Dreams
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Dreams
Dreams are an expression of your real life thoughts, feelings, concerns and experiences. Everybody has them, even those people who can’t remember having any. The average person has at least 5 dreams each night, with each lasting 5 to 20 minutes in duration. Totaled over a lifetime, this amounts to approximately 6 years dreaming.
On waking up, lie still and visually try to piece together any people, places, events, images, items and symbols that come into your mind. Questions you should try to answer about your dreams: who was in it?; where did it occur?; was it day or night?; what did you do?; did any images, items or symbols stand out from the others?; how did you feel?
Keep a notebook and pen, or a small tape recorder, next to your bed so that you can make a record of your dreams when you first awake and your dreams are fresh in your mind. Write, draw or record everything that you remember from your dreams; even if they don’t have a connection or seem relevant. The images and storylines that make up your dreams should generally not be taken literally; they typically contain hidden meanings.
Dreams about your teeth are the most common type of dream. Types of teeth dreams include: teeth falling out; rotting teeth; swallowing teeth; spitting teeth. Such dreams may arise as a result of: saying something you regret; hurting someone with your words; gossiping about others.
The morning after a dream in which something bad has happened to your teeth, look back at things you have said to people lately and think whether your words were inappropriate or malicious. These type of dreams are often recurring; the way to stop them being to make amends for the verbal mistakes you’ve made or to be more accepting of your physical appearance.
A more direct interpretation of teeth dreams is that you’re concerned about some aspect of your physical appearance (not necessarily your teeth). If you’re looking in the mirror at the time something happens to your teeth then it’s more likely a self-esteem issue than something you’ve said.
Dreams in which people find themselves naked in public (normally work, school or a social event) are familiar to many people. The general interpretation is that you’ve been hiding something in your life from other people. Wearing no clothes in a dream can also represent you not being prepared (or being prepared but not feeling so) for an upcoming situation such as an exam, presentation, date, etc.
If you dream that you’re naked, but no-one in the dream realises that you are, it means that whatever you’re hiding or are worried about is not an issue for other people. If you dream that you’re naked, but you don’t care who sees you, it means that you’re feeling comfortable and relaxed about whatever happens to you in your life.
A dream experienced by lots of people is that of flying. Dreaming that you’re flying usually means that you feel in control of your life; that you’re ‘on top’ of things. The stronger willed and confident you are, the more likely you are to experience this type of dream. Flying dreams can also occur if you’ve just gained a new perspective on someone or something.
If you’re flying in a dream but feel scared whilst doing so, you may have confidence issues and not feel that you’re up to the challenges that you’re facing in your life. If you have difficulty maintaining flight in your dream, someone or something in real life may be preventing you from having the level of control that you want to have. By identifying what it is in your dream that stops your flight progressing, you can identify what it is in your life that stops you progressing.
Many people have reported having dreams in which they’re falling and can’t stop themselves from doing so. Falling dreams are an indication of anxieties and insecurities in your daily life. Some say that they come at times of loneliness; having no-one to hold on to being represented by having nothing to hold on to. Feeling inferior to other people in your life is another interpretation. Dreams involving drowning are very similar to dreams involving falling and are interpreted the same way.
It’s common to have a feeling of being chased in your dreams. The typical chase dream scenario involves being pursued by someone or something that wants to hurt you, whilst you run away or hide. Chase dreams represent the way you’ve been dealing with an issue in your life; running away from and avoiding something rather than confronting it.
After waking from a dream in which you’ve been chased, ask yourself who or what was chasing you; establishing that will let you know what issue in your life you’ve been running away from. If you don’t recognise the person pursuing you, it may be part of yourself (your own feelings of anger, fear, jealousy, stress) that you're running away from.
A more direct interpretation of chase dreams is a literal fear of being physically attacked; this may be based on something that's actually happened to you in the past. Chase dreams will often recur over a period of time; to stop them you should mentally tell yourself as you try to sleep that you'll turn around and face your pursuer.
A dream experienced by many people is that of taking an exam or being late for an exam. As part of such dreams, people encounter problems such as: not knowing any answers; questions being in a foreign language; pens not working; not being able to find the place of the exam. Exam related dreams can result from a feeling in your life that you’re being scrutinised / tested by someone.
Some say that if you dream of taking or missing an exam then you’re anxious about an upcoming challenge in your life that you don’t think you're up to. An alternative interpretation is that you’ve forgotten to do something important. Pressure and anxiety is thought to bring on dreams of exams because those feelings subconsciously remind us of the stress endured as a child at school when taking exams.
Some people dream of death (either of themselves or someone they know). Dreams involving death may occur when you feel emotionally hurt or have a fear that someone or something is about to hurt you emotionally. Death can arise in a dream to signify the end of a phase in your life and the beginning of new one.
If it’s you dieing in your dream, there’s likely something within you (typically a strong feeling you have) that you need to let go of so that you can move on with your life. It could also indicate a deep regret of something you’ve done. If it’s someone else dieing in your dream, it may mean that your relationship with that person is suffering and needs attention. The death of someone else in a dream could also signify either a fear of losing them or a desire for them to leave your life.
Links
www.discovery.com : Dream FAQs. Interpretations of common dreams.
www.howstuffworks.com : Theory and science of dreams.
www.dreammoods.com : Dream dictionary. Search by letter for dream images and symbols.