The Three Stages of Sleep and Dreaming

The Three Stages of Sleep and Dreaming

by David Newman

The first stage of sleep is called twilight sleep.

This is when we are just dozing off yet we are still aware of some of the things going on around us.

We are aware for example, of people talking or the television going yet we aren’t really paying attention.

Twilight is when the critical cortex begins to download the events into the subconscious. At this point the subconscious is simply receiving information and deciding if it will accept the information or reject the information.

Acceptance of information is based on previous information that the subconscious has accepted as fact. If the information is congruent with the previous information then the subconscious will accept the new information, however; if the new information is not congruent with previously accepted information then that information will be vented out.

The second stage of sleep is called the precognitive state.

In this stage the subconscious has accepted the new information and then begins trying
to predict future events and outcomes based on the combination of the new accepted information with the old information. Sometimes, the precognitive predications made at this stage are extremely accurate but most of the time the accuracy is sort of hit or miss. At this point all of the new information that has been accept is called a known.

The third and final stage of sleep is called the venting state.

In this stage the subconscious vents out the rejected information in early morning dreams. The early morning dreams are usually the ones we remember
because we usually wake up either in the middle of a dream or just as it ends. These dreams rarely make sense and far too many people buy dream books and try to make sense of these dreams. In my opinion this is silly because all venting dreams are nothing more than the subconscious taking out the garbage. I do believe that predictive dreams can provide valuable insight into the subconscious processes and it is wise to write down these dreams if one can recall them.

Allow me to offer a personal note. If I have an issue or problem and the solution has eluded me, I will focus on this for 45 minutes prior to going to bed and allow my subconscious to work on the problem all night. The results have been astounding and most of the time the solution suddenly comes to me the next morning.