Nightmares are known to all people. Every person at one time or other has experienced having a nightmare. On the surface nightmares may seem to be mostly a concern for small children, but the reality is people of all age ranges can and do have nightmares. Adults for example are believed to have a nightmare on average once every month.

A nightmare is actually a dream. The difference between a typical dream and a nightmare is that nightmares produce a distress reaction that can result in one feeling in impending danger. While one is in a nightmare, one is often confronted with the dangers of being in immediate distress, or even of confronting death. While one might believe children are most likely to have nightmares, in truth it's believed that nightmares occur most often in adolescents. As would probably be expected, adults are least likely to have nightmares.

If nothing else, nightmares are often distressing. A person waking from a nightmare can feel a sense of fear and even panic, and may have difficulty returning to sleep. Anxiety about the prospect of having a nightmare can interfere with normal sleep. Some persons dealing with significant psychological stress can have nightmares on a regular basis. Though it's possible someone may enjoy the experience of having a nightmare, most people would likely prefer never having one at all.

A method known as ho'oponopono has been reported to positively affect nightmare experiences. For those unaware of it, this method has been practiced for generations in Hawaii as a method for problem solving. The method has been in use in Hawaii for generations. Though ho'oponopono is not widely known off the Hawaiian islands, there is a growing interest in the practice. Articles and even entire books have been written about it. There are also individuals who teach the method as a profession.

Using ho'oponopono during or after a nightmare has been reported ease the nightmare experience considerably. Reports of people effectively using ho'oponopono as they've been in the midst of or immediately after a nightmare are becoming more common. While the idea of using ho'oponopono during sleep may be difficult to grasp, people have in fact become familiar enough with ho'oponopono to use it almost intuitively. And if using ho'oponopono during the sleep state isn't achieved, ho'oponopono can certainly be used on waking.

Upon waking up from a nightmare dream, using ho'oponopono can restore emotional balance and a feeling of safety, helping in the process to aid getting back to sleep. There isn't any absolute evidence of ho'oponopono's ability to counter nightmares, but it does raise interesting possibilities. A better night's sleep may be yet another benefit to using the ho'oponopono method.