Dreams, what are they?

Dreams come from your subconscious mind as a means of

processing and sorting information. But the truth is no one

really knows what causes dreams and why some folk seem to

have vivid colorful dreams and others have short uneventful

ones.

Dreams mainly occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

REM occurs every one and a half hours during the sleep

cycle. During REM the eyes move from side to side and the

body is relaxed and almost incapable of movement.

Have you ever told people, "I never dream"? Well you're

wrong. The fact is everybody dreams every night. You just

may not be able to remember your dreams.

Don't worry too much if this is the case. Not remembering

dreams doesn't mean you're abnormal or unnatural in any

way. While most people do remember their dreams, the memory

is fleeting and occurs mainly when the sleeper first

awakens.

If you really want to be able to remember your dreams, the

best way is to 'remind yourself' before falling asleep.

This programs the subconscious mind - the source of your

dreams - to hold on to the memory.

When you wake up, try and hold the dream in your mind until

you have a chance to record it. The easiest way to do this

is to have a notebook and pen or a personal voice recorder

beside your bed, so you can write down the dream before it

disappears and gets 'buried' by the normal thoughts and

concerns of everyday life.

With a bit of practice you'll find little snippets of your

dreams beginning to reveal themselves. This procedure will

also work well for those who remember occasional dreams or

those who want to remember every dream they have.

Books on dream interpretation abound and many people

believe that dreams create a window into the subconscious

mind where they can find answers to their most pressing

problems and even see into the future.

This can be a dangerous practice. At best you can waste a

lot of money buying books which lean towards the esoteric

and lack knowledge in this area. Even sleep specialists

know a large part of interpreting dreams is pure

speculation.

At worst dream interpretation can be taken too seriously

and people can depend too heavily on finding the (sometimes

false) meaning of their dreams. This can lead to depression

and even paranoia. It's best to treat dream interpretation

as a bit of fun and realize that there may be many

different ways to analyze dreams and their meaning.

If you are having recurring dreams or nightmares, it's best

to contact a therapist experienced in this area. Don't go

down the mystical route of trying to analyze yourself by

means of a book.

Nightmares can be caused by stress, so work on ways to

relieve this and the nightmares should ease or may even

disappear by themselves.