Thursday, December 18, 2014

The Meaning Behind Dreams

1. Being Chased

This is one of the most commonly reported dreams .and are pretty much happened to everyone at one point.  This anxiety and rush that happens when being chased is what makes it easier for us to remember them. What we are running from tends to be the cause of the fear.  These dreams help us to understand that we may not be addressing something in our waking lives that requires our attention.
2. Water

Water frequently represents our emotions or our unconscious minds. The quality of the water, such as cloudy or clam, often provides insight into how our emotions are being handled
3. Vehicles

Whether a car, airplane, train or ship, the vehicles in our dream can reflect what direction we feel our life is taking, and how much control we think we have over the path ahead of us. Vehicles can give us motivation to get to our destination and/or identifies the obstacles ahead that we need to face.
4. People

Seeing other people in your dream often is a reflection of the different aspects of the self. The people in dreams can relate to characteristics that need to be developed. Specific people directly relate to existing relationships or interpersonal issues we need to work through.
5. School or Classroom

People in dreams commonly find themselves in a school or classroom, often about to take a test that they aren't prepared to take. This is an example of a "dream pun" -- the mind using a word or concept and giving it a different definition. The "lesson" or "test" we face inside the school or classroom is frequently one we need to learn from our past, which is one reason these dreams are often reported by people who have long since finished school.
6. Paralysis

Unknown to most people, the body is actually encountering a form of paralysis during dreaming, which prevents it from physically performing the actions occurring in their dreams, therefore dreaming about paralysis represents the overlap between the REM stage and waking stage of sleep. Dreaming about paralysis can also indicate that the dreamer feels he or she lacks control in their waking life.
7. Death

Although death is often perceived as negative, it's often more directly related to dramatic change happening for the dreamer, the end of one thing, in order to make room for something new.
8. Flying

Flying in a dream, and how effectively or poorly it's done, relates to how much control we feel we have in our lives, and whether we are confident and able to achieve our goals. High flying is one of the most euphoric dreams imaginable, while flying or "skimming" low to the ground or being caught in obstacles like power lines can be immensely frustrating.
9. Falling

Not all falling dreams are scary and negative. Some dreamers report a type of slow falling that indicates serenity and the act of letting go. Often, falling uncontrollably from a great height indicates something in waking our life that feels very much out of control.
10. Nudity

Emotional or psychological exposure or vulnerability is very often expressed in dreams through nudity. The body part that's exposed can give more insight into the emotion that our dreams are helping us to understand.
11. Baby

Dreaming of a baby often represents something new: It might be a new idea, new project at work, new development or the potential for growth in a specific area of our waking life.
12. Food

Food symbolizes energy, knowledge or nourishment and is directly related to our intellect, emotions and spirituality. Food can also be a manifestation of idioms like, "food for thought," and reveal that we may be "hungry" for new information and insights.
13. House

Houses frequently represent the dreamer's mind. Different levels or rooms may relate to difference aspects of the individual dreamer and different degrees of consciousness. The basement often represents what has been neglected, or what the dreamer is not aware of in his or her waking life, while bedrooms relate to intimate thoughts and feelings, those closest to the dreamer's core self.
14. Sex

Sex in dreams can simply be an outlet for sexual expression. But dreams about sex can also symbolize intimate connections with one's self and others, and the figurative integration of new information.

The Activation-Synthesis Theory

For a while people accepted the theories of dreams created by Sigmund Freud but J. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley challenged his ideas.  Their discoveries lead them to develop the Activation Synthesis Theory.  In 1976, they created a new theory that put a new interpretation of dreams.  They proposed that being in the state of REM sleep generates sensory information (Nielsen).  They discovered that circuits in the brainstem are activated during REM sleep.

The Activation Synthesis theory distinguishes between being asleep and being asleep in a state of mind.  Sleeping is just the unconsciousness and being unaware of the outside world and brain would receive and interpret signals are deactivated during this time.  

On the other hand, when dreaming, the brain is consciously aware of the surroundings, emotions and perception are present suggesting that part of the primary consciousness is activated when dreaming.

The History of Dreams

The first records of dreams can date back to many years.  
There were records of dreams that date back to 3100 BC in Mesopotamian area that were created by the Sumerians.  The Sumerians believed that dreams were actually the soul leaving the body when sleeping and visit all of the places he or she experiences in the mind.  The god of dreams is said to carry the dreamer and guide to all of these destinations. 

The Babylonians and Assyrians further developed this idea by dividing the dreams into “good” which were sent by the Gods, and “bad” who were sent by demons.

Starting at around 2000 BC, Egyptians inscribed their dreams onto papyrus.  People who had more vivid dreams were considered blessed and considered special and a prodigy.  They also believed that dreams were messages from the gods.
Many ancient civilizations related dreams with their religion and their connection with their gods.  They mainly believed that dreams were signs and messages from god describing if their lives are within the standard of the gods.