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DREAMING
Did you ever have a really vivid dream that seemed so portentous you were certain it would change your life? When you woke up and tried to analyze it, the dream made no sense at all and was in fact too incoherent to even explain to another person. Yeah, one of those.
Lately I’ve been having a lot of dreams about moving into a new place, some big, spacious dwelling with a lot of rooms where I feel very uncomfortable and anxious. I’ve interpreted it to be some kind of moving-into-a-new-phase-of-life thing. I thought I’d go to some dream websites and see what the so-called experts had to say.
“To see a new house in your dream, indicates that you are taking on a new identify and developing new strengths. You are trying to be more emotionally mature about things.”
Here are some cool websites.: www.dreammoods.com
www.dreamdoctor.com
And some of the top FAQ questions asked and answered:
Q. What exactly are dreams?
A. Dreams are expressions of thoughts, feelings, and awarenesses—that are represented through the creation of sensory environments in our minds.
Q. Are dreams in any way related to every day life?
A. Yes! Dreams are representations of thoughts, feelings, and awarenesses that have been occupying our mind.
Q. Is there a certain time in the sleep cycle when people dream?
A. Yes. People dream during REM sleep, which occurs about every 90 minutes throughout the night, for progressively longer periods.
Q. Does everyone dream?
A. Everyone dreams about 100 minutes per night; we just have difficulty remembering our dreams.
Q. Why do people dream?
A. Dreaming helps our brains grow, by exciting our neurons. All warm-blooded creatures have REM sleep—cats dogs, horses—even birds and dolphins!
Q. Can a person affect what they dream about by food, drugs, or alcohol? Or by any other method?
A. Most drugs—sleeping pills, marijuana, alcohol—decrease our dream recall. If you want to influence what you dream about, write down a question or goal for your dream in a dream journal—just before you go to bed. You will usually dream about your question or goal within a week.
Q. Do dreams serve a purpose in the brain’s function? Or are they part of the brain’s nighttime functions?
A. In addition to helping our brains grow when we are young, researchers believe dreaming plays a role in memory—by strengthening connections between certain areas of our brains, and by allowing other connections to be released and forgotten. REM sleep also plays a role in releasing certain hormones in the brain. Did you know that all anti-depressant drugs are effective because they dramatically reduce REM sleep? Scientists aren’t sure exactly why reduced REM relieves depression—but it does!
Q. How can a person remember more of their dreams?
A. The trick is to learn to wake up slowly. When you first wake up, you need to concentrate on what you were just dreaming about.
Q. Why do some dreams cause a physical response? Like after a bad dream—waking up with the heart racing?
A. Even though our bodies are paralyzed during dreams, our involuntary body responses—including breathing and heart rate—still respond.
Q. Why do people sometimes repeat certain dreams over and over?
A. Recurring dreams reflect feelings and awarenesses that have not been successfully resolved in our waking lives.
Q. How come on some nights people feel they have dreamt more than others?
A. Some dreams are more emotional than others. We tend to remember our emotional dreams—because they are vivid and intense!
I’ve had weird, strange dreams before. Also dreams that have made no sense whatsoever to me. I’ve also had dreams that made me want to write a story about the characters involved.
I think dreams can be fasinating and a trip at times to analyze.
By the way, can have the two guys above as my Mister and Mister Sandman? They are dreamy-looking. Make me just want to get in bed and dream. lol
I’d like to have some vivid, heart-pounding dreams about the guys in those pictures! Hamana!!
My mother was recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea—when the sleeper stops breathing during the night—after I’d nagged her for years to go get tested. Her memory was poor, she never felt rested, sometimes she would have mood swings, etc. The sleep study showed no REM sleep—not even one minute! Now that she’s using a machine that helps her breathe all night long, she dreams, and all those other symptoms that made me nag her are going away.
Dreams are more important than you think!
Those pictures! Wow! They’ll give me something to dream about :)
I always dream of getting lost in a mall. It’s always a different mall and never a “real” one. I tell my hubby that is one reason I don’t like to go shopping.
Amelia: So glad your mom got help. That is incredible that she was getting no REM. Poor lady.
I tend to have many dreams all throughout the night – when I take the time sleep, anyways, lol. I dream in black and white – and it’s very vivid and real. I keep a dream journal by my bed along with a little flashlight. I’ve written some excellent stories because of those dreams.
I tend to need 4 – 6 hours of sleep, and if I don’t get that – then I notice my creativity goes down. What I need to quit doing is having the glass of wine or port before bed.
Love the pics – oh mama – lovely dreams tonight BG
Great blog Bonnie :) tossing confetti
Fascinating post, Bonnie. I went years barely remembering any of my dreams. Lately, I’ve been doing much better at remembering them—or at least snippets of them.
Love the pictures!
I’ve had dreams like that and they’re scary as hell. Though I have to say if I had those pictures to wake up to things might be much better. Yum!!!
I’m sorry, you were blogging about what? I couldn’t get past the fabulous eye candy! Gia
Thanks to T.A. Chase for the photos. I was looking at all these male model sites and they were all so buff and cheesy and … wide awake! I knew T.A. would have the kind of artsy beautiful bodies I wanted and he produced them, voila!
Wow, Amelia, that’s crazy that your mom was able to survive that long with no REM sleep. I imagine everything is better for her now, both mind and body.
I’ve never kept a dream journal nor tried to do “directed dreaming” where you consciously work to dream about a specific thing and then direct the action. Mostly I’m just dragged along as a spectator to the weirdness in my head.
Whoo, thanks for the pix…wiping up the drool.
I rarely remember my dreams, probably because I wake up to an alarm clock most mornings…can’t wake up slowly that way.
Interesting post, Bonnie.
Thanks for giving me something to dream about. Boy Howdy!
[[I always dream of getting lost in a mall. ]]
Margo, I had dyslexic moment and read that as “lost in the mail.” LOL
Now THERE’S a nightmare…
Verra, verra nice picures, Bonnie. :D
Great information.Thanks for the “Sleeping Beauties”!:)
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