THE DREAM DICTIONARY

Dreams... What are they? Probably the easiest explanation is your
subconscious mind thinking 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 throughout 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 declared, "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 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 remember your dreams, the best way is to
instruct yourself to do this before falling asleep. This programs
the subconscious mind (where dreams come from) 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 the occasional dream 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, or even to see into
the future.

This can be a dangerous practice. At best you can waste money
buying books which lean towards the esoteric and lack knowledge
in this area.

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 analysis as a bit of fun and
realize that there may be many different ways to analyze dreams
and their possible meaning.

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

Nightmares may be caused by stress, so work on ways to relieve
this 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.