Do you find that you get nightmares when you go camping? You are not alone. Many campers have said that they get nightmares while camping. In more general terms, lucid dreaming can be bad or good. But most of the time, it is bad while camping.
Lucid dreaming is something that many people try to induce using various forms of technologies. They listen to special types of sounds through a headset as they are falling asleep. These sounds are meant to keep the listener’s mind active. It is by keeping your mind in an REM state while sleeping that you get lucid dreams.
Camping has a tendency to keep your mind active enough that you sleep in an REM state. There are various reasons why that happens. These reasons can be put into two categories: physical discomfort and emotional discomfort.
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Physical Discomfort
It is easy to see that camping can cause people to have some physical discomfort. All of the factors below contribute to lucid dreaming, and consequently, nightmares.
- Cold: Even if you are camping in the middle of the Summer, it gets cold when the night approaches. This is especially true if you are camping by a large body of water. And what about those cold, dewy mornings? They are so beautiful, but the cold air can put a lot of stress on your body. In order to stay warm, remember to bring more layers than you think you will need, consider buying camping heaters too to help you sleep more comfortably. Most people tend to underestimate how cold it will actually get.
- Heat: Along with the cold comes the heat. In the middle of the day, the camping season tends to be very hot. Even if you are barely wearing any clothes, you will get sweaty. You may go hiking in the woods with a large backpack. Or what about all of the heavy lifting to set up camp? Although you can’t completely avoid the heat, you can stay in the shade and bring cold packs. Be sure that you are prepared to treat hyperthermia.
- Exhaustion: You may feel tired from all of the physical activity needed to set up camp. Most of the activities done while camping require more exertion than you are used to in everyday life. This physical stress translates to psychological stress.
- No sleeping pad: Whatever you do, don’t try to sleep in a sleeping bag on the cold, hard ground. A sleeping pad is essential to a good night’s sleep. If you have extra space in your car, snuggly pillows are great tools too to help you sleep better.
Emotional Discomfort
- Unfamiliarity: If you are not familiar with your surroundings, this can cause confusion to your mind. Even if you don’t notice it, it is happening subconsciously. It may be that you are not used to camping. Or perhaps you are an avid camper, but you are in a much different location. There is nothing much you can do about this. But bringing along a book to read that put your mind off of this.
- Fear: Going camping can definitely induce some fear. There are many potential dangers in the great outdoors. There is the threat of bears and getting lost. You will get used to this over time. Isolate your fears and deal with each one.
- Stress: Although people go camping in order to de-stress, it is not always rainbows and sunshine. Maybe you are camping with your kids, and need to keep everything under control. Or perhaps you are camping alone and you find out that this makes you feel lonely.
What To Do
With all of the reasons above that induce REM sleep, it is difficult to mitigate each one. Perhaps the best way of coping with this is to understand that lucid dreaming is your brain’s way of processing your subconscious.
Although nightmares can be distressing, understand that once you are awake, the nightmare is over. If you need to take your mind off of things, bring along a good book to get you into a better mood.
