Types of Dreams

Did you know that you can actually classify your dreams into 3 categories? I recently read this in the article below. I encourage you to read it too.

'' ORDINARY DREAMS

During the day our conscious minds are active, but at night the subconscious takes over. Ordinary dreams are based on the activity of the unconscious in response to what we have seen or heard in our waking hours. Even a single thought can trigger a dream. Automatic unconscious stores of knowledge that have made an impression remain filed in the brain and unperceived until “read” by dream symbols, which are “the language of the soul.” Events of the day and from years past are mirrored in the sleeping mind, as seemingly long-forgotten memories can resurface in dream imagery. The soul is particularly susceptible to the bygone memories that are brought to light through pictures in the mind's eye. In addition to being clairvoyant, dreams are also clairaudient, as we hear souls speak in our minds' ears. Clairvoyance means “clear sight.” It is the supernatural ability to see people and events far away in time or location. Clairaudience means clear hearing. It is the faculty to hear with the mind's ear. Words spoken to us in our dreams should be taken literally, because such spiritual communication can show us how we should be when awake. You can get the best out of your future by understanding what a dream is saying to you pictorially and verbally.

LUCID DREAMS

A lucid dream is one that you can control because you are aware that you are dreaming. You can also decide what to dream about before going to sleep and then dream about the very thing that you planned to.

TELEPATHIC DREAMS

Telepathy, known as “the language of the angels,” allows the dead and the living to speak in dreamland. In this meeting place, death is no barrier, and the living cross the threshold into a heavenly sphere of existence. This mental communication can also occur mind-to-mind between two living people. We may send our own or receive others' intentional or unintentional thoughts as mental visions in dreams. Extended telepathy during sleep is a communion between two worlds, the nighttime world of the soul and the daytime world of the body.

PREMONITORY DREAMS

Premonitory dreams are similar to telepathic dreams in that your spirit leaves your body and ventures on a voyage of discovery. Premonitory dreams are special because they reveal the future and allow the dreamer to see truths that are not accessible in waking life. In telepathic dreams, we can also detect information about an imminent event. Dreams are the catalyst that put your body into motion to follow and fulfill your wishes and desires.

NIGHTMARES

Most nightmares are linked to early childhood, when we are inexperienced and therefore dependent on others. Before the age of three, we have not yet developed a sense of conscience and of right and wrong. Nightmares are representations of a suppressed, original fear commonly created by excessively strict parental or sibling moral standards and the threat of punishment in the face of innocence.

In nightmares you may perceive a warning for yourself or for a loved one. To be forewarned is to be forearmed: if you first see a frightful event in a dream, you can prevent harm from happening in waking life. For example, nightmares can warn against acting on impulse, as well as show that certain feelings and emotions are unhealthy. Not all nightmares are nasty predictions or unwholesome signs.

A nightmare may also relate to an old, unsolved problem that is so frightening to face that we are unable to continue to dream and the emotional terror wakes us in distress without offering a solution. Copyright © Copyright 2001 by Gillian Kemp''

Top 10 Amazing facts about dreams

How much do you know about dreams? I bet none of us know much about them right? This is why I have decided to look for the most interesting facts about dreams and share them with you. Some of these will really leave your mouth open...

'' 10. Blind People Dream

People who become blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion. It is hard for a seeing person to imagine, but the body’s need for sleep is so strong that it is able to handle virtually all physical situations to make it happen.

9. You Forget 90% of your Dreams

Within 5 minutes of waking, half of your dream if forgotten. Within 10, 90% is gone. The famous poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, woke one morning having had a fantastic dream (likely opium induced) - he put pen to paper and began to describe his “vision in a dream” in what has become one of English’s most famous poems: Kubla Khan. Part way through (54 lines in fact) he was interrupted by a “Person from Porlock“. Coleridge returned to his poem but could not remember the rest of his dream. The poem was never completed.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
[…]

Curiously, Robert Louis Stevenson came up with the story of Doctor Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde whilst he was dreaming. Wikipedia has more on that here. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was also the brainchild of a dream.

8. Everybody Dreams

Every human being dreams (except in cases of extreme psychological disorder) but men and women have different dreams and different physical reactions. Men tend to dream more about other men, while women tend to dream equally about men and women. In addition, both men and women experience sexually related physical reactions to their dreams regardless of whether the dream is sexual in nature; males experience erections and females experience increased vaginal blood flow.

7. Dreams Prevent Psychosis

In a recent sleep study, students who were awakened at the beginning of each dream, but still allowed their 8 hours of sleep, all experienced difficulty in concentration, irritability, hallucinations, and signs of psychosis after only 3 days. When finally allowed their REM sleep the student’s brains made up for lost time by greatly increasing the percentage of sleep spent in the REM stage. [Source]

6. We Only Dream of What We Know

Our dreams are frequently full of strangers who play out certain parts - did you know that your mind is not inventing those faces - they are real faces of real people that you have seen during your life but may not know or remember? The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dad’s car when you were just a little kid. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces through our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.

5. Not Everyone Dreams in Color

A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number dream in full color. People also tend to have common themes in dreams, which are situations relating to school, being chased, running slowly/in place, sexual experiences, falling, arriving too late, a person now alive being dead, teeth falling out, flying, failing an examination, or a car accident. It is unknown whether the impact of a dream relating to violence or death is more emotionally charged for a person who dreams in color than one who dreams in black and white.

4. Dreams are not about what they are about

If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. The unconscious mind tries to compare your dream to something else, which is similar. Its like writing a poem and saying that a group of ants were like machines that never stop. But you would never compare something to itself, for example: “That beautiful sunset was like a beautiful sunset”. So whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself.

3. Quitters have more vivid dreams

People who have smoked cigarettes for a long time who stop, have reported much more vivid dreams than they would normally experience. Additionally, according to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology: “Among 293 smokers abstinent for between 1 and 4 weeks, 33% reported having at least 1 dream about smoking. In most dreams, subjects caught themselves smoking and felt strong negative emotions, such as panic and guilt. Dreams about smoking were the result of tobacco withdrawal, as 97% of subjects did not have them while smoking, and their occurrence was significantly related to the duration of abstinence. They were rated as more vivid than the usual dreams and were as common as most major tobacco withdrawal symptoms.”

2. External Stimuli Invade our Dreams

This is called Dream Incorporation and it is the experience that most of us have had where a sound from reality is heard in our dream and incorporated in some way. A similar (though less external) example would be when you are physically thirsty and your mind incorporates that feeling in to your dream. My own experience of this includes repeatedly drinking a large glass of water in the dream which satisfies me, only to find the thirst returning shortly after - this thirst… drink… thirst… loop often recurs until I wake up and have a real drink. The famous painting above (Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening) by Salvador Dali, depicts this concept.

1. You are paralyzed while you sleep

Believe it or not, your body is virtually paralyzed during your sleep - most likely to prevent your body from acting out aspects of your dreams. According to the Wikipedia article on dreaming, “Glands begin to secrete a hormone that helps induce sleep and neurons send signals to the spinal cord which cause the body to relax and later become essentially paralyzed.”

Bonus: Extra Facts

1. When you are snoring, you are not dreaming.
2. Toddlers do not dream about themselves until around the age of 3. From the same age, children typically have many more nightmares than adults do until age 7 or 8.
3. If you are awakened out of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, you are more likely to remember your dream in a more vivid way than you would if you woke from a full night sleep.''

The Legend of the Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher


"A spider was quietly spinning his web in his own space. It was beside the sleeping space of Nokomis, the grandmother.

Each day, Nokomis watched the spider at work, quietly spinning away. One day as she was watching him, her grandson came in. "Nokomis-iya!" he shouted, glancing at the spider. He stomped over to the spider, picked up a shoe and went to hit it.

"No-keegwa," the old lady whispered, "don't hurt him."

"Nokomis, why do you protect the spider?" asked the little boy. The old lady smiled, but did not answer.

When the boy left, the spider went to the old woman and thanked her for saving his life. He said to her, "For many days you have watched me spin and weave my web. You have admired my work. In return for saving my life, I will give you a gift."

He smiled his special spider smile and moved away, spinning as he went. Soon the moon glistened on a magical silvery web moving gently in the window. "See how I spin?" he said. "See and learn, for each web will snare bad dreams. Only good dreams will go through the small hole. This is my gift to you. Use it so that only good dreams will be remembered. The bad dreams will become hopelessly entangled in the web."

Premonitions

Have you ever had a premonition? You know the one you can see the future, or tell what will happen the next day or several weeks later!!! Some people really misunderstand that premonitions are only for a small minority (weirdos, and card readers, etc...) Actually anyone can have a premonition! Premonitions are more regular than people think, but they tend to be forgetful. Sometimes when you felt you had experienced a situation before you tend to think where had you experienced it... Well that was a premonition you forgot and it transformed into a deja vu. Some premonitions are difficult to spot as they will deal with issues which were already relevant in your life. Premonitions can contain a touch more real life than normal dreams. However, they can be hidden in deep symbolism too. But such symbolism is interpreted in exactly the same way as normal dreams. Dreams can foresee events deep into the future - but the events would have to be deeply personal. Such events would be the deaths of loved ones. Major changes in your life can be foreseen. However, these can be short on detail. You may just get a sense of meaning. People often just know that a dream is a premonition. On the other hand - when people first become aware of premonitions they may have false premonitions.
Premonitions can be really fun... and scary...-.-
But that is the great part of dreaming! Never suspecting for the unsuspected and never knowing what will be the topic of your dream.
*Sometimes I wish I would have (or at least remember) premonitions. ^^

Why do you remember some dreams and forget others?

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How to Remember Dreams

I know that many of you dream, but more than often you forget about those dreams! Here are some tips I found in the web to help you remember your dreams:

Illustration taken from http://nnayam.blogspot.com/

1. Maintain good, consistent sleep habits. Not getting enough sleep or going to bed ‘dog-tired’ can dramatically reduce natural dreaming activity.

2. When you go to bed tell yourself that you will remember your dreams. Repeat “I will remember my dreams” to yourself several times as you drift off to sleep. It sounds odd, but this tip has been shown again and again to be one of the most helpful.

3. Try to wake up slowly to remain within the ‘mood’ of your
last dream. Buy an alarm clock with a gentle wake setting (sometimes called a progressive wake).

4. Awake at least once during the night, many times this will occur around an REM sleep cycle. Set an alarm or drink a lot of water prior to bed to ensure you have to wake up at least once.

5. Think about, but do not dwell upon your mood/emotions as you drift off to sleep.

6. Avoid alcohol near bedtime. Alcohol reduces the frequency and density of REM sleep.

7. Keep a pad and pencil next to your bed so you can jot down quick notes about your dream if you awake during the night (you may not
remember it by morning) or as soon as you get up in the morning. Just
the process of writing things down may help you recall more information about your dreams.

8. Start a dream journal. Take your notes and recollections of you dreams and record your dreams in journal or story form.

9. Discuss your dreams with friends and family members. Just
articulating your dreams can help you remember additional details.

10. If you awake during the night, think about your previous dream as you
go back to sleep. This will help to reinforce the dream for improved dream
recall in the morning

Falling Dreams

Have you ever dreamt you are falling? It might be from the edge of a building or from a cliff, but the sensation is the same... you feel you are going to die, the fall seems eternal.

Falling dreams are quite common in the world of dream. You will not actually die if you do not wake up before you hit the ground during a fall. Falling is an indication of insecurities, instabilities, and anxieties. You are feeling overwhelmed and out of control in some situations of your waking life. Falling dreams also often reflect a sense of failure. During these types of dreams you will feel muscles spasms and sudden contractions in your body. But don´t worry because once you have a certain stability in your life these dreams might stop... for a while at least. ^.^

Below are several questions you should ask yourself to help interpret your dream better:

" Are you stressed? Could this be a subconscious forewarning of a perceived failure?

Are you afraid of losing something or someone? Falling dreams can be interpreted as a physical "letting go" in some cases. Are your parents moving away from home? a friendship lost? problems at school?

Do you feel insecure? Joined a new club? Started a new romance?

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Are you trying to do too many things at once?

Has someone important disappointed you recently? Are you disappointed in yourself?

Made a bad business or personal decision recently? Have you or someone close to you done something that has upset your emotional equilibrium? Has a friend, or significant other lied, cheated, or disappointed you in some way? Have you done any of these things yourself?

Is there something physical in your environment that needs your attention? Is there a broken step, loose hand-rail, or wobbly chair in the house? Is there an "accident waiting to happen" somewhere in your environment? "

Making sense to your dreams

Illustration taken from http://nnayam.blogspot.com/

When you try to understand a dream, it's called dream analysis. Trust me, dream analysis can be VERY fun once you understand what it's all about & how it works. Did you know that your dreams speak about your subconscious mind? Dreams are actually a vital part of our life…meaning that each and every one of us must dream because if not he/she can develop serious psychological problems. Our dreams kind of balance our daily life. They help us understand how we “feel” about our friends, parents, past, and even about what we want in the future. Some people say that dreams "can help or give hidden meanings that you got to find out". We don't know it that is true but we sure find them interesting.
Just like Wei said on the last post, we would like to share with you some of the most vivid and unusual dreams we have had. We encourage you not only to help us analyze the dreams but to keep dreaming yourself!

Welcome compulsive Dreamers

HI everyone & welcome you to our dream blog! This is Wei writing (oh yeah...Susan is sitting beside me!) Dreams might be the most unusual topic ever... Haven't you ever wonder what your dreams mean? Are there any explanations to dreams? Well, let me tell you there is an answer for that question. YES! There is an explanation for every dream. In our blog we will be writting about our dreams and their explanations, some "Did you know..." facts, and much more things we have not thought about butwill soon develop... We STRONGLY encourage you to post your dream, and if you want us to find an explanation to the dream we will be glad to do it! So come and enjoy it. By the way, dreams ARE cooool!!!!!!!!!!











Image was taken from http://nnayam.blogspot.com/