Dreams rarely leave us indifferent. They can give hope, frighten, tell about secret desires, and influence our lives in various ways. Anything unfamiliar often makes us worry until we learn more about it. There are interpretations of almost every night vision in popular dream books. You can also find the data on dream interpretation on insidemydream.com. This website can become your trustful helper in decoding your night visions and making up a personal dream book. This article focuses on where dreams might come from and how you can interpret them by yourself.
Is the Interpretation of Dreams Science?
Science hasn’t revealed where dreams come from and whether they have any meaning yet. Scientists call a dream a particular period of sleep when a person perceives a reality projected by the brain, including all types of sensations. We usually dream in the REM phase (rapid eye movement during sleep), which occurs every 90-120 minutes. Two scientific disciplines study the physiological nature of sleep:
- Somnology is the science that studies the physiological changes of the entire body during sleep;
- Oneirology is the science that looks for correlations between dreams and current knowledge about brain functions. Its goal is to understand how the brain works during sleep and how dreams can be related to memory formation and mental disorders.
At the same time, dreaming is a promising direction of research. Scientists conduct experiments in which they try to connect certain patterns of brain activity and specific images to guess what a person dreams of. Neurologists hope that soon it will be possible to read our dreams in our sleep with the help of brain tomography. Other scientists look for patterns in dreams and constant associations with images seen in a dream, which will help build the so-called dream code.
Today, no dream book is scientifically based. This does not mean that dreams are meaningless. This implies that modern science has not invented a device to display the meaning of dreams on the monitor screen and classify them. Each of us is free to experiment with the interpretation of our dreams on our own, turning to universal dictionaries if desired. At the same time, it is worth bearing in mind that any strong feeling that causes anxiety, even in a dream, might signal a malfunction in the body and be a reason to visit a doctor.
Types of Dreams
Not all dreams require a detailed interpretation based on psychoanalysis. You can have two types of night visions:
- Literal dreams are related to recent events. Such dreams usually have no hidden meaning and are only a continuation of your experiences seen in reality.
- Symbolic dreams can come in the form of images and contain encoded information from our subconscious.
Our desires, hopes, fears, and aspirations can be sources of symbolic dreams. Such night visions might refer to our deep relationships with family and friends, be related to careers and self-realization, etc. The stronger the experience, the more absurd the image of it comes in a dream. The most popular meaning of symbolic dreams can be found in many dream books. However, you shouldn’t interpret dreams based only on the dream book. First, many of them were composed in other times and do not contain new images that have come to us with the development of society. Second, the one-size-fits-all value might not suit your situation. It is essential to consider your context.
How to Understand Dreams
Dreams come mainly in REM sleep when brain activity is high, similar to waking. There can be about five such phases per night. You can ask someone to wake you up towards the end of the phase; then, you are more likely to be able to retell what you saw in the dream. To remember dreams better, you can also change the headboard.
You should not immediately run to the dream book as soon as you wake up. It is worth focusing on the dream itself and paying attention to minor details, especially if you have it repeatedly. Dreams usually consist of images from life presented in a new form. You should try to record all the nuances:
- Remember all the characters, objects, and images that you saw in a dream, which colors were present, and what you felt.
- Pay attention to the position in which you slept.
- Analyze the feeling with which you woke up.
- Recall your recent experiences, and think about whether they correlate with what you saw in a dream.
- Consider where the images you saw while sleeping could come from.
- Make your associations with the dream.
A Window Into the Subconscious
Dreams have puzzled people’s minds for centuries, compared to windows through which our deepest feelings and desires can be seen. Since ancient times, dream interpretations have provided us with answers to any question about night visions. However, the world of science does not approve of any of these interpretations. Deciphering your dreams on your own might be the first step to understanding yourself better. The main thing is not to harm yourself and contact a specialist in case of excessive anxiety due to what you saw.
