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6 Ways to Make Sure Your Dreams Will Be Sweet

Happy-sleep strategies for pleasant dreams (8 Photos)

Alice Lesch Kelly on Aug 17, 2010 at 11:34AM

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6 Ways to Make Sure Your Dreams Will Be Sweet

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Clear Your Emotional Decks

Going to bed scared, angry, depressed or in a bad mood can bring on unpleasant dreams that reflect these feelings, says neuroscientist Rosalind Cartwright, Ph.D., author of the upcoming book, The Twenty-four Hour Mind: The Role of Sleep and Dreaming in Our Emotional Lives. One way to empty your mind before bed is by creating a “worry diary:” List all the things you’re agonizing about on one page; on the opposite page, write down an action plan for what you can do the next day to address each troubling issue. By taking control of unpleasant thoughts, you make it less likely that they’ll plague you during sleep.

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