[title]Bananas[/title]
Bananas. The one and only, tried and tested, all-around dream booster.
Why: loads of vitamin B6, and a few other things besides. Stimulates various parts of your brain to the point that eating one banana every night before sleep is assured to make your dreaming become deeper, more vivid, and more remarkable. Try now and tell me if I’m exaggerating this even a bit!
[title]The infallible lucid dreaming elixir[/title]
Artemisia vulgaris will increase alertness and vividness, but alone will make your dream a little too shallow and unstable. You need to compensate this by deepening your sleep with some other herb. (Passion flower will do the job).
On the subject of a, let’s put it this way, infallible lucid dreaming elixir… I suppose one could achieve maximum result from the right blend of herbs.
For awareness, vividness and that nap-like alertness, I’d add a little (I repeat: a little) Artemisia vulgaris (Mugwort) or an even smaller quantity of Artemisia absinthium (Wormwood). A more affordable option (albeit less effective) would be to find a white or green variety of Camellia sinensis (Chinese tea herb). But my bet would be to mix very, very little Artemisia sp. with a little Salvia officinalis (kitchen sage).
Having gotten you aware, it’s time to add depth and relaxation to your sleep (better yet if, in the process, we manage to boost your memory a little). Your best bet is Passiflora alata (that’s a variety of passion fruit), alone. It’s relaxing power is unmatched in nature, it’ll boost your memory, give your tea a most pleasant fragrance and not disturb the workings of the Artemisia/Salvia combo.
Lacking Passiflora alata, the second best choice for depth would be yet another mix. Valeriana officinalis (Valerian) will be great help, especially if you manage to get a hold of its roots. The tea won’t smell as good, but hell, it’s a potent herb in many ways. Mix it with Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) for an all-around soothing of the mind. With these two blended right, you’ll sleep like a baby and it’ll be the least stressed you’ve felt in a long while.
So there you have it: Artemisia sp., Salvia officinalis and Passiflora alata. Or else: Artemisia sp., Salvia officinalis, Valeriana officinalis (roots), and Melissa officinalis. Have a blast. To learn a bit more about blending, brewing and whatnot, feel free to post questions here, or to send me a PM.
Nota bene: all herbs here, being natural stuff and all, have all kinds of substances which yield all kinds of side effects on certain people, or at certain doses. In particular, both varieties of Artemisia sp. here presented, as well as sage, have convulsive properties if you take too much of them (at once or overtime). So if you don’t know where to look for this kind of information, and you don’t know the basics of brewing, and you can’t be bothered reading a couple books on the subject, either trust someone else to blend your teas or go back to chamomile and hot chocolate.