Scientific explanations & interpretation of the most common ones
How do we dream
Dreams are stories and images that our mind creates while we sleep. They can be entertaining, disturbing, scary or bizarre. We all dream, even if we don’t remember it the next day.
Did you know that we spend one third of our life sleeping and on average six entire years dreaming? That’s amazing, but how does it really work?
Although it normally just feels like blacking out for awhile, sleep actually occurs in five different stages in a cyclical way.
The first stage is a light sleep that is easy to wake up from (the kind of sleep you experience when you start dozing off in a boring class or meeting).
The second stage goes slightly deeper, usually the kind of sleep that you get when you lie down for a quick 20-minute nap.
The third and fourth stages represent deeper sleep. These first four phases are also called NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) phases.
After the fourth stage, we reach the final stage known as REM sleep. REM is an acronym for “Rapid Eye Movement” and is, oddly enough, one of the most active physiological part of our entire day.
During REM sleep our eyes move rapidly in various directions, breathing accelerates, heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and brain activity goes back to the same level as when we’re awake (or even higher!).
All of this, though, is counterbalanced by the rest of our body being paralyzed. If you’ve ever suddenly woken up in the middle of the night and discovered that you’re unable to move, this is just you accidentally being interrupted in the middle of REM sleep – it’s nothing to be afraid of.
This might seem a little terrifying, but this is actually the body’s way of keeping you safe while you’re asleep.
Most of our dreams happen during REM sleep, so if we weren’t physically paralyzed at this time, then we would be unconsciously acting out our dreams. If you were dreaming about being a ninja, you’d end up throwing imaginary shuriken in your sleep.
Scientific theories about why we dream
After all, why do we dream? What is the purpose of dreams? No one has pointed one single explanation, but there have been several theories on the subject.
Some focus only on the physiological aspect and believe that dreams are simply spikes in our brain activity during our sleep, nothing more. There is no higher meaning to them; there is no real purpose.
Others, though, focus on the more abstract psychological implications of dreams.
Here are some current theories, which suggest that dreaming is:
- A component of memory processing, converting short-term memories into long-terming ones. Recent studies indicate that as we’re learning new things in our waking hours, dreams increase while we sleep.
- An extension of waking consciousness, reflecting the experiences of our life.
- A tool used by our mind to face difficult thoughts, emotions, and experiences and achieve psychological and emotional balance.
- The brain responding to biochemical changes and electrical impulses that occur during sleep.
- A form of consciousness that unites past, present and future in processing information from the first two, and preparing for the third.
- A protective act of the brain used to prepare itself to face threats, dangers and challenges.
- A kind of simulator for social interactions, allowing us to get better at navigating relationships with others during the day.
- A threat simulator that “trains” us on how to react to danger. This theory could explain the possible utility of our nightmares. Bad dreams are essentially a means of exercising our cognitive mechanisms to recognise and avoid danger when we are awake.
Generally speaking, there is still a great deal about dreams and sleep that we have yet to discover because at the moment, everything is still speculation and theory.
Interpretation
Anything can happen in your dreams. You can fly, you can drown, or you can have Leonardo DiCaprio as your English teacher.
Have you ever asked yourself what is the meaning behind all those dreams?
They don’t always tell a simple story, and what is more fascinating is that even people from different cultures and backgrounds report having similar dreams.
Here’s a list of the most common dreams made by a social worker, Suzanne Bergmann, who is part of the experienced team of Dream Reflectors at DreamsCloud that provides feedback and insight about dreams.
Being Chased
This is one of the most commonly reported dreams. Mostly because the anxiety we feel in the dream is so vivid, that it makes it easier for us to remember them. Often the reason for these dreams comes not from the fear of actually being chased, but rather from what we’re running from. Chase dreams help us to understand that in our waking lives we may not be considering something that requires our attention.
- Water
Water frequently represents our emotions or our unconscious minds. The quality of the water (calm or turbulent) often provides insight into how effectively we are managing our emotions.
- Vehicle
Whether a car, airplane, train or ship, the vehicles in our dream can reflect what direction we feel our life is taking, and how much control we think we have over the path ahead of us. Vehicles can give us the power to envision ourselves getting to our destination or highlight the obstacles we think we are facing and need to work through.
- People
Seeing other people in your dream often is a reflection of the different aspects of the self. The people in dreams can relate to characteristics that need to be developed. Specific people directly relate to existing relationships we need to work through.
- School or Classroom
It’s a very common situation for people in dreams to find themselves in a school or classroom, often confronted with a test that they aren’t prepared to take. This is a great example of a “dream pun” — the mind using a word or concept and giving it a different definition. The “lesson” or “test” we face inside the school or classroom is frequently one we need to learn from our past. That’s the reason why these dreams are often reported by people who left school long time ago.
- Paralysis
As noted above, the body actually encounters a form of paralysis while dreaming. Consequently dreaming about paralysis frequently represents the overlap between the REM stage and waking stage of sleep. Dreaming about paralysis can also indicate that the dreamer feels he or she lacks control in their waking life.
- Death
Although death is often perceived as negative, it often indicates a symbolic change happening for the dreamer (the end of a phase, a job, or a relationship that creates anxiety) and gives him the opportunity for introspection and analysis.
- Flying
Flying in a dream, and how effectively or poorly it’s done, relates to how much control we feel we have in our lives, and whether we are confident and able to achieve our goals. High flying is one of the most euphoric dreams imaginable, while flying low to the ground or being caught in obstacles can be immensely frustrating.
- Falling
Not all falling dreams are scary and negative. Some dreamers report a type of slow falling that indicates serenity. On the contrary, falling uncontrollably from a great height indicates something in our waking life that feels very much out of control.
- Nudity
Emotional or psychological exposure or vulnerability is very often expressed in dreams through nudity. The body part that’s exposed can give more insight into the emotion that our dreams are helping us to understand.
- Baby
Dreaming of a baby often represents something new. It might be a new idea, new project at work, new development or the potential of growing in a specific area of our waking life.
- Food
Food symbolizes energy or knowledge and is directly related to our intellect, emotions and spirituality. Food can also be a manifestation of expressions like, “food for thought,” and reveal that we may be “hungry” for new information.
- House
Houses frequently represent the dreamer’s mind. Different levels or rooms may relate to different degrees of consciousness. The basement often represents what has been neglected, or what the dreamer is not aware of, while bedrooms relate to intimate thoughts and feelings.
FRIScIence 