Have you ever been haunted by a recurring dream that seems to fill your semi-conscious mind every night?
Sure, the themes of our dreams are often not welcomed, but there is a reason for their return.
Dreams are the brain's way of processing and understanding new information, according to Woman's Day. You can actually learn and solve conflicts while you sleep, which in fact, can help you to avoid anxiety and daily pressures while you are awake. This can be applied to all those college students out there who spend the entire night cramming a semester's worth of information into their brains in order to pass a test the following day. Sometimes it's best to close your books at a certain time, and let your mind process the material while you dream.
Often, our dreams center on unresolved issues of the past, present and future. This could be why you keep seeing your ex-lover's face every time you close your eyes.
Is anyone else a procrastinator? No, just me? Dreams can also serve to be nagging reminders of the tasks we have yet to complete; these are called "anxiety-based dreams," according to the Huffington Post. They will reappear until you have finished the anxiety-inducing tasks. Last week, I was stressed about an upcoming project that I hadn't completed, and I kept dreaming that I had received an email notifying me that I had been canned...but I am still here, so that never happened.
Nightmares, or our unpleasant recurring dreams, usually stem from traumatic events or fears, but we shouldn't necessarily interpret them in a negative light. A nightmare can present "a valuable opportunity for self-reflection and growth," HuffPost reported.
Did you know that the most common dream is one in which your partner is cheating? Before you start analyzing last night's steamy, false encounter between your husband and his porn star lookalike, take a deep breath. Infidelity dreams often have nothing to do with an unfaithful partner, but rather the universal fear of being "wronged" or "left alone," according to Woman's Day.
Even the most bizarre dreams can be interpreted - if you've morphed into a donkey and you're stranded in the middle of a desert, there is still significance to the unusual nature of the storyline. Though you may tend to focus on the strange content, it is more important to analyze the feelings experienced in the dream (they may be lacking in real life). The symbolism can provide insight about what we may need to learn about ourselves and the world around us. We often have to sift through the weirdness to discover, and persistently look for, the true meaning.
When I was 5 years old, I had the same dream for about a week straight, and I avoided bedtime until my eyes couldn't take it anymore. It was about a volcano that erupted and lava would travel under the cracks of my door frame and start filling my bedroom as I slept in my plastic Fisher Price house bed. I still remember how the room felt as if it was heating up. Twenty years later, and I'm still trying to figure that one out...
For pleasurable dreams, usually involving erotic fantasies, emotions are often present. We often ruminate over qualities that we find to be intriguing about a person or a place. Those dreams can make us want to linger a little longer before waking up to reality. "The best way to remember your dreams is to simply stay put when you wake up," said dream expert Lauri Quinn Loewenberg. This way, you can remain in a semi-dreamlike state for several minutes in order to recall the satisfying events.
Sweet dreams, everyone.
