��� People have been trying to unravel the meaning of dreams since history began. Dreams are loaded with symbolism, imagery, and leftovers from the day. Native American tribes believed that dreams were visits from ancestors trying to help the dreamer. Carl Jung called them a gateway to our collective unconscious and Sigmund Freud said they mirrored our repressed desires. What ever you believe they are still fascinating to say the least!
���� Everyone dreams. Even if you dont remember them. In recent years, dream research has isolated a sleep perioud called REM sleep . This is suppose to be the time when we have our most vivid dreams. Most likely the dreams you remember are the ones that occur prior to waking. The reason most people remember their nightmares are because they woke up during or immediately after. Pleasant dreams rarely wake the dreamer which makes them harder to remember with any clarity on the following morning.
���� Dreams speak in images and metaphors. One interesting theory says that dreams are nothing more than random electrical impulses that our minds insit on putting into and understandable order? I dont know about that but then again who does? Some theories also state that each character in your dreams are actually aspects of yourself and yet others believe that specific images mean specific things. I however do not subscribe to this notion. I believe dream dictionaries and such are a waste of money because any one given symbol can mean many many different things to different people.
���� I am however a firm believer in keeping a dream journal. I keep one on the shelf above my bed along with a pen. Upon waking either in the morning or prior I write down what I remember which makes it easier for me later in the day when I start to remember bits and pieces that I can't quite put together.
���� As you keep up with your journal you will notice your own personal symbolisms and will get a better feel for what they mean as they reoccur. I believe that you are the only person who can unlock your personal dream symbols. I once learned a technique where you would write your dream down, select things that stuck out in your mind and write a list on another page... then you would define what those things are or mean and piece them together there without the parameters of the actual dream sequence and I was surprised at how well that worked! To help with dream recal tell yourself that you will remember your dreams prior to going to sleep and of course keep that journal close by!
*sweet dreams!* |
