If anyone is interested in lucid dreaming.... I havent tryed this herb in a long time... but after the last two nights of taking it at bed time i must admit it has a lot of power to boost dreams to a very high vividness level .. and make dream recall sharp as a tack!

I can easily imeadiatly recall fine details of yesterday mornings dreams and this mornings dreams without any problems at all...

This herb actually will boost and reinforce REM sleep through most of the entire night..meaning very vivid dreaming for most of the entire sleep period..

I discovered that there is a trade off where one will loose much of stage 2 and 3 deep sleep if taken at bedtime...

Last night..I had tons of REM sleep .. but lost some deep sleep as i felt a little drained this morning..

I just took an extra two hour nap before lunch and it helped..

Valerian root has many bennifits compaired to lucid dream supliments like Galantamine..or Huperzene A ...that can easily cause insomnia in the wrong dosage..

This herb will vurtually throw one into a real to life like dream state that can be Sooo Vivid!...that it can fool the dreamer into seeing it as a real lifes event..

But it can also give the dreamer chances to become lucid in the dream by the sheer dream vividness alone!... if a sudden dream Cue were to happen.. such as the apearence of a ...[two headed man].. or ...
[a woman with two noses]?.. meaning anything that appears abnormal enough could jolt or cause a sudden shift of conciousness within the dream making the dreamer aware he is dreaming...!

I had some fun this morning with several dreams..one dream i was in a dormatory kind of place and the door handle turn and through the door came three 8 foot tall guys wearing trench coats all with an emotionless zombie look in their faces..

I also noticed that they looked super thin and close to 8 foot tall! ..in dream ...
[thats one dream cue i missed]....in dream i suspected them of being extraterestrials

and that notion came earlier in the dream when i pondered if the town im in.. is secretly being controled by aliens!

Well these thoughts i had early when half asleep before the main dream started and these amusing thoughts incubated the dream content i believe...

Also another dream where i spent the entire night in a coffie shop and when i left i exited through an upstairs attic room and climbed down a latter..then when half way down..the latter sliped from the edge of the roof.. and i then held onto the roof with my left hand.. and at the same time held the latter with my legs using the right hand to extend the latter safely up again..[ a feat that can only be done in a dream!]

I then safely climbed down the latter. and when on the ground i heard a noise and saw some strange creature that looked like a 4 foot high giant snail dragging something across the yard so i yelled at the creature and it breifly stoped..then continued..

I then threw a rock at the creature and it stopped again then turned towards me and started towards me...

I had enough fun but [not lucid] in dream i exited away from the beast quickly as posible ...then i woke up in bed with a vivid memory of the whole dream..

before bed...I took something called... theanine serine ...and some valerian root tea before bed...

The boost in dreaming was either from the valerian alone or the combo of both supliments?

Ive been taking the [sorce naturals]..[theanine serine] for weeks for sleep.. but is was only when i started the valerian that the dreams rained down on me alowing for super dream recall!

If i take more valerian... i will probibly wait till after 4 or 5 hours of deep sleep first than at WBTB...[ wake back to bed] then drink my valerian tea durring REM sleep time...

There are two substances in valerian ..one causes a huge increase in REM dream sleep..and the other substance is more of a mild stimulant that must help with the dream recall...

Anyway taking it before bed can cause some loss of valuable stage 2 and 3 deep sleep...

But i think taking it like one would any dream suppliment at WBTB may work well

I believe this stuff helped me because after the first 4 or 5 hours of sleep my sleep gets very shallow and that causes premature awakenings from dreams..

Hopefully i wil be able to stay in the dream state longer with valerians help...

Do you have any experience with root extract tablets?
I bought some in pharmacy but doesn't seem to effect my sleep or dreams in any ways. I took up to 8 tablets which is considered as high dose but nothing. I wonder if the tablets are bunk and people are having placebo effects or its just me.

Wouldn't the logical step be to grow one's own valerian?

starway6, have you tried the valerian without the theanine serine supplement? Or vice-versa? This would help us come to some more meaningful conclusions if you did.

I've had crazy dreams when taking a (prescribed) high dose of Ibuprofen so perhaps adding some willow bark (another cyclooxygenase inhibitor) would tweak the dreams a bit too. (Always research your herbs carefully before taking any - be especially wary to look out for possible adverse combinations!)

Finally, I'll reiterate (as ever) that Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is a superb dream intensifier although I wouldn't say it guarantees lucidity.

As i said ive been taking the theanine serene for several weeks for sleep and also have a bottle of sleepy time tea at side of bed that i sip a little durring the night and morning when i breifly wake up from sleep because my throat gets dry..

These herbal teas alone can effect my sleep and dreaming somewhat.. but after a while i get more used to it.. kind of like a tolernce build up..

It was only when i took the valerian root extract capsule at bed time..only one half of a 500mg capsul..[250mgs] at bed time that i noticed an upserge in dreaming vividness and especially my recall of the dreams!

The [Theanine serene]]. contains.[.per two capsuls]...magnesium 300mgs..Gaba 500mgs ...Taurine 450mgs..holy basil leaf extract 100mgs...L theanine 200mgs..

i only took one half of one capsul of valerian...for two consecutive nights.. sugested dosage is two valerian capsuls at bed time ..

It seemed i went to sleep very easily.. and didnt wake till 2 and a half hours later from the first very short dream...

I think the valerian boosts GABA levels combined with the [theanine serines contents.]

But i really think the dream increase and improved dream recall.. was from the valerian root that i took..

If you research valerians effect on dreaming you should find many reports claiming that dream recall was boosted taking the valerian and dreams became very vivid...

go to this address below on google and read about the dream and sleep effects of valerian..also there are some test graphs compairing normal sleep to valerian sleep/..

It appears that valerian has the abuility to .. [if taken at bedtime]..somewhat bypass deep sleep stages 2 and 3 and replace them with stage 4 sleep...[ REM dream Sleep!]

I think taking the valerian after you get your first 4 or 5 hours of deep sleep at [WBTB]..
[wake back to bed] is more healthy because you need your deep sleep ..

But valerians ability to replace atleast some or part of a persons deep sleep with REM sleep... [Rapid eye movement sleep] this is the kind of sleep we dream most!

go to this address below on google and see graphs and info on hacking your sleep stages with valerian...





Dream Inducers and Sleep Improvers: 4 ways to Alter your sleep
https://medium.com/.../d...ys-to-alter-your-slee...
Sep 7, 2015 - During a night on Valerian root, sleep cycles repeat more quickly, often skipping stage 3/4 sleep to return quickly back to REM. The qualitative result is sleep filled with vivid, often lucid, dream experiences that meld into each other throughout the course of the night. Valerian sleep nights can seem hyper real ...

it seems the link wont open... so just type these words below on google search and it should come up...



type these words below on google search....


[[[[Dream Inducers and Sleep Improvers: 4 ways to Alter your sleep ]]]]

Thanks for the further info.

Be aware that serine is an amino acid; this was confusing as it now seems you merely misspelled the name of your branded theanine supplement. Correct spelling can be a matter of life or death in chemistry!

That said, I'll certainly be putting valerian on my 'to do'' list

It is important to keep this^^^^^aspect of valerian in one's mind when experimenting with it. For many, it does exactly what starway6 is experiencing, but for quite a few other folks, it often acts as a stimulant and keeps them from getting a restful sleep or, in some cases, keeps them from not being able to get to sleep at all until the valerian's affects have worn off.

I have seen this so many times in my herbal practice over the decades that I had to post this precaution just so everybody knows what they're getting into when using valerian.

My experience has been quite the opposite. Valarian effects me as a true sedative, it puts me into a deep nacotic style comatose and dreamless sleep. I sleep really well, but I wake up with zero dream recall.

I've only worked with teas made from crushed whole root in the range of 5 grams, give or take, and occasionally chewing small amounts of root (not very tasty). I wonder if perhaps its an issue of dosage, or maybe the dream enhancing compounds aren't water soluble?

My plants will finally be ready for some light root harvesting this year so I'll have to revisit it and see if aiming for a moar full spectrum extract will give better results.

It typically effects me in a very narcotic-like way too dreamer...

Like I stated though, I have observed this phenomenon, with valerian-as-stimulant, many times in well over 30 years of practice. If I were to estimate, I would say that valerian root effects perhaps 5-8% of people in this way, Not a huge percentage, I know, but when you're consulting hundreds of people per month for decades, you see every type.

It's just more good info to be aware of is all.

This variability of effect between different people is interesting. The first thing that spring to mind regarding this is genetic variations that give rise to neuroreceptor differences or metabolic differences. If the latter applies, then there will be ways to steer valerian in one direction or another, to optimise a desired aspect. It also might explain why commercially available valerian preparations are most often in combination with other sedative herbs, typically passionflower and hops.

I did take only one half of a valerian 500mg capsul for two nights in a row and had exceptional dream recall and ultra vivid dreams...

I skiped valerian extract for 4 nights .. then last night took another one half of a 500mg capsul at bedtime last night and the results seemed to be more of a lighter sleep the first 4 hours of deep sleep ..but i noticed that i woke breifly from dreams more often through the entire night!.. and morning and was able to recall a dream or atleast remember the high parts of the dream..

I still took one half of a thenine serene caplet just as i had been doing for more than a month..

But my habit of brewing some herbal tea every night.. and sitting it next to my bed to sip at diferent times when i breifly wake durring the night may have been a mistake as i feel it may have negativly effected my dream recall this morning from the valerian ..

My dream recall through the enitire night and morning was not as clear and sharp as the first two nights on valerian...

Celestrail seasonings [sleepy time tea] contains at least 6 or 7 relaxing herbs but the dosage of these herbs in one tea bag is probibly fairly small..

But at bed time last night i also added two more herbs i bought from a bulk herb store...

One was chamimile and the other was organic lemon grass...the lemon grass looked like peices of straw...

This is the first time adding more herbs especially lemon grass and i suspect my dream recall was reduced because of these other herbs in the tea i drink...

When i recalled my strongest dreams i remember they were vivid and things happened in them that defied reality...but the way i remembered them was like seeing through cheese cloth.. the dream memory had a more far away quality to them ...and i suspect that the lemon grass and all the other herbs in my tea interfeared with valerian root effects...

So i probibly will stop taking the valerian at bed time ,..instead drink some V tea at .....
[Wake back to bed ] with 5 hours of deep sleep under my belt ...drinking the V Tea during normal REM sleep may produce better dream recall effects ... and posibly spark a lucid dream ...

Ill have to stop with the herbal tea because it may be interfearing with the valerian...

What was the rationale behind adding lemongrass to your tea blend? It's certainly news to me if it would have any marked effect on dreaming.

Actually i was just testing out the lemon grass ..and really many things can have a marked effect on dreaming...

even eating a banana at 3AM then returning to sleep can effect dreams because of the potasium in the fruit ...also may other foods also can effect dreaming..

Chocolate really can effect dreams.. sugars.. salts.. ect anything taken during the sleep cycle can have an effect in dream vividness and sometimes dream recall..try it some time...

The lemony flavour will complement chamomile quite nicely

Bananas are loaded with all sorts off interesting stuff besides potassium. Like dopamine.

Likewise chocolate is loaded with multiple bio-/neuroactive goodies.

But indeed, all sorts of foodstuffs can affect dream quality. Having busy guts probably makes us that bit more aware of things while we are sleeping. And of course, that's where most of the serotonin is in the body (the guts).