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we can organize the padlet by dragging the boxes... can we do that some how? like type in the comments how we should organize so it is easier to find things.

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Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. Dreaming may have some benefits, such as helping the brain process information gathered during the day.

They are an enduring source of mystery for scientists and psychological doctors. Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them? What do they mean?

This article will explore the current theories, causes, and applications of dreaming.

Dreams: Do they represent our unconsious desires?
There are several theories about why we dream. Are dreams merely part of the sleep cycle, or do they serve some other purpose?

offline memory reprocessing, in which the brain consolidates learning and memory tasks and supports and records waking consciousness

preparing for possible future threats

cognitive simulation of real life experiences, as dreaming is a subsystem of the waking default network, the part of the mind active during daydreaming

helping develop cognitive capabilities

reflecting unconscious mental function in a psychoanalytic way

a unique state of consciousness that incorporates experience of the present, processing of the past, and preparation for the future

a psychological space where overwhelming, contradictory, or highly complex notions can be brought together by the dreaming ego, notions that would be unsettling while awake, serving the need for psychological balance and equilibrium

Possible explanations include:

From evidence and new research methodologies, researchers have speculated that dreaming serves the following functions:

Dreams most likely happen during REM sleep.
Much that remains unknown about dreams. They are by nature difficult to study in a laboratory, but technology and new research techniques may help improve our understanding of dreams.

Phases of sleep

There are five phases of sleep in a sleep cycle:

Stage 1: Light sleep, slow eye movement, and reduced muscle activity. This stage forms 4 to 5 percent of total sleep.

Stage 2: Eye movement stops and brain waves become slower, with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. This stage forms 45 to 55 percent of total sleep.

Stage 3: Extremely slow brain waves called delta waves begin to appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves. This accounts for 4 to 6 percent of total sleep.

Stage 4: The brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called "deep sleep." There is no eye movement or muscle activity. People awakened while in deep sleep do not adjust immediately and often feel disoriented for several minutes after waking up. This forms 12 to 15 percent of total sleep.

Stage 5: This stage is known as rapid eye movement ( REM). Breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and males develop penile erections. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales. These are dreams. This stage accounts for 20 to 25 percent of total sleep time.

Neuroscience offers explanations linked to the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep as a likely candidate for the cause of dreaming.

Dreams are a universal human experience that can be described as a state of consciousness characterized by sensory, cognitive and emotional occurrences during sleep.

The dreamer has reduced control over the content, visual images and activation of the memory.

There is no cognitive state that has been as extensively studied and yet as frequently misunderstood as dreaming.

There are significant differences between the neuroscientific and psychoanalytic approaches to dream analysis.

Neuroscientists are interested in the structures involved in dream production, dream organization, and narratability. However, psychoanalysis concentrates on the meaning of dreams and placing them in the context of relationships in the history of the dreamer.

Reports of dreams full of emotional and vivid experiences that contain themes, concerns, dream figures, and objects that correspond closely to waking life.

These elements create a novel "reality" out of seemingly nothing, producing an experience with a lifelike timeframe and connections.

Nightmares

Nightmares are distressing dreams that cause the dreamer to feel a number of disturbing emotions. Common reactions to a nightmare include fear and anxiety.

They can occur in both adults and children, and causes include:

Lucid dreams

Lucid dreaming is the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. They may have some control over their dream.

This measure of control can vary between lucid dreams. They often occur in the middle of a regular dream when the sleeping person realizes suddenly that they are dreaming.

Some people experience lucid dreaming at random, while others have reported being able to increase their capacity to control their dreams.

What goes through our minds just before we fall asleep could affect the content of our dreams.

For example, during exam time, students may dream about course content. People in a relationship may dream of their partner. Web developers may see programming code.

Forty-eight percent of characters represented a named person known to the dreamer.

Thirty-five percent of characters were identified by their social role (for example, policeman) or relationship to dreamer (such as a friend).

Sixteen percent were not recognized

These circumstantial observations suggest that elements from the everyday re-emerge in dream-like imagery during the transition from wakefulness to sleep.

Characters

Studies have examined the "characters" that appear in dream reports and how they the dreamer identifies them.

A study of 320 adult dream reports found:

Among named characters:

Elements of bizarreness were reported in 14 percent of named and generic characters.

Another study investigated the relationship between dream emotion and dream character identification.

Affection and joy were commonly associated with known characters and were used to identify them even when these emotional attributes were inconsistent with those of the waking state.

The findings suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, associated with short-term memory, is less active in the dreaming brain than during waking life, while the paleocortical and subcortical limbic areas are more active.

the day-residue effect, involving immediate incorporations of events from the preceding day

the dream-lag effect, involving incorporations delayed by about a week

Memories

processing memories into dream incorporation takes a cycle of around 7 days

these processes help further the functions of socio-emotional adaptation and memory consolidation

The concept of 'repression' dates back to Freud. Freud maintained that undesirable memories could become suppressed in the mind. Dreams ease repression by allowing these memories to be reinstated.

A study showed that sleep does not help people forget unwanted memories. Instead, REM sleep might even counteract the voluntary suppression of memories, making them more accessible for retrieval.

Two types of temporal effects characterize the incorporation of memories into dreams:

The findings of one study suggest that:

Dream lag

Dream-lag is when the images, experiences, or people that emerge in dreams are images, experiences, or people you have seen recently, perhaps the previous day or a week before.

The idea is that certain types of experiences take a week to become encoded into long-term memory, and some of the images from the consolidation process will appear in a dream.

Events experienced while awake are said to feature in 1 to 2 percent of dream reports, although 65 percent of dream reports reflect aspects of recent waking life experiences.

autobiographical memories, or long-lasting memories about the self

episodic memories, which are memories about specific episodes or events

The dream-lag effect has been reported in dreams that occur at the REM stage but not those that occur at stage 2.

One dream (0.5 percent) contained an episodic memory.

Most dreams in the study (80 percent) contained low to moderate incorporations of autobiographical memory features.

Memory types and dreaming

Two types of memory can form the basis of a dream.

These are:

A study exploring different types of memory within dream content among 32 participants the following:

Researchers suggest that memories of personal experiences are experienced fragmentarily and selectively during dreaming. The purpose may be to integrate these memories into the long-lasting autobiographical memory.

A hypothesis stating that dreams reflect waking-life experiences is supported by studies investigating the dreams of psychiatric patients and patients with sleep disorders. In short, their daytime symptoms and problems are reflected in their dreams.

In 1900, Freud described a category of dreams known as "biographical dreams." These reflect the historical experience of being an infant without the typical defensive function. Many authors agree that some traumatic dreams perform a function of recovery.

One paper hypothesizes that the main aspect of traumatic dreams is to communicate an experience that the dreamer has in the dream but does not understand. This can help an individual reconstruct and come to terms with past trauma.

Themes

The themes of dreams can be linked to the suppression of unwanted thoughts and, as a result, an increased occurrence of that suppressed thought in dreams.

Fifteen good sleepers were asked to suppress an unwanted thought 5 minutes prior to sleep.

The results demonstrate that there were increased dreams about the unwanted thought and a tendency to have more distressing dreams. They also imply that thought suppression may lead to significantly increased mental disorder symptoms.

school, teachers, and studying

being chased or pursued

sexual experiences

falling

arriving too late

a living person being dead

a person now dead being alive

flying or soaring through the air

failing an examination

being on the verge of falling

being frozen with fright

being physically attacked

being nude

eating delicious food

swimming

being locked up

insects or spiders

being killed

losing teeth

being tied up, restrained, or unable to move

being inappropriately dressed

being a child again

trying to complete a task successfully

being unable to find toilet, or embarrassment about losing one

discovering a new room at home

having superior knowledge or mental ability

losing control of a vehicle

fire

wild, violent beasts

seeing a face very close to you

snakes

having magical powers

vividly sensing, but not necessarily seeing or hearing, a presence in the room

finding money

floods or tidal waves

killing someone

seeing yourself as dead

being half-awake and paralyzed in bed

people behaving in a menacing way

seeing yourself in a mirror

being a member of the opposite sex

being smothered, unable to breathe

encountering God in some form

seeing a flying object crash

earthquakes

seeing an angel

part animal, part human creatures

tornadoes or strong winds

being at the movie

seeing extra-terrestrials

traveling to another planet

being an animal

seeing a UFO

someone having an abortion

being an object

Some themes are familiar to many people, such as flying, falling, and arriving late.
Research has indicated that external stimuli presented during sleep can affect the emotional content of dreams.

For example, the positively-toned stimulus of roses in one study yielded more positively themed dreams, whereas the negative stimulus of rotten eggs was followed by more negatively themed dreams.

Typical dreams are defined as dreams similar to those reported by a high percentage of dreamers.

Up to now, the frequencies of typical dream themes have been studied with questionnaires. These have indicated that a rank order of 55 typical dream themes has been stable over different sample populations.

The 55 themes identified are:

Some dream themes appear to change over time.

For example, from 1956 to 2000, there was an increase in the percentage of people who reported flying in dreams. This could reflect the increase in air travel.

What do they mean?

Relationships: Some have hypothesized that one cluster of typical dreams, including being an object in danger, falling, or being chased, is related to interpersonal conflicts.

Sexual concepts: Another cluster that includes flying, sexual experiences, finding money, and eating delicious food is associated with libidinal and sexual motivations.

Fear of embarrassment: A third group, containing dreams that involve being nude, failing an examination, arriving too late, losing teeth, and being inappropriately dressed, is associated with social concerns and a fear of embarrassment.

Brain activity and dream types

In neuroimaging studies of brain activity during REM sleep, scientists found that the distribution of brain activity might also be linked to specific dream features.

Several bizarre features of normal dreams have similarities with well-known neuropsychological syndromes that occur after brain damage, such as delusional misidentifications for faces and places.

Dreams and the senses

Dreams were evaluated in people experiencing different types of headache. Results showed people with migraine had increased frequency of dreams involving taste and smell.

This may suggest that the role of some cerebral structures, such as amygdala and hypothalamus, are involved in migraine mechanisms as well as in the biology of sleep and dreaming.

Music in dreams is rarely studied in scientific literature. However, in a study of 35 professional musicians and 30 non-musicians, the musicians experienced twice as many dreams featuring music, when compared with non-musicians.

Musical dream frequency was related to the age of commencement of musical instruction but not to the daily load of musical activity. Nearly half of the recalled music was non-standard, suggesting that original music can be created in dreams.

Pain

It has been shown that realistic, localized painful sensations can be experienced in dreams, either through direct incorporation or from memories of pain. However, the frequency of pain dreams in healthy subjects is low.

In one study, 28 non-ventilated burn victims were interviewed for 5 consecutive mornings during their first week of hospitalization.

More than half did not report pain dreams. However, these results could suggest that pain dreams occur at a greater frequency in populations currently experiencing pain than in normal volunteers.

Self-awareness

One study frontotemporal gamma EEG activity to conscious awareness in dreams.

The study found that current stimulation in the lower gamma band during REM sleep influences on-going brain activity and induces self-reflective awareness in dreams.

Researchers concluded that higher order consciousness is related to oscillations around 25 and 40 Hz.

Relationships

depression and thoughts about suicide

depression without thinking about suicide

carrying out a violent act without suicide

Recent research has demonstrated parallels between styles of romantic attachment and general dream content.

Assessment results from 61 student participants in committed dating relationships of six months duration or longer revealed a significant association between relationship-specific attachment security and the degree to which dreams about romantic partners followed.

The findings illuminate our understanding of mental representations with regards to specific attachment figures.

Death in dreams

Researchers compared the dream content of different groups of people in a psychiatric facility. Participants in one group had been admitted after attempting to take their own lives.

Their dreams of this group were compared with those of three control groups in the facility who had experienced:

Those who had considered or attempted suicide or carried out violence had were more likely to have dreams with content relating to death and destructive violence. One factor affecting this was the severity of an individual's depression.

Left and right side of the brain

The right and left hemispheres of the brain seem to contribute in different ways to a dream formation.

Researchers of one study that the left hemisphere seems to provide dream origin while the right hemisphere provides dream vividness, figurativeness and affective activation level.

A study of adolescents aged 10 to 17 years found that those who were left-handed were more likely to experience lucid dreams and to remember dreams within other dreams.

Studies of brain activity suggest that most people over the age of 10 years dream between 4 and 6 times each night, but some people rarely remember dreaming.

It is often said that 5 minutes after a dream, people have forgotten 50 percent of its content, increasing to 90 percent another 5 minutes later.

Most dreams are entirely forgotten by the time someone wakes up, but it is not known precisely why dreams are so hard to remember.

Steps that may help improve dream recall, include:

Who remembers their dreams?

There are factors that can potentially influence who remembers their dreams, how much of the dream remains intact, and how vivid it is.

Age: Over time, a person is likely to experience changes in sleep timing, structure, and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity.

Evidence that dream recall progressively decreases from the beginning of adulthood, but not in older age. Dream also become less intense. This evolution occurs faster in men than women, with gender differences in the content of dreams.

Gender: A study of dreams experienced by 108 males and 110 females found no differences between the amount of aggression, friendliness, sexuality, male characters, weapons, or clothes that feature in the content.

report a dream

dream frequently

experience intense images that contextualize strong emotions in their dreams

However, the dreams of females featured a higher number of family members, babies, children, and indoor settings than those of males.

report a dream

report dreams with a higher mean number of words

Sleep disorders: Dream recall is heightened in patients with insomnia, and their dreams reflect the stress associated with their condition. The dreams of people with narcolepsy may a more bizarre and negative tone.

Dream recall and well-being

One study looked at whether dream recall and dream content would reflect the social relationships of the person who is dreaming.

College student volunteers were assessed on measures of attachment, dream recall, dream content, and other psychological measures.

Females more often had dreams containing anxiety than males, although they could not remember their dreams as often.

Girls dreamt more often than boys about the loss of another person, falling, socially disturbing situations, small or aggressive animals, family members, and other female people they may or may not recognize.

Participants who were classified as "high" on an "insecure attachment" scale were significantly more likely to:

Older volunteers whose attachment style was classed as "preoccupied" were significantly more likely to:

Dream recall was lowest for the "avoidant" subjects and highest for the "preoccupied" subjects.

Everyone dreams, although we may not remember our dreams. At different times of life or during different experiencs, our dreams might change.

Children's dreams

Patients tended to be clearly present in the dreams of caregivers, and the dreams were typically realistic.

In the dream, the caregiver typically interacted with the patient in their usual capacity but was also typically frustrated by the inability to help as fully as desired.

A study investigating anxiety dreams in 103 children aged 9 to 11 years observed the following:

Pregnancy

Studies comparing the dreams of pregnant and non-pregnant women showed that:

were more frequent in the first year of bereavement

were more likely in those experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression

Caregivers

Those that give care to family or people who have long-term illnesses often have dreams related to that individual.

About 80 percent of participants younger than 30 years old dreamed in color.

At 60 years old, 20 percent said they dreamed in color.

Younger people are more likely to dream in color.
A study following the dreams of adults that worked for at least a year with individuals at United States hospice centers :

Bereavement

It is widely believed that oppressive dreams are frequent in people going through a time of bereavement.

A study analyzing dream quality, as well as the linking of oppressive dreams in bereavement, discovered that oppressive dreams:

In another study of 278 people experiencing bereavement:

Does everyone dream in color?

Researchers discovered in a study that:

The number of people aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s dreaming in color increased through 1993 to 2009. Researchers speculated that color television might play a role in the generational difference.

Another study using questionnaires and dream diaries also found older adults had more black and white dreams than the younger participants.

Older people reported that both their color dreams and black and white dreams were equally vivid. However, younger participants said that their black and white dreams were of poorer quality.

Can dreams predict the future?

Some dreams may seem to predict future events.

Almost 90 percent of individuals reported drug-related dreams during the first month, mainly of using the drug.

Almost 61 percent had drug-related dreams after 6 months, mainly of using or refusing the drug.

Some researchers claim to have evidence that this is possible, but there is not enough evidence to prove it.

Most often, this seems to be due to coincidence, a false memory, or the unconscious mind connecting together known information.

Dreams may help people learn more about their feelings, beliefs, and values. Images and symbols that appear in dreams will have meanings and connections that are specific to each person.

People looking to make sense of their dreams should think about what each part of the dreams mean to them as an individual.

Books or guides that give specific, universal meanings to images and symbols may not be useful.

However, for those who are interested in such books, there is a selection available for purchase online.

Drug withdrawal

One study followed the dream content of people who regularly use crack cocaine in Trinidad and Tobago during a period of abstinence:

People with complete vision loss have fewer visual dream impressions compared with sighted participants.

People who have been unable to see from birth report more auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory dream components, compared with sighted participants.

The ability to see does not appear to affect emotional and thematic dream content.

Those with other abilities

One small study explored the dream diaries of 14 people with impairments.
Read the article in Spanish.
Four were born with paraplegia, and 10 were born unable to hear or speak.

Deafness: When compared with 36 able-bodied individuals, findings showed that around 80 percent of the dream reports of participants with deafness gave no indication of their impairment.

Many spoke in their dreams, while others could hear and understand spoken language.

Paraplegia: Similarly, the dream reports of those with paraplegia showed that the participants often walked, ran, or swam in their dreams, none of which they had ever done in their waking lives.

A second study looked at the dream reports of 15 people who were either born with paraplegia or acquired it later in life, due to a spinal-cord injury.

Their reports revealed that 14 participants with paraplegia had dreams in which they were physically active, and they dreamed about walking as often as the 15 control participants who did not have paraplegia.

Other research has suggested that the brain has the genetically determined ability to generate experiences that mimic life, including fully functioning limbs and senses.

People who are born without hearing or unable to move are likely tapping into these parts of the brain as they dream about tasks they cannot perform while awake.

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Dreams: Causes, types, meaning, what they are, and more

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Most people dream 3-6 times per night, although many people will not remember dreaming at all. This article looks at some of the recent theories about why people dream, what causes them, what dreams are, and lists the most common things that people dream about, including falling, swimming, dying, and many others.

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https://journeyintodreams.com/interpret-dreams/

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Dreams have always fascinated humans throughout time. Many civilizations believed dreams were messages from God, Goddess, or their ancestors. Like all history, the history of dream interpretation is fascinating.

You have a choice to continue reading the blog or listen in the player below.

https://learndreaminterpretation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Dream-Interpretation-History-w-intros.mp3

Ancient History

Native Americans took their dreams seriously, often going to the medicine man or woman of the tribe looking for interpretation to help them follow the wisdom of the messages of the nighttime.

Besides messages from their Higher Source, people of ancient Egypt felt their souls went on journeys to other realms besides Earth during the dreamtime. Which makes sense to me, how about you?

Even today there are Africans who believe that our dream life are as valuable as our waking life. Once I totally freaked out a woman at a party when I said, "Who knows, maybe we're dreaming now and our dreams are our real life?" Which by the way turns out to be an important question from ancient China.

The Celtics, Greeks, and Romans were also fascinated by their dreams. Sadly, in the Dark Ages there were some people who viewed dreams as evil because the devil was sending the dreamer messages.

In the Bible, you will find references to dreams and their meanings. One I find practically fascinating is the story of Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery. Because of his skill with dream interpretation, he interpreted the Pharaoh's dream. That saved Egypt from starvation; hence, Joseph went from being a slave to the Pharaoh's trusted adviser.

Important Dream Experts

There are two important modern dream interpreters that aided the field of dream interpretation; in a nutshell, they were:

The first is Sigmund Freud, who believed that dreams revealed our unconscious as a way to glimpse into our soul and true desires. Freud felt many of those unfulfilled desires were sexual; however, I tend to wonder if those were his own issues with sexuality that were projected onto his patients?

Carl Jung is the second dream interpreter who made his marked in dream interpretation history. Jung was a student of Freud who disagreed with some of his teacher's theories, thus went in a different direction. His most important theory was that you are every character in your dreams; for example, if you dream about your mother, it really represents your mother within.

Freud and Jung helped bring dream interpretation into psychology and science, thus enriching all of society.

Today the study of dream analysis continues in not only science and therapy, but in religions, metaphysics, and individuals. My own personal knowing about our dreams of the nighttime is it helps us discover who we are, giving insights and solutions to our past, present, and future issues, plus connecting us to our ancestors, guides, and Higher Source.

If you would like to discover more about interpreting your dreams, please check out dream interpretation online courses and the book Learn the Secret Language of Dreams.

Pamela Cummins specializes in dream interpretation and personal/spiritual growth. She is available for dream analysis, coaching, and workshops. Pamela is the author of Learn the Secret Language of Dreams, the FREE eBook Got Dreams? Discover Your Ideal Dream Journal, four other books, and Analyze Your Dreams Oracle Cards.

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Brief History of Dream Interpretation - Learn Dream Interpretation

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Dreams have always fascinated humans throughout time. Many civilizations believed dreams were messages from God, Goddess, or their ancestors. Like all history, the history of dream interpretation is fascinating. You have a choice to continue reading the blog or listen in the player below.

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Dreams are mysterious things. Whether they're good or bad, tricks of memory or flights of fantasy, humans have been studying dreams and what they mean for a long time. Today, dreams play a role in the work of psychologists, scientists, artists, and even mathematicians! What role do dreams play in your life? You might be able to figure that out if you start keeping a dream journal.

So what exactly is a dream journal?

A dream journal (or dream diary) is a record of experiences that you dream about in your sleep. You can start by simply writing down what you remember from your dreams. As you go along, you can start to analyze what your dreams mean (especially if you keep having the same kinds of dreams over and over).

A dream journal is a type of reflective diary, where you reminisce on important or unusual things that happen to you and then meditate on what they might mean. Here are some tips on writing reflective journals.

Why keep a dream journal?

1. It helps you remember what your dreams are about, and improve your memory in general!

Dreams are fleeting. In general, the more time that has passed since you woke up from a dream, the more difficult it will be to remember what that dream was about. Writing down your dreams as soon as you wake up will make it easier to remember what they were about later. In addition, paying closer attention to what your dreams are about will help you remember them more easily in the future, with or without writing them down. It's like exercise for your brain!

2. It helps you better understand your emotions and thoughts, including how your dreams affect them.

As part of your psychology, it should come as little surprise that dreams can affect how you feel and think. Having a positive dream the night before may help you skate through a day with happiness and optimism, while waking up from a nightmare may make your next day full of sadness and worry. Chronicling your dreams can help you understand why you feel the way that you do each day. You may even be able to identify triggers for your thoughts and emotions that you may not always be consciously aware of.

3. It can help you control your dreams with lucid dreaming.

One of the most often-mentioned benefits of keeping a dream journal is that it can help you advance from merely experiencing your dreams to actually controlling them. This is known as "lucid dreaming," a state in which you are not only consciously aware that you are dreaming, but can also consciously manipulate what happens in a dream (at least to some extent). Becoming a lucid dreamer can help you learn how to give bad dreams good endings, or even learn to avoid having nightmares in the first place.

4. It can help you solve problems creatively.

A big part of why dreams can be fun is that they aren't always constrained by everyday conventions. You can use this to your advantage by dreaming about a subject or problem in an unusual way, and then writing down the result in a dream diary. It might just inspire you to find a new method for creating something or solving a problem, one that you wouldn't have normally thought about in the waking world. Many writers have used their dreams to inspire their stories, and even some mathematicians - including Albert Einstein - have relied on dreams to develop their formulas and theories in ways nobody thought possible at the time!

5 tips for getting started with writing a dream diary

1. Don't wait; write!

Keep your dream journal as close to your bed as possible. That way, you can quickly start writing in it when you first wake up in the morning. As time passes, and even as you start to move around after waking up, you start to lose the ability to remember what you were dreaming about. So it's important to be able to access your dream diary quickly after having a dream.

2. Include as much detail as you can.

Note everything that you can remember happening in your dream, including where you are, who you're with, what time it is, what sounds you can hear, what objects and colours you can see, how you're feeling emotionally, and any other sensations that you experience. This may be hard at first, but it will get easier with practice. The more detail that you're able to recall from your dreams, the easier it will be to interpret them.

3. If it's easier, draw your dream.

Some people may find dreams difficult to describe in writing, but easier to express through pictures. So if you're one of those people, try drawing what you see in your dream instead of trying to make sense of it in words. Of course, if you're talented in both drawing AND writing, try capturing your dream through both. It can lead to some very interesting analyses!

4. Compare your dreams to your waking life.

As a first step towards interpreting your dreams, try taking your journal with you during your daily activities and writing a short summary of what happened each day. Then, when you write down what your dream was about the next morning, you can look back on the previous day's events for clues as to why certain elements may have shown up in your dream. Conversely, you can also look at your dream to see how it might have influenced what you thought and felt for the rest of the day.

If you own a smart phone, there's an easy way to do this. Just download and install the Penzu app for your Google Android devices and Apple iOS device, and you can take your diary on Penzu anywhere that you take your phone. Talk about convenient!

5. Look for patterns in your dreams; they might reveal what you're subconsciously thinking about.

Once you get good at recording the details of your dreams, you can start to analyze them. Look for elements that are consistent across your dreams: are you always in a certain place and/or time? Is there a certain person always there with you, or are you always alone? Is there a particular plant, animal, or other object that always shows up? Are you or anyone else in the dream always feeling a certain way?

If you keep dreaming of the same things over and over, it may point to issues in the waking world that you're trying to deal with or perhaps have been reluctant to confront. For some examples of what those might be, have a look at our reflective journal prompts.

Dream journal examples

As we've discussed, there are a lot of different aspects about your dreams that you can record and analyze. Everyone's dreams and ways of thinking are different, too. So it should come as little surprise that there are several different ways to record and organize dreams. Here are a few examples.

Rob Vincent's dream journal - a pretty basic blog-style dream journal. He doesn't go into a lot of detail analyzing his dreams, but he often notes his general mood for the day after having the dream.

Andy Zaitsev's dream journal - a collection of dreams recorded at various points from 1996 to 2003. Notice that he separates his dreams into lucid and non-lucid, and does a little bit more post-dream analysis.

The Elder Dreams - a journal written by comic book writer Dan Curtis Johnson from 1988 to 2005. You can see where he gets his inspiration from!

John DuBois' dream journal - the journal of the late software engineer John H. DuBois III, spanning from 1991 to 2007. It's interesting to note that he organizes his dreams not only by date, but also by theme.

Dream journal templates

The setup for your dream journal will probably vary depending on what the goal of it is. Are you trying to understand your thoughts and emotions? Put your sleep cycles back into balance? Solve a problem? Make your dreams lucid so that you can control them? These will all affect what kinds of information you include in your diary. Here are a few sample logs that you can use for reference.

Dr. Eric H. Chudler's template - a template from a psychology professor at the University of Washington. It's pretty basic, but notice that it includes spaces to record when you go to sleep and when you wake up. Keeping this information in your journal can help you regulate your sleep patterns, so if that's something that you want to work on, then try this template.

Savetz Publishing's Free Medical Forms template - a somewhat more detailed dream diary template. It not only provides space for you to describe your dream, but also to make possible interpretations. You can even indicate if your dream was interrupted or if you completely remembered it, so you can track your progress.

Recording and analyzing your dreams can be a fun pastime, and there are many other good reasons for doing it, too. It can build your mental stamina and help correct your sleep cycles. It can help you understand and regulate your thoughts and emotions, perhaps even by coming to terms with an underlying issue in real life that you're having trouble confronting. It can help you train yourself to be aware of your dreams so that you can partially control them, which means more good dreams and fewer bad ones. And it can help you come up with new ideas, or think about how to solve a problem in a new way.

Whether you're on a desktop computer or a mobile device, Penzu and the Penzu app are great starting points for your dream journal. You can set your diary up for free, write as much as you want in it, and keep it secure from snoopers with a password. Plus, Penzu is available pretty much anywhere there's an Internet connection, so even when you're out and about, your journal is at your fingertips. So dream on, journal-keepers, but don't forget to write down what happened when you wake up!

Create your Journal "

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Dreams are mysterious things. Whether they're good or bad, tricks of memory or flights of fantasy, humans have been studying dreams and what they mean for a long time. Today, dreams play a role in the work of psychologists, scientists, artists, and even mathematicians! What role do dreams play in your life?

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Brand Archetypes defined: Noted psychologist Carl Jung (pronounced: "young") theorized that humans use symbolism to more easily understand complex concepts. As a result of his research, Jung stated: "There are forms or images of a collective nature which occur practically all over the earth as constituents of myths and at the same time, as individual products of unconscious."

In this work, Jung maintained that over the course of all time, for people, certain paths to greater understanding remain both recognizable and timeless. And that these paths to greater understanding should be categorized. Further, that these categories exhibit personality traits that are easily understood-and in the case of brands, by customers and by the companies looking to define their customer audiences. Archetypes, he called them.

"These [archetypes] are imprinted and hardwired into our psyches."

When properly identified, brand archetypes will reflect the personality of brands and serves to better align personality type with specific Customer Personas. As it applies to brand, this idea of archetypes is fairly universal and may be particularly effective as an orienting tool for brand managers looking to focus the efforts of their team.

There are twelve brand archetypes: The Innocent, Everyman, Hero, Outlaw, Explorer, Creator, Ruler, Magician, Lover, Caregiver, Jester, and Sage.
Let's take a look at a few examples:

The Innocent: Exhibits happiness, goodness, optimism, safety, romance, and youth. Example brands include: Coca-Cola, Nintendo Wii, Dove

The Sage: Committed to helping the world gain deeper insight and wisdom, the Sage serves as the thoughtful mentor or advisor. Example brands include: Google, PBS, Philips

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Brand Archetypes - What are they? Carl Jung's Archectypes as Brands

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Brand Archetypes defined: Noted psychologist Carl Jung (pronounced: "young") theorized that humans use symbolism to more easily understand complex concepts. As a result of his research, Jung stated: "There are forms or images of a collective nature which occur practically all over the earth as constituents of myths and at the same time, as individual products of unconscious."

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About a year ago, I had a bizarre dream.

I was in a large white space, like something in between a hospital and heaven (how heaven looks in the movies, anyway). There was a room with a row of gurneys with sick people on them. There was a doctor, and he told me gravely that I had "organic brain psychosis," and it was terminal.

(As a side note, "organic brain psychosis" is not a real disease, and just something my dreaming mind made up.)

Over the course of the dream I got sicker and sicker. At one point, I knew I was about to die. Three friends were there and one carried me up an escalator that led to a vast open space, with no ground.

He put me down and I floated there, in the air, with everyone surrounding me. I felt myself getting weaker and weaker, but I wasn't afraid. My eyes started to hover in that space between open and closed.

My eyes were just about to shut as I took my last breath, and then... I woke up.

So why should we bother understanding our dreams? I could have said to myself, "Weird dream," moved on with my day, and left it at that. But the reason to delve further is because dreams are a window to our unconscious mind.

They can help us understand our habits and tendencies, and open our eyes to the parts of our personality we tend to ignore or cover up. They can help us understand the contradictory and conflicting thoughts that exist in all of us. They can help us connect with our inner wisdom.

Here are the steps to start analyzing and understanding your dreams:

1. Write your dreams down. If you think you're going to be able to remember your dreams well enough the next day to analyze them, you're probably not.

First, for many people, within a few minutes of waking up the details of our dreams slip away and we're left with the feeling of, "I know I had an interesting dream, I just don't remember what happened... "

Second, while the awake mind is logical and rational, the dreaming mind is not. When you wake up, your conscious mind will try to fill in the gaps and create a story around what was likely a series of images that did not necessarily have a logical plot.

Therefore, it's best to record your dreams as soon as you wake up, before your awake mind has had a chance to add details that weren't really present when you were sleeping.

Instead of writing down a story, write down any fragments or images that come to mind, as they come to mind. The specific sequence is less important.

2. Think of associations you have with images in the dream. The next step is to examine each of the images and figures in the dream and consider what your conscious mind associates with them.

For example, in my dream, I considered my associations with hospitals (at that time, I place where I worked that caused me a lot of stress), and the diagnosis of "organic brain psychosis" (the diagnosis felt more like a tumor eating away at my brain than a psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia).

You want to look at the setting (Where does the dream take place? Have you been there before? What does it make you think of?), images and symbols (Were there any significant objects in the dream? What did they mean to you?) and anything else that stands out.

3. Consider your relationship with people in the dream. In dreams, people are not always people, but often symbols of parts of ourselves.

Remember that in your dreams, you are the writer, director, and all of the actors. The less you share a significant, primary relationship with a person in the dream (such as a parent, husband/wife, child), the more likely that person symbolizes a part of your own psyche.

So when you are examining people who pop up in your dreams, you want to consider your relationship with them in real life, and what part of you they may be representing.

My dream had three primary characters (besides me). A good friend from college, an acquaintance from college, and a friend from residency. All were men, and all of them played water sports (two were swimmers, one was a surfing buddy).

I have positive associations with water (and in certain ways feel more at home in water), and in my dream all three of these people were guiding me along the course of my illness. They seemed like a part of me that was trying to help me make some sort of transformation.

4. Is there a "day residue?" Day residue refers to any symbols or objects in your dreams that appear because you came into contact with them during the previous day.

For example, I once had a dream about a person I went to high school with, even though I hadn't seen her or thought of her in years. However, the previous day I happened to have seen her pop up on my Facebook feed and was looking at her recent pictures.

In the dream I describe above, one of the people (the acquaintance from college), I also wasn't very close with, but happened to meet up with him for lunch a few days before.

5. Examine your emotions in the dream. The next step is to consider the emotional tone of the dream.

Were you afraid? Happy? Reluctant? Was there a disconnect in the dream between how you think you should have felt and what you did feel?

In my dream I initially felt really, really sad that I was dying (as one would expect), but as I was lying down about to die, I felt completely calm and ready, and even a little curious.

When I woke up right before I was going to die in the dream, I thought, Oh man, I woke up too early... I was about to see something really interesting!

6. Look for common symbols. In Jungian theory, there are symbols that tap into our "collective unconscious" and can have common meanings throughout all of our dreams. For example...

Being chased can symbolize running away from something you don't feel equipped to handle.
Disease can symbolize inner conflict.
Death can symbolize transformation.

Take a look at this dream dictionary for possible meanings of other common symbols.

7. Ask what the dream could be trying to tell you. The practice of dream analysis assumes that dreams have a function: to balance what is unbalanced, and restore ourselves to homeostasis.

Dreams are not under our conscious control, and can't be willed or anticipated, and so it makes sense that dreams are like other autonomous bodily functions, and serve to promote health and growth.

Therefore, you should analyze your dreams with the perspective of, What is this dream trying to tell me? You should ask, What deficit in my waking life is this dream trying to expose? What is this dream trying to rebalance?

When I examined my above dream, it seemed clear that my death symbolized a transformation my unconscious mind was trying to encourage me to make. The "organic brain psychosis" seemed to symbolize the ways in which I drive myself crazy through my rigid standards and perfectionistic tendencies.

It seemed like the dream was trying to tell me to let go of these expectations, and that even though it feels scary, nothing bad would be on the other side. It suggested to me that I could wake up to a better way of life.

A dream can rarely be fully understood and interpreted, but the process of trying to understand your dreams matters.

With this process you won't come up with any "one answer" or "one meaning," but rather with a series of ideas and questions that you can examine further in your waking life.

Elana Miller, M.D. writes at Zen Psychiatry. She is a psychiatrist who is passionate about integrating western medicine with eastern philosophy to help people live fuller and happier lives. To get new articles on improving your health and happiness, join her weekly newsletter.

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About a year ago, I had a bizarre dream. I was in a large white space, like something in between a hospital and heaven (how heaven looks in the movies, anyway). There was a room with a row of gurneys with sick people on them.

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Here's a list of 30 common dream symbols and their meanings to help you unravel the unconscious symbolism of your dreams.

Dreams are like letters from the unconscious mind-if only they were written in the same language we use in waking reality.

Dream interpretation begins with paying attention to dream symbols. Start by writing notes in a dream journal every morning and underlining all the characters, objects, places, events, and themes that stand out as having potential significance. Any time a dream sign feels like it could be important, pull on that thread.

All dream symbols are derived from factors in your waking life. They're formed through the creation of conscious or unconscious associations and expressed by the dreaming mind, expressing hopes, fears, desires, and all kinds of "lizard brain" emotions (that is, the animalistic feelings that drive our fundamental fight for survival). Often enough, dream signs are influenced by our shared culture and so their true meaning is common to many people.

This is how we can have an A to Z list of dream symbols that can be used in dream analysis. However, you must still build personal dream context into the picture. For instance, a dream of killing can be interpreted many ways: are you the murderer or the victim? How did the person die? Did they spring back to life afterwards? Did they want to die? In dreams, such scenarios can be more complicated than real life, and all these unreal elements must also factor into the dream meaning.

So while we have these universal definitions, dream analysis also relies on the dreamer explaining their dream in full. When you make your records, note your choice of words and where you focus your attention in the retelling. These are the most important messages of the dream, because they caught your attention, whether consciously or not. This process of self-awareness and reflection will better connect you to your inner self who is, after all, the ultimate dreamer of your dreams.

30 Common Dream Symbols

1. Animals in Dreams

Animals in dreams can represent the part of your psyche that feels connected to nature and survival, or they can represent literal influences from waking life like pets. The specific type of animal and the dream context is important; for instance, if you're being chased by a predator, you could be holding repressed emotions like fear or aggression, which have become so overwhelming as to demand expression during a dream. Meanwhile, dreaming of a very small or baby animal reflects a desire to nurture.

2. Babies in Dreams

Dreams of babies can represent new beginnings, growth, potential, or innocence, as well as your own childlike qualities coming to the fore. Depending on the scenario and any emotions involved, babies can also symbolize your feelings of vulnerability or responsibility. Sometimes it's just a literal desire to become a parent and your inner self is rehearsing how that might feel.

3. Being Chased in Dreams

A dream of being chased is one of the most common dream symbols in all cultures. It reflects a sense of threat, fear, or avoidance. The identity of the chaser, the location, and your dream actions in response offer clues as to the perceived danger. Being chased can also symbolize the pursuit of a goal or a desire, especially if you feel empowered to overcome an obstacle.

4. Clothes in Dreams

Wearing unusual clothes in your dreams reflects a concern about how you present yourself to others or how you see yourself. For instance, if your dream symbol is shabby clothing, you may feel unattractive or worn out. The color, style, and condition of the clothes can convey different meanings-such as confidence, identity, status, or disguise.

5. Crosses in Dreams

Crosses in dreams can represent various spiritual, religious, or cultural beliefs. Depending on your personal associations, crosses can signify hope, redemption, or sacrifice, as well as guilt, fear, or confusion. Crosses can also appear in dreams as a symbol of protection or guidance, especially if events in waking life are uncertain or chaotic.

6. Exams in Dreams

Taking an exam may be a dream symbol that reflects feelings of preparedness, competence, or self-evaluation in a specific area of your life. Depending on the context, it can mean there's an opportunity for growth, recognition, or validation, or it can point to a fear of failure, judgment, or rejection. Exam dreams may also be a symbol of your desire to learn or to prove yourself, or your anxiety about meeting expectations or facing challenges.

7. Death in Dreams

Dreams of death can be unsettling. Death can represent endings, transformation, or renewal, as well as fears of loss, change, or the unknown. If you're recently bereaved, death as a dream symbol may be an attempt to come to terms with the event, and may even offer insights into your own feelings about mortality, relationships, or personal identity.

8. Falling Dreams

Falling is a powerful dream symbol about letting go, losing control, or being overwhelmed by a situation or emotion. They may occur when you feel vulnerable, powerless, and insecure, highlighting your need for support or guidance. However, falling dreams can also reflect physical sensations or movements during sleep, and in lucid dreams are a way to explore gravity in a safe environment.

9. Faulty Machinery in Dreams

When you dream, parts of your brain are shut down, including the areas that deal with logical and linguistic functions. This is why mechanical and electrical objects don't work properly in dreams, or you suddenly find it very difficult to read. It can be impossible to use a smartphone, tell the time, or apply car brakes unless you're lucid. Symbolically, however, faulty machinery can represent obstacles or setbacks, as well as frustrations about your ability to perform.

10. Food in Dreams

Some types of dream food can symbolize pleasure, indulgence, guilt, or excess. Other foods may reflect your relationship with your body, satisfaction or deprivation, or your attitude towards sharing and hospitality. Food can be a dream symbol for knowledge because it nourishes the body, just as information nourishes the brain. However, sometimes it could just be food; a very common feature of our everyday lives that crops up in dreams because of the waking frequency factor.

11. Demons in Dreams

Demons are sneaky evil entities that embody fear, guilt, or negative impulses. These menacing entities may represent inner conflicts and unresolved emotions, and you may secretly feel the need to fix bad behaviors. Depending on the context, demons are symbols of repressed desires, trauma, addiction, or even a spiritual crisis.

12. Hair in Dreams

Hair is a dream symbol that relates to identity, self-image, and social status. Consider whether the dream hair made you feel attractive, confident, powerful, vulnerable, rebellious, or creative. Hair can also represent different stages of aging. Freud believed hairy dreams had significant ties with sexuality, with abundant hair symbolizing virility and losing hair symbolizing a loss of libido. Hair loss may also express a literal fear of going bald.

13. Hands in Dreams

Your hands are always present in your dreams, but you certainly don't always notice them. If they're involved in a particularly meaningful way, there is probably a meaning to it. For instance, having your hands tied can represent feelings of futility, while washing your hands may express guilt. Looking closely at your hands in a dream is a good way to become lucid because it forces self-awareness as a dreamer within a dream.

14. Houses in Dreams

In dreams, any house or building is often associated with the inner psyche. Individual rooms or floors can be dream symbols in themselves for different emotions and interpretations of meaningful events; for instance, is a room cluttered and chaotic, or clean and organized? Is the house lonely, peaceful, noisy, or full of life? The vibe from each part of the house can represent specific times in your life, feelings about life in general, or aspects of your inner self. More literally, though, houses can sometimes reflect your sense of safety, comfort, or belonging, or a desire for change or stability.

15. Killing Dreams

To kill someone in your dream doesn't make you a closet murderer, but it can represent your desire to "kill" or eliminate part of your own personality. Exactly who you kill in your dream may be telling; was the victim good or evil? Murder can also symbolize anger, frustration, or revenge towards a specific person, as well as fear, guilt, or the need to seize control over an issue in real life. If you're bothered by recurring violent dreams, please seek professional help.

16. Marriage Dreams

Getting married in a dream may be a literal desire to wed, or it can reflect a merging of the feminine and masculine parts of your psyche. For many people, marriage in dreams symbolizes commitment, partnership, and the merging of identities and goals. For others, though, marriage dreams can reflect anxiety, uncertainty, or pressure to conform to social expectations or cultural norms. Consider the context, your own beliefs about marriage, and any other dream symbols to uncover more.

17. Media in Dreams

Dreams of television or the internet can symbolize communication channels between the conscious and unconscious mind, so look for direct or indirect messages, even through hashtags or subtitles. They can also represent your social life, escapism, distraction, entertainment, a desire for stimulation, connection, or intellectual engagement. Review the context of the what you were consuming as this can give you pointers as to the dream's hidden meaning.

18. Missing a Flight in a Dream

The dream symbol of missing a flight (or any kind of scheduled transport) is quite common, relating to the fear and frustration of missing opportunities in life. It's most common when you're struggling to make a big decision or feel like you're failing to achieve important goals. Missing a flight in a dream can also mean you're worried about being left behind or abandoned by someone in real life.

19. Money in Dreams

Dreams of money can symbolize self-worth, the quality of your personal and social life, or more literally, your sense of financial security, success, and the attainment of material goods. For others, money in dreams can reflect anxiety, greed, or a fear of poverty. If you dream of exchanging money, it may mean you're anticipating big changes in your life. Depending on the specific context, money in dreams can also reveal your desires for financial independence, personal freedom, or recognition.

20. Mountains in Dreams

In the dream world, mountains usually mean obstacles, challenges, or opportunities for growth. Climbing a mountain can represent the pursuit of a goal, the desire for adventure, or the need to overcome obstacles or fears. If you take it to the top of your dream mountain, you're probably feeling pretty confident about life. Meanwhile, looking at a mountain from a distance, or viewing the world from the top of a mountain, can represent a sense of perspective, clarity, or awe over your life as a whole.

21. Nudity in Dreams

Nudity is another classic dream symbol, thought to reveal vulnerability, honesty, and the exposure of your true self or innermost desires. It can also represent a sense of freedom, a desire for recognition, sexual urges, or a desire for intimacy and connection. In certain public contexts, naked dreams can reflect anxiety, shame, or a fear of being judged or rejected by others. Identify the context by considering the dream characters, the setting, and the emotions you experienced during the dream.

22. People in Dreams

Dream characters are sometimes reflections of your own psyche, including qualities that you admire or reject. People can also represent emotions or conflicts that you're experiencing in waking life. To interpret the meaning of individual dream figures, think about the emotions you experienced and any other dream symbols around them. For instance, meeting a stranger in a dream can symbolize a new opportunity, while meeting a friend may mean you seek support. If you run into an enemy, they may reflect your own beliefs or something external to you. When lucid, you can always ask your dream figure a question.

23. Roads in Dreams

The dreaming mind can be quite predictable in the way it applies metaphors and meanings, and roads are the perfect example. A dream road is a metaphor for the journey of life, the choices we make, the obstacles we must overcome, and the opportunities that await us. Pay attention to the condition or the state of the road in the dream, such as its width, length, smoothness, and the general environment, as this can enrich the dream meaning.

24. Schools in Dreams

If you're not in school in real life, a school dream can be a symbol for learning, growth, and development. It may mean you're thinking about acquiring new skills or training, as well as the socialization and interaction with others needed for personal growth and development. Depending on the context, going back to school in a dream can represent a desire for achievement or discipline, the feeling of being tested, or the need to resolved a trauma from your younger years.

25. Sex in Dreams

Sex dreams can symbolize intimacy and a literal desire for sex, intimacy, and connection. However, sex in dreams can also represent the integration of your masculine and feminine archetypes (the anima and the animus, according to Jung) or the need to balance them. Sometimes, dream sex can also mean you desire power, control, or domination over someone or something. Overall though, sex in dreams can be a complex and multifaceted symbol.

26. Teachers in Dreams

Aside from being a literal manifestation of a person in real life, a dream teacher can represent an authority figure with the power to enlighten you. They may represent guidance, knowledge, discipline, or a need for structure. Depending on the specific details of the dream, teachers may represent a positive or negative influence in your waking life. In a lucid dream, meeting a teacher or similar authority figure is the perfect opportunity to ask questions about growth and wisdom.

27. Teeth in Dreams

Teeth are weirdly common dream symbols. They can represent a variety of concepts ranging from strength and confidence, to vulnerability and weakness. Teeth can symbolize the ability to communicate effectively-or losing the ability to do so. Depending on the context, seeing your teeth fall out may represent a need for self-care or a fear of aging and losing your youth. Indeed, this is a particularly common dream symbol relating to the fear of loss, change, or powerlessness.

28. Being Trapped in Dreams

Being trapped, physically, is a common nightmare theme. It can represent a feeling of being stuck or limited in some aspect of your life (like a job or relationship) and so is a kind of metaphor for a desire for more freedom and independence. Similarly, being trapped can also represent a feeling of powerlessness or helplessness in a specific circumstance, or a more general fear of the unknown. It's a powerful dream symbol with many outcomes, suggesting you need to find a way to break free from your pain and move forward.

29. Vehicles in Dreams

Vehicles are dream symbols associated with control. A smooth, easy journey may suggest you feel in control of your life and are making good progress, while a bumpy or difficult ride suggests frustration at the obstacles in your way. Being driven by someone else may symbolize the need to relinquish control of something altogether. Vehicles can also represent your physical body and overall state of health or wellbeing, so notice the condition and performance of the car itself. Sometimes, dream vehicles represent a need for speed and excitement; other times, a desire for safety and security.

30. Water in Dreams

Water comes in many forms in dreams, and is commonly known to symbolize emotions or the unconscious mind. For instance, a calm lake may reflect inner peace, while a choppy ocean can be suggestive of deep unease. Water can also mean purification, cleansing, and renewal, as well as a need for emotional release or healing. Sometimes, water can symbolize a need for adaptability, or a desire for stability and grounding.

Do All Dream Symbols Have Meaning?

Not every single element of your dreams have hidden meanings. Sometimes, it's just background noise, or a literal projection of your waking world.

To identify the most important symbols in your dreams, keep a dream journal. Write in the present tense as if you're re-living the dream, and underline any unusual or poignant aspects which are central to the story, or which simply attract your attention.

Refer these dream symbols to the list above. If they're not on the list, you can find more definitions in a complete dream dictionary such as Cloud Nine: A Dreamer's Dictionary.

With these definitions in hand, you can interpret your dream symbols within the context of your dream narrative, your personal attachments to the symbols, and your current life circumstances.

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30 Common Dream Symbols and Their Meanings

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Here's a list of 30 common dream symbols and their meanings to help you unravel the unconscious symbolism of your dreams.

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Symbols in dreams usually serve the purpose of telling the dreamer what he or she needs to achieve or needs to get over in order for his or her life to improve. People have had dreams since the beginning of recorded history, and the symbols in those dreams have changed very little, unlike the spoken and written language that has evolved over time. Although symbolic meanings are sometimes taught early on in life to almost all people, many are innate (meaning people are born knowing them).

Eric Fromm studied symbols in dreams and determined that there are three basic categories of symbols: conventional symbols, accidental symbols, and universal symbols. Conventional symbols are those we all use every day. The symbol and the meaning are really not related in any way except through learned association. For example, the word "dog" and the sound one makes when saying the word "dog" really has nothing to do with the four-legged creature known as "man's best friend." It is learned association that causes us to think of a dog when we see or hear the word "dog."

The second category of symbols is the accidental symbol. This type of symbol is based on personal experience only. What this symbol means to one person is completely different from what it means to someone else. For example, a certain restaurant may be a pleasant symbol of love and happiness for someone who celebrated a wedding anniversary there. On the other hand, that same restaurant could be a symbol of ill health or fear for someone who got food poisoning there.

Some symbols in dreams are universal, which means that the same symbols mean similar things to all people. However, just because a symbol is universal does not mean that it has only one meaning. Some examples of universal symbols are water and fire. Water can be a positive or negative symbol. Water can show energy and flow of life through a steady river, or it can symbolize destruction through a flood or crashing wave. Fire also has multiple meanings, positive and negative. It can imply high energy in life (as in a dancing flame) or destruction (as in a house fire). Some fires are initially seen as destructive (like a forest fire) but really represent rebirth or renewal. When interpreting dreams, one must be careful not to assume that the universal meaning of a universal symbol applies in his or her dream. Every symbol means something different to every person, based on personal experience or emotions.
BASIC SYMBOLS AND THEIR MEANINGS
Even though symbols can represent different things to different people, most dream interpreters believe that many symbols do have some sort of general meaning that applies to everyone. The following is a list of common symbols in dreams and their general meanings:

1. male characters = men in general, that particular man, the male aspect of yourself, your father, intellect, idea, mode of thought, healing agent, guide, entity, a former life

2. female characters = women in general, that particular woman, the female aspect of yourself, your mother, emotions, healing agent, guide, entity, a former life

3. children = immaturity, the child within, trauma which occurred at the age of the child shown

4. animals = the dreamer's animal instincts, sex, aggression, paternal or maternal instincts, social status

Obviously, these symbols do not have clear-cut meanings, even if these are the general meanings. One must look at the context of the dream and determine which meaning rings true to him or her. Looking within is really the only way to interpret a dream. Dream dictionaries can provide more specific symbols and their detailed meanings, but one must still examine what that symbol means to him or her personally before automatically accepting the dictionary's explanation.
NUMBERS IN DREAMS AND THEIR MEANINGS
Oftentimes numbers appear in dreams. Actually, instead of the actual number being in a dream, usually the number is represented by the number of people in the dream. Sometimes the actual number does appear though, such as in a street address or phone number one is supposed to remember in the dream. The following is a list of numbers and their general meanings in the dream world:

1 = indicates the need to develop one's individuality or creativity; indicates selfishness with dream subject
2. = indicates balance, sharing, give and take, two way communication; can indicate that the dreamer is a channel (medium)
3. = indicates commitment to improving oneself in mind, body, and spirit
4. = indicates limitation
5. = indicates sensuality, the five senses, Karma (literally learning your lessons through the five senses)
6. = indicates love, compassion, forgiveness
7. = indicates spiritual enlightenment
8. = indicates expansion through balance
9. = indicates spiritual advancement of the dreamer (not a very common number in dreams)
10 = indicates God, ideals
11 = indicates completion
12 = indicates a judgmental dreamer (comes from 12 people on a jury)

COLORS IN DREAMS AND THEIR MEANINGS

The purpose of color in a dream is to act as a healing agent or guide. The character in the dream who wears the color and the position of the color relative to the dreamer are important in interpreting the meaning of the color. For example, a color above the dreamer (like in the sky) indicates something the dreamer needs to strive for. The following is a list of colors and their general meanings in dreams:

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~dtwine1/symbolism.htmlhttp://www.avcweb.com/dreams/colour-in-dreams.htmhttp://www.avcweb.com/dreams/numbers.htmhttp://www.avcweb.com/dreams/roles.htm

http://www.dreamsnightmares.com/symbols.html

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Symbols in dreams usually serve the purpose of telling the dreamer what he or she needs to achieve or needs to get over in order for his or her life to improve. People have had dreams since the beginning of recorded history, and the symbols in those dreams have changed very little, unlike the spoken and written language that has evolved over time.

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an inability to move the body when falling asleep or on waking, lasting for seconds or several minutes
being consciously awake
being unable to speak during the episode
having hallucinations and sensations that cause fear
feeling pressure on the chest
having difficulty breathing
feeling as if death is approaching
sweating
having headaches, muscle pains, and paranoia

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Sleep paralysis is most likely to occur during adolescence.

Episodes last from a few seconds to a few minutes.

Stress, jet lag, sleep deprivation and panic disorder may trigger it.

An inability to move or speak is an essential feature, and there may be hallucinations.

It is not physically harmful and it can be prevented.

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Every single night when the warm blanket of sleep envelopes our bodies, we each leave the outer world behind and fall into our own inner world. Sometimes it's a world of talking animals, sometimes it's a world of monsters and hungry zombies, and sometimes it's a world where we are rubbing elbows with celebrities. Whatever world you find yourself in at night is a world that is uniquely your own... most of the time!

We asked child, adolescent, and family psychologist, Dr. Jennifer L. Hartstein to weigh in on what certain dreams mean. She touches on dreams of falling, being chased, being naked, driving, flying, being late, dying, and having your partner cheat. Read these and more below.

Falling

Falling may indicate that you are dealing with some unresolved insecurities and anxiety. Maybe you feel out of control in different areas of your life and that is creating some of the worrying thoughts that appear in your dreams. Additionally, you might be feeling that you don't measure up in some way or that you are failing in some area of your life.

Being Chased

Being chased in your dreams indicates that you may not be dealing with something in your waking life that needs your attention. You may be avoiding dealing with an issue or some sort of confrontation that you need to address. Your dream may be paralleling how you cope with fears and stressors: through avoidance. If you can identify who, or what is chasing you, you might be able to gain some insight into your worries.

Being Naked

Being naked in your dream suggests that you are feeling vulnerable or insecure about something. Maybe you are afraid that you will be exposed to others. Being naked in your dreams can also indicate that you are feeling ashamed of something that you said or did. It is the "naked truth" in dream form: you're being open and honest with yourself about something, or maybe you need to be.

Driving

A car denotes ambition or motivation: literally one's drive. It connects with how much control you feel in your life. Driving implies that you are taking an active role in your life, making positive decisions and navigating things for yourself well. If the car is out of control, it may indicate that you need to slow down and survey what is going on in your life. Maybe things are more chaotic than you realize, and you might need to figure out what you need to do to get back on top of things.

Flying

Flying dreams can be really positive and indicate that you are feeling in control of your life. Often, there is a sense of freedom when flying in dreams. It's possible that you feel that you have extricated yourself from a challenging situation or achieved something you've been working toward. Dreaming of being airborne can also indicate that you are reaching higher levels of success in your life or are working to attain higher goals. Flying can also be considered a way to take perspective: you're looking down on your life and trying to figure out what you may want to do.

Being Late

Dreams about being late can symbolize issues with indecisiveness. It can be a symbol of a necessary change in your life. Dreams of late also symbolize a fear of missing an opportunity or missing out on something very important, like the chance to raise a family or have a relationship.

Dying

Although dreams about dying can be very scary, they often are positive and may often mean that big changes are ahead. Death can be a symbol that you are moving forward toward something and leaving the past behind.

Partner Cheating

Dreaming that your partner is cheating highlights some fears of abandonment that you may be harboring. Additionally, you may be feeling as though you are not getting the attention that you would like from your partner. It's possible that your dream is putting your feelings of being "cheated" out of your loved one's attention into the form of adultery. These dreams could be giving you some information that it's time for you and your partner to find some time to reconnect.

Here are some other interpretations that may shed light on your perplexing dreams:

Filthy, Clogged, or Unusable Toilets

Yes, this dream has major "eww" factor, and you'd probably prefer I not go into the details that often accompany this dream. But I will tell you that the most common element to the toilet dream is the inability to use it because of its condition.This is often directly linked to the inability to express to others or to "relieve yourself" of what is really bothering you. If your dream toilets are nasty, clogged or unusable, you need to ask yourself what frustration or negativity you are holding in right now. What is it that you are not allowing yourself to "flush away"?

The Lesson: This dream is warning you that your emotional plumbing is backed up. The more you allow your frustrations (and what you view as "crap") to build up, the bigger "mess" you'll have to deal with in the end. Let it go!

Back at School

Even if you graduated 10, 20, even 50 years ago, your dreaming mind keeps pulling you back into chemistry class wearing nothing but your Nikes or roaming the halls trying to find your locker. It's a very aggravating dream.

The reason school is such a popular dream locale is because the dynamics of the school setting continue on into your job or career and also into your social life. School is where you first learn the importance of being on time and meeting deadlines. It is where you learn how to prepare and "do your homework." It is where you learn how to deal with scrutiny, how to move on up the ladder, and also how to fit in. Basically, it's where you learn all your basic job skills and social skills. School dreams are most often connected to your work life and slightly less often connected to your social life.

When you find yourself back in those cinder-block halls at night, you need to ask yourself what is going on at work or in your career that reminds you of what went on in your dream. If you're late for class in your dream, are you worried about a deadline at work? If you can't find your class or your locker, are you not feeling like you are where you would like to be in your job or career? If you're having to repeat your senior year all over again, even though you know you already graduated years ago, ask yourself if you are having to prove yourself at work or with a new boss.

The Lesson: There is probably some unpreparedness, uncertainty or even vulnerability with your job or career that needs to be addressed. There is a lesson to be learned here, so sit up straight and pay attention! Your dreaming mind is placing you back in school because it really wants you to succeed in real life.

Your Mate is Cheating on You

This dream has been the cause of many a slap across the face first thing in the morning. In fact, in a recent survey I conducted with over 5000 participants, the cheating dream came in as the #1 most common dream! As upsetting as these dreams can be, the good news is that they rarely indicate that your mate is getting his or her pleasures elsewhere. They do suggest, however, that something rather than someone is taking the time and attention from your mate that you feel you deserve.

If this is a common dream for you, don't start going through your significant other's drawers and cell phone just yet! Instead, ask yourself what he or she keeps leaving you to go do in waking life. Is it work? That's usually the culprit. Is it golf or fantasy football? Or are they simply spending more time with friends and less time with you? What is beginning to feel like a third wheel in your relationship?

The Lesson: In a healthy relationship, the significant other should always come first. This dream is letting you know you are feeling "cheated" out of the time and attention you deserve. Let this dream be a wakeup call that it's time to fan the flames of passion and carve out some very special time for each other. If you can't have the quantity of time you would like with each other, then make sure the time you make together is full of quality.

Why are these dreams so common, and more importantly, why is it that these common dreams also keep coming back? It's quite simple. All these common dreams are directly connected to very common issues and behaviors we all share: mis-speaking, avoiding tough issues, holding in frustrations, work anxiety, and most importantly, a lack of loving, quality time with our mates.

As long as the issues and behaviors keep showing up, so will the dreams. Our dreaming minds are happy to nag us to death about issues it wants fixed. Once you correct the issue and improve the behavior, you have not only ended the dream, you've also dramatically improved your life.

Teeth Falling Out

This dream actually has nothing to do with your oral hygiene at all. Body parts in dreams are more about the emotional and psychological parts of your personality than the actual physical parts of you. That being said, your teeth or any part of your mouth, to your dreaming mind, is actually about the part of you that communicates. When your teeth fall out in a dream, it usually means that, in waking life, you've allowed something out of your mouth that should have remained in there permanently.

If this is a common dream for you, you need to ask yourself what you have recently let slip out of your mouth that you shouldn't have. Did you gossip? Did you not tell the truth about something or someone? Did you divulge too much information? Did you say something to someone that you later realized was hurtful? What did you say without thinking about it first?

The Lesson: Your dreams are trying to show you that you must be careful about what comes out of your mouth because once it is out, like a tooth, you can't put it back in. Paying attention to your teeth dreams helps you to monitor and improve the way you communicate.

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Your Most Common and Recurring Dreams - Explained!

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Every single night when the warm blanket of sleep envelopes our bodies, we each leave the outer world behind and fall into our own inner world. Sometimes it's a world of talking animals, sometimes it's a world of monsters and hungry zombies, and sometimes it's a world where we are rubbing elbows with celebrities.

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Dreams can get pretty weird sometimes. When you wake up from one that was particularly bizarre or vivid, you might feel relieved it was only a dream, one you'll never have to experience again.

Well, that last part might not always be the case. Some dreams come back not just once, but again and again.

If you have recurring dreams, you might wonder what they mean and whether your brain is trying to tell you something.

Having the same upsetting dream regularly can even start to stress you out or make it tough to get a good night's sleep.

Why do these dreams happen? Is it possible to get rid of them? Do they have any significant meaning?

Here's what we do (and don't) know about them.

While you probably won't experience the exact same dream as someone else, some dream themes do remain pretty consistent from person to person.

They may not always feel frightening, but they're more likely to involve negative or stressful experiences than positive ones.

The most commonly reported themes include:

flying

falling

being chased or attacked

being naked

getting stuck or trapped somewhere

going back to school

losing your teeth

losing your ability to speak

missing a test

showing up late for a first day or important occasion

moving in slow motion or being unable to run

crashing or losing control of a vehicle

Your dreams may not be completely identical each time.

For example, you might regularly dream about driving on bridges that drop suddenly. This still counts as a recurring dream, even if you don't drive along the same bridge in every dream.

Since recurring dreams sometimes begin in childhood, they might change a little over time to reflect your changing experiences and worldview.

In fiction, especially fantasy genres, recurring dreams often suggest a character has supernatural powers, the ability to see the future, or other special talents.

Scientific research hasn't found any evidence to suggest recurring dreams have any deep or significant meaning beyond exposing potential areas of stress in your life. But that doesn't mean it's not possible.

Dreams are notoriously difficult to study, and there's still a lot we don't know about them.

Experts believe recurring dreams generally reflect important themes in your life, including:

unmet needs

areas of frustration

issues from the past that you haven't addressed

You've probably had some variant of the "forgetting a final exam or research paper" dream. While very real stress related to final exams and research papers may have triggered this dream initially, it can easily come up again later in life, long after graduation.

Since this dream most likely relates to your desire to succeed and your worries about failing, you might have this dream anytime you face an event that provokes similar feelings. This could be an event like a job interview, a big date, or a research proposal.

Daily frustrations

Some theories about dreams suggest they help you process day-to-day experiences.

When you face something that poses a threat or keeps you from achieving goals - anything from workplace insecurities to relationship troubles to difficulty making decisions - you might feel frustrated or stressed. That, in turn, can seep into your dreams.

This idea is backed by 2017 research linking negative recurring dreams to unmet psychological needs.

A group of 200 adult students were asked to evaluate whether their psychological needs were met or unmet.

These needs included:

autonomy, or the need to feel like you have at least some control over your life

competence, or the need to have a meaningful impact on your life

relatedness, or the need to both care for and be cared for by others

Then, they described the recurring dream they had most often. Researchers asked them to rate how positive or negative the dream was, using terms like "hopeful," "exciting," "sad," or "frustrating."

Those who reported more unmet needs tended to report negative dream themes and describe their dreams with negative emotions.

Unresolved issues

Unpleasant or traumatic events from the past often remain in your memory. People often don't realize, however, that distress associated with trauma can also linger in bodily and emotional responses. These traumatic events can include:

If you've experienced trauma or abuse but haven't fully acknowledged or processed the experience, you might notice recurring dreams that reflect your emotions related to what happened.

Dreams of drowning, for example, might reflect an overwhelming sense of helplessness, while a dream of being trapped or running in slow motion might suggest you still feel unable to escape.

Recurring dreams can also reflect more everyday internal conflicts.

Maybe you're struggling with an important decision or feel uncertain about a recent choice you made.

Until you make your choice and come to terms with it, you might experience recurring dreams of being lost, failing a test, or otherwise making a mistake.

Current events

Have you had any recent dreams about wearing masks or people without mouths? Maybe you keep dreaming about being stranded alone somewhere or of giant insects.

Stress related to current events can show up in your dreams.

If COVID-19 news and updates permeate your waking life, there's a good chance you'll experience some of this tension in your dreams, too.

These themes may show up clearly (masks and isolation) or more symbolically (bugs, which your brain might translate to virus), according to dream researcher Deirdre Barrett, PhD, in an interview with The Harvard Gazette.

You're more likely to experience upsetting dreams when you feel anxious or distressed during the day.

If you feel more worried about the future than usual, that's perfectly understandable. But you may not be able to ease that fear and tension when you sleep until you take steps to manage it during the day.

If a bad dream upsets you the first time you have it, having it multiple times probably won't make you feel any better.

You can't always directly control dream content, but it's often possible to take more indirect action by working to resolve any problems causing stress in your life.

No matter what challenges you've faced - from unmet needs to work stress to racism-related trauma - a therapist can offer guidance on self-care strategies and tips for managing distress productively.

In therapy, you can:

It's generally not possible to eliminate all stress. Changing the way you respond, however, can help reduce any associated frustration and lead to improvements in your mood, your outlook, and your dreams.

Barrett also offers lucid dreaming as a potential strategy for managing unwanted recurring dreams in a 2013 interview with Popular Science.

In a lucid dream, you recognize your dream as just that. Some people use this awareness to control the dream and alter its course.

Others might simply watch the dream as a bystander, knowing that whatever happens, they're safe, because it's just a dream.

Interested in lucid dreaming? Try these tips.

Dreams don't always make a lot of sense, but they can still offer some insight to your emotions and desires.

Recurring themes in your dreams can sometimes provide a key to more concrete issues you're facing.

Taking the time to explore these challenges, with the help of a professional, can improve your sleep quality and emotional health.
Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. In particular, she's committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues.

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Dreams can get pretty weird sometimes. When you wake up from one that was particularly bizarre or vivid, you might feel relieved it was only a dream, one you'll never have to experience again. Well, that last part might not always be the case. Some dreams come back not just once, but again and again.

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You suddenly realize that your final exam starts in five minutes-but you haven't even started studying! On top of that-the exam takes place on the other side of campus! You hurry to gather all your materials and start racing through the hallways. But every corridor is crammed with students, the clock is ticking, and the doors are all locked! Now you'll fail for sure
This is a common example of a recurrent dream that an individual may experience, perhaps during times of stress or change, or even throughout their life. Recurrent dreams are often comprised of typical dream themes (click here to read more about what these are). What differs about recurrent dreams is that they are experienced frequently and repetitively in one individual's life, whereas typical dream themes refer to the universal or inter-individual commonness of dream themes.

Recurrent dreams occur in between 60 and 75 percent of adults, and more often in women than men (Zadra, 1996). The common themes include: being attacked or chased, falling, being stuck, being late, missing or failing an exam, and even losing control of a car. Theoretically, recurrent dreams are assumed to reveal the presence of unresolved conflicts or stressors in an individual's life. This is corroborated by findings that recurrent dreams are usually accompanied by negative dream content, and that they are associated with lower psychological well-being (Zadra et al., 1996).

However, even negative recurrent dreams are not necessarily maladaptive. Recent research actually suggests that, for students, dreams of failing an exam can be correlated with better performance on the test. Researchers collected dream reports from medical students on several nights preceding a major exam and found that dreams concerning the exam on the night before, or multiple nights before, predicted proportionally higher scores, even though the dreams generally were negative and ended poorly (Arnulf et al 2014). These results could be interpreted as showing that dreaming of the exam, even negatively, reflects a stronger desire and motivation to succeed. Further, the dream could even work towards consolidation of memory traces relevant to the learning material, similar to prior findings that dreaming of a learning task is associated with improved performance (Wamsley et al 2010). Thus, negative recurrent dreams may still serve an adaptive function.

Recurrent dreams often start at a young age but can begin at any time, and typically persist for the rest of one's life. The theme of missing an exam, to take one example, commonly begins during college years, when the stress of performing well may be more intense than ever before. However, this theme may then carry forward as a recurring dream for many years, even as one moves on to a career. The "missing the exam" dream may reappear the night before an important job interview or an evaluation at work. The circumstances may change, but the same feelings of stress, and the desire to perform well, can trigger the relevant recurrent dream.

Theorists suggest that these themes may be considered "scripts" (Spoormaker, 2008) or perhaps "complexes" ( Freud 1950); as soon as your dream touches any aspect of the theme, the full script unfolds in completion. Dream theorists generally agree that recurring dreams are connected to unresolved problems in the life of the dreamer. In a previous post, I discussed the idea that dreams often portray a Central Image, a powerful dream image that contextualizes a certain emotion or conflict for the dreamer. The Tidal Wave dream is an example of a Central Image that represents overwhelming emotions such as helplessness and fear. The Tidal Wave dream is a common dream to experience following trauma or abuse, and often becomes a recurrent theme that reflects a person's struggling with integrating and accepting the trauma. Resolution of this theme over time is a good sign that the trauma has been confronted and adaptively integrated in the psyche. Empirical research has also supported findings that resolution of a recurrent dream is associated with improved well-being (Zadra, 1996). This is one way that keeping track of your dreams can be extremely informative and helpful in a therapeutic, or even self-help, process.

However, even if recurrent dreams are vanquished for a certain time, they will sometimes return again during a new period of stress. One subject in our lab reported a recurrent dream of being unable to speak, a common theme that might involve teeth falling out or lips being glued shut. The Central Image captures a sensation of being unable to speak and may reflect shyness or difficulty expressing oneself. In this case, the subject had this recurrent dream many times as an adolescent, though the dream disappeared during college, presumably after having overcome this challenge. However, after moving to another country and having to learn a new language, the dream came back. While the original conflict of shyness had been overcome, the new situation of communicating in a foreign language triggered the same "script" of being unable to speak. Thus are old scripts sometimes revived in new, different times of stress.

In general, recurring dreams indicate the presence of an unresolved and persistent conflict in an individual's life, and the theme or Central Image of the dream provides a stage for this conflict to play out. The cessation of a recurrent dream may indicate that the conflict has been successfully resolved. Thus, being aware of and working with recurring dreams in your personal life or in therapy is a useful tool for resolving conflicts and improving well-being.
Facebook image: PRPicturesProduction/Shutterstock

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You suddenly realize that your final exam starts in five minutes-but you haven't even started studying! On top of that-the exam takes place on the other side of campus! You hurry to gather all your materials and start racing through the hallways.

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https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-28099-8_1394-1

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https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-manifest-content-2795373#:~:text=The%20sights%2C%20sounds%2C%20and%20storyline,known%20as%20the%20latent%20content.

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Manifest Dream Content and Latent Dream Thought

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Manifest Dream Content and Latent Dream Thought

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https://www.bartleby.com/283/7.html

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Although there is no denying that sleep paralysis can be a horrifying experience, the truth is there is nothing to be worried about. It doesn't cause any physical harm to the body, and there have been no clinical deaths known till date

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31 Truly Terrifying Tales From People With Sleep Paralysis

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"It's just you, alone with your fear, unable to escape it."

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Sleep paralysis stories typically involve unusual and frightening experiences. Perhaps you have one or two of these disturbing tales of your own to tell.

If not, I'll first share one of mine to give you an understanding of what it can be like.

Then we'll take a closer look at whether sleep paralysis demons or ghosts really exist. Or if science can provide a logical and comforting explanation.

My sleep paralysis experience

Imagine the following scenario: it's been a long day, you go to bed later than usual and fall asleep quickly through sheer exhaustion.

But instead of waking up peacefully in the morning, you half wake in the middle of the night. And in the darkness of your bedroom, it slowly dawns on you that you can't move your body...and that someone, or something, is watching you.

A weight pushing on your chest

You feel a weight on your chest, pressing you down and preventing you from sitting up. And not only is your whole body paralyzed, but you can't so much as move your lips to call out for help.

You're not sure who or what is pushing on your chest. Even though you seem to be able to move your eyes just a little, it's too dark to see anyway. Regardless, you just feel that there's a presence there. Something strange. Something frightening.

This happened to me last year and was a very unsettling experience. Fortunately, there was no demon, ghost or burglar in my bedroom.

After a minute's panic, the feeling passed. And I was then able to stumble to the bathroom to make sure my face wasn't decorated with demonic symbols. It was a classic case of sleep paralysis.

What is sleep paralysis?

Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis is classified as a parasomnia, which is a group of sleep disorders involving unwanted behaviors that accompany sleep.

The main symptom is being awake and unable to move your body. It might also be accompanied by hallucinations or dreams/nightmares whilst still awake.

It typically lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes before movement is regained. And although it may feel like it at the time, it's not believed by medical organizations to be harmful.

What causes it?

The exact reason for why it happens to some people and only on some nights isn't known. However, scientists do have a theory about what goes on during sleep paralysis.

During the night, you cycle through different sleep stages. When you enter the REM stage of sleep, your brain stops your muscles from moving - known as REM atonia. One explanation for this atonia is that it prevents injury from acting out your dreams in bed.

During sleep paralysis, the atonia starts, or continues, while you're awake. And during this time, you might also experience what's known as sleep hallucinations, or dreams while you're awake.

So your body and brain are temporarily out of sync while transitioning between sleep stages, potentially creating a frightening experience.

As Dr. Michael J. Breus neatly :

Sleep scientists believe that sleep paralysis may occur when the transitions in and out of REM sleep and other sleep stages don't go smoothly.

How many people experience sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis stories like mine are surprisingly common. In 2011, researchers aggregated 35 sleep paralysis studies to find out how many people had experienced it at least once in the past year, finding:

7.6% of the general population

28.3% of students

31.9% of psychiatric patients

And according to the handbook of sleep disorders , it will happen at least once in a lifetime of 40% to 50% of normal subjects, but is "far less common as a chronic complaint".

Who is more at risk of having sleep paralysis?

Scientists might not know the precise reason only some people have sleep paralysis yet, but there are a growing number of risk factors becoming apparent.

For example, researchers who analyzed 42 studies found several risk factors and associated conditions:

Sleep problems, changing sleep patterns and shift work.

Sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia and nocturnal leg cramps.

Stress.

Some psychiatric groups, particularly those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and panic disorders.

Substance and medication use.

Physical illness.

Personality and anomalous beliefs.

Is there a genetic component to sleep paralysis?

In 2015, British researchers published a of 862 twins and siblings aged between 22 and 32. They did find some evidence of a genetic role, but only a small one:

In this sample of young adults, sleep paralysis was moderately heritable

Interestingly, they also found other independent risk factors, including:

Disrupted sleep cycles

General sleep quality

Anxiety symptoms

Exposure to threatening events

Polls - readers' experience of sleep paralysis

I polled readers of this article for a year to find out what kind of sleep paralysis episodes they had.

Note that it's likely that many people who search online about it will have had the more frightening episodes, skewing the results.

But they still provide a fascinating insight into what people experience and how they cope.

Poll 1

In poll 1, the most common episode was thinking there was a demon or other being in the room.

Poll 2

Poll 2 shows that many readers find sleep paralysis terrifying. Again, those who search online for it are likely to have found it particularly disturbing.

Poll 3

Poll 3 shows that many readers first experienced sleep paralysis during adolescence.

Poll 4

Poll 4 shows that most readers don't experience sleep paralysis on a regular basis.

Poll 5

Poll 5 shows some of the ways readers deal with episodes. You'll find more coping mechanisms below.

The not so scientific explanations for sleep paralysis

Since first writing this article 7 years ago, there has been an extraordinary number of comments. And the comments show that not everyone accepts the scientific explanation.

Interestingly, some people struggle to accept it even though they consider themselves to be scientifically minded generally. I think these cases highlight just how realistic the experience of sleep paralysis can be; how it can linger in your memory and makes you question what happened for a long time afterward.

The possibility of demons, ghosts, spiritual beings, and aliens all crop up from time to time in the comments too. And while many people accept their experiences as hallucinations or dreams, some people choose to believe another explanation - that those entities are real.

Despite these beliefs, there's one clear theme: nothing bad ever actually happens, other than being frightened and perhaps losing some sleep after an episode.

Around the world

Cultural beliefs also appear to play a role in how sleep paralysis is perceived by some people.

In Fiji, for example, the demon is sometimes seen as a deceased relative coming back to discuss an important or unfinished matter.

In Chinese folklore, it's also seen as a ghost rather than a demon or intruder.

Some people in Iran and Pakistan interpret it as demons or spirits taking over your body. This could be due to black magic performed by an enemy.

The common theme is that the entity is usually something to be feared. I'm yet to find a culture which believes it's a friendly creature!

Sleep paralysis treatment

When to see a doctor

Fortunately, most people don't experience sleep paralysis very often, and no treatment is usually required.

However, if the following apply to you, it's a good idea to speak to your doctor:

It happens regularly.

You're anxious about sleep paralysis and going to sleep.

You don't get enough sleep.

You feel very sleepy during the day, sometimes fall asleep suddenly or lose control of your muscles.

What medical treatment is available?

If you see a doctor, they might take the following action:

Refer you to a sleep specialist to assess if you have another sleep disorder, like narcolepsy.

Treat any underlying psychiatric condition.

Discuss any medication or substance use that might be a factor.

Explain the biological processes involved in sleep paralysis to reassure you.

Talk to you about developing good sleep habits. This is thought to help reduce the frequency of sleep paralysis.

Readers' techniques for coping with sleep paralysis

Over the years, many readers have described how they cope with sleep paralysis, and I've created a list of the most frequent ideas below.

The first seven in the list are also suggested by sleep experts. The rest are a mix of personal opinions. Please bear in mind that none are guaranteed to work:

Don't let yourself become too sleep-deprived.

Stick to a regular sleep schedule.

Try to reduce stress and anxiety in your life.

Try to vigorously flutter your eyelids or move your eyes, as this tends to be an area of the body that's less affected by the paralysis.

Focus on wiggling just one finger or a toe.

Don't take recreational drugs or drink alcohol in the evening.

Don't sleep on your back.

Stay calm.

Tell yourself that you're in control. You can order the experience to stop.

If you feel a weight on your chest, imagine there's something friendly causing it.

Film yourself sleeping so you can see there was nothing in the room.

Don't think about what it could be. Your imagination will probably make up something scary in the darkness.

Organize your bedroom in a way that makes you feel safe and secure.

Don't hang dressing gowns, coats, or hats in places that make them look like figures in the dark.

Sleep with a night light, music, or radio on.

Remind yourself that nothing bad will happen.

Imagine your body rolling from side to side in your mind and count each roll. Focus on this and try to grow the capacity for movement from there.

Count numbers to focus your mind on something else.

Don't sleep with a high pillow.

Keep your eyes shut and try to clear your mind.

Squeeze your eyes tightly shut if you can control the muscles.

Keep well hydrated - drink water before going to bed.

Talk about it to family or friends - they may have experienced it too.

If you have it once, get out of bed for a while to reset the brain.

Many people say prayer helps. Some also say that calling on their religious beliefs and commanding what they see to leave helps them.

Check if any sleeping pills or herbal remedies you're taking are causing it.

Use sleep paralysis to lucid dream by relaxing and going with the experience instead of fighting it.

Once the episode has passed, tell yourself that you overcame it, are not afraid and will always overcome it.

How I recently stopped an episode of sleep paralysis

I successfully used two of the above techniques to stop a recent episode of sleep paralysis.

I woke to find myself in a strange position with my arms crossed on top of my body. And I could literally feel strong hands pinning my wrists to my chest.

I have to admit I was immediately petrified. The whole event was blurry, and I think I was having some dream overlap, but can't remember exactly what now.

Stay calm and wiggle a finger

Two things sprung to mind after a moment of panic: stay calm and try to wiggle a finger.

The calmness I only managed with moderate success. But I did manage to focus my efforts on moving a finger. It felt quite odd - like my fingers were wiggling in different directions!

Eventually, I felt my arms loosen as well, and soon afterward I was able to shake the whole sensation away as I regained full control.

I then spent a few minutes doing some breathing exercises to ground myself and calm down, and then fell asleep again.

I think just knowing about the finger wiggling technique was enough for me to remember it when the sleep paralysis occurred.

Share your story of sleep paralysis

Have you had sleep paralysis? What happened, and do you have any suggestions to help others deal with it?

Please feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

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Sleep Paralysis Stories: Demons Or Just Sleep Hallucinations?

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Sleep paralysis stories typically involve unusual and frightening experiences. Perhaps you have one or two of these disturbing tales of your own to tell. If not, I'll first share one of mine to give you an understanding of what it can be like.

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How Suppressed Emotions Enter Our Dreams and Affect Our Health

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How Suppressed Emotions Enter Our Dreams and Affect Our Health

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https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/201801/how-suppressed-emotions-enter-our-dreams-and-affect-health

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Dream interpreting: The Emotion in your Dreams

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Dream interpreting: The Emotion in your Dreams

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https://www.dummies.com/education/psychology/dream-interpreting-the-emotions-in-your-dreams/

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Emotions in Dreams - Decoding dream symbolism

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Emotions in Dreams - Decoding dream symbolism

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https://dreams123.net/emotions-in-dreams/#:~:text=Dreams%20can%20trigger%20strong%20emotions%20like%20rage%2C%20terror%2C,emotional%20centers%20of%20your%20brain%20are%20highly%20active.

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https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/lucid-dreams-overview

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https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-trauma-can-affect-your-dreams

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https://www.auntyflo.com/dream-dictionary/face

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The website called Journey into Dreams has literally everything about dreams!

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Recurring Nightmares: Causes, Treatments, and More

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Recurring Nightmares: Causes, Treatments, and More

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https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/recurring-nightmares

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https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/your-dreams

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Greek: Archetupos; origin, pattern or model

ar·che·type     [ahr -ki-tahyp] noun (Dictionary.com)

1. The original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.

2. In Jungian psychology: a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image , etc., universally present in individual psyches.

***

Simply defined it is a universal symbol for a pattern of behavior, or personality variable e.g. the generic version of a personality such as a Father Figure.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, made famous the idea of universal psychological images in dreams and myths that can be used to interpret dreams.

He suggested five main archetypes: The Self, Shadow, Anima, Animus and Persona.

*The Anima is the feminine image and attributes within the male. It has been said that the soul of a man is feminine.

*The Persona is our mask; what we present to the world as being our self.

There are many others, a few of which are described below:

* The Child: the divine child, the wonderful child that deals with the efforts of growing up.

* The Great Mother (Queen, goddess, virgin Mary, Sophia, the Earth, Gaia, Lashmi) is often our own experience of mother and how we related to and influenced us toward independence.

* The Wise Old Woman (Queen, grandmother, goddess, your own mother), or Man (King, magician, prophet, wizard, father, guide, or authority figure) are full of power and wisdom and deep insight, and unconditional love.

The White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is a Trickster image who lures Alice to explore her unconscious and the naughty, or shadow, sides of her personality (see Down the Rabbit Hole )

*Death- meaning endings, our feelings about it and our myths about it and how our psyche deals with its inevitability. It clearly needs to happen at an ego-psychological level in order to be reborn i.e. transformed into something new. Each stage of our life needs to die to the next stage, if it does not we become fixated and don't move on. Seeing dead loved ones usually means that you are dealing with this death and trying to integrate the new relationship from the physical to that of the memory and all the emotions that go with that.

Death Archetype (could be the Shadow too) & Gandalf the Wise Old Man Archetype

As with anything in the imaginal world of the psychic archetypes, they are more metaphor than actual. We can't touch them, only point toward their attributes. They represent the patterns of the psychic function. The Depth Psychologist James Hillman said that they were the root of the soul. He goes on to say that because of this imaginal description of archetype we are lead "to envision the basic nature and structure of the soul in an imaginative way and to approach the basic questions of psychology first of all by means of the imagination." (Hillman, J., A Blue Fire, Harper Perennial, 1989, pg.23)

***

More in-depth archetypical symbols can be found throughout the website. For example:

* http://thedreamingwizard.com/sophia_294.html (The Wise Old Woman)

* http://thedreamingwizard.com/the-individuation-process_274.html (The Shadow)

* http://thedreamingwizard.com /death-and-resurrection-in-dreams_295.html (death)

***
In-depth study of the archetypes
Probably the most important archetype is the Persona , that part of each of us that is concerned about how we look to others. It is the part of us that interacts with others. It is the 'mask' that we wear in public - what we want others to see. States and countries, even religions have a Persona. Their symbols, whether they be flags or traditions, animals or anthems, legal codes, architecture, and stories of their history are all part of the mask to be presented to the world. But like with a mask, there is something behind it and when that is not acknowledged either publically and/or to itself, the shadow begins to take over.

These archetypes have their opposites as well in that whether Animus or Anima each has its positive nature and negative nature. The positive can reveal inner wisdom and spiritual and emotional depth, but the negative side might indicate that the negative aspects of the opposite gender are taking you over. For example the male in the female dream may be showing an arguementative, controlling or excessively critical aspect, thus the dream character could serve as a warning. The negative side of the Animus could be symbolized by a moody, irritable and oversensitive female character. Jung suggested that there was a proper balance to the inner gender qualities and that an unbalanced dream could serve as a means of guarding against this by not letting the negative dominate.

female within male: The female in a man's dream might represent the male's feminine aspects, such as caring and feeling, intuition, receptivity and creativity. This is known as the Anima. This character can show up in the form of an Elf, Goddess, mermaid or any female persona.

It should be noted that Jung tended to create a splitting phenomenon when he asserted that archetypes such as the anima, animus and the shadow were only in a particular gender e.g. the animus in a female's dream only, anima in a male's and the shadow exclusively male within a male and female within a female. Dream analyst Jeremy Taylor doesn't believe that this is true. In fact he suggested that these designations of exclusivity were "arbitrary" (his word). Taylor considers the Jungian view to be somewhat masculinist and probably reflected unconscious gender stereotypes of the day.

Taylor suggests that contemporary women have archetypal dreams of the feminine that correspond to the inner development of the Goddess and deserve to be called the anima. It is also the same for the animus. So what you might say? Because these Jungian designations are used as part of a diagnostic process and therefor are part of the therapeutic intervention, a rigid designation could cause great harm as well as skew legal determinations. Taylor suggests that some of the archetypal definitions be revisited in the light of contemporary sensibilities.

I tend to think that there's no good reason for this gender exclusivity given that there's male and female traits in all of us and to rule out the influence of a female shadow in a male who is trying to resolve his feminine aspect, or a female trying to do the same with her masculine seems a bit confusing, even the more so for those who are homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, or transsexual. There's also the interaction between males and females in the dream that can show both the positive and negative aspects of gender that can be informing.

Masculine Feminine traits:

Using standard gender characteristics (remember we each have both in us regardless of our gender) I perceive the Feminine to be:

I perceive the Masculine to exhibit the:

Of course there are the negative aspects:

The Feminine Receptive can become submissive and the Contemplative can become indecisive, Inner world directed can become insensitive to others, and the Creative spontaneous becomes unfocused.

The Masculine Assertive can become aggressive, physically expressive becomes violent, Mental and Social Power becomes arrogant and overpowering, Outerworld directed becomes aloof and insensitive and the Decisive can become inflexible.

ascetic or the monk: The loner. This person links us with things beyond the personal and unites us with all that seems separate. It can also mean a turning away or rejection of the everyday.

Father: Can represent not only one's own father but also God, the male leader, the progenitor of something. He is the original authority and one's strength in life. He can be represented by a wizard, an old man, a priest, a king, or wise old man.

Mother: Symbols can include the Virgin Mary, the sorceress, one's own mother, and the old woman. It can represent what influences our growth and development. Often both the father and the mother have great religious significance. For more on the Goddess see the page on Sophia.

According to Jeremy Taylor, the Trickster is the archetype of consciousness and though it presents itself as weak and unassuming it is quite capable of creating much havoc and deception through very creative means and is frequently the bearer of new ideas. Trickster is both a creator and destroyer, but neither good or evil. He creates balance in the universe. He, or she, is also stubbornness personified in the face of prevailing reality. In short, it is the reflection of the human consciousness.

This is probably the most difficult of archetypes to deal with as it involves the ultimate "letting go." In a dream it can often shed light on one's relationship with it e.g. one's level of acceptance, or rejection of it. Often one's response to the death of someone else provides insight to their personal relationship with death. Denial of death in a dream can be a reflection of one's own denial.

In the American psyche death is often denied, hence our almost pathological resistance to it as evidenced in our dysfunctional health care system with our "life at all costs" mentality. Rejection of death can also reflect our level of fear associated with one's potential end. The ego (not as in 'egotist', but as in the persona that we think we are) cannot imagine its demise and the ultimate disintegration into oblivion. Our reactions to it in both the waking and sleeping dream state (I'm suggesting that before being fully awake to your inner self, you live your life as though in a dream, or semi-aware state.) can often reveal our ambient level of fear and the degree to which we unconsciously let fear determine the course of our life.

Much of life seems to be about letting go and confronting the emotional fallout that inevitably arises as part of the process of dealing with it. Most of the U.S. seems to have a rather immature relationship with death-with letting go-both personal, and by extension, the death of loved ones. To deny it is to never fully experience it as part of the process of living. None of this is to say that there is no grief when letting go. However, the only way to deal with grief, in my opinion, is to go with the extremely painful process of allowing it, not resisting it, or avoiding it, but to grieve when yo are grieving.

In addition, some death in dreams is more about the death, or end, to a circumstance (job, relationship, situation, etc.) versus your own personal death. The Death Tarot-signifying change, transition, an end and inevitability. The rose symbolizes life and new beginnings while the flag heralds a coming change. The sun reminds that where there is an ending, there is a new beginning.

( click here to enlarge)

See July 2nd and July 8th in the DreamDragon Blog for further meaning re: Death in dreams.

rebirth and resurrection: The unknown future and possibility often symbolized by an egg, spring, a rising sun, the cross, a budding flower, the phoenix, or the birth canal. This can be as difficult to confront as is death in that one needs to die to something before there can be a rebirth. The search for self is also the search for God-what we go through to grow up. To Jung, it was the process of individuation. The self as used by Jung meant the ego, that which we are aware of and that which we are not which he considered but a small part of who we are.

Symbols for birth and rebirth (resurrection, or eternality) are universal, for example the endless knot shows up as long life in Chinese myth, all things joined in Tibet, and no beginning/no end in Celtic myth (timelessness). The same concept shows up in the Eastern Mandala, the circle (the endless cycle), the möbius strip (the 'one all'), Oruboros (Norse, Egyptian and alchemical symbol of the One, the integration of opposites, birth/rebirth and immortality), Yin/Yang (eternal stasis and balance; giving continuous rise to each other). Some physicists speak of oscillatory or eternal return universes to show that the universe may cycle through the same events infinitely.

The concept of birth, death, rebirth shows up in the subatomic realm of Quantum Mechanics in Field Theory where the dualist quality of particles (e.g. an electron and its antiparticle, the positron) initially annhilate each other in a crazy burst of energy that creates a photon that creates another duality (electron-positron) that annhilates itself and creates another and so on.

See link pages: /index.php?page_id=295

S hadow : The dark side of the self, all the negative deeds or feelings that we have done, thought, and perhaps repressed or even actively suppressed. It hides our weaknesses and shortcomings. The shadow can be depicted as a shadowy figure of the same sex as the dreamer, the walking dead, the addict, the pervert, or anything threatening. To Jung, the shadow must be brought to the light and dealt with because the less it is acknowledged, the denser and darker it becomes. In early Christian, Jewish, and Islamic belief, dreams were thought to be either 'good', or 'bad' and that if bad, one should "take refuge from them." Bad dreams were considered to come from Satan and should, therefor not be entertained.

However, when one thinks that good and evil come from some place outside them, then the problem arises that if one never confronts and forgives the real source of their Shadow, it will come to rule them.

Note: in the Talmud good and evil dreams are acknowledged, though evil did have a plus side in that it could lead one to repentance.

The effects of the unrecognized Shadow in our lives:

In our waking life we can see the Shadow most easily by looking at all those people, or ideas, we most dislike or fear. The projection of the Shadow shows up collectively in the horrors of war, sexism, racism (any negative 'ism') and as the justifications for exploiting anyone and anything (read here as women or the environment). For most religions The Devil-Satan personifies the unrecognized internal Shadow and some form of Armegeddon becomes the metaphorical reconciliation between the opposites of the conscious self and the unconscious self (the shadow). But this battle is not to be won in the traditional sense in that the battle is about obtaining balance, not the destruction of one, or the other. But balance can't be obtained unless you know from where the imbalance comes from.

The oppression of women by males in any culture is an expression of Shadow Projection. Note: These Shadow Energies are inside ourselves and so long as we continue to not recognize them as coming from ourself we will continue to project them onto others. And to the extent that we think that the problem is outside us we will try to control and manipulate the world around us. But this vanity usually results in the feeling of less personal control and leads to even greater attempts to oppress or suppress others. All of this outer directed energy literally drains off our internal energy and we become ever more frantic, trapped and at the mercy of our circumstances.

Another of the characteristics of the Persona's projection of the shadow is the tendency to prematurely close off from all other possibilities other than the one's ascribed by you. You can see this collectively in those religions that purport to have the one and only Truth (this goes for the Science community as well), or in political organizations that suggest that only they have the answer, or nations that suggest they are the best. Polarization is a hallmark of the unrecognized Shadow.

Note: The shadow is also your opposite personality-it can be the extravert to your introvert, the thinker to your emotional side, the sensing aspect to your intuitive. It's the nondominant nondefault side to your personality.

While in the unrecognized shadow of the internal self the world's problems seem to be outside ourselves so we try to manipulate this outside world with limited success. But this results in less not more personal control that then leads to even greater attempts to control others.

Those who reject their shadow either through the rejection of others or in their rejection of themselves shackle their opposite personality e.g. the extrovert to the introvert, the thinker to the emotional, the sensing to the intuitive. Note that in the evil person the shadow is its good side, its compassionate side.

For some this rejection hinders the expression of the "Oversoul", the Christ, the symbol of the True Self, the Pneuma of humankind.

When we demonize another being we lay on them our shadow self in order to punish or kill them. For many the rejection of the shadow is equal to the rejection of sin. But the sin is not in having a shadow it is in refusing to recognize it and deal with it.

When we call another person arrogant who is it that is being arrogant? When we label another as being greedy whose greed is it we are rejecting or refusing to see? When we accuse someone as incompetent have we acknowledged our own contribution to that legion of dishonor?

Taking a walk into the forest of our unconscious mind is not to be feared and run from for it is a journey toward healing and toward bringing balance to our chaotic lives.

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* For an alternative definition see "Female within a Male" above.

Queen: Can often represent one's mother or someone or thing that acknowledges us.( see Sophia )

Christ: May represent the symbol of the Self, soul, Oversoul, or the god-man.outcast: Is the archetypal feelings of abandonment and alienation of being different.

Christ is also the cosmic mystery that each of us has been born as-the essence of who we really are. To seek this is to undertake a powerful journey, not unlike that of Muhammad in the Night Journey .

Muhammad and the Night Journey may very well have been a journey in quest of the Self, the spirit, to the Pneuma. This may be the archetypal journey in the search for the S elf , our essence; our real self as opposed to the body or soul. This may relate to the process of as referred to by Carl Jung. Individuation

Individuation: the process whereby a person reconciles the spirit with the ego by standing between them. In the book , The Gospel of Mary Magdalene translated by Jean-Yves Leloup, (as told by Mary Magdalene upon meeting Jesus and transcribed into the Gnostic Gospels):
"Lord, when someone meets you in a Moment of vision,
The nous between the two?; The self-actualized being?; The balance between Spirit and ego?

Child : Comes in many forms: The Divine Child: (see Christ above) Is Innocence and redemptive with god-like qualities. It often comes to you when you need to transform your traditional and conservative way of thinking and acting in order to transcend a situation or evolve your psycho-spiritual experience. It is always the creative vs. the conventional side of you wanting to be heard. But be careful here, conventional authority resists creative change, or change of any kind.

Rider-Waite Tarot Card. The child illuminates the mind (click here to enlarge)

Remember it was the conservative mind that saw threat in Jesus and ordered him to be killed. It was the conservative element that wanted the colonies to remain loyal to the British Empire, and it was the conservative mind that wanted to keep this nation a 'whites only' compound. But the spirit is always pressing to bring new light where there is darkness-to actualize spiritual possibility in our psyches. The Divine Child is always associated with new ideas and emotions coming into our awareness. The spirit is always pushing for increased awareness and consciousness. It comes to us in the form of the Divine Child, the child that can do amazing things even as a baby.

There are also the : who attempts to bond us with the natural world; the Nature Child Eternal Child : who encourages us to remain young and to see the world through the eyes of a child; The Magical Child: who sees the sacred beauty in everything and embodies the courage to face all difficulties; The Orphan Child : This may be the abandoned child who may not feel they belong anywhere and the Dependent Child : The needy child where nothing is ever good enough.

All have both a healthy and unhealthy aspect. All can come to you in a dream in the service of health and wisdom.

Click to enlarge

The Goddess, the 'divine feminine', shows up as the Mother, the Queen, and the Wise old woman withese attributes of all. Goddess worship was cyclical and involved the phasing of the moon and crops and movement of wild animals. Our present day approach is linear in nature where everything changes and moves toward either greater knowledge or chaos. In the pagan world of the pre-Christian Celts the Goddess was a trinity- Maiden, Mother, and Crone- and represented symbolically as the phases of the moon.

The Maiden symbolizes youth, emerging sexuality, and the huntress running with her hounds. The Mother symbolizes feminine power, fertility, and nurturing. The Crone symbolizes wisdom, the compassion that comes from experience, and is the one who guides us through death.

Goddesses come by many names: Anahita, Anat, Aphrodite, Aradia, Arianrhod, Artemis, Astarte, Brighid, Ceres, Demeter, Diana, Eostre, Freya, Gaia, Hera, Ishtar, Isis, Juno, Kali, Lilith, Ma'at, Mary, Minerva, Ostare, Persephone, Sarasvati, Venus, and Vesta to name a few. (See Sophia page)

The Goddess symbol (Wiccan) Waxing (maiden), full (Mother), Waning (crone)

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A Guidebook to Dream Interpretaion: Dream meanings for inner discovery

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Greek: Archetupos; origin, pattern or model ar·che·type     [ahr -ki-tahyp] noun (Dictionary.com) 1. The original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype. 2.

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What is lucid dreaming? Is it scientifically proven? Can anyone learn to lucid dream on demand? How long does it take? What else can I use dream control for?

I'm sure you have plenty of questions about lucid dreaming and this article aims to answer the most burning ones. Welcome to my quick start guide to lucid dreams.

What is Lucid Dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is the ability to consciously observe and/or control your dreams.

It transforms your inner dream world into a living alternate reality - where everything you see, hear, feel, taste and even smell is as authentic as real life.

Lucidity occurs during altered states of consciousness when you realize you are dreaming - and your brain switches into waking mode inside the dream.

In normal dreams, your self awareness is shut down. That's why they often feel fuzzy and distant. But when lucid, the conscious brain wakes up during sleep.

This is a safe and natural state. It is not anything spooky or paranormal (in fact, out of body experiences are thought to be explained by the lucid dream state). With lucid dreams, you are always asleep in bed.

And if you want to, you can wake yourself up.

But who'd want to do that! When you become lucid, your senses become alive. You can explore the inner workings of your unconscious mind with total freedom.

Is Lucid Dreaming Scientifically Proven?

Tibetan Monks have used dream control for more than a thousand years, in the philosophy of dream yoga.

However, the modern term "lucid dreaming" was not created until the 1800s by the passionate dream researcher Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys.

The concept of lucid dreams became popularized by Celia Green in the 1960s, who pointed out the scientific potential of self awareness in dreams. She was the first to make the link with both REM sleep and false awakenings.

The first scientific evidence of lucid dreaming was produced by the British parapsychologist Keith Hearne in 1975. He did it by catching the pre-determined conscious eye movements from a lucid dreaming volunteer.
A sequence of left-right ocular signals, recorded by Keith Hearne using a Grass polygraph.
Hearne's research slipped under the radar of the mainstream science journals, and it was Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University who became famous for replicating this experiment and formally publishing his findings.

A prolific lucid dreamer himself, LaBerge founded The Lucidity Institute in 1987 to explore the question: what is lucid dreaming? His mission is to research the nature and potential of consciousness in dreams... A riddle that may one day offer considerable advances in our understanding of the human mind.

Lucid Dreaming Tutorials

Lucid dreaming is a learnable skill. Start right now by signing up to our tutorial-based, interactive learning plaform the World of Lucid Dreaming Academy.

Can Anyone Learn to Lucid Dream?

Yes, experts believe so. We all have dreams (whether we remember them or not) and so we all have the capacity to become conscious within them.

Children learn to lucid dream intuitively. And certain medications for degenerative conditions like Parkinson's Disease can cause lucid dreams. Age and cognitive ability appear not to factor into the equation.

Having a lucid dream is not actually that hard, once you tap into the right mechanism.

Research shows that everyone will have at least one lucid dream in their lives, just by accident. And to have lucid dreams on demand, all you have to do is get into the habit of recognizing the dreamstate.

There are many ways you can achieve this habitual recognition, such as:

Meditation - to focus your mind on demand

Visualization - to enter the lucid dream state from waking

Reality checks - to produce spontaneous self awareness in dreams

Dream herbs - to make your dreams longer and more vivid

Dream journaling - to cement dream memories in the waking world

Mnemonic techniques - to produce spontanous lucidity in dreams

You can practice one or all of these methods during the waking day or just before you fall asleep in order to plant the seed of lucidity. It is up to your unconscious mind to trigger you during sleep.

The first moment of lucidity is the hardest - but this unconscious programming becomes easier over time.

In fact, one study found that committed students of lucid dreaming were able to have their first lucid dream, on average, between 3-21 days.

Your first taste of lucidity will provide all the motivation you'll need to continue your mental training. It is like nothing else you've ever experienced before.

What is Lucid Dreaming Good For?

At first, many people are drawn to lucid dreaming for escapism.

In your virtual reality dream world, you can realistically fly over cities, meet your favorite celebrity in the flesh, or become a ninja assassin. It is way more realistic than day dreaming or playing your favorite video game. It's like it's actually happening to you.

Although the novelty value hardly wears off, you'll soon discover lucid dreaming has many personal growth applications, too:

Problem solving

Increasing your creativity

Facing your fears

Improving your confidence

Practicing new skills

Developing your sense of self

Exploring your unconscious mind

If this sounds good, you can start learning right now with our 30-module interactive course.

Final Thoughts

Lucid dreaming is a powerful psychological tool and an enriching conscious experience.

As a beginner, intermediate or expert oneironaut, I hope you find this website and its complete guide to lucid dreaming useful in your quest for self awareness in the unconscious dream world.

About the author

Rebecca Turner is a science writer, illustrator, explorer of consciousness - and founder of World of Lucid Dreaming. She is currently studying for a biology degree in Auckland and blogging at her site Science Me.

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What is lucid dreaming? Is it scientifically proven? Can anyone learn to lucid dream on demand? How long does it take? What else can I use dream control for? I'm sure you have plenty of questions about lucid dreaming and this article aims to answer the most burning ones.

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Dreams: Causes, Types, Meanings, What they are, and more 

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Dreams: Causes, Types, Meanings, What they are, and more 

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https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284378

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In my last posting I talked about the importance of daydreams in decision-making. Our brains are, according to recent research in the U.S. and Canada, programmed to wander and to use these wanderings to help problem-solve.I talked about tweaking a daydream to help you imagine your way to a decision. Now I am going to talk about how you can decode some of the hidden meanings of your reveries to help you make difficult choices.

I am not talking about finding some universal interpretation of symbols. If you and I both imagine owning a dog, for example, there may be commonalities in our fantasies; but there will also be significant differences. One of us might be longing for a companion who understands or responds to our every need. The other might be having troubles exercising and imagining that having to walk a dog would solve that problem. For one of us a dog might represent our wilder and less civilized self, while for the other it might symbolize our loving, tender and nurturing nature.

When it comes to problem-solving, these personal meanings are almost always the site of the most useful information.

Here is an example of how this can work: Jonathan* was a successful businessman who was unhappy in his marriage. He still loved his wife, he said, but now that their youngest child was in college, it seemed clear that the spark had left their relationship. He had recently found himself looking at other women in a way he never had in the past. However, he was not the kind of man who would have an affair. He did not like that his mind sometimes wandered to other women. He needed to decide whether or not to end his marriage before he could think about seeing someone else.

Jonathan was ahead of the game since he was already paying attention to his personal reveries. Dr. Eric Klinger, one of the pioneers in the field of imagining, showed years ago that daydreams take up far more of our time than anyone believed. Recent research by a t eam of neuroscientists led by Dr. Kalina Christoff at the University of British Columbia has confirmed not only that everyone daydreams, but that we do it at least a third of the time that we are awake. These "mind-wanderings" often do their work silently. Yet they activate the same decision-making parts of the brain that are triggered by focused thinking.

I have found that we can aid our brains in this work by understanding some of the less obvious themes in our mind-wanderings.Often we conceal the meanings of our thoughts from ourselves because, like Jonathan, we are not completely comfortable with either the feelings they contain or the way they portray us to ourselves. When we conquer our discomfort enough to turn our attention to random reveries, the meanings can become clear. And that clarity often takes us much closer to the decision we thought we could not make.

Jonathan was not sure which images to talk about. Since we were talking about "spontaneous thought," I suggested that he simply pay attention to where his mind went right then. In my book I offer exercises in which you pay attention to daydreams over time; but it is also helpful to select any reverie as it occurs, since it will reflect your mind's current problem-solving activity. ( Freud's idea of "free association," that is, following your thoughts without censoring or directing them, was probably actually an attempt to activate this process. However, Freud had very specific ideas about the meanings of the images that emerged.)

Jonathan began to speak quietly about a woman at work who he found attractive. "She's full of life," he said. "I wish I could have some of that energy. My wife and I are in such a dark place. Can we get out of there?" His mind wandered to a family vacation. "We had a great cabin near a lake. There were other families with small children nearby. Mary* (his wife) was happy, the kids were happy, I was happy. But the first night a bear got into the garbage cans. They were rooting around, noisily, and Mary got panicked. She wanted to call the park rangers, to have them come shoot the bears."

Jonathan stopped and asked, "Is this useful?" I have found that we often interrupt our mind- wandering when a thought gets complicated or confusing or perhaps embarrassing. Since this is also the point at which some of the less apparent meanings of the images often start to appear, it is helpful to keep going if you can.

Jonathan's next thoughts surprised him. He had felt guilty about not putting the garbage away more carefully, since there were signs all over the area warning of a problem with bears. But instead of beating up on himself, he had laughingly admitted his guilt, teased his wife a little about her panic, and reassured her that the bears would eventually go away. The kids were asleep upstairs, and he and she went to bed. He remembered that night with great fondness.

Where he went next illustrates why daydream interpretation is so personal. No dream book could have taken Jonathan here. But his own brain, once it was allowed to do the work, did. Not immediately, but a day or two later he realized that he did not want to leave his wife. He called her from work and asked her to meet him at a nice restaurant for dinner. Over a meal with candlelight and wine he told her that he thought that they were both suffering from the loss of their children and the wonderful family they had created together. She immediately agreed and said that she had not thought he was feeling as sad as she was. "Oh yes," he told her. "I was feeling it. I just didn't know what it was."

Of course not every daydream analysis leads so directly to a decision. But Dr. Christoff says that even though a daydream may interfere with our ability to achieve an immediate goal, our minds "may be taking that time to address more important questions." Daydreams are not maps to life. But if you give them room to develop and then decode the information they contain, you will often be on track for a healthy decision.

*All names and identifying information have been changed to protect privacy of individuals and families.

References:
1.Barth, F. Diane (1998) Daydreaming: Unlock the Creative Power of Your Mind.
2.Christoff,K. et. al. (2009) Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
3.Goldberger, Marianne. (1995). The Clinical Use of Daydreams in Analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis, 4:11-21.
4.Freud, S. The Interpretation of Dreams
5.Klinger, Eric (1990) Daydreaming
6.Singer, Jerome (2005) Imagery in Psychotherapy

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Decoding Hidden Meaning in Your Daydreams

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In my last posting I talked about the importance of daydreams in decision-making. Our brains are, according to recent research in the U.S. and Canada, programmed to wander and to use these wanderings to help problem-solve.I talked about tweaking a daydream to help you imagine your way to a decision.

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Why humans dream remains one of behavioral science's great unanswered questions. Dreams have a purpose but it may not be to send us messages about self-improvement or the future, as many believe. Instead, many researchers now believe that dreaming mediates memory consolidation and mood regulation, a process a little like overnight therapy. But it's not a benefit all share equally: People who are sleep deprived also tend to be dream deprived, spending less time dreaming and perhaps not remembering dreams as well.

What Dreams Mean

Dreams are the stories the brain tells during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep. People typically have multiple dreams each night that grow longer as sleep draws to a close. Over a lifetime, a person may dream for five or six full years. How best to examine all that content remains a source of debate.

People have always tried to figure out the meaning of their dreams, but dream interpretation as a field of psychological study emerged in 1899, when Sigmund Freud published The Interpretation of Dreams. Today, most experts disagree with Freud's conclusions, and some don't believe dreams signify anything at all. But people continue to mine them for clues to their inner lives, creative insight, and even hints of the future.

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Why We Have Nightmares

Nightmares can create feelings of terror, anxiety, or despair, and lead to psychological distress or sleep problems like insomnia. Research has identified a range of causes for nightmares, including post- traumatic stress, anxiety-especially the presence of generalized anxiety disorder, dissociation, and physiological changes.

Experts recommend that individuals experiencing nightmares tied to stress try to focus on positive elements of their day immediately before bed; catch themselves when they feel themselves ruminating or catastrophizing; and train themselves not to dwell on disturbing images from nightmares. For nightmares tied to PTSD, visualization treatments in which patients replay traumatic memories in "safe" ways have shown potential to bring relief.

Not necessarily. Night terrors, which are primarily experienced by children, cause sleeping people to scream, bolt out of bed, or demonstrate symptoms similar to a panic attack. But night terrors tend to occur earlier in the sleep cycle, while nightmares take place primarily during REM sleep. And unlike nightmares, night terrors are usually not remembered by sufferers, even though they may appear to be awake during the experience.

Lucid Dreams

During lucid dreaming, which most commonly occurs during late-stage REM sleep, a dreamer is aware that they're asleep, but is able to control events within their dreams, to some extent. Lucid dreamers report willing themselves to fly, fight, or act out sexual fantasies. There are communities dedicated to learning how to lucid dream at will, although evidence that this is possible remains inconclusive.

Research suggests that the brain undergoes a physiological change during lucid dreaming. In fMRI studies, the prefrontal cortex and a cortical network including the frontal, parietal, and temporal zones have been shown to activate when the brain begins lucid dreaming. This appears related to the "waking consciousness" that characterizes lucidity.

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Why humans dream remains one of behavioral science's great unanswered questions. Dreams have a purpose but it may not be to send us messages about self-improvement or the future, as many believe. Instead, many researchers now believe that dreaming mediates memory consolidation and mood regulation, a process a little like overnight therapy.

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We all have dreams, whether you remember them or not. Dreams can be pleasant, happy, frightening, frustrating, calming, boring, bizarre or downright awkward. (Anyone else ever dream about standing naked in front of a crowd?)

Each night, you can have anywhere from one dream up to five or six, depending on how long you sleep and how many rapid-eye movement (REM) cycles you go through -- but you may only remember the most vivid dreams or dreams that occur repeatedly.

Read more: 8 products to stop you from snoring

If you've ever woken from a particularly unsettling or outlandish dream, you may wonder why you dream the things you dream. Unfortunately -- but not surprisingly -- scientists can't attach particular meanings to every dream. It's up to the dreamer to determine what their sleepy, subconscious mini-movies mean, and you can start dissecting yours with the help of three sleep experts in this guide to dreams.

What exactly are dreams?

To put it simply, "Dreams are thoughts, images, sensations and sometimes sounds that occur during sleep," Alan Kuras, LCSW at Westmed Medical Group, tells CNET.

There's no definitive evidence about what dreams consist of, but it's generally accepted that dreams represent a collection of thoughts, struggles, emotions, events, people, places and symbols that are relevant to the dreamer in some way.

The most vivid dreams typically occur during REM sleep, although you can dream during other stages of sleep, too.

Why do we dream?

There are many theories of the function of dreams, Kuras says. "They appear to assist in memory formation, integration, problem solving and consolidation of ideas both about ourselves and the world," adding that neuroscientists have discovered that dreams help with information processing and mood regulation, too.

While scientists know a great deal about what happens physiologically when people dream, there's still much to be studied about what happens psychologically. For example, researchers know that people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are likely to have nightmares. But people without PTSD have nightmares, too, so it can't be said that nightmares always accompany psychological conditions.

One concept that's generally accepted is that dreaming is a highly emotional process, because the amygdala -- an emotional center in your brain -- is one of the areas of your brain that's most active during dreams, according to neuroimaging studies.

Why do some people forget their dreams?

Part of this is biological, Kuras says, as neurotransmitters forming memory are less active during sleep, and dream forgetfulness also appears to be related to the level of electrical activity in the brain during dreams.

Additionally, it could have something to do with the content of your dreams, Kuras says: Early psychoanalytic theory suggested that difficult or traumatic information in dreams is suppressed, and the dreamer is less likely to retrieve or analyze it.

Dr. Meir Kryger, a sleep medicine doctor at Yale Medicine, tells CNET that most people remember their dreams when they're awakened in the middle of a dream or in the first few moments after a dream has ended. But the catch is that the memory only lasts for a short time -- unless you write it down or repeat it in your head over and over, there's a good chance you'll forget the dream. It's actually likely that it's more common to forget dreams than it is to remember them, Dr. Kryger says.

When you wake up also matters. Research has shown that people who wake up during REM sleep report more vivid, detailed dreams, whereas people who wake up during non-REM sleep report fewer dreams, no dreams or dreams of little significance.

What do dreams mean?

Different cultures throughout history have ascribed meaning and importance to dreams, though there's little scientific evidence that dreams have particular meanings attached to them, Kuras says, "No one has yet determined with exactitude what dreams or the images in dreams mean. That dreams are significant indicators of one's subconscious mind is a basic assumption in various cultures, but in different ways."

Dr. Kryger says that dreams are "mostly speculation in terms of specific meanings." Among the scientific community, he continues, there are two main trains of thought: One is that every part of a dream has a specific meaning, and the other is that dreams are entirely spontaneous and mean nothing.

The first train of thought can be attributed to Sigmund Freud, who is recognized as the first person to assign definitive meanings to dreams -- like that dreaming about a king and a queen actually means you're dreaming about your mother and father, Dr. Kryger says.

Although dream psychoanalysis may have only begun in the last century or two, people have studied dreams for far longer: Aristotle wrote about dreams as early as 325 B.C., according to Dr. Kryger.

Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, a professional dream analyst, says the problem with arriving at proof across the board "is that dreams and their meanings are so very personal because they are based on the person's individual life experiences."

Additionally, neuroscience tends to focus on the function of dreaming (like memory retention) rather than the "comparative analysis between the imagery in dreams and the content of the previous day, which is how I approach dream analysis," Loewenberg says.

That said, certain dreams do have meanings attached to them, if for no reason other than holding significance for many people. Below, Dr. Kryger, Kuras and Loewenberg discuss meanings about common dreams and symbols in dreams.

What does it mean to dream about water, wind and fire?

Though there's no true evidence that the elements have particular meanings -- it's mostly speculation, Dr. Kryger says -- there are some associations that seem common.

Water is thought to symbolize emotions, Loewenberg says, and different types of water can mimic different emotions. For instance, muddy water can represent sadness, tidal waves can represent overwhelm and clear water can represent emotional clarity.

Fire most often equates to anger or distress, Loewenberg says, while wind can represent imminent changes or changes that you're currently going through.

"As far as these being accepted meanings, all that truly matters is what fits for the dreamer," Loewenberg says. While many symbols have a general meaning that can fit most people and common situations, you have to account for your personal associations with symbols, she explains.

These sleep gadgets are way weirder than counting sheep

What does it mean to dream about death?

Dr. Kryger says it's very common to dream about death, particularly about the death of someone close to you emotionally. It's also common to interpret those sorts of dreams as communication from the dead, which isn't really a surprise: "death has such a great impact on the living that it is often incorporated into dream content," he says.

Loewenberg says dreaming about death can signify the end of something in real life, and that doesn't necessarily mean the end of a life.

"To dream of your own death isn't a premonition but rather a reflection of how you are coming to realize that life as you now know it is coming to an end," she says, adding that it's not unusual to dream about death during things like moving, the process of quitting smoking or making a career change.

According to Kuras, "this all depends on what these images mean to the dreamer in the context of their life and challenges. Dream work is very much the exploration of feelings and meaning for the dreamer and is somehow related to the 'work' of managing life and its challenges."

What does it mean when dreams are set in nighttime vs. daytime?

Like the elements, there's no actual scientific proof that darkness and light have set meanings, but many dreamers associate each with a particular feeling, Loewenberg says. For example, dreams that take place in the dark can represent uncertainty in real life -- such as if you are "in the dark" about something going on and you need more information to make a decision. Darkness has also been associated with sadness or loneliness.

Dreams that take place in the daytime, on the other hand, may not mean anything for most people. But if you typically dream in dark settings and suddenly have dreams set in daytime, it could signify that an issue was resolved or that you've come out of a period of sadness.

Again, dream interpretation is almost entirely speculation, and what's important is how you relate your dreams to your own life.

Why some dreams are common

Have you ever dreamed that you were falling and jerked awake? If you've ever discussed said dream with other people, there's a good chance someone else chimed in saying, "I've had that dream, too!". Dreaming of falling seems to be pretty common, and it's something called an archetype, Loewnberg says.

An archetype, by definition, is "a very typical example of a certain person or thing" (Oxford) -- when applied to dreams, an archetype is something that signifies " patterns of the psyche."

Other common dreams, which may or may not be archetypes depending on what's happening in your life at the time you have the dream, include:

Showing up late for something important.

Being chased by someone or something.

Flying.

Dreams about sexual relations that shouldn't happen in real life (such as you or your partner engaging in relations with someone else).

Encountering someone who has died.

Being lost.

Being paralyzed or unable to speak.

Being naked or embarrassed in front of a crowd.

Loewenberg says these dreams are so common because they're connected to common behaviors, actions, thoughts and fears. For example, many -- if not most -- people worry about arriving late for something important, such as a work presentation or a plane flight. Likewise, many people may worry about their partner having an affair, which can show up in dreams.

Having dreams where you appear naked or embarrassed in front of a crowd is often related to social anxiety, Loewenberg says, or worrying about how others perceive you.

How to interpret your dreams

Since, as mentioned before, there's no solid body of evidence about the meanings of dreams, you have to interpret your dreams in ways that make sense to you.

"The determination of what dreams convey are particular to the person and current situation," Kuras says, "so what the person is experiencing, what challenges they are facing, and what psychological developments are occurring will inform meaning in each case."

Dreaming is a thinking process, Loewnberg reiterates. "Our dreams, those strange little stories we experience every night while we sleep, are actually our subconscious thoughts," she says. "They are a continuation of our stream of consciousness from the day."

But during sleep, instead of talking to yourself in words, you are talking to yourself in symbols, metaphors and emotions, Loewenberg says. The change in language happens because your brain works differently during REM sleep: Notably, the prefrontal cortex, or decision-making center of your brain, is less active or inactive, while the amygdala, the emotional center of your brain, is highly active.

That's why dreams can be so frightening or frustrating, and feature events that shouldn't or couldn't happen in real life.

"In a nutshell," Loewenberg says, "dreams are a conversation with the self about the self, but on a much deeper, subconscious level."

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Dreaming about death, fire and falling: What your dreams really mean

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We all have dreams, whether you remember them or not. Dreams can be pleasant, happy, frightening, frustrating, calming, boring, bizarre or downright awkward. (Anyone else ever dream about standing naked in front of a crowd?)

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". Recurring dreams usually mean there is something in your life you've not acknowledged that is causing stress of some sort. The dream repeats because you have not corrected the problem. Another theory is that people who experience recurring dreams have some sort of trauma in their past they are trying to deal with. In this case, the dreams tend to lessen with time."

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Many people have the same or a similar dream many times, over either a short period of time or their lifetime. Recurring dreams usually mean there is something in your life you've not acknowledged that is causing stress of some sort. The dream repeats because you have not corrected the problem. Another theory is that people who experience recurring dreams have some sort of trauma in their past they are trying to deal with. In this case, the dreams tend to lessen with time.

Nightmares are dreams that are so distressing they usually wake us up, at least partially. Nightmares can occur at any age but are seen in children with the most frequency. Nightmares usually cause strong feelings of fear, sadness or anxiety. Their causes are varied. Some medications cause nightmares (or cause them if you discontinue the medication abruptly). Traumatic events also cause nightmares.

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Treatment for recurring nightmares usually starts with interpreting what is going on in the dream and comparing that with what is happening in the person's life. Then, the person undergoes counseling to address the problems that are presumably causing the nightmare. Some sleep centers offer nightmare therapy and counseling. Another method of treating nightmares is through lucid dreaming. Through lucid dreaming, the dreamer can confront his or her attacker and, in some cases, end the nightmares.

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Many people have the same or a similar dream many times, over either a short period of time or their lifetime. Recurring dreams usually mean there is something in your life you've not acknowledged that is causing stress of some sort. The dream repeats because you have not corrected the problem.

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Overview: Daniela
Manifestation: Arianna
Emotions: Roberto
Symbolism: Erin
Analyzing: Erin
Faces in Dreams: Charlotte
Lucid Dreaming: Charlotte
Re-occurring: Eva
Paralysis: Daniela

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Sleep paralysis is a normal part of the REM sleep. However, it is considered to be a disorder when it occurs outside of REM sleep. It can occur in otherwise healthy people, as well as in those presenting symptoms of narcolepsy, cataplexy and hypnagogic hallucinations. When it occurs without narcolepsy, it is classified at Isolated Sleep Paralysis (ISP).

As discussed in the REM behavior disorder section, muscle atonia, or sleep paralysis most commonly occurs when a person is either falling asleep awakening. If an individual has awareness as the body enters or exits REM sleep, they may experience sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes; episodes of longer duration are typically disconcerting and may even provoke a panic response. The paralysis may be accompanied by rather vivid hallucinations, which most people will attribute to being parts of dreams.

Sleep paralysis can occur in otherwise normal sleepers, and is surprisingly common in its occurrence and universality. It has also been linked to certain conditions such as increased stress, excessive alcohol consumption, sleep deprivation, and narcolepsy.

Treatment of Sleep Paralysis is often limited to education about sleep phases and atonia that normally occurs as people sleep. If episodes persist, the sleep specialist may evaluate for narcolepsy, which is commonly present in those suffering from sleep paralysis.

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Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which a person is aware but unable to move or speak. During an episode, one may hallucinate (hear, feel, or see things that are not there), which often results in fear. Episodes generally last less than a couple of minutes.

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Arthur Schopenhauer, pioneering quantum physicist

Dream characters: The actors in your nightly dramas

Dream characters are usually central to a dream's story. They move the action forward and enact the symbolism. They provide the drama.

Dream characters generally symbolize the dynamics of your life, especially your inner life emotions, feelings, and perceptions, though they can represent subjects, concepts, ideas, or structures of the psyche and mind. The outward appearance of the character is like mask that covers something deeper. Stop for a moment and absorb the implication that some of your dream characters look human but are actually walking, talking symbols.

Think of dream characters as actors chosen for the roles they play. It's like a casting director is in your mind with movie script and deciding who to cast in the roles. It can invent characters out of pure imagination, or model them after people you know and know of such as celebrities. Some dream characters are archetypal, modeled after figures from myth, legend, fable, and other sorts of stories. Those characters are independent of your ego, possess their own points of view and agendas, and the roots of their existence extend beyond the personal space you call your mind.

Absorb that implication!

Know your dream characters through their roles

Some dream characters are main actors, some are supporting actors, and some are like movie extras used to set the scene. Noting differences in how characters perform within the dream's story is important for story analysis because it helps you to understand what's behind the mask.

Main actors tend to represent the most important aspects of yourself such as archetypes and major structures within the psyche such as Shadow, anima and animus. Supporting actors tend to represent aspects of yourself such as mental functions, thought processes, and emotional processes - not as major as main characters but still important. And extras, well, they tend to represent minor aspects of your subconscious mind. Your ego, which is the point of view through which you usually experience a dream, is but one of a huge cast of characters that exists in your psyche.

Take note of:

How much independence does a character have?

How much personality and intelligence does it show?

How important is it in the scheme of the story?

How do you react to and feel about it?

Most dream characters follow a script written subconsciously for their role in the dream's story, but some of them such as the above-mentioned archetypal characters have a life of their own in the psyche. Your inner world is their living reality. Otherwise, it's safe to say that a dream character's behavior is programmed. Remember that, especially when someone you know appears in your dreams and does something you don't like. They're just playing a role. It isn't really the person.

A quick video lesson about dream characters

Don't be fooled by appearances

Separate the actor from the role. It's tempting to think of an actor as the characters they play. In the same way, separate the person from the dream character that depicts them. Your dreams will be populated by characters that appear identical to people you know, but it's just a mask, a costume.

I hear statements that begin, "You won't believe what you did in my dream last night!" No, the person you know was not in your dream; it's an actor playing a role based somehow on that person. The dream character is a projection of your inner world. So the statement above would read truthfully, "My dreaming mind dressed up a character to appear like you." The appearance of the character covers something deeper.

Dreams can directly depict people you know, and dreams featuring them are like reality TV. But more often the characters are projections of your inner world. So when you dream about people you know, it's not really "them," usually.

Nowhere is this lesson more important than with dreams about cheating:

Even when dream characters look like people you know, they're still actors. And the way they are presented in a dream - appearance, behavior, demeanor - is based on your thoughts, feelings, perceptions, desires, observations and so forth. It's characterization. It's subjective.

If your parent or best friend is characterized in a dream as an axe-wielding maniac complete with insane clown costume, for example, it could characterize how you perceive that person's recent behavior. It's exaggerated and dramatized and has nothing to do with the person you know.

But... your observations about people can be spot-on and reflected by your dreams, in which case the character is presented objectively. You can even see things about people that are hidden or still to come in the future, such as a coming pregnancy or change of hairstyle (my wife has had dreams about my hairstyle changing that came true). Usually, though, characterization is involved.

Portrayal vs. characterization

An important difference is made here between a portrayal and a characterization. The portrayal given by a dream character is based on reality to at least some extent. Like when Anthony Hopkins played Richard Nixon, he portrayed Nixon as a character in the movie. A characterization, on the other hand, is more imaginative and doesn't have to be based at all on reality, such as when Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter, a fictional character-ization.

Portrayals tend to connect more with dreams about outer life events and situations, whereas characterizations dramatize inner life. The difference can be especially helpful for recognizing why a character's script is written the way it is. It can help you understand their role in the story, to reverse engineer the dream and understand it through its mechanics.

Direct representations of people

As a general rule, everything in your dreams is usually presented subjectively, not objectively. But sometimes the representations you see as dream characters are direct and objective, not subjective, and it's tough to tell the difference.

How your dreaming mind presents everything to you depends largely on how you process information and see the world and yourself. The type of dream experience you have also affects how information is rendered as dream imagery and sensation. Most dreams originate in your body and subconscious mind, and everything you see and experience in them is subjective. But less common types of dreams involve shared experiences of dreaming with other people, and they extend beyond the usual boundaries. They show objective truth and reality.

For example, usually when you dream about a deceased loved one it's subjective. The dream character is not the person who died and continues to exist in another reality. However, I am convinced after many years of researching this subject that we really can communicate telepathically with the consciousness of people and other life forms in dreams.

Explore further: Deceased Loved Ones in Dreams

Even when you dream about someone or something like it's reality TV, it's still a representation, same as when you view a reality TV program - you're not seeing the actors live, you're seeing a video representation. Always assume first that all your dream characters are projections of your inner world.

But a direct representation means, when you look at the person in the dream, you see an objective representation or even the essence of the real person. Dream telepathy is so common it's been discussed at the highest academic levels of dream study, and it raises the question of what you actually see in the form of a dream character: a figment of your dream imagination, or the essence of the person?

Experiments in lucid dreaming at Stanford University and elsewhere prove that people can meet in dreams and pass accurate information. Precognitive dreaming about future events is a common experience. Shared dreaming is commonly accepted in cultures around the world and throughout history. In those sorts of dream landscapes, you can see people objectively, beamed into your dreamscape like a video feed.

People sometimes dream about me because I'm known as a dream interpreter. It's not really "me" in their dreams... or is it some essence of me?

Dreams can and do mix reality with fiction, though, so there are no hard rules here. Instead, analyze the dream's story. Understand how it's put together and why. You will learn to spot the subtle differences and obvious signs of the use of symbolism that will help you discern a direct representation from the much more common subjective representation. I've researched cases of dream ESP and had personal experiences that are so lifelike and mirror reality so closely, you can't tell the difference.

But that's not to say that dreams never use symbolism when they directly represent a person. For example, a precognitive dream foretold the death of a woman whose life was sinking under drug addiction. The dream an acquaintance had about her showed her on a boat that was sinking. It's a metaphor, symbolic, but the dream brought forward information about the woman that showed what was soon to happen to her in the future. The person who had the dream did not consciously know at the time what was happening with the woman. She died soon afterward from a drug overdose.

The clever storyteller that is your dreaming mind likes to use the storytelling technique of projecting something about a person, subject, or situation onto another dream character, split off and viewed separately.

For example, after a holiday occasion marred by the person's uncle getting drunk and starting political arguments, he dreams that Donald Trump comes over for dinner, gets drunk, and goes off Hulk Hogan-style smashing tables, overturning furniture, shouting obscenities and throwing haymakers. Trump, the uncle, and the dreamer end up in an epic fistfight. The Trump character perfectly sums up how the dreamer perceives his uncle. In fact, his uncle is a big Trump supporter, and his spouting of angry Trump rhetoric is what spoiled a holiday dinner and sparked the dream. The dream compares the uncle to Trump and shows the uncle's behavior through the Trump character's actions.

Example #2: A young man dreams about a big, potentially dangerous gorilla in his bedroom. He asks his roommate - a real person in his life and not a fictional character, who's not pictured in the scene until that moment - to lock up the gorilla. The gorilla character is a projection of the dreamer's perceptions of his roommate. The roommate's habit of entering the dreamer's bedroom uninvited annoys him, but the roommate is strong, unpredictable and wild, like a gorilla. By asking his roommate to lock up the gorilla, he's actually saying "please restrain yourself."

Dream characters can be surrogates for people you know. Surrogates don't necessarily look like those people, but something will connect them symbolically. Such as when a dog - "man's best friend" - is used to represent your best friend. Or a nun - a "sister" - represents your sister or a sister-like relationship.

Remember the lesson about the use of dream characters which are "split personality." They're inserted into the story to show you something about a person, situation, subject, or circumstance. The last examples I gave - the Trump and Gorilla characters - use surrogates.

A young man whose older brother was deployed overseas in the military dreamed about his brother's dog showing up in various dream scenes - the same brother who is like a best friend. In another dream, the brother motorcycle parked in the garage of the family home is used to symbolize the brother. He misses his brother and awaits his return, symbolically represented as the motorcycle parked in the garage of the family home, so the motorcycle is thought of as a surrogate for the idea of his brother and missing him.

Important! Notice how the last example uses an object, not a character, as a surrogate.

Here's another variation of the same use of a surrogate. A young woman dreams about a ghost in her sister's room in the family home. The sister left home and has been out of touch, and for the sibling who had this dream the ghost represents her sister - or, more accurately, her perception that her sister is like a ghost. Her memory remains but her physical presence is gone.

Dreams have various reasons for using surrogates. Oftentimes, it gives you the distance to observe. Use of a surrogate for a person you know obscures who the dream refers to, when seeing that person in a dream might veer you off course from following along with the story. For example, you see your ex in a dream and it brings up a load of charged emotions and associations. Instead, the dream uses a surrogate to represent the person. You will still react from your gut based on subconscious knowledge of the symbolism - you know deep down what the surrogate represents - but at least you can step back enough to stay within the parameters of the story.

You subconsciously know what everything in a dream symbolizes and react based on that knowledge, usually.

Take note of your reactions

How you react to dream characters can tell you what they symbolize. For example, in a dream where a woman stabs a man through the heart, the man symbolizes her ex-boyfriend, and when you learn what he did to her you understand her reaction. The dream uses a surrogate character to stand in for her ex; otherwise, just the sight of him would blow her off course.

In another dream, the person's joyful reaction to seeing an old friend reminds him that he misses having close friends. A few years prior to the dream he moved to a new town and started a job, and he's been so busy working he hasn't bothered to make new friends.

In another person's dream, running at the sight of a baby shows her fear of parenthood.

In the first case, the male character that the dreamer stabs is a surrogate for her ex. In the second case, an old friend symbolizes missing the closeness of friends, a surrogate for the subject of friendship. In the third case, the baby represents a fear. In each case, the dreamer's reaction gives away the symbolism. Decoding the symbolism leads to the meaning.

Your reaction can tell you a lot even after the fact, after the dream concludes and you are awake and reflect on it. If you think about a dream character and feel a sharp reaction, take it as a clue that the character represents something felt sharply or strongly. And keep in mind that as a general rule, you react most strongly to what you see about yourself in other people. For our purpose, "people" can mean "dream characters."

For example, I dream that three dangerous-looking teens come through the front door of my home and search the place. My initial reaction while dreaming is to presume they're robbing me. I act cool and wait as the lead teen comes up to me and reaches for my necklace. What choice do I have? I feel the necklace slip off my neck and into his hand, and I'm relieved that he didn't strangle me instead.

Days later the dream is still on my mind when I visit a friend who has a deeply intuitive sense about dreams. As I describe the dream to her and think about the teen I feel strong reactions. My body twitches. My mouth turns dry. My friend asks me, "do you think the teen is there to rob you, or does he need something from you?"

Bingo! Immediately I sense the truth that the teen needs something from me. He symbolizes personal needs which have stuck with me into adulthood for structure, guidance, and recognition, typical things that teenagers need. I picture the teen reaching for my necklace and say to him, "go ahead and have it, my gift; what's mine is yours." I then cried for a long time - talk about a strong reaction!

Association is your first step when interpreting a dream, usually. Associations are the first things that come to mind when you think about a dream's detail.

For example, a woman dreams about a former marathon training partner who approaches her. The partner, a female, has a penis and talks the dreamer into having sex. On the surface, the dream appears bizarre, but by using association the symbolism of the partner character becomes clear, which leads to the meaning of the dream. The dreamer associates her old training partner with strong opinions and caring less what people think of her. That's the sort of person she is. Now for the personal context that explains why this person shows up in her dreams many years after the last time they talked. The dreamer is struggling because she thinks people view her as less than feminine. She expresses strong opinions, a typically male characteristic symbolized in the dream as a woman with a penis .

Put 2 + 2 together and you see in this dream a story about the dreamer coming to terms with an inner conflict and drawing from the memory of an old friend to give her the perspective she needs..

You associate with anyone you know or know of such as a celebrity in a dream and ask yourself, what do I see about myself in the person? What do they mean to me? What words come to mind when I think about the person? For example in the dream featuring Donald Trump wrecking a family dinner, the main association the dreamer think of in relation to Trump is "divisive," and that's exactly how to sum up his uncle's behavior at a recent family dinner.

You have a lot more to learn about association technique, covered in Step 2: Dream Interpretation and Story Analysis. My intent here is just to remind you that whether it's a dream character, setting, action or other detail, association is a primary way to decode the symbolism.

See yourself in dream characters

You see yourself in people you know, and you see yourself in dream characters representing people you know, and in characters that are completely imaginary.

This is one of the most important lessons in dream interpretation. Most dreams at most times are your inner world brought to life, and the dream characters are your guides to understanding it. They are the most likely to show you something about yourself. They give voice to the many parts of you. Listen to them! There's always something new to learn about you from your dream characters.

More about that subject in Dream Character Lesson 2.

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How to interpret and understand dream characters

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Arthur Schopenhauer, pioneering quantum physicist Dream characters are usually central to a dream's story. They move the action forward and enact the symbolism. They provide the drama. Dream characters generally symbolize the dynamics of your life, especially your inner life emotions, feelings, and perceptions, though they can represent subjects, concepts, ideas, or structures of the psyche and mind.

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ya'll want anything specific? also the icon too

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7 Common Dream Meanings You Should NEVER Ignore!

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Ms. Beattie might schedule everyone in this padlet to talk about dream interpretation on a google meet. (fyi)

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50 Hidden Meanings Behind the Most Common Dreams

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50 Hidden Meanings Behind the Most Common Dreams

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more explanations of what parts of dreams meanhttps://www.rd.com/list/dream-interpretation/

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explains what some elements in dreams mean which things
https://sleepopolis.com/education/guide-to-dream-interpretation/

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Maybe we could connect with other people in our dreams

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"When you fall asleep,
you go from the presence of yourself
into your own true presence.
You hear something
and surmise that someone else in your dream
has secretly informed you.
You are not a single "you."
No, you are the sky and the deep sea.
Your mighty "Thou," which is nine hundredfold,
is the ocean, the drowning place
of a hundred "thous" within you. ~ Rumi

People have the capability to communicate telepathically with one another while asleep and dreaming. This phenomenon, known as Dream Telepathy, is much more common than we think and surpasses the boundary of coincidence.

If we stop to consider how many times we've woken up from a dream about an old friend who suddenly calls later on, or hear a sound in our sleep right before it manifests physically, we may start to see that communication is not merely restricted to words.

From fortune-tellers, animal psychics to physicists, all can vouch for the fact that information transmits beyond all channels of our regular sensory perception. The dream state has been studied in context to telepathy and precognition exactly because it seems to exceed the realm of our five senses.

The first person to use the phrase 'dream telepathy' was Sigmund Freud in "The Uncanny and the Occult." Based on several patients' accounts, he comes to the conclusion that there is a strong possibility that telepathy is a real phenomenon.

However, he doesn't restrict its occurrence to just dream states. But he was quick to discard anything that seemed supernatural, he said, "Since dreams themselves have always been mysterious things, they have been brought into intimate connection with the other unknown mysteries."

Carl Jung, initially his student, was of the opinion that the conscious and unconscious mind came together in our dreams, a process he called 'individuation'. In this dreamscape, the bridge between the individual mind and the collective unconscious became activated.

The Experiments with Montague Ullman and Stanley Krippner

In the 60's, an American doctor named Montague Ullman along with Dr. Stanley Krippner began to further explore the potential for telepathy in dreamers. For this, they required a control group with 'senders' and 'receivers'.

The randomly selected sender and receiver would meet for a very short period of time right before being separated into different rooms to sleep in. An envelope enclosed with a picture or drawing was kept in the room of the sender, and in order to ensure secrecy of the topic, the sender could only get the envelope before it was time to sleep.

They would then concentrate or 'send' the message by visualizing it appearing before the receiver. It had been observed through years of research that people were able to remember their dreams if awakened during Rapid Eye Movement sleep (R.E.M.). Hence the experimenter awakened the receiver soon after R.E.M. sleep so as to take a dream report.

On one particular occasion, all senders were given a print of a popular painting by Edgar Degas known as "School of Dance". Depicted in it is a dance school filled with young girls and women. The results were astounding.

According to Krippner the receivers reported dreams that nearly exactly fit the description, it included phrases like "I was in a class made up of maybe half a dozen people, it felt like a school," and "There was one little girl that was trying to dance with me."

Another major event occurred on 15th March, 1970. This session took place interestingly at a Holy Rounders rock concert. The entire audience attending the concert were selected to be telepathic senders.

An artist named Jean Millay was to prepare the senders on how and what to visualize, with the help of a group of artists that created light shows for concerts. After giving the senders a simple set of verbal instructions, the light show began.

Color projectors were used to project on a large screen a film about eagles and their nesting habits as well as various other birds including ones in well-known mythology. The film was screened right around the time Holy Modal Rounders were playing their song "If you want to be a bird".

There were about five volunteer receivers at the time, located within a hundred mile radius from the senders. All the receivers were aware of where the concert was taking place and were instructed to start recording their dreams by midnight as that was when the visualizations would be sent to them.

Sure enough, the receivers reported shockingly similar visions. One of them by the name of Helen Andrews saw "something mythological, like a griffin or a phoenix." Many other participants had impressions of snakes, grapes and "an embryo in flames".

Richie Havens, a singer and a recording artist who also participated, reported visualizing "a number of sea gulls flying over water."

The pilot session with The Grateful Dead

In a pilot session, Ullman and Krippner got in members of acclaimed rock band Grateful Dead. Six concerts were involved in this study, all held at the Capitol Theatre of New York. Approximately 45 miles away from it was the Mainmonides Medical Centre's dream laboratory.

This time there were two participants - one named Malcolm Bessent and another named Felicia Parise. Malcolm spent the night at the laboratory with electrodes attached to his head to monitor brain activity, while Felicia slept in her own bed.

At a particular time, the members of Grateful Dead would discuss the random art print and ask the audience to 'send' the images. However, this experiment differed as the audience was given the name and location of Bessent and not Parise.

It was speculated that Bessent's dreams would demonstrate more correspondences because "psycho-physiological monitoring made possible a more complete collection of his dream activity"; and the transmitters were aware of his name and location and therefore could direct the messages more clearly.

Findings

"On several other nights, Mr. Bessent's dream reports demonstrate what the judges considered to be a high degree of correspondence with the art print. On 20 February 1971, "Philosophy in the Boudoir" by the French artist Magritte was randomly selected; it portrays a headless woman in a transparent gown.

Mr. Bessent dreamed about "a little girl's doll" and a "fantasy..., a card around my neck". None of Ms. Parise's transcript - target correspondences was as dramatic despite the fact that she had made high scores in other dream telepathy experiments."

"Asleep you can experience many hours whilst only a few waking moments have passed. This is why dreams are an ideal platform for training." ~ Wayne Gerard Trotman

They also found that:
- The greater the number of senders, the more powerfully visions would manifest.
- The more multi-sensory the stimuli was (visual, auditory, olfactory etc.), greater was the degree of accuracy in the dreams of the receiver.
Read about the entireexperiment here
Although the phenomena of dream telepathy has been recorded for eons in folklore and mythology, this research is among the first of its kind to study it within a controlled scientific context. To probe into this for ourselves we could keep dream journals to write in every time we feel some dreams to be more meaningful over others.

Those dreams provide great insight and have the scope to develop our intuitive faculties. In order to open telepathic channels of communication in our dreams, we could start by telling ourselves that we would like to communicate something specific with a certain person before we sleep.

Messages may not always make sense but since they are coming from deep within the realm of the unconscious (whether individual or collective), they will always have meaning and value. Ultimately we are all connected through a powerful energetic web.

As we begin to strengthen our intuition, we become more and more aware of these connections and make use of the information we have access to through them.

References:
Telepathic Dream Research is Blowing Up
Freud Dreams and Telepathy

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"When you fall asleep, you go from the presence of yourself into your own true presence. You hear something and surmise that someone else in your dream has secretly informed you. You are not a single "you." No, you are the sky and the deep sea.

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"Can you see your future soul mate in a dream?

Yes, when you are dreaming your mind is free to explore and experience much deeper regions of your psyche than it is while you are awake. One of the inner aspects that dreaming enables you to experience is your Anima (for men) or Animus (for women). These are our internally generated images of an ideal lover. We all have them, although some of us are more aware of their inner existence than others are. When you dream of an ideal partner you are actually seeing an inner version of your opposite 🤬 self which is your true soul mate. Nobody explained this principle better than C.G. Jung did when he said, “The soul will never know peace until it finds its other and this other is always you” (italics added)."
-from website.

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https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dream-catcher/201703/dream-interpretation

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https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/dream-interpretation-offers-insight

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Have you guys heard of the new tik tok trend were you shift into other realities?

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She said by Monday all of us would need to post at least 2 articles

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https://otherworldlyoracle.com/soul-mate-dreams/

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Why do you repeat dreams?
Is it possible to meet your soulmate in your dreams?
Is there a way to go into
someone else's dream?
Why can't you remember people's faces in some dreams?

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1.How could we apply what we learn in our dreams to our real life?

2.Could we connect to someone else's dream and experience what they do?

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Write 2 questions you have abt this, because idk if Ms. Beattie will ask me who wrote down questions

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This is what I found on hot to dream manifest. I am going to start looking for videos later.

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Post updated March 2020
This is your year! This is the year that you will manifest your dream into reality; if you want to that is. What have you always dreamed about doing? Why wait any longer to make it happen? There is no better time than now to start building your dreams into reality. This simple four-step process will have you well on your way to making your dreams a reality.

The more I travel, and the more I learn about life, the more I discover that everything is interconnected. And everything that you experience in your life is dependent on your mindset. You manifest your dreams. If you dream of failing, then that is precisely what will happen. Alternatively, if you dream of living a life surrounded by success, joy, and beauty, then that is what you will find.

Of course, sometimes negative and unexpected things happen to us that are out of our control, and we cannot blame ourselves. However, how we move forward from our bad experiences by finding lessons in them. How we learn from troublesome situations is 100% within our control. We are in charge of how we use our current situation to mold our future.

4-Step Process to Manifest Your Dreams This Year

Anyone can use this four-step process to manifest their dreams. It will work on the simplest things, maybe you want a pay-rise at work, and significant life changes, perhaps you want to quit your job and travel the world. Follow these four steps, and your dream life will be your reality in no-time.

Step 1) Clarify Your Dreams

How can you expect to manifest your dreams if you don't have a clear picture of what those dreams are?

Want a million dollars? How are you going to get it? Start a business selling bath-bombs that rivals Lush? Write a best-selling book?

Want to travel the world? Where do you want to go first? What type of accommodation will you stay in? What activities do you want to do?

Want to improve your health? How will you measure this? What sustainable lifestyle changes will you make to your diet and exercise regime? What will improvements to your health allow you to do that you can't do now?

Think about what your life will look like once you manifest your dreams. Focus on how achieving these dreams will make you feel. Really picture yourself living your dream as if it is already your reality. Flushing out the details in step one is essential because it helps you to create the right mindset to tackle the next two steps.

The Power of Visualization

Psychologists have found that visualizing an action lights up much of the same parts of the brain as actually doing it. A study by Ranganathan and colleagues from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, showed the power of the mind-body connection in an experiment looking at finger exercises.

To be expected, the people who completed the physical exercises saw a 53% increase in finger strength.

Amazingly, the people who only visualized the exercises saw a whopping 35% increase in finger strength.

As expected, those that did none of the exercises saw no significant change.

Activities to help you clarify your dreams:

Additionally, sometimes we don't always know what our dream is. Maybe you want to earn a million dollars, but you are not sure how. The following activities can help you tap into your subconscious mind and spark ideas of how manifesting your dreams appears. Consequently, the results are often unexpected and will help you discover skills and plans you would have never thought of if you had merely sat down and force yourself to think about it.

Meditation

Meditation is a powerful tool that gives you space to clear your mind of cluttering thoughts to find clarity. If you're new to meditation, first try practicing five-minutes a day. A smaller regular practice is more powerful than longer sessions less often.
Tip: Set a timer, so the thought of time doesn't distract you during meditation.
Meditation to clarify dreams

1. To use meditation to clarify your dreams, focus on one thing that you want to manifest. This could be a specific thing or broad such as "love."

2. Sit or lie down comfortably in a quiet space. Close your eyes and focus on your breath moving in and out of your body. Feel your belly and chest expand. Notice the tickle as your breath gently passes your lips.

3. Start to focus on the dream you wish to manifest. Make it real. Use as much detail as possible. What would it look like to live in this dream? What would it feel like?

4. When you are ready, go back to focusing on your breath. Bring your mind back into your body and gently open your eyes.

Yoga

Yoga is more than just an exercise; Yoga is a transformative tool for the mind. Through Yoga, you find focus, clarity, and control. Yoga teaches us to become more in tune with our mind, body, and intellect.
Manifest Your Dreams with Yoga

1. Next time you step on your mat open with an intention to manifest your dreams.

2. To set an intention, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and focus. Like in the meditation exercise above, you can be specific or broad with an affirmation such as "I can and I will."

3. Throughout your practice, bring your mind back to syncing your breath with your movements, and your mind with your intention.

4. Close your Yoga practice by thanking yourself for stepping on the mat and taking time to work towards your dreams.

Create a Vision Board

Vision boards are a fun, crafty exercise to gain clarity about what you want in life. They are a great first step to bring your dreams into the physical realm.
To make a vision board:

1. Collect images and words from magazines and papers that you want to see in and have in your life.

2. Get crafty and stick them to a board in a way that reflects your personality and style.

3. Place this board somewhere you will see it daily, such as your bedroom wall.

4. Alternatively, you could make a board on Pinterest and look at it regularly.

Journaling

Writing your dreams down on paper is another way to help clarify your dreams. You may find once you start writing that the dreams change from what you thought you want. Journaling exercises help to guide you to clarification and how to achieve your dreams. Write down your answers to the following questions in your journal.
Journal prompts for clarifying your dreams:

1. What do you feel is missing from your life at this moment. Why?

2. How do you want your life to look in one year?

3. What have you long dreamed of doing?

4. What steps can you take to make this dream happen?

Conduct a Skill Evaluation

A skill evaluation is useful when you are feeling lost about what your passions or dreams are. You're not alone; this is something I have always struggled with. The big question for many of us is, "what do I want in life?"

To explain how a skill evaluation helps, I'm going to use a formula to find your niche that crops us in business planning a lot. When searching for a business niche, you want to look for an overlap in your passions, skills, and what people need. You can use this same formula to help manifest your dreams.
Skill evaluation steps for dreams

1. Write a list of all your passions and interests.

2. Write a list of all your skills, small and big. Think about what you do every day in your job and daily life. Your strengths when interacting with other people. Topics you have studied in the past that you feel comfortable with. Nothing is too small. Often we overlook the little things we are good at because we find it easy and take it for granted that everyone can do it.

3. Write a list of all the ways you help other people or animals.

4. Write a list of all the ways you want to help others.

5. Look for any overlaps. This may be a good place to start building a new dream on. You may have things to learn to add to your skills list but that's the fun part. This exercise is about clarifying what you have to create a foundation to build what you want.

Step 2) Believe in Yourself

How can you expect to move forward if you don't believe that you can make your dreams happen? Manifesting your dreams is a combination of magic and action. Like we all learned in fairy tales growing up, if you don't believe it's possible, it won't happen.

If you don't believe in yourself and you think you will fail, you probably will. A study by Andrew Martin in 2002 found that students who described themselves as having low self-belief, low control and high fear of failure displayed significantly higher rates of anxiety, pessimism and exhibited lower achievement compared with their counterparts who believed in themselves and weren't afraid to fail.

Because the action part of the manifest your dreams process is not always easy, and you need to have that built-in belief in yourself to push you through the difficult times ahead. Think of your heroes. They didn't get to where they are today by giving up, and you won't either.

Activities to help you believe in yourself:

Believing in yourself involves building your self-esteem and self-confidence. The following activities help you to discover the barriers that are holding you back and push past them. Use the same methods for these activities as described above to create a strong belief in yourself.

Meditation- focus on your dream and your ability to achieve it.

Yoga - set an empowering intention at the start of your practice, such as "I am worthy."

Repeat positive affirmations throughout the day, such as "I am capable" or "I will make my dreams come true."

Journaling - use journal practices to unravel why you don't believe in yourself. Ask yourself, what is stopping you from manifesting your dreams? Is it the absolute truth? How can you overcome this obstacle? What do you want to be true? What do you need to start telling yourself to make this real?

Read inspirational stories by women who are living their dreams and find out how they did it in Your Best Self Magazine. You can get free access to these in the Happiness Quest Resource Library.

Fake-it-until-you-make, it is also a valuable strategy to use. If you struggle with low self-esteem or low self-confidence, like many of us, including myself, you don't have to believe in yourself to the top of your dream. You only need to believe in yourself enough to take the first step forward. Following this method, you will find that taking action will naturally help you build esteem, confidence, and belief in yourself.

Step 3) Make a plan

What is a dream without a plan? The law of attraction works both in mysterious ways and follows logical paths to get you where you need to go. Now that you have a clear idea of what you want and believe that you can do it, it's time to make a plan.

If you're not sure where to start, look for people who are already doing what you want to do. Don't be afraid to do something that is already being done because your input will make it unique & valuable. Undoubtedly, your plan may morph as time goes on but start somewhere and ensure each step moves you forward.

For example, when I decided to quit my job and travel the world, I had to organize my budget to start saving money. I calculated how much money I would need to put aside each week to quit my job within 18 months and begin full-time travel. Then I researched places I wanted to go and the costs associated. Albeit, I had to sacrifice certain social events to make this happen. But here I am now, seven months and five countries later, sitting on Isla Cozumel in Mexico writing this article. I made a plan, I stuck to it, and here I am.

Activities to help you make a plan:

Knowledge is power. If you don't know where to start, then learn!

Find out what the people who are living your dream did.

Ask Questions.

Read books, magazines & blog posts.

Listen to podcasts and audiobooks.

Watch how-to YouTube videos.

Take a course.

If you need more help with this stage, check out fellow blogger Nadalie Bardo's Free Slay Your Goal's Guide. She is an expert in helping people achieve their goals.

Step 4) Take action

Now you're ready to go and manifest your dreams because you know what you want, you believe you can have it, and you have a well-constructed plan as to how you're going to get it. So get out there and TAKE ACTION!

Step four is the logical step required to manifest your dreams because the law of attraction doesn't work by visualization alone. It opens you up to new experiences and opportunities so that you can take action and make your dreams a reality. Additionally, you will find that magic happens along the way.

What are your dreams? Start step one right now by commenting below and sharing your dreams with our community!

Featuring six issues of Your Best Self Magazine, Spoil Yourself: DIY Natural Beauty E-Book, journal prompts & more.

References:

Martin, A. (2002). The lethal cocktail: Low self-belief, low control and high fear of failing. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 12, 74-85. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1017/S1037291100004568

Ranganathan V.K., Siemionow V., Liu J.Z., Sahgal V. & Yue G.H.(2004). From mental power to muscle power-gaining strength by using the mind. Neuropsychologia, 42(7), 944-956. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14998709

Related Articles

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How To Manifest Your Dreams in 2020: Simple 4-Step Process

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Post updated March 2020 This is your year! This is the year that you will manifest your dream into reality; if you want to that is. What have you always dreamed about doing? Why wait any longer to make it happen? There is no better time than now to start building your dreams into reality.

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####"Trafficking animals, zombie video games, going through the Panama Canal on a boat."

"Get part time job at local pizzeria... worried I'm going to be late, show up 30 mins early."

"Boardwalk art show turned street race. Streets invisible. Courage not invisible."

"Mattress murderer on the loose."

"This is the raccoon's. He doesn't do much. He's not even here right now."

"I don't know but I didn't like any of it."

No, these aren't some strange and poorly-structured haikus. They are just some of the most fascinating tidbits from the dream journals our team kept over the last month-sans authors for sake of anonymity, of course. For 30 days, we challenged our team to write down their dreams and see what they might learn about themselves and dreaming in general.

Dream interpretation throughout history has been relied on to better understand ourselves and others. We figured we could take a note from our ancestors and track themes and symbols to gain some perspective on our day-to-day lives.

The history of dream interpretation Many cultures, both ancient and current, rely on dreams as a form of communication and attach meaning to the content of our nightly processing. While we're used to analyzing our dreams for symbolic content that reflects personal experiences, dreams weren't always seen as merely internal processing. Ancient Mesopotamians viewed dreams as a form of communication from the gods and kept detailed records of symbols and themes. Some cultures even used a method called incubation, where they would sleep in a sacred place and await divinely-inspired messages in their dreams. Dream books were popular relics left behind that listed common symbols and their accepted meanings.

More often than not, dreams were to be interpreted by intelligent, well-respected members of society that held high positions in the church or medical community, or simply by someone you trusted and respected. We can learn a lot about how dreams were used through ancient poetry and notes from these long-gone civilizations. The Epic of Gilgamesh, perhaps the oldest literary work we have, details a cruel king's punishment from the gods at the begging of his subjects. The gods create a man that becomes a dear friend of the king and then they strike him down with an illness, leaving Gilgamesh to mourn the loss. He has several intense dreams throughout the story and goes to friends and even his mom for help interpreting them. Often they act as previews for what's to come and sometimes they have little bearing on his actions at all-pretty relatable even nowadays.

In the late 19th and 20th centuries, dream analysis took on a new role in society. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung hit the scene and dream interpretation got a new look. While both men believed that dreams told us more about ourselves than our reality could, their theories diverge when it comes to the underlying purpose for dreaming. Freud firmly believed that all dreams are connected to repressed desires, usually sexual in nature. In his world, dreams are the place we're most honest with ourselves because we're free from embarrassment or societal pressure.

Jung didn't think that all dreams express unconscious desires, rather that dreams can have many different interpretations and the symbolism mattered more than the outright subject. He believed that dreams could be a great source of creativity and even indicate future happenings.

What are the most common dreams? Dreams can vary wild from person to person, but there are some common themes and symbols that tend to show up in all of our inner worlds. While mattress murderers and raccoons are probably pretty specific to the individuals on our team, the following symbols are well-documented across dreamers.

Teeth falling out Sometimes they fall out while you're talking, sometimes they dissolve, sometimes they crack, whatever they do, losing your teeth in a dream can be extremely disturbing-but you're not alone. People often have dreams about their teeth falling out when they are under stress and it can mean a lot of things. You might be afraid of saying the wrong thing, or struggling with a feeling of inferiority or lost confidence. You may also benefit from making a dietary change-the old "your teeth will rot" sentiment might be pushing you to give up some sweets.

Falling Falling in your dreams, either off a high ledge or suddenly, without warning, can indicate that something has gone off the tracks for you. You might have slipped up at work, or a personal relationship has taken a turn, but somewhere you've lost control over an issue and your dreams are telling you to get back on track.

Naked when you shouldn't be It's more common than you think to suddenly find yourself somewhere in public without a stitch on within a dream-or worse, speaking in front of a crowd and you look down to see that you forgot to get dressed. Some people believe that this might mean you're feeling like a phony or worried about something in your life being exposed. Nudity can also indicate feeling caught off guard or shocked by something happening in your waking life.

So, what did we take away from this experiment? First and foremost-we dreamt about each other, a lot. Work was one of the biggest themes in our dream journals, and it stands to reason. We spend at least 40 hours a week together, working on the same projects, so mattress-related content tends to come up.
(Editor's note: two nights in a row I dreamed about arguing with vendors with a team member and upon telling her, we realized that exactly one year prior we'd been on a work trip in NYC together, and there may or may not have been fight with a pizzeria to get a receipt for expensing purposes!)
Aside from dreaming about our coworkers and various situations from the office, a lot of common stress dreams found their way into our journals alongside some pretty wild and strange plot lines. Overall, most of the people who regularly journaled found it to be a positive and entertaining experience-several of us are going to continue jotting down details when we wake up.

"I've always been someone who remembers dreams on a regular basis, and kept a dream journal for a while when I was much younger, but abandoned it. Picking it back up as an adult was interesting because I got to track how my dreams changed in response to various levels of work stress. Most of my dreams have elaborate scenes in them, and I noted that the details of my surroundings were always vividly remembered. Through the three weeks that I journaled, I only had one 'bad' dream, and most of the rest were quite positive and uplifting." -Amy, Software Developer

"I've been a vivid dreamer for as long as I can remember, so keeping a consistent dream journal was a really interesting exercise. I hadn't previously realized how many patterns I experience in my dream life: Most of my dreams featured my childhood home, current or past coworkers, and/or food (though no real surprise with that last one). I'm also someone who experiences sleep paralysis, so it was interesting to note how often I experienced that in a 30 day period (three, unfortunately). I plan to continue dream journaling if only because some of them were truly funny, and enjoyable to share with coworkers and friends. We spend 1/3 of our lives asleep, so it's definitely worth giving it a try- you might even be surprised by what you find!" -Kendall, Creative

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The History of Dream Interpretation | Tuft & Needle

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"Trafficking animals, zombie video games, going through the Panama Canal on a boat." "Get part time job at local pizzeria... worried I'm going to be late, show up 30 mins early." "Boardwalk art show turned street race. Streets invisible. Courage not invisible." "Mattress murderer on the loose." "This is the raccoon's.

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This is supposed to be a beginners guide to dream interpretation

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Dreams can be elusive, and at some point we've all wondered, what do they mean? Do they mean anything? While there's no clear answer to these questions, we consulted a dream expert (yes, it's a thing) to get a better understanding of what goes on when we shut our eyes every night and how to interpret it when we wake up in the morning.

There's no definitive answer, but the theories range from "dreams don't mean anything" to "dreams are more important than our waking existence," explains psychologist and dream expert Rubin Naiman, Ph.D.

"A lot of contemporary neuroscientists believe during REM sleep, the brain is involved in maintenance tasks, and it accidentally 'kicks up dust,' visually. At that end, dreaming is considered totally meaningless," he explains. "The other end is that dreaming is more substantial than waking. And we see this in 'dream cultures,' such as the indigenous people of Australia, who believe dreaming is intrinsic to our spiritual existence."

Most psychological theories surrounding dreaming fall somewhere in the middle. One of the most generally accepted ideas is the notion of dreams as memory consolidation, where the dream is a reflection of waking life, "almost like a funhouse mirror," Naiman says. "From that perspective, dream interpretation is about decoding the dream. It enlightens us and expands our awareness psychologically," offering an "expansion of consciousness."

The key here, he says, is not to try to interpret the dream literally through its symbols and visuals but rather to feel into the emotions it evokes, asking, What is this bringing up for me emotionally? "We need to learn the dream language; we don't always have to translate it into waking."

That said, here are a handful of common dreams and some interpretations of what they could represent.

There are lots of theories on what teeth falling out could represent in a dream, but one idea equates teeth to confidence and self-esteem. Many would feel embarrassed if their teeth suddenly fell out, so it's possible someone who dreams about this might be dealing with shame. Again, as Naiman says, it's about what feelings the dream evokes in you.

Falling is one of the most common dream themes that people report. It could relate to feeling a lack of control. Perhaps you're dealing with a sizable personal struggle, and the stress is carrying over into your dreams. Ask yourself how it felt to be falling in the dream, and then consider any issues in your life when similar emotions are present.

When considering being chased in a dream, the most obvious explanation could be that you're running from a problem. Something you're afraid of is at your heels, and you're avoiding it. In this way, your subconscious mind is almost encouraging you to face whatever it is you're running from.

Not necessarily a sign that you or someone you know is pregnant, pregnancy dreams are often thought to represent change or growth. Is there something in your life that's growing and evolving, perhaps a project or relationship? Pregnancy is all about development, so look out for that theme in your waking life.

Snakes get a bit of a bad rep in some traditions, but in others, they can represent transformation and healing. Was the snake shedding its skin in your dream? Stuck in a box or trap? Did the snake make you feel afraid, or was it nonthreatening? Snakes can appear in dreams in many ways, so again, getting in touch with the feelings the snake brought up for you can give you a better idea of why you dreamed about it and what it could mean.

And lastly, we have premonition dreams. Have you ever dreamed about something and then shortly thereafter your dream "came true," in a big or small way? You wouldn't be the only one! While difficult to rationally explain, if you frequently experience premonition dreams, you might want to lean into it and consider exploring your intuitive abilities further.

How to remember your dreams.

From Naiman's perspective, modern society is dealing with "an epidemic of dream loss." Everything from stress to processed food to alcohol can reduce time we spend in REM sleep and thus, the time we spend dreaming. So, what is there to do if you consistently struggle to remember your dreams?

One thing to consider is easing up on alcohol consumption, especially right before bed. Another option is to linger in your morning grogginess and purposefully stay in that half-awake, half-asleep state for longer. "Grogginess is an exquisite hybrid state of consciousness," Naiman notes. "Most people jump into their day when they wake up, immediately pushing the dreamy mind away. To remember dreams, we simply have to linger, without intention [...] We're not chasing the dream, we're kind of waiting. It will come."

And when the dream does come back to you as you wake up, even if it's just one thing you can remember, write it down or make an audio recording of what you recall. This will help you get into the practice of "bridging the dream into waking life," as Naiman puts it.

Dreams are complex, personal, and always up for individual interpretation. When looking for the answers, Naiman says the popular dream dictionaries aren't the place to turn. Check in with yourself instead. Getting in touch with the emotions behind your dreams can help you learn your unique "dream language," and better interpret the intuitive messages that come to you in your sleep.

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Dream Interpretation 101: How To Get To Know Your Unique "Dream Language"

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Dreams can be elusive, and at some point we've all wondered, what do they mean? Do they mean anything? While there's no clear answer to these questions, we consulted a dream expert (yes, it's a thing) to get a better understanding of what goes on when we shut our eyes every night and how to interpret it when we wake up in the morning.

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Dreams can be mysterious, exhilarating, or even terrifying, but understanding the meaning of our dreams can be downright baffling. While many theories exist to explain why we dream, no one yet fully understands their purpose, let alone how to interpret the meaning of dreams. However, psychologists have developed theories that might explain what dreams mean.

Here are four theories that can help you figure out what your dreams mean:

1. Dreams as the Road to the Unconscious Mind: Developed by Sigmund Freud, this theory stated that dreams signified what people desire.

2. Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious: Carl Jung also believed that dreams represented repressed wishes but also noted that dreams explored the underdeveloped parts of the mind.

3. Dreams as a Cognitive Process: Calvin S. Hall theorized that what people do and think in their waking lives are what they see in their dreams.

4. Dreams as a Reflection of Waking Life: G. William Domhoff, who worked with Hall, theorized a similar explanation for dreams.

Read ahead to learn more about each theory and how you can use them to interpret your dreams.

Freud: Dreams as the Road to the Unconscious Mind

In his book "The Interpretation of Dreams," Sigmund Freud suggested that the content of dreams is related to wish fulfillment.

Dream Are Our Wishes

Freud also described four elements of this process that he referred to as "dream work:"

1. Condensation: Many different ideas and concepts are represented within a single dream. Information is condensed into a single thought or image.

2. Displacement: This element of dream work disguises the latent content's emotional meaning by confusing the dream's important and insignificant parts.

3. Symbolization: This operation also censors the repressed ideas in the dream by including objects meant to symbolize the latent content of the dream.

4. Secondary revision: During this final stage of the dreaming process, Freud suggested that the bizarre elements of the dream are reorganized to make the dream comprehensible, thus generating the dream's manifest content.

Jung: Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

While Carl Jung shared some commonalities with Freud, he felt that dreams were more than an expression of repressed wishes.

Dreams Explore the Underdeveloped Mind

Jung's Four Archetypes

Jung also suggested that archetypes such as the anima, the shadow, the animus, and the persona are often represented as symbolic objects or figures in dreams.

These symbols, he believed, represented attitudes that are repressed by the conscious mind.

Hall: Dreams as a Cognitive Process

Calvin S. Hall looked for themes and patterns by analyzing thousands of dream diaries from participants, eventually creating a quantitative coding system that divided what's in our dreams into several categories.

Dreams Contain Patterns Related to Waking Life

According to Hall's theory, interpreting dreams requires knowing the following:

The actions of the dreamer within the dream

The objects and figures in the dream

The interactions between the dreamer and the characters in the dream

The dream's setting, transitions, and outcome

The ultimate goal of this dream interpretation is not to understand the dream, however, but to understand the dreamer. Research by Hall revealed that the traits people exhibit while awake are the same as those expressed in dreams.

Domhoff: Dreams as a Reflection of Waking Life

G. William Domhoff is a prominent dream researcher who studied with Calvin Hall at the University of Miami.

Dreams Represent Daily Life

Domhoff suggests a neurocognitive model of dreams in which the process of dreaming results from neurological processes and a system of schemas. Dream content, he suggests, results from these cognitive processes.

Popularizing Dream Interpretation

Since the 1970s, dream interpretation has grown increasingly popular. Ann Faraday's 1974 book "The Dream Game" outlined techniques and ideas anyone can use to interpret their dreams.

Today, consumers can purchase various books that offer dream dictionaries, symbol guides, and tips for interpreting and understanding dreams.

How Biases Affect Dream Interpretation

Researchers Carey Morewedge and Michael Norton have studied the dreams of over 1,000 individuals from the United States, India, and South Korea.

What they also discovered, however, is that the weight and importance people attach to their dreams depends largely on their biases. People are more likely to remember negative dreams if they involve people they dislike. They are also more likely to take positive dreams seriously if they involve friends or loved ones.

The researchers found that such things as the confirmation bias and the self-serving bias can impact how people respond to their dreams.

Because people tend to take their dreams seriously, the researchers suggest, they can also become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you dream that you will fail an exam, you might be less motivated to study or even become so stressed out that you perform poorly.

Dreams may or may not have meaning, but the fact remains that interpreting dreams has become a popular pastime.

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Do dreams reveal your hidden fears and desires, or are they just reflections of daily life? Here's what top experts say about dream interpretation.

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So this is the group...Roberto Garcia,	Charlotte Mills,Eva Ulacia, Daniela Ginsburg, and Arianna Lacy. Did I miss anyone?