How a Vegetarian Diet Affects Dream Recall

I have not read any books about this subject myself, but I thought I’d write a quick post about my actual experience trying this experiment.

In general, after a 2 - 6 week initial adjustment to the diet, my dreams become more vivid and they are easier to remember in the morning. When I’m eating meat, they are generally darker (they contain less light) and are much harder to recall.  On a vegetarian diet, my dreams are more often peaceful, serene, or even uplifting.  When eating meat, it’s more common for me to experience dreams relating to anxiety and fear (nightmares).  I also require less sleep when vegetarian -6.5 hours on average- and I wake up refreshed and full of energy; when eating meat, I need 8 - 8.5 hours and get up very slowly and feel heavy and tired.

These are observations, but I don’t have a theory for why this happens the way it does.  I’ll write some conjecture, but please leave comments down below if you have any other ideas.

My first idea is that the emanations of terror, panic, and suffering animals undergo when slaughtered is somehow “lodged” into the tissues and fibers of the meat that I then later eat. Those emanations are then absorbed into my own body and I feel them as fear and anxiety of my own.  Fear and anxiety are antithetical to a free-flowing, peaceful, and joyful life –the very things that are conducive to an active and productive waking and dreaming life.  

My second idea is that decay in general, but decaying meat in particular, attract unwelcome guests from the subtle world.  Guests who resonate with the emanations of death and decay, as opposed to life, love, and joy.  It’s a possibility, but I need more time and research to flesh out the details of this conjecture.

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Comments

Michael C. Willis's picture

Hi Edgar, 

I have to agree one hundred percent. A vegetarian diet has made my life so much better, in terms of both physical and mental health.

With some exceptions, on a vegetarian diet my dreams are brighter and generally happier and I feel more refreshed on waking. I don’t get sick nearly as often, and I’ve noticed that I don’t get angry as easily when I'm not eating meat. I wish science would do some studying on these things, as there are plenty of test subjects…

I’m sure all of us have seen one of those awful videos that surface once in a while about animal abuse in slaughterhouses. I tend to think that it probably happens far more often than we think, and when we eat meat we are ingesting the animals’ feelings of fear and dread into our own bodies, as you said. The nerves, acting as channels or conduits for these emotions, are interconnected with everything else in the body. 

As for the reason our dreams are darker (literally and figuratively) when we have meat in our diet, I thought about this for a while. The subtle world interpenetrates the physical, occupying the same space, and so they are always intimately connected. The animals take their dark feelings with them into the subtle world when they pass over, making the subtle world itself darker, which in turn affects all of the inhabitants there including us.

And as you mention above, just as in the physical world, in the subtle world there are entities that thrive on those bad feelings - why feed them while we feed ourselves? If like attracts like, why would we want to put something in our bodies that attracted unwelcome guests?

Edgar Reyes's picture

Profound response, Michael.

I am usually vegetarian, but over the last few years I "allow" myself a few slices of turkey over the holidays.  And often, as is the case this year, I become more lenient and have a little bit more throught the following days and weeks.  The scenery of my dreams, indeed, has mostly been at "night time" -when the sun isn't out.  They also haven't been very fun -I don't wake up with a smile on my face too often.  

But, it's been a few days now since I've eaten any meat, and I'm feeling better generally.  I expect my dreams to reflect a healthier state any day now...

Thanks again for your thought provoking response!