Join Janet in a class of dream studies as she Read More
There are still a few Fridays where Janet will be at the Friday Market at the Treasure Island Community Center Park.
The location is 1 Park Place & 106th Avenue in Treasure Island.
It will be a festive atmosphere with live music, produce, plants, and vendors with their products.
Janet will be available for readings at this location. Read More
One of the most mysterious concepts in human knowledge today is a dream. We dream constantly. Most people dream on a regular basis, and these dreams range from the normal and mundane to the complex, frightening, and bizarre. Dreams can inspire us and make us wake up happy – or scare us and make us wake up confused. Many people think that in spite of this, dreams are largely useless when it comes to the real world. Contrary to this belief, though, dreams can be useful and can even solve problems you may face.
Dreams are mysterious because while we vaguely understand how they are generated by the brain, we don’t fully understand what meaning they have. But, research shows that people who pay attention to their dreams can possibly uncover practical meanings for what occurs in their mind when they sleep. This is because the unconscious part of the mind is still active. In fact, there is never a time in which the brain is not active. Therefore, the brain is still working, which means that it is still dealing with problems and difficulties.
That is just the biological aspect of dreaming, too. Dreaming also has spiritual applications. Your mind is a portal of sorts, allowing you to experience not only the conscious world, but the unconscious world. Dreams can be a way that your brain informs you of what it is aware of in both worlds, which explains why some of them may seem bizarre and confusing at first. But, the answers to your problems may be there, just under the surface.
The next time you have a problem and can’t figure out a solution, focus on it before you sleep. The mysterious forces at work in your subconscious and unconscious states frequently will ruminate on your problem – meaning that you will wake up with a solution that seems inspired.
So, the next time you have a problem, sleep on it – and dream.
Dreams are incredibly intriguing and can provide insight into our conscious and unconscious thoughts, fears, feelings, and beliefs. Almost everyone can recall specific dreams that have occurred sometime in life. Sometimes we may wake up and remember a weird dream we had the night before. Other times we may not remember a single dream we had that night. However, there are times in which we are aware that we are dreaming while the dreams are occurring; these are known as lucid dreams. Anyone can have a lucid dream; however, they tend to be most common in children than in adults.
History of Lucid Dreams
Lucid dreams have been a topic of discussion over the last few decades. However, it is far from a new phenomenon. As early as 415 AD, St. Augustine wrote a letter that alluded to lucid dreams. Despite the presence of these dreams in our lives, it was not until Frederik van Eeden, a Dutch psychiatrist, coined the term “lucid dreams” that we had a name for these conscious dreams. Since this time, a surplus of research and scientific experiments has been conducted to learn more about these intriguing dreams.
Entering Lucid Dreams
There are two ways to enter into a lucid dream: dream-initiated and wake-initiated. In dream-initiated lucid dreams, a person begins dreaming and in the middle of the dream he or she becomes conscious that they are dreaming. On the other hand, a wake-initiated lucid dream refers to when a person goes from being awake to dreaming without ever leaving consciousness. The following example provides clarification of the difference between these two types of dreams:
You go to sleep and in the middle of the night, you start dreaming about searching for your car keys throughout your house. In the middle of your dream, you realize that it is all a dream and that you are not actually frantically searching for your keys. This is an example of a dream-initiated lucid dream.
Now, imagine lying down in bed to go to sleep and before you become unconscious, you start dreaming. You are frantically searching for your keys and you are aware that you are merely dreaming; however, there was not a time in which you went from a waking state to an unconscious state before you started dreaming. This is an example of a wake-initiated dream.
Although lucid dreams tend to occur without any thought or planning, there are proven ways to intentionally initiate these dreams with the help of dream specialists. In conclusion, lucid dreams are dreams in which we are conscious while dreaming and can provide an incredible amount of insight into your everyday life.
We like to think that when we sleep, we will rest in peaceful slumber and enjoy dreams. This does not always happen, though. Sometimes, the types of dreams we have are not peaceful, but disturbing. When fear and terror enter our dreams and invade our minds, they are called nightmares – and nightmares can be very unsettling. Like other dreams, though, they can also provide insight into our lives, including our emotions, feelings, and hidden desires and concerns.
Why Nightmares Happen
What, exactly, is a nightmare? We all know what it is in general, but why do they happen? A nightmare is usually described as a bad dream that invokes powerful feelings of fear, or other negative emotions. These dreams can also involve physical reactions, including increased heart rates, sweating, shaking, and even screaming and crying.
Nightmares frequently happen because of what we experience in our conscious lives. Our fears and concerns and insecurities about certain situations do not leave us when we sleep; instead, they remain in our minds and spirits and manifest themselves in our dreams, turning them into nightmares. Frequently, the amount of fear we experience during the day will have an impact on how frequent nightmares can be for us.
How Nightmares Affect You
Nightmares can be deeply unsettling, to say the least. Sometimes, the intensity is relatively mild. We may sleep through them, and vaguely remember the images and sensations when we wake up, but they do not really bother us. Sometimes, though, they can be incredibly intense and leave us shaken and disturbed for hours, even days or weeks (especially if the nightmares are also recurring dreams).
Having nightmares can also increase the amount of stress you have in your mind and body, which leads to other complications in your life. Having stress and fear in our lives is disruptive and interferes with everyday living, which is the main affect nightmares have.
What Nightmares Mean
While nightmares are scary and disturbing, they can also provide insight into our lives. Pay attention to the next nightmare you have. Try to remember the emotions you felt, and the images and sensations going through your mind. You can use these feelings and thoughts and “dream memories” to uncover fears, doubts, worries, and uncertainties in your life – even some you may not even be aware of!
Nightmares can be powerful indicators of issues and emotions that are not resolved in your life. Generally speaking, we don’t have nightmares about issues that are completely resolved and handled. On the contrary, the ones that disturb our souls the most are the ones that are not reconciled, which come up in our nightmares.
As frightening as they may be, nightmares can also guide us to understanding more about what is going on in our lives.
Each night when you go to sleep you enter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and have dreams. Sometimes you can remember theses dreams and other times you wake up unaware of a single dream you had throughout the night. Sometimes you can have the same dream multiple times over a course of several weeks, months, or years. For example, do you frequently dream that you are being chased? Or, do you have dreams about losing your teeth? These dreams are known as recurring dreams and are incredibly common. However, most people are unaware of the significance associated with recurring dreams—your dreams have meaning and can provide great insight into your life.
Common Recurring Dreams
Recurring dreams can vary depending upon the person. However, there are some common themes in recurring dreams among various people. Many people dream of being trapped or being chased. Some people are always trapped in the same scenario, while others may experience dreams in which they are trapped in various places. In the same sense, being lost or unprepared is another very common theme for reoccurring dreams. You can get lost on your way to an important meeting or be unprepared for an important presentation. Other common themes include searching for the bathroom, flying, and losing teeth. Regardless of the specific dream, a recurring dream is something that deserves your attention.
What Recurring Dreams Mean
When a person has reoccurring dreams, your “inner self” is attempting to communicate with your “outer self.” Put another way, you receive a message and the dream continues to occur because you are not attending to the concern or need. These dreams often indicate an uncertainty, fear, or an unresolved conflict or issue. If a dream occurs several times, your unconsciousness is desperately trying to draw your attention to the problem at hand. The only way to eliminate the reoccurrence is to spend time analyzing the dream and settling the conflict at hand.
Changing Recurring Dreams
An incredible thing about recurring dreams is how minor parts of the dream frequently change. For example, if you often have dreams of being trapped, the area in which you are trapped or the item that is trapping you will often change. This is your subconscious attempting to relay the message in a variety of ways. Therefore, the details of your dream may provide great insight into the unresolved conflict or issue you need to become consciously aware of.
In conclusion, recurring dreams are very common and often carry very important messages that you need to address. By analyzing your recurring dreams and addressing the problem or conflict, you will be able to grow as a person and remove the recurring dream from your life.