Dreams & Altered States of Consciousness

Dreams, or sleep mentation, consist of the perceptions, thoughts and emotions we experience during sleep. Dreams mostly occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, but they also occur during deep…

Kava for Sleep (Piper methysticum)

Kava kava (Piper methysticum) is a shrub of the Piperaceae Family (Pepper Family), which can be found on some South Pacific islands, where the root has been used medicinally and…

Damiana (Turnera diffusa) for Sleep, & Dreams

Turnera diffusa (damiana) is a psychoactive shrub classified as a Turneraceae (Turnera Family) or Passifloraceae. It is native to southern California (Baja), southern Texas, Central America, Mexico, South America, and…

Humulus lupulus – Hops for Sleep

The Common Hops (Humulus lupulus) is a hardy, twining climbing vine. When female flowers mature into fruiting heads, the pale green, cone-like female flower clusters (seed cones or strobiles) are…

Wild Lettuce for Sleep

We all know lettuce (Lactuca sativa) as a leaf vegetable used in salads and sandwiches, however other than being a culinary plant, lettuce also has religious and medicinal significance, especially…

Skullcap for Sleep

Scutellaria lateriflora (mad-dog skullcap) is a plant of the mint family native to North America. It was used for its healing properties by Native American tribes, and later adopted by…

18 Chinese Herbs for Dreams

In this article I list the major herbs from the traditional Chinese pharmacopoeia that can help alleviate dream problems, such as excessive dreaming, nightmares and bad dreams, and so on.…

PTSD Nightmares & Insomnia

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), previously known as “war neurosis,” is a psychiatric condition which develops in approximately 10% of persons who are exposed to severely threatening trauma (a single event…