Dreams Blog

Most of us dream almost every night, this was concluded in one of the sleep researches made by experts. Additionally, most of us don’t even have any idea what these images mean.

In earlier times, dream analysis resulted to experts believing that this is a connection of some sort with a higher being. Dreams have always caught our attention because the meanings as we interpret it could be life changing in our living world.

Most experts agree these days that the true meaning of dreams rely on the dreamer. In order to at least get into the bottom of such, here are some tips they’ve shared in order for the dreamer to find meanings to the dream:

• Choose the issue: Unsolved issues that you may want to find answers to

• Intent: Say to oneself what the dreams should do

• Remember: Place a pen and pad near the bed in order to write down the dreams once waking up.

The Eastwood City grounds in Quezon City, Philippines have become the place to be for fortune seekers as the Psychic Festival is being staged in the premises. This week long activity will end on February 28. Modern day “seers” are said to conduct dream interpretations and predict the future of the clients.

Divination skills offered include Palmistry and Astrology. For those who are interested in Feng Shui and Numerology, certain individuals are available for consultation.

Gaining popularity is the tarot card reading activity wherein cards are used to take a sneak peek into one’s fate, and the focus is mainly on money and love.

Organizers said that people flock at these kinds of festivals because it would be fun to dwell on what is unknown, even though these readings are not approved by the Catholic Church. Philippines is predominantly a Catholic country.

For those who study dreams, this report may be an important piece of information.

According to a recent research conducted by experts, catnaps or short term sleeps may help one’s memory or for one’s brain to function more effectively. In a way, it reboots one’s brain.

This development was explained by CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton during the “Early Show” program.

Thirty-nine respondents took part in the study and it has been discovered that short naps aid them in memory exercises. The respondents who napped performed 20 percent better than those who did not.

The researchers believed that a part of the brain called the hippocampus – storage of short-term memories – tends to be rebooted during these short naps. This leads to the brain making room for new information and learning.

This development may be good for students who are preparing for an exam, that sleep can actually improve their studying because more information relevant to the exam can be stored in their brains.

It’s always believed that when it comes to interpretation of dreams, this should be done in a scientific method that was discovered by Carl Jung. However, it is a given fact that not all of the people know this and that in some ways we also have similar dreams. This may not translate to similar dream meanings.

Countless books have been produced in an attempt to interpret our dreams. But so far, the definitions have been generic – describing how the symbols that we see may mean in general.

However, experts believe that the scientific method approach shows an objective view of the images that we see in the dream. For some instances, the images that we see may have something to do with our daily routines, such as getting out of bed in our lingerie while for others this does not apply.

One things for sure, for us dreamers, it is up to us whether we act up on what we interpret on the dream or just dismiss such for now.

We dream in several stages of our sleep, and it doesn’t necessarily have to occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage. However, constantly depriving ourselves of the REM stage due to losing the last couple of hours of sleep means losing the opportunity to view the images that may have significant definitions in how we live our life.

According to experts, dreams are there for a reason and have some purpose in a way. Images could serve as clues for solutions that we may need to implement to live a more meaningful life.

Certain patterns may be discovered when we dream. In fact experts have linked those who dream often to have productive tendencies during their waking moments – such as writing more creative stories.

Despite these admirable observations, dreams are useful to all people regardless of their profession as these images have significance only to the individual.

Interpretations on the actual definition of dreams can be made but the answer always lies to the dreamer.

For those with severe sleep apnea, there’s a silver lining, there’s a lesser occurrence of bad dreams based on the research conducted by medical experts.

Dr. Jim Pagel, one of the lead researchers of a medical study that was published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, said that they discovered that patients with severe sleep apnea have fewer nightmares. He added that this is one of the first studies that clearly support the findings. This gives the medical experts more understanding of this condition.

Pagel is the director of the Sleep Disorders Center of Southern Colorado and he is optimistic that further studies and research will be made in the topic of sleep apnea.

He said that sleep apnea becomes more interesting now that it has tie-ins to dreams and nightmares and they will explore more on this aspect in their upcoming researches.

Students who took the Sleep and Dreams class at the Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington has conducted dream research via their own sleep patterns in a bid to test common ideas about this state.

The researchers were taught on the general mechanics of sleep and the aspects of their own sleep. This was shared by Associate Professor of Psychology Noel Wescombe, the course instructor.

The students were instructed to measure their sleep by putting on a headgear that can transmit data wirelessly to a device called Zeo, a gadget that’s similar to an alarm clock and can be placed beside the sleeper’s bed.

The graph produced by the Zeo reveals the stages of sleep by the student which could range from interrupted sleep or rapid eye movement (REM) or deep sleep.

Skipping sleep could result to an individual losing the level of REM sleep. Wescombe said that for participants sleeping four hours or less, they may likely have had deep sleep but still lacked REM sleep.

Studying dreams can take a lifetime or in fact a career choice for many but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to get at least a vague idea on the meaning behind the dreams that we make.

Dreams can be interpreted in several ways. What one sees and interprets may not necessarily apply to the other because after all we are unique. Finding an actual meaning on the visions that we see during our sleep may be frustrating. It is best to go with the flow and see how things go.

There are several aspects of the dream that we need to consider such as how we can inculcate these so-called “messages” in our everyday lives. If we see a gun in our dream, does this mean that we need to buy one? Not necessarily, it may be a symbolism that we need to gun down negative thoughts and continue in our life’s journey with optimism.

There are several instances where people fear their dreams. Here are some common fears:

- dreams reveal sexual longings and a desire to fulfill sexual fantasies. This is due to the Freudian analysis.

- people tend to distrust or fear dreams due to the belief that we should be in control of our lives and messages or images from the dream should be ignored and should not be enacted at all .

- people think that their dreams depict future events that can take place far away. These dreams may leave them immobile since they don’t have a concrete answer as to how to deal with it.

- people fear dreams because they could be messages from the higher being and that presented with such dreams mean that their faith is being tested.

However, experts said that finding out what dreams mean should not be feared upon since shutting them out means inhibiting ourselves to find opportunity or to take part in something that could make a change in our life.

School of Metaphysics Director and Dream researcher Dr. Daniel Condron said that recurring dreams are just one of the types of dreams that we encounter everyday. He believes that dreams represent a message or question. This is usually related to a person’s fear, doubt, habit and many more.

The dream expert said that once the dreamer has an understanding as to what he or she is dreaming about, there’s a big chance that the resolution will be enacted.

The thing about dreams, he says, is that the dreamer and the interpreter can be both right or wrong with the perception behind the images seen during sleep. No one can really be sure if the meaning is right. Even experts are honest enough to admit that there are no exact interpretations in our dreams because we are unique in every way. The best bet is that there’s always a common denominator which we can work on as we try to find the resolutions behind our recurring dreams.

He also believes that although it is hard to influence dreams you can make sure you have comfortable nightwear and a comfortable bed to sleep in.