How to Tame a Ghost (a Sleep Science Story) 👻

Oct 28

Hi friends,

Happy Halloween week! Ancient cultures saw this week as the time when the veil between worlds thinned. Science says sleep does something similar: it opens the door between your conscious and subconscious mind.

I just finished binge-watching Agatha All Along, and singing “Down Down the Witches Road” as we gear up for the big trick-or-treat night (our whole family is going as K-Pop Demon Hunters). Our house has been full of spooky season imagery, and here’s how I handled that with my little one’s nights.

We recently watched the original Ghostbusters with our 4.5-year-old, and while she loved Slimer and the catchy theme song, it was a little scary.

That night she told me that when she closed her eyes “her brain kept thinking about the scary part where all the ghosts escaped from the firehouse.” (I loved how she described her mind as its own entity, a little glimpse of emotional intelligence in action!)

So I tried something from Image Rehearsal Therapy, a technique used for recurring nightmares. I asked her how we could rewrite the story to make it silly instead of scary. Together, we decided that the giant Stay Puff Marshmallow Man took off his hat, placed it over the firehouse, and trapped all the ghosts inside.

She laughed, said “OK Mom, I can see it. My brain is thinking of that now, thanks,” and went right to sleep.

That’s the power of imagination and how we can also apply it to dreams.

* Image created with mother/daughter imagination and AI that has not learned how to spell properly.

Conversely, we can also bring our dreams into waking reality.

✨ Dream Decoding 101 → from the upcoming All Season Sleep Diary

Each morning, your brain hands you a story. Writing it down is the first step to remembering and decoding your dreams. Dream journaling isn’t just mystical; it’s a practice used in cognitive and trauma-focused sleep therapy to strengthen memory, emotional regulation, and creative problem-solving.

Even artist Salvador Dalí understood the power of that twilight zone between sleep and wake. As Quanta Magazine recently described, he used to nod off in a chair while holding a heavy key above a plate. When he drifted into the hypnagogic state, that hazy overlap of waking and dreaming in N1 stage sleep, the key would fall, wake him, and he’d paint what he’d seen.

Modern neuroscience now shows how Dalí and a long list of creators like Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin were onto something: that in-between sleep/wake moment loosens the brain’s grip on logic, unlocking new associations and creative insight.

*Also Let’s be honest: plenty of women and non-white creators were likely doing the same thing, the history books just didn’t bother to write their names down.

Image of Dali alongside his work reposted from Quanta magazine

You don’t need a key over a clattering plate, (in fact please don't, just look at the bags under Dali's eyes to see how chronic sleep deprivation is not the answer to any problems).

Use awareness instead. Keep a notebook by your bed and capture whatever drifts through as you’re falling asleep or waking up. Those flashes often hold the most interesting ideas.

AND NOW ANNOUNCING........

I’ve been working on a project to give you a space to dream-decode and track your sleep the analog way!

The All Season Sleep Diary was designed for exactly that: to help you track your sleep cycles, mood, and even menstrual phases while leaving space for your dreams to speak. Because your subconscious has something to say.

Pre-orders should be open by the end of next month (in time for holiday gifting).

Until then, keep that notebook close. Even one word is enough to start the conversation.

Sweet dreams (and happy demon and dream hunting),
Sarah

*If your dreams feel extra vivid right now, don’t dismiss them. They might be your ancestors, hormones, or hippocampus whispering ideas and visions that your waking self’s been too busy to notice.

PS. Please forward to a friend who needs to see this and like, share, and save on socials. The algorithm hasn't been sharing my stuff lately but you can. Thank you. 🖤