Dreams; An Intriguing Method to Watch Your Internal Movement in Getting Past Struggles
Dreaming
Through the years, there have been many theories about dreams. Recent research shows the importance of the dreamer resonating with possible symbols and emotional content in a dream. Dreams are personal to the dreamer, so throw out the books or sites on the meaning of dreams because they are not unique to the individual.
Dreams can help us process problems. Registered in our brains are emotional memories, events, and struggles of daily life. The content of our emotional memories is stored in the brain's hippocampus, and the emotional memories are stored in the amygdala or the part of the brain responsible for emotions. Mainly dreaming takes place during the REM cycle of the brain.
How to Understand Your Dreams
Recent research has supported that the REM cycle cannot process all of the content in the brain. However, the content can give you hints if you ask yourself questions. In addition, REM sleep processes the emotional content, and in questioning yourself, it is essential to ask how you felt in the dream in each segment.
Steps to Understand Each Dream
Try to write your dream as if it is a story. Do not worry if it does not make sense consciously. Then ask yourself the following questions. Write down your answer so you can put the puzzle together:
- Where did the dream take place? Do I have any feelings about this place?
3. Is anyone with me in the dream who reminds me of someone in my life or history? What is my feeling about this person or people?
4. Do you go someplace in the dream? How do you get there? Are you the one initiating or driving? Is someone else taking you? How do you feel about the situation?
5. Keep going back to #4 for each scene in the dream.
6. Go back to all of your questions and answers. Ask yourself if this situation. Not the exact people or place, but the theme reminds you of anything in your daily life.
Many people see a theme in the dream. If you continue to do this every time you have a dream, you will begin to see changes. For example, if you see obstacles in dreams, you can get farther and finally reach a goal with every couple of dreams. Ask yourself how you feel about this and look at your daily life and see if you have been able to get past an obstacle.
HINT: If you have trouble remembering your dreams, tell yourself you will remember your dreams before you go to bed. It might take a while, but you will start remembering. Also, keep a recording device or paper and pencil next to your bed so you can jot down your dream memories. You may not have time to go through the whole process, but your notes will help you at a later time.
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References
Horton CL (2020) Key Concepts in Dream Research: Cognition and Consciousness Are Inherently Linked, but Do Not Control “Control”!. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 14:259. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00259
Gazzillo, F., Silberschatz, G., Fimiani, R., De Luca, E., & Bush, M. (2020). Dreaming and adaptation: The perspective of control-mastery theory. +Psychoanalytic Psychology, 37(3), 185.
Roesler, C. (2018). Dream content corresponds with the dreamer’s psychological problems and personality structure and with improvement in psychotherapy: A typology of dream patterns in dream series of patients in analytical psychotherapy. Dreaming, 28(4), 303.