Dreams

Dreams In the Greek and Roman eras, dreams were seen in a religious context. They were believed to be direct messages from the gods or from the dead. The people of that time look to their dreams for solutions on what to do or what course of action to take. They believed dreams forewarned and predicted the future. Greek philosopher, Aristotle, believed that dreams were a result of physiological functions. Dreams were able to diagnose illness and predict onset of disease. During the Middle Ages, dreams were seen as evil and its images were temptations from the devil. In the vulnerable sleep state, the devil was believed to fill the mind of humans with poisonous thoughts. He did his dirty work though dreams attempting to mislead us down a wrong path. One sleep cycle consists of four stages and lasts for about 90-120 minutes. Dreams can occur in any of the four stages of sleep, but the most vivid and memorable dreams occur in the last stage of sleep. The sleep cycle repeats itself about an average of four to five times per night, but may repeat as many as seven times. So, you can see how a person has many different dreams in one night. Most people only remember dreams that occur closer toward the morning when they are about to wake up. Some people believe that they simply do not dream, when in reality, they just don’t remember their dreams. While you are dreaming, your body undergoes noticeable changes. Your adrenaline raises, your blood pressure increases, and your heartbeats faster. Given this hyperactivity, this is how someone with a weak heart can die in their sleep. Their heart may not be able to withstand the strain and the erratic changes that their body is going through. Dreaming takes place during REM, which strands from Rapid Eye Movement. It is called this because your eyes move rapidly back and forth under the eyelids. REM sleep takes place in the fourth stage of sleep and accounts for 15-20% of your sleep time. From the point you fall asleep, it takes 30 to 90 minutes before you start dreaming. You cycle through the 4 stages of sleep and may enter the REM stage 4 to 7 times in one night. During REM, your blood pressure and heart rate fluctuate and increase. Also, your body is completely immobile and your muscles remain completely relaxed. You may shift in your bed throughout the night, but when in REM, you are completely still. This is commonly known as “REM Paralysis.” In REM sleep, the mind is as active as it is during waking. However, chemically it is different, REM is controlled by the excitability level of the cholinergic neurons. Noradrenaline and serotonin are missing in the brain when in the dream state. These chemicals allow the brain to carry out task, solve problems and remember things. This is a reason why you find it so hard to remember your dreams. Research has shown that people, who are deprived from entering the dream phase of sleep or the REM stage, exhibit symptoms of irritability and anxiety. In one dream study, volunteers are woken up right before they enter into the dream state. Then they are allowed to fall back to sleep. Again, right before they enter REM sleep, they are awakened. This continues on through the night. The volunteers sleep the same amount of time as they normally do. The next day, these volunteers go about their day and observed to be disoriented, depressed, crabby, and quick-tempered. There is a general impairment in their daily functioning. Some eat more than usual. As this study continues on through several nights, subjects become more and more agitated. It is found that deprivation of REM sleep causes over-sensitivity, lack of concentration and memory loss. Daydreaming is classified as a level of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness. Studies show that you have the tendency to daydream an average of 70-120 minutes a day. It occurs during waking hours when you let your imagination carry you away. As your mind begins to wander and your level of awareness decreases, you lose yourself in your imagined scenario and fantasy. Lucid dreams occur when you realize you are dreaming. Most dreamers wake themselves up once they realize that they are dreaming. Other dreamers have cultivated the skill to remain in the lucid state of dreaming. They become an active participant in their our dreams, making decisions in their dreams and influencing the dream’s outcome without awakening. A nightmare is a disturbing dream that causes you to wake up feeling anxious and frightened. Nightmares may be a response to real life trauma and situations. Nightmares may also occur because you have ignored or refused to accept a particular life situation. Research shows that most people, who have regular nightmares have a family history of psychiatric problems, are involved in a rocky relationship or have had bad drug experiences. These people may have also contemplated suicide. Nightmares are an indication of a fear that needs to be acknowledged and confronted. It is a way for the subconscious to wake up and take notice. Recurring dreams repeat themselves with little variation in story or theme. These dreams may be positive, but most often they are nightmarish in content. Dreams may recur because a conflict depicted in the dream remains unresolved or ignored. Once you find a resolution to the problem, your recurring dreams will cease. Epic dreams are so huge, so compelling, and so vivid that you cannot ignore them. The details of these dreams stay with you for years, seeming as though you dreamt them last night. When you wake up from such a dreams, you feel that you have discovered something deep or amazing about yourself or about the world. It feels like a life-changing experience. Your dream mind has access to vital information that is not readily available to you when you are awake. Your dreams serve as a window to your subconscious and reveal your secret desires and feelings. In remembering your dreams, you gain increased knowledge, self-awareness and self-healing. Dreams are an extension of how you perceive yourself. They may be a source of inspiration, wisdom, joy, imagination and overall improved psychological health. Learning to recall your dreams help you become a more assertive, confident and stronger person. By remembering you dreams, you are expressing and confronting your feelings. Dreaming that you are completely or partially naked is very common. Nudity symbolizes a variety of things depending on your real life situation. Becoming mortified at the realization that you are naked in public reflects your vulnerability or feelings of shamefulness. You may be hiding something and are afraid that others can see right through you. Your naked dream may be telling you that you are trying to be something that you really are not. Or you are fearful of being ridiculed and disgraced. When you realize that you are naked in your dream, no one else seems to notice. Everyone else in the dream is going about their business without giving a second look at your nakedness. If this happens in your dream, then it implies that your fears are unfounded; no one will notice expect you. If you dream that you are proud of your nakedness and show no embarrassment or shame, then it symbolizes your unrestricted freedom. You have nothing to hide and are proud of who you are. The dream is about a new sense of honesty, openness, and a carefree nature. The typical dream scenarios include having your teeth crumble in your hands, fall out one by one with just a light tap, grow crooked or start to rot. One theory is that dreams about your teeth reflect your anxieties about your appearance and how others perceive you. Your teeth help to convey an image of attractiveness and play an important role in the game of flirtation, whether it is smiling, kissing, or necking. If you are flying with ease and are enjoying the scene and landscape below, then it suggests that you are on top of a situation. You have risen above something. It may also mean that you have gained a new and different perspective on things. Having difficulties staying in flight indicates a lack of power in controlling your own circumstances. You may be struggling to stay upward or stay on set course. Things like power lines, tress, or mountains may be obstacles that you encounter in flight. These obstacles symbolize something or someone who is standing in your way in your waking life. If you are feeling fear when you are flying or that you are flying too high, then it suggests that you are afraid of challenges and of success. The sex act parallels aspects of yourself that you wish to express. A more direct interpretation of the dream may be your sexual desires way of telling you that it has been too long since you have had sex. It may indicate repressed sexual desires and your needs for physical and emotional love. If you are looking for a place to have sex, then the dream may be similar to your search for intimacy and closeness. You want to rekindle some relationship. If you dream of having sex in public place, then the dream implies that others are talking about you private relationship.