Daydreams
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. Click here for a more in depth look at daydreams.
Daydreaming is often a disregarded and neglected aspect of dream study. There is a lack of emphasis on the content of your daydreams. They are often overlooked as fleeting and wandering thoughts.
However, the meanings to your nightly dream symbols are also applicable to your daydreams. The content in your daydreams are helpful in the understanding of your true feelings and in fulfilling your goals.
Daydreaming occurs when you are semi-awake. It is the spontaneous imagining or recalling of various images or experiences in the past or future. You allow your imagination to run away from you.
When you daydream, you are accessing your right brain, which is the creative and feminine side of your personality.
Daydreams are often viewed as light-hearted in nature.
They are just silly fantasies and wishful thinking. Actually, even worrying over things can be classified as a form of daydreaming. When you worry, you are visualizing an unwanted or negative outcome to a situation. By repeating these negative images in your mind, you are more likely to make them happen.
Next time you start worrying, try to think of a positive outcome.
Just as your worrisome daydreams can unwittingly come true via repetition in your mind, you can use it as a tool to your advantage and make positive events happen. You can utilize daydreams as a technique to visualize what you want and hope to happen.
It is said that many athletes, musicians and business leaders utilize daydreams to envision success. They anticipate or imagine landing the perfect jump, closing a deal, or making that hit single. Tiger Woods, for one, has said to use daydreams to improve his golf game.
You, too, can utilize daydreams for something as simple as studying for and acing the next test or for landing that job.
Positive daydreaming is healthy. It serves as a temporary escape from the demands of reality. It is also a good way to release pent up frustrations without physically acting them out.
All to often you worry about your job, your family, finances, a relationship, etc. It is a way to leave the world behind and ponder about what could've been or should've been. It relieves stress, improves attitude, fosters creativity and refresh the mind, body, and spirit.
Daydream Themes
What you daydream about is indicative of what you may be really feeling. It reveals your unconscious thinking.
Below are some common themes:
Disaster:
When you envision the worst-case scenario about a situation, you are experiencing a disaster daydream. Such daydreams reflect your worries and fears.
Next time you start daydreaming about something terrible happening, imagine something positive instead. Eventually, you will train yourself not to worry so much about whatever fears you keep imagining.
Escape:
Daydreaming about exotic getaways/adventures or faraway lands, suggests that you may be feeling stuck in the same old routine.
You want to try something different or uncharacteristic of yourself. You may also be feeling overwhelmed, stressed out or are looking for some sort of escape. Take some time to for some relaxation.
Glory:
Daydreams about heroic acts indicates that you are looking for attention and/or respect. Perhaps, you are feeling ignored or powerless in your real life. This daydream may serve to motivate you.
Love:
Thoughts of falling in love or being in love is a common daydream subject. It suggests that finding love is one of your immediate goals.
Consider your actions in your daydream when you find love. If you are seeking love to make others jealous, then it suggests that you are also looking for a status symbol. You maybe craving attention.
Revenge:
Daydreams about revenge may serve as a safe outlet for you to relieve your anger toward someone. Having these daydreams on a regular basis may be a strong indication that you will act on your thoughts.
Analyzing Your Daydreams
1. Find out what is behind the daydream:
There is usually a link between your daydream and the emotions are experiencing in real life. Try to pinpoint what aspect of your life or situation that may be triggering the daydream.
2. How do you feel in your daydream?
Just as in your nighttime dreams, the feelings you experience in your daydreams are an indicator of what you are really feeling in real life.
3. Look out for recurring themes:
Daydreaming about the same thing repeatedly is a good indication that you need to deal and confront the situation.
Daydream Disorders
Too much daydreaming? For some, daydreams become an altered reality.
They may find it difficult to differentiate between their daydreams and reality and thus can develop a true disorder. Daydreams for them may serve as a creative or protective retreat.
False Awakening Dreams
Have you ever thought you have waken up and gone about your daily morning routine: getting up, brushing your teeth, eating breakfast and going to work, only to wake up "again" and realize that what just happened is just a dream.
That sensation is referred to as a false awakening.
Lucid Dreams
Lucid dreams occur when you realize you are dreaming. "Wait a second. This is only a dream!" 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 own dreams, making decisions in their dreams and influencing the dream's outcome without awakening.
Lucid dreams give you the ability to control your own dreams and steer them toward the direction you want. In the lucid state, you are more willing to confront threats and as a result, become more self confident.
When you achieve lucidity, you can use it as a tool to improve your sports game, to rehearse for a speech, to fulfill your fantasies, or to solve a problem in your waking life. In fact, some athletes utilize their lucid dreams to practice their tennis serve, golf stroke or bat swing.
Even in your day to day life, you can use lucid dreams to ask the boss for a raise, prepare for a first date, overcome phobias, get over writer's block, etc.
Lucid dreams can help you visualize and rehearse an event in your mind before it actually occurs. It helps to overcome fears and anxieties. The application of lucid dreams is limited only to your imagination.
Because brain activity during the dream state is the same as during a real life event, what you "learn" or "practice" in your lucid dream state is similar to the training and preparation you do in the waking world. Your neuronal patterns are already being conditioned.
At least half of all adults have had one lucid dream in their lifetime. Many have reported having lucid dreams without even trying. Often flying is associated with lucid dreams. With practice, lucid dreaming can be learned and achieved at your will.
Steps to Improving Lucid Dreaming
1. Throughout the day, while you are awake, ask yourself, "Is this a dream?" anytime something odd happens or even when nothing out of the ordinary happens. The trick is not to answer the question with an immediate "Of course I am not dreaming!".
Come up with a consistent way to check if you are awake or asleep. For example, checking the time on a clock and then quickly check it again. If you are dreaming, the time will always dramatically change at the second glance.
Or, if you are reading something, look away and then read it again. Again, if you dreaming, whatever you are reading will be completely different when you look at it the second time. As you keep asking yourself this question during the day, the question will become second nature.
Eventually, you will automatically ask the question in your dreams. When you do your check to see if you are awake or asleep, you are well on your way to lucidity.
2. Utilize a counting method to enter lucidity. As you are laying down to go to sleep, start counting. One, I am dreaming. Two, I am dreaming. Three, I am dreaming. At some point, you will say, fifty-one, I am dreaming, and by then you are really dreaming.
3. Identify your dream signals. These are objects, images or actions in your dream that serve as cues or markers to let you know that you are dreaming. Anything can be a dream signal and is unique to each individual dreamer.
It may help to read through your dream journal and select an image that constantly appears in your dreams. By selecting a recurring image, then it has a better chance of appearing in your future dreams. When you are ready for bed, tell yourself that "when I see an apple, then I know I am dreaming." or whatever dream signal you have chosen.
4. Use your dream signs to let you know that you are dreaming. When an anomaly or something impossible occurs in your dream, do not ignore it or try to rationalize it.
Let this odd occurrence be an indicator that you are dreaming. Some common dream signs include flying, walking through walls or the appearance of someone who is dead in real life.
5. Finally, encourage your lucid dreams, but do not force them, as your efforts may have an opposite effect. You may use the above techniques in conjunction with one another. Tell yourself that you will have a lucid dream tonight. It is important to relax and be patient.
As you improve your lucid dreaming, you can even learn to "write" your own dream scripts. Your sense of smell and touch will become heightened. Before going to bed, tell yourself what you want to dream and what area you want to explore.
Nightmares
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.
These type of nightmares fall under a special category called Post-traumatic Stress Nightmare (PSN). 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. "Pay attention!"
You have all had nightmares at various parts in your lives. They are quite normal. But what exactly is a nightmare and why do you have them?
Nightmares are a subcategory of dreams. The distinction of a nightmare is its frightening and/or emotional content. You tend to wake up in fear in the midst of a nightmare. Because of its frightening nature, you are more likely to remember your nightmares and the vivid details.
They have a bigger impact upon your waking mind. Its images stay with you throughout the day.
One reason for nightmares may be a way for your unconscious to get your attention about a situation or problem that you have been avoiding.
It is time to take notice and confront the issue! Sometimes nightmares serve to warn you about your health or an accident.
However, often times nightmares stem from a deeper level indicating that something is troubling you from within your subconscious. Discussing, analyzing, and understanding your nightmares can lead to a solution to some problem, internal conflict or personal difficulty.
Causes Of Nightmares
In general, stress, trauma, fears, insecurities, feelings of inadequacy, health problems, marital issues, etc may all be reasons for having nightmares:
Childhood and Family
Present nightmares can be rooted in past neglect and trauma from childhood. From lack of love, neglect, alcoholism, to severe abuse, family members can be the most destructive influence on a person's life. Nightmares may be a sign of such inner turmoil.
Life
The way your life is going and the larger society as a whole can contribute to nightmares. Your perception of the world, heath, natural disasters, criticism about politics, finances, crime in the streets and your inability to control such events may sometimes lead to nightmares.
Relationships
Your intimate relationships and your daily interactions with people can also be a source of your nightmares. Marital difficulties or pregnancy are other possible causes.
You may be paranoid about how your think others perceive you or fear that others do not understand and see who you really are. Isolation and unhappiness may appear in nightmares as abandonment and loneliness.
Stress
The way you handle and deal with stress can trigger nightmares. Nightmares are a normal response to unacceptable levels of fear and stress.
People diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder frequently have nightmares about their traumatic event, like war, rape, death of a loved one, car accident, plane crash, terrorism, etc.
Work
Since most of us spend the majority of our day at work, it is no surprise that work-related issues are a common source for your nightmares.
Stress, job security (or there lack of), change in jobs, co-workers, unresolved work problems, or general dissatisfaction.... with what you do can manifest into a nightmare. The nightmare may reflect feelings of frustration and an inability to control your work-related issues.
People in high-stress level or high-risk jobs often report of having nightmares. Nightmares of this nature may appear as you being attacked, chased, or being out of control.
Having nightmares are normal, but a high frequency of nightmares is a sign of being overwhelmed and excessive stress. These things should be dealt with directly.
Nightmares can be an important resource for self-knowledge and emotional discovery.
They convey an important message and help clear up the conflict in your life. it is important to distance yourself and work pass the emotional content (fear, grief, anger, etc.) of your nightmare and analyze it from an objective perspective.
The disturbing emotions may be a way for your unconscious to prevent you from digging deep into the meaning of your nightmares.
Sometimes rehearsing or reliving the nightmare while you are awake and then changing the nightmare's content or outcome helps to dismantle the nightmare, breaking it down. Although it may be difficult at times, it pays to try and make sense of those darker dreams.
Recurring Dreams
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.
Most dreams contain messages that serve to teach you something about yourself. However, soon after you wake up to go about your daily routine, you tend to quickly forget what you dream about.
The message in recurring dreams may be so important and/or powerful that it refuses to go away. The frequent repetition of such dreams forces you to pay attention and confront the dream. It is desperately trying to tell you something.
Such dreams are often nightmarish or frightening in their content, which also helps you to take notice and pay attention to them.
Recurring dreams are quite common and are often triggered by a certain life situation or a problem that keeps coming back again and again. These dreams may recur daily, once a week, or once a month. Whatever the frequency, there is little variation in the dream content itself.
Such dreams may be highlighting a personal weakness, fear or your inability to cope with something in your life - past or present.
The repetitive patterns in your dream reveal some of the most valuable information about yourself. It may point to a conflict, situation or matter in your waking life that remains unresolved or unsettled. Some urgent underlying message in your unconscious is demanding to be understood.
Overcoming Recurring Dreams
Following are some tips to help you in overcoming your recurring dreams.
1. To start to understand your recurring dream, you must be willing to accept some sort of change or undergo a transformation.
2. You need to look within yourself and confront whatever you may find no matter how difficult it may be.
3. Look at the dream from an objective point of view.
Try to get pass the emotional and reactive elements of the dream and get down to the symbolic images. Often times, dreams are masked by elements that are disturbing, thus preventing you to delve any deeper. This is a defense mechanism that your unconscious is putting up.
4. Each and every time you have a recurring dream, write it down in great detail. Look for any subtle variations.
These variations are the most significant as it indicates that you are one step closer to understanding why the dream recurs.
5. Pay attention to what is going on in your waking life when you have these recurring dreams. You may start to notice a pattern.
6. Be patient. Do not get discourage if these dreams still recur even after you thought you have come to understand them.
7. Learn to accept yourself truly and fully. Once you discover what your recurring dream is trying to tell you, these dreams will change or altogether disappear.
Healing Dreams
Healing dreams serve as messages for the dreamer in regards to their health. The Ancient Greeks called these dreams "prodromic".
Many dream experts believe that dreams can help in avoiding potential health problems and healing when you are ill or when you are grieving.
Research shows that asthma and migraine sufferers have certain types of dreams before an attack. Your bodies are able to communicate to your mind through dreams.
The dreams can "tell" you that something is not quite right with your bodies even before any physical symptoms show up. Dreams of this nature may be telling the dreamer that he or she needs to go to the dentist or doctor.
If you can understand the language of dreams, your dreams will serve as an invaluable early warning system. They can help inform, advise and heal.
Prophetic Dreams
Prophetic dreams, also referred to as precognitive or psychic dreams, are dreams that seemingly foretell the future. One rational theory to explain this phenomenon is that your dreaming mind is able to piece together bits of information and observation that you may normally overlook or that you do not seriously consider.
In other words, your unconscious mind knows what is coming before you consciously piece together the same information.
Signal Dreams
Signal dreams help you how to solve problems or make decisions in your waking life.
Epic Dreams
Epic dreams (also referred to as Great Dreams, Cosmic Dreams or Numinous Dreams) are so huge, so compelling, and so vivid that you cannot ignore them.
The details of such dreams remain with you for years, as if you just dreamt it last night. These dreams possess much beauty and contain many archetypal symbology.
When you wake up from such a dream, you feel that you have discovered something profound or amazing about yourself or about the world. It feels like a life-changing experience.
Recognizing an Epic Dream
How do you know if your dream is an epic dream? If all of the following applies to your dream, then chances are that it is an epic dream.
1. The dream brings about greater awareness to you, in an unforgettable way
2. The dream makes you look at life from a fresh new perspective.
3. The dream is extremely vivid and memorable.
4. The dream fills you with awe as soon as you wake up.
5. The dream remains with you for years and years as if your just dreamt it yesterday.
Dream facts and tidbits
1. One-third of your lives is spent sleeping.
2. In an average lifetime, you would have spent a total of about six years of it dreaming. That is more than 2,100 days spent in a different realm!
3. Dreams have been here as long as mankind. Back in the Roman Era, striking and significant dreams were submitted to the Senate for analysis and interpretation.
4. Everybody dreams. EVERYBODY! Simply because you do not remember your dream does not mean that you do not dream. In fact, you have several dreams during a normal night of sleep.
5. Dreams are indispensable. A lack of dream activity can mean protein deficiency or a personality disorder.
6. On average, you can dream anywhere from one or two hours every night. Moreover, you can have four to seven dreams in one night.
7. Blind people do dream. Whether visual images appear in their dream depends on whether they were blind at birth or became blind later in life. But vision is not the only sense that constitutes a dream. Sounds, tactility, and smell become hypersensitive for the blind and their dreams are based on these senses.
8. Five minutes after the end of the dream, half the content is forgotten. After ten minutes, 90% is lost.
9. The word dream stems from the Middle English word, dreme which means "joy" and "music".
10. Men tend to dream more about other men, while women dream equally about men and women.
11. Studies have shown that your brain waves are more active when you are dreaming than when we are awake.
12. Dreamers who are awakened right after REM sleep, are able to recall their dreams more vividly than those who slept through the night until morning.
13. Physiologically speaking, researchers found that during dreaming REM sleep, males experience erections and females experience increased vaginal blood flow - no matter what the content of the dream. In fact, "wet dreams" may not necessarily coincide with overtly sexual dream content.
14. People who are giving up smoking have longer and more intense dreams.
15. Toddlers do not dream about themselves. They do not appear in their own dreams until the age of 3 or 4.
16. If you are snoring, then you cannot be dreaming.
17. Nightmares are common in children, typically beginning at around age 3 and occurring up to age 7-8.
18. In a poll, 67% of Americans have experienced Deja Vu in their dreams, occurring more often in females than males.
19. Around 3% of adults suffer from sleep apnea. This treatable condition leads to unexplained tiredness and inefficiency.
20. Research has shown that the house is the most common setting for dreams.
21. It is very normal for males to experience an erection during the REM stage of sleep, even when they are not dreaming anything of a sexual nature.
22. The original meaning of the word "nightmare" was a female spirit who besets people at night while they sleep.
Why should you remember your dreams?
1. Your dreaming mind has access to vital information that is not readily available to you when you are awake. Your dreams may reveal your secret desires and subconscious feelings.
2. In remembering your dreams, you will gain increased knowledge, self-awareness and self-healing. Dreams are an extension of how you perceive yourself. They can be a source of inspiration, wisdom, joy and overall improved psychological health.
3. Learning to recall your dreams may help you become a more assertive person. By remembering your dreams, you are expressing and confronting your feelings.
4. Dreams can help guide you through difficult decisions, relationship issues, health concerns, career questions or any life struggle you may be experiencing.
5. Remembering your dreams can help you come to terms with stressful aspects of your lives.
Tips To Recalling Your Dreams
Remembering your dreams will require some effort on your part. But what your dreams can offer and reveal about yourself is well worth the effort.
Here are some tips in helping your dream recall:
1. Before going to bed, keep a clear mind. Having too many thoughts on your mind can distract you from remembering your dream in the morning. Tell yourself that "I will remember my dream when I wake up". This is a proven and effective technique to help dream recall. Simply by suggesting to yourself or motivating yourself to remember your dreams will actually help you to better remember your dreams.
2. Have a regular bedtime and wake up time. Make this your routine. Going to bed and waking up at a regular time every day aids in dream recollection.
3. Avoid alcohol consumption, taking medication before going to bed or eating fatty foods too close to bedtime as these things can hinder you from remembering your dream.
4. Keep a pencil/notebook or tape recorder next to your bed so that it will be within reach as soon as you wake up. You want to make recording your dreams as easy a task as possible. Having a small lamp by your bedside is also a good idea should you wake up in the middle of the night and want to record your dream immediately.
5. Do not get out of bed immediately. Upon waking from a dream, lay still in your bed, keeping your eyes closed and moving as little as possible. Wake up slowly and stay relax. Hold on to the feelings you have and let your mind wander to the images of what you have just dreamt. Were you frustrated, terrified, or happy?
6. Write down as many details in your dream as you can, no matter how minute or seemingly unimportant it may be. Do not judge the content or worry if it makes sense. The idea is to get it down on paper so you can evaluate it later. Make it a habit that this is the first thing you do. Talking about your dreams to friends or participating in forums and chats also help you remember.
7. Sometimes it may help to draw pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes. Even if you are not an artist a simple drawing can help to jolt details of your dream.
8. Learn to share your dreams and talk about them with others, no matter who seemingly insignificant. The more often you acknowledge your dreams and bring them into "reality", the easier it will be to remember them.
9. Don't get discouraged! At first, you may only remember a fragment of the dream. With practice and the more you work with your dream, the more easier it will be to recall you dreams. You will remember larger and larger chunks of your dream. Eventually dream recall will come automatically.
Your Dream Journal
1. Select a notebook specifically to record your dreams in. A nice fancy journal or a blank bounded book may encourage you to use it. However, a plain spiral notebook or paper pad will suffice. Keep it by your bedside where it is easily accessible. Dream details fade quickly after awakening so it is essential to record the dream immediately.
2. Keep a consistent dream format. Date each dream entry. It doesn't matter if you use last night's date or the next morning as long you keep it consistent.
3. Write in the PRESENT tense as if the dream is still occurring before your eyes. This helps to recall your dreams by putting you back into the moment of your dream.
4. Write down every possible detail of you dream. Location, colors, sounds, objects, characters, and your emotions are all important aspects of your dream. You may want to ask yourself the following questions.
- What are the significant images or symbols in your dream?
- Where is the dream located? What is in the scene or what is the landscape like?
- Who else is in the dream?
- How does the dream make you feel?
- What is your mood when you first wake up from the dream?
- How does your dream parallel a situation or experience in your waking life?
5. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are not important when recording your dreams. Just get the dream down on paper before it slips away and record everything that you remember even if it may only be fragments. As you start writing, more and more pieces of the dreams will come to you. Because we are not able to write faster than what we are thinking, it may be a good idea to record your dreams on tape first. However it will still be a good idea to go back and record the dream on paper.
6. When something is hard to describe in words, draw a quick sketch of the imagery. Color pencils or crayons may help depict your picture more clearly.
7 . After you have record your dream, make a little footnote on any major concerns or issues that is going on in your waking life. As your journaling grows, you will hopefully see a correlation and pattern between your dream and reality.
8. Lastly, put a title on it.
9. Highlight keywords and symbols that stand out.
Interpreting Your Dream
Now that you have written your dream down on paper, it is time to disassemble it.
1. Identify the characters in your dreams. Ask yourself who these people are and what qualities they represent for you.
Many times the people in your dreams represent aspects of your own self. Seeing your mother in your dream, may represent your own maternal characteristics.
It may also mean that particular qualities that you see in your mother, you see in yourself as well. Refer to Carl Jung's Archetypes or Dream Mood's Character dream themes to further your understanding of the characters in your dream.
2. Ask yourself why you are having this dream at this particular time. Make connections to your waking life situations and draw from the day's events and situations for clues as to why you may be having this dream.
3. Consider the puns that appear in your dreams.
The subconscious mind likes to make use of humor, metaphors, and slang in conveying its meaning. For example, when you see a plane in your dream it could mean that you are feeling plain. Or if you dream that you are making dinner reservations, it could mean that you are reserved or hesitant about. Or if you are passing someone on the road, you may be worried about passing a test. You get the idea!
4. What is the general mood or emotion of the dream? How you feel about the dream is important to the dream's meaning.
5. Try to reenact the dream and take on the role of the different characters and objects. Start a dialogue with the dream object and express how you feel toward each other.
6. Circle or highlight any words you believe to be symbolic.
Ask yourself, what does this word mean to you. Consult a Dream Dictionary (by clicking here) to further guide you into your interpretation.
Sometimes looking up its symbolism will help make the dream more clearer. No dream dictionary can tell you the exact meaning of your dream, but it will help stimulate your own thinking about the symbol.
7. Create your own list of personal dream symbols and images and what they mean to you. Eventually you may start to see recurring images. However, keep in mind that as you grow, change and evolve, the meaning of your personal symbols can also change.
Dream Dictionary
Symbols are the language of dreams. And acquiring the ability to interpret your dreams is a powerful tool. In analyzing your dreams, you can learn about your deep secrets and hidden feelings. Remember that no one is a better expert at interpreting your dreams than yourself.
To guide you with your interpretation, we have interpreted over 4300 keywords and symbols and over 13000 different meanings in our ever expanding dream dictionary. These meanings are in no way, the final say in what YOUR dream means but it will hopefully inspire you to explore and offer suggestive starting point for understanding your own dreams.
Every detail, even the most minute element in your dream is important and must be considered when analyzing your dreams.
Each symbol represents a feeling, a mood, a memory or something from your unconscious. Look closely at the characters, animals, objects, places, emotions, and even color and numbers that are depicted in your dreams. Even the most trivial symbol can be significant.
This dictionary, along with your own personal experiences and circumstances, will serve to guide you through a meaningful and personalized interpretation. With practice, you can gain an understanding of the hidden secrets your dreams are trying to tell you.
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