, and affecting my mental health but I also realised as I reduced and eliminated it my sleep also improved drastically by not consuming it.

Dreams as a Sign of Connection

Dreams are not random - they’re the language of the subconscious, a bridge between your inner and outer world. If your dreams are suddenly vivid, it may mean your body, mind, and soul are opening to deeper connection. Pretty magical right?

If you want to encourage dream recall:

• Create before bed (read, draw, journal)
  
  
• Reduce screens at night. Eliminate tv/phones at least an hour before sleep
  
  
• Try gentle embodiment practices (breath, movement, meditation, shaki mat)
  
  
• Place a journal by your bed to capture even fragments
  
  

Your dream world is always there. Sometimes it just waits until you’re ready to listen.