Why It's Not a Good Idea to Analyze Your Dreams

Jun 22
23:39

2005

Emily Clark

Emily Clark

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Dreams... What are they? Probably the easiest explanation is yoursubconscious mind thinking and sorting information. But the truthis no-one really knows what causes dreams and why some folk seemto have vivid colorful dreams and others have short uneventfulones.

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Dreams mainly occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REMoccurs every one and a half hours throughout the sleep cycle.During REM the eyes move from side to side and the body isrelaxed and almost incapable of movement.

Have you ever declared,Why It's Not a Good Idea to Analyze Your Dreams Articles "I never dream."? Well you're wrong. Thefact is everybody dreams every night. You just may not be able toremember your dreams.

Don't worry too much if this is the case. Not remembering dreamsdoesn't mean you're abnormal in any way. While most people doremember their dreams, the memory is fleeting and occurs mainlywhen the sleeper first awakens.

If you really want to remember your dreams, the best way is toinstruct yourself to do this before falling asleep. This programsthe subconscious mind (where dreams come from) to hold on to thememory.

When you wake up, try and hold the dream in your mind until youhave a chance to record it. The easiest way to do this is to havea 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 dreamsbeginning to reveal themselves. This procedure will also workwell for those who remember the occasional dream or those whowant to remember every dream they have.

Books on dream interpretation abound and many people believe thatdreams create a window into the subconscious mind where they canfind answers to their most pressing problems, or even to see intothe future.

This can be a dangerous practice. At best you can waste moneybuying books which lean towards the esoteric and lack knowledgein this area.

At worst, dream interpretation can be taken too seriously andpeople can depend too heavily on finding the (sometimes false)meaning of their dreams. This can lead to depression and evenparanoia. It's best to treat dream analysis as a bit of fun andrealize that there may be many different ways to analyze dreamsand their possible meaning.

If you have recurring dream or nightmares, it's best to contact atherapist experience in this area. Don't go down the mysticalroute of trying to analyze yourself by means of a book.

Nightmares may be caused by stress, so work on ways to relievethis and the nightmares may disappear by themselves.

The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any health care program.