Nightmares after no contact

[mary_poppins]

Anybody here dealing with daily nightmares? I have constant dreams of my brothers and my parents trying to off me or hurt me physically or frighten me. I dream of guns, knives and spiders all these weapons used against me. I swear that this is the only type of dream I have (sometimes it's mild and it doesn't wake me up) and it's frustrating. How did you manage your nightmares? is this a normal part of going no contact/grieving/letting go of abusers?

[hhaw]

I found the chase nightmares calmed down after a while. I'd say it was months for the acute dreams to stop. Maybe more to do with moving farther away.....and ending actual contact with PDs.

As for daily hypervigilience.....that was a longer process, but happened.

There's tricks and methods to calm your Nervous System.....so many, they can't be listed.

Here's some I've used....
Walk backwards around trashcan.
Cross arms, and gently pat shoulders, one at a time, like soothing a baby.
Pay attention to sight, peripheral vision, colors, what you hear.
Notice all the space above you, below, to the sides, etc....all the way into space.
Breathe in pink cotton candy....slow and with purpose, to expand painful areas in chest, and create more space around it.
Walk on grass...slowly....
barefoot, like you're kissing the earth with your steps.
If I'm unable to perform any calming techniques....I push against a door jamb, with all my strength, while focusing on my breath, or....
I focus on one neutral feeling place in my body, and breathe into it for a while.

Training/tricking/sustaining your Nervous System, into calmer states, is about calming hijacked biochemistry, and engaging the Parasympathetic Nervous System ((PNS.) PNS is responsible for turning off fight or flight survival brain.

One can't think their way out....it must be managed, ime.

You might notice yourself humming.....which is something I've always done. I've been self soothing all my life, without realizing humming engages PNS, as does deep gargling, immersing face in ice water, and sucking on a lemon.

So many ways.  I hope you find some you trust, and ignore the rest.