FactsHealth and Wellness

Unravelling Dreams: What Are They And Their Meanings

Have you ever woken up in haste trying to recall what you just dreamt? And I’m sure you have experienced a jolted interruption in an on-going super interesting dream and then quickly tried to go back to sleep to continue the storyline of your dream. We all have unique dreams but there has always been uncertainty about what do dreams really mean? So let’s try and unravel our dreams.

Unravelling Dreams
Image Credit: Freundin

When Do We Dream?

Sleeping might be the most relaxing and effortless part of our day, but the actual process behind your body going to sleep is complicated. There are a few stages in our daily sleep cycle.

Two main phases are REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement).

NREM – It consists of the light sleep stage where this is some awareness, and you can be woken up easily as well as deep sleep where your body replenishes itself by secreting hormones, your muscles are relaxed, and there is no dreaming.

REM – This stage comes after a deep sleep and is all about the brain. It is during this time that emotion regulation and other psychological changes take place and also our memory is strengthened. This is the time when we dream since the brain is extremely active during this time.

What Do Dreams Mean?

The famous Dr. Sigmund Freud explained through his works how dreams can be a manifestation of our unconscious mind trying to seep into our mind while we dream. Hence, he believed that there are symbols and indirect connections in our dreams, which are pathways to our unconsciousness. He suggested that if we carefully analyse our dreams, we could discover our true desires, which may have been suppressed in our unconscious. This theory always prevails because of its intriguing nature and the chance of self-reflection that it brings along.

Some Common Dreams And Their Intended Meanings:

Dreams About Losing Your Teeth

Dreams about losing your teeth
https://www.pinterest.se/pin/214061788518840299/

We use our teeth to bite and chew, and hence, falling out or losing them may mean that you are feeling powerless. It could stem from some confidence or self-esteem issues.

It can also reflect anxieties about appearances and what about other people think of you. It can also mean you’re feeling nervous about your ability to communicate yourself to others.

Dreams About Falling

Dreams about falling
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This is a common dream where you find yourself falling down from a height. It can mean that you are unsure about a decision you have made or there is anxiety about a changing situation in your life. However, if you are not afraid of the falling down feeling it can mean that you are not scared of change in your life.

Dreams About Flying

Dreams about flying
Image Credit: Reader’s Digest

Such dreams can be interpreted in two ways; one can signify liberation and freedom, but if you have difficulty in flying, it can mean that you wish to escape a situation in your life.

Dreams About Dying

Dreams about dying
Image Credit: Pinterest

This is quite a common topic for dreams. If you dream about your own death, it can mean that you are extremely anxious and scared about the unknown and a strange situation which may or may not present itself in your life, since we associate death with fear and with a feeling of uncertainty about what we would face after death. Similarly, if you dream about a loved one dying it can reflect a fear of change regarding their role in your life or your concern for their health.

Dreams About Being Naked In Public

Out of all the embarrassing dreams, this one is most uncomfortable and I wish it never ever comes true. This is a common dream which means that you may be having a tough time discovering yourself and that you are shy about your mistakes and don’t want to share them with other people.

Lucid Dreams

While dreams can be of various types this one is particularly interesting. Have you ever had a dream where you thought you were aware of what was happening? Or you could even control what was happening?

Lucid Dreams

If you have had either of those dreams then you have experienced lucid dreaming!

During a lucid dream, the dreamer is present more consciously in the dream and sometimes can even control what is happening in the dreamlike storyline or the people involved or what role they themselves are playing in the dream. Lucid dreams are extremely vivid and sometimes you can even feel whatever is going on in the dream and you may think it is real since you are aware of what is happening in the dream. Such dreams help relieve anxiety and decrease nightmares.

How Can You Induce Lucid Dreams?

You can try to lucid dream by keeping a dream journal that will help you remember your dreams and can give you more control over them.

You should try to get a lot of REM sleep since most vivid dreams take place during deep REM sleep.

Wake up five hours after you go to sleep and go back to bed. Since you interrupted your sleep, there is a higher chance that when you go back to sleep, you will enter REM sleep.

Try to maintain awareness before drifting off to sleep completely by telling yourself you are going to lucid dream and thinking about it before falling asleep.

So when you go to sleep today, try lucid dreaming or at least try to remember your dream the next morning, so you can know what it means because it is always fun to know to discover new things about our psyche.

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