Dream FAQ Dictionary: Does everybody dream?

Does everybody dream?

 A. Everybody dreams. All humans (indeed, all mammals) have REM sleep. Most dreams occur in REM sleep. [REM=Rapid Eye Movements - in this sleeping stage the eyeballs move around like when awake.] This has been demonstrated by awakening people from different stages of sleep and asking if they were dreaming. In 85 percent of awakenings from REM sleep, people report having been dreaming. Dreams are rarely reported following awakening from other types of sleep (collectively called non-REM sleep). REM sleep alternates with non-REM sleep in 90 minute cycles throughout the night. In a typical 8 hour night, youwill spend about an hour and a half total time in REM sleep, broken upinto four or five "REM periods" ranging in length from 5 to 45minutes. Most dreams are forgotten. Some people never recall dreamswhile others recall five or more each night. You can improve yourability to recall dreams. Good dream recall is necessary for learninglucid dreaming. There are two basic things to do to get started withdeveloping dream recall. Begin a dream journal, in which you writeeverything you remember of your dreams, even the slightestfragments. You will remember the most if you record dreams right afteryou awaken from them. Before falling asleep each night, remindyourself that you want to awaken from, remember and record yourdreams.

Source: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq

(See also: Lucid dreaming, Dream Interpretation FAQ, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams)

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

Dream FAQ Dictionary: What is False Awakening?

False Awakening

While the basic definition of lucid dreaming is merely the ability to be aware that one is dreaming, this definition can be broken down into two types of lucid dreaming. These two types are "high level lucidity" and "low level lucidity." A lucid dreamer that is dreaming with a high level of lucidity knows that everything being experienced is the creation of the mind. This dreamer is aware that he or she is actually in bed and asleep and can suffer no physical damage as a result of the dream.

Dreaming at the lower level of lucidity, the dreamer is not fully aware that his or her environment is a sole creation of the mind. This would then allow for the dreamer to do activities such as flying, or participating in what is most interesting to him or her at the time. However, the dreamer may still see physical threats and other dream characters as being completely real. While dreaming at this lower level, the dreamer is usually unaware that his or her physical body is actually asleep and in bed.

Being able to control a dream and being lucid in a dream do not always go hand in hand. You can have great control over a dream without the full knowledge that you are dreaming. It is also possible for to be completely aware that you are dreaming with very little control of the dream it self. However, a higher level lucid dreamer has the choice to be the participant or creator of the dream.

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/C005545/english/dream/lucid.htm

(See also: False Awakening, Dream Interpretation FAQ, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams)

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

Dream FAQ Dictionary: Can Dream Predict the Future?

Can Dream Predict the Future?

Treat such dreams with caution and good sense. If you dream that your plane is crashing, there is no good reason to cancel your flight: the dream will simply be a reflection of your tension and a (perhaps unconscious) fear of flying. If you dream that that plane is piloted by a red-haired man with only one arm, and you are welcomed on board next day by a red-haired pilot with an empty sleeve, you might do well to be worried! However, most of them are only concidence according to statistics, although you think that the dream are predicting your future.

Practicality should always be underlined when we think of dream interpreatations. It is not a modern, untried theory - it has been used in many cultures throughout world history - though it is only in the present century that a general concensus has been reached about the way in which we should look at our dreams and discover how they can help us.

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/C005545/english/dream/lucid.htm

(See also: Prophetic Dreams, Dream Interpretation FAQ, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams)

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

Dream FAQ Dictionary: Keeping a Dream Diary

Keeping a Dream Diary

Remember, however, that a recurring dream may also have a relevance to some current problem or preoccupation. Consider, for instance, a recurring dream in which a dog appears in a frightening context. It may be based on a subconscious fear of dogs; maybe one frightened you when you were in your cradle, an incident which you have completely forgotten. If you dream of being chased by a dog, the dream may well have its basis in such an incident, but i may recur when you are consciously or unconsciously feeling insecure and vulnerable, under circumstances as different as being offered a position of authority at work, for which you feel unready, or trying to decide whether to make an approach to a woman you fancy, but fearing rejection.

Predictive Dreams

We have always treated predictive dreams with great caution. There are some published examples which are, to say the least, extremely persuasive, and if many of them can be rationally explained, there are others which cannot. It would obviously be silly to look for predictions in every dream we have. Many people, on the night before a long flight, dream of an aircraft crashing. It is impossible to know for how many this has been a fatal prediction, but the number seems unlikely to be large.

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/C005545/english/dream/lucid.htm

(See also: Dream Diary, Dream Interpretation FAQ, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams)

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

Dream FAQ Dictionary: How can I relieve myself of nightmares?

How can I relieve myself of nightmares?

A. It's really hard to give an answer, since so much depends onyourself. Moreover, it's always risky to give or follow advice on whatcould be a serious problem from far away, and it's ultimately you whohas to decide whether it is just a nuisance you want to get rid of, orif you really suffer from depressions or health problems and it isnecessary to consult professional help.

The common "light" nightmares of permanently missing exams, falling orbeing chased can often be overcome with learning lucid dreaming (seesection 6). Basically, if you learn to deal with them, they are not aproblem anymore. Or, from a slightly different point of view, you'refacing the problems that cause your dreams and thus overcoming them.

Source: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq

(See also: Nightmares, Dream Interpretation FAQ, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams)

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

Dream FAQ Dictionary: What causes nightmares?

What causes nightmares?

A. There is the dark side of dreams - nightmares, dreams of fear,pain, irrational bad feelings that often cannot be explained. Thesecan become a serious problem when you often wake up terrified, whenyou even don't sleep because of fear of nightmares... Nightmares occurmostly because some problem disturbs you unconsciously butseriously. Some nightmares carry obvious symbols that may indicatewhere your problems are, but often it is not that easy. Sometimes theycan indicate really serious problems like depressions, sometimes justan inadequacy of getting along with yourself. It's difficult.

How can I relieve myself of nightmares?

A. It's really hard to give an answer, since so much depends onyourself. Moreover, it's always risky to give or follow advice on whatcould be a serious problem from far away, and it's ultimately you whohas to decide whether it is just a nuisance you want to get rid of, orif you really suffer from depressions or health problems and it isnecessary to consult professional help.

The common "light" nightmares of permanently missing exams, falling orbeing chased can often be overcome with learning lucid dreaming (seesection 6). Basically, if you learn to deal with them, they are not aproblem anymore. Or, from a slightly different point of view, you'refacing the problems that cause your dreams and thus overcoming them.

Source: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq

(See also: Nightmares, Dream Interpretation FAQ, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams)

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

Dream FAQ Dictionary: Can nightmares be dangerous?

Nightmares

Can nightmares be dangerous? Many people will always ask this question. Nightmares will only damage you if you allow them to. Of course a repetitive nightmare which wakes you night after night in a cold sweat of terror is worrying, and if it persists over a long period there is no doubt that it can have an effect on your confidence and self-assurance. The answer is not to give in to it; go to bed, not fearful of the dream that is waiting for you, but ready to face up to it, to ask what it is trying to say to you and to answer its statement.

Nightmares are not the product of overeating, overdrinking, or any other physical activity. They are the result of some waking anxiety which is so acute that it bursts into your dreams. Childhood, in particular, is full of such anxieties, often attached to the process of getting used to the world and facing problems which may seem stupidly minute to those who have forgotten what it was like to be five years old. If your child wakes screaming in the night, it will usually be the result of a 'bad dream' which has been forgotten by the time you reach the bedside. There is nothing you can do other than comfort the child, reassure her, tell her that 'it won't happen again' - which will probably be true, for she is very unlikely to have another nightmare the same night. If nightmares occur night after night, the problem is more serious, and you must look for the waking problem which is prompting them. Your child may feel insecure at school or at home; may be being bullied by a fellow-pupil or even a teacher; or may be distressed at your response to something she has done or not done.

Most importantly, consider your relationship with your partner. Children are remarkably susceptible to atmosphere, and often (especially if they do not have enough vocabulary, or feel they cannot discuss things with you) pick up tension or stress. Loneliness or jealousy can also be turned inwards and emerge in frightening nightmares. Recurring nightmares in adults also deserve careful study. Jungians would suggest that nightmares are the work of your shadow; instincts which for some reason you don't feel you can show to the world during your waking life break into your dream world and show their anger at being repressed.

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/C005545/english/dream/lucid.htm

(See also: Nightmares, Dream Interpretation FAQ, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams)

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

lucidity

Manipulating dream energies during the dream state in the direction of our desires

(See also: Lucidity, Body Mind and Soul)

Lucidity:

1. An early term for clairvoyance. 2. Lucid dreaming

(See also: Lucidity, Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

To be "awakened" can refer to being taken out of a state of believing something which one subsequently believes to be false. Example: I used to be racist, but I was awakened when I saw a documentary about Nelson Mandela. Being "awakened" is also used as a metaphor for a number of consciousness raising experiences, including religious conversion. Awake can also be used sarcastically in conversation. "Are you awake at all?", which would be used when someone i ...

See also:

Awake, Awake - Other meanings

Read more here: » Awake: Encyclopedia II - Awake - Other meanings

Many of us take our dreams for granted, not realizing that the dream state is actually an expanded state of consciousness. Due to the fact that the ego lets go of a lot of the control it normally exercises during the day, we become more open to healing forces that help us to regain balance mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually as we dream.

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Spiritual Guidance from dreams

A Hinduism dictionary with the most common spiritual words from P-Z. Also see these links: Hinduism, Spirituality, Enlightenment, Spiritual Dictionary and Hinduism Dictionary.

For more dictionary entries, see » Lucid Dream Dictionary

Another term for lucid dreaming, in which you are both awake and dreaming.

(See also: waking dream, Magic, Shamanism, Pagan Dictionary)

Paranormal Dream:

Dreams in which the dream imagery provides paranormal knowledge (e.g., ESP or precognition).

See also Announcing Dream, Lucid Dreaming.

(See also: Paranormal Dream, Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

out-of-body experience, astral projection, lucid dreaming

(See also: OBE, Magic, Shamanism, Pagan Dictionary)

DREAM THERAPY: Dream therapy is the use of dreams and the dream state to accomplish physical and emotional healing.

It involves both the interpretation of information obtained while dreaming and the active participation in the dream process through a technique called lucid dreaming. The various processes associated with dreams have been put under the generalized term of "dreamwork."

(See also: Dream therapy, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

REM (rapid eye movement) dreaming sleep usually occurs in ninety minute cycles throughout the night, before the onset of a period of SWS. As the night progresses, these intervals of REM increase in length until finally, the last two hours of slumber contain a high percentage of dreams. Therefore, we are more likely to catch ourselves dreaming towards the end of sleep - between the hours of five and eight in the morning for the average person.

Read more here: » Meaning of dreams: REM sleep and remembering dreams

Could Charles Dickens have been a sufferer of a REM sleep phenomenon known as sleep paralysis? It seems likely that he was.

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Sleep paralysis - A Dickens of a dream!

Amazingly, as we approach the 21st century, there is still very little known about the inner universe of sleep and dreams. In fact, numerous common misconceptions still exist, many of which are perpetuated by so-called professionals. The author, David F Melbourne, has been studying dreams for 25 years and is known all over the world for his accurate dream interpretations.

Read more here: » Meaning of dreams: Common misconceptions about sleep and dreams

In the stillness of the night, when not a sound breaks the hushed silence, they timorously creep into your mind. Fragile, flittering forms—often more real than reality—seek you out from the deepest abyss of your soul and open for you a vista of visions—nonsensical, terrifying, fantastic—and sometimes, just sometimes, hauntingly beautiful. You wake up with a lump in your throat that threatens to cascade down your eyes, a lingering nostalgia for something near, yet eternity away. But weren't you closer to believing, even then, that somewhere, all that you saw was real; that, beyond the tangible truth of ticking time, you had lived one moment of timeless infinity? Perhaps that's the secret. The chance to glimpse beyond. Why else should we take a dream, those phantasms of the chaotic unconscious, so seriously?

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Dream Works

Bed

Dreaming of being in bed may be an indication of a lucid dream event. This means that you are aware of being asleep in a dream state. Somehow, your mind is accepting the limitations of your sleeping condition. However, the bed can also be a place of laziness, sickness, death or sexual encounter. If the bed feels like a symbol for any of these metaphors, the dream may be saying something about how you perceive yourself.

Freud would be inclined to see the bed as a womb, as well. Indeed, the covers pulled over the head on a chilly morning can make the bed a utopian haven against a difficult world.

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Bed, Meaning of Dreams about Bed, Dream Interpretation Bed)