You’re falling. Your teeth fall out. You oversleep for your big work presentation. We’ve all had those dreams that have made us wake up in a full panic, only to realize they’re, well, just dreams. But what do they actually mean?
“Dreams are your subconscious thoughts. They’re a continuation of your thoughts of your day,” explains certified dream analyst and speaker Lauri Loewenberg. While you’re sleeping, your brain is conjuring up around five dreams per night (yes, even if you don’t remember them). That’s a lot of subconscious thoughts to unpack. And although every dream is unique, they do tend to follow certain symbolic patterns.
We asked Loewenberg, as well as psychologist Dr William Braun, to explain the deeper meanings behind these 13 common dreams. Find out what yours means below.
THE DREAM: YOU’RE BACK IN SCHOOL, TAKING A TEST.
The Interpretation: Usually this dream is connected to work, says Loewenberg. “School was our first job ever,” Loewenberg points out, adding that this dream is common when a work challenge is on the horizon. “Whether you’re trying to get a new client, it’s evaluation time, you’re trying to get a promotion—anytime you’re feeling tested and you’ve got to prove yourself.” The takeaway? “How did you feel in the dream? Were you prepared? It’s kind of like a mirror,” says Loewenberg.
THE DREAM: YOU’RE HANGING OUT WITH A CELEBRITY—ANY CELEBRITY.
The Interpretation: If the cameo feels random, there’s still a reason he or she is hanging around your subconscious. Ultimately, there’s something about that person—and it could be deep in their IMDB or Spotify history—that’s relevant to you right now. “Ask yourself what is it about this person that relates to you,” explains Loewenberg. It could be a movie they’re in, a song of theirs—the message will be in the title of that movie or the lyrics to that song.”
The message could also be something related to that celebrity’s persona. “If you’re friends in the dream, whatever it is in that celebrity you like is something you like about yourself too,” says Loewenberg. “It’s something you want to be recognized for, too.”
THE DREAM: YOUR PARTNER CHEATED ON YOU.
The Interpretation: “If there’s infidelity in your past, either in this relationship or a past relationship, this will keep cropping up because it’s a bone of contention within yourself,” says Loewenberg. Also important to remember? Dreams aren’t prophecies. “If there aren’t trust issues and this seems to be coming out of the left-field, then it doesn’t mean your partner’s cheating,” explains Loewenberg. Instead, there may be another third wheel to blame. “There’s something that’s taking up too much time and attention away from you,” she says. “It could be a job, golf, friends, a new baby…something is causing you to feel cheated out of that time and attention.”
Ultimately, this dream can be a positive, so long as you don’t wake up pissed off at your partner for something they did in your subconscious. “It’s letting you know something needs to be corrected,” advises Loewenberg. “You and your partner can start having date nights, or try to cut down on golf or whatever it may be.”
THE DREAM: YOU’RE RUNNING LATE TO SOMETHING SUPER-IMPORTANT.
The Interpretation: If you work in a deadline-oriented field, this one is pretty self-explanatory, says Loewenberg. If not, timelines are likely still to blame—but they’re self-imposed. “Maybe you want to lose weight or you want to reach a level in your career by a certain date,” Loewenberg posits.
THE DREAM: YOU’RE PREGNANT.
The Interpretation: Even if you’re not trying to have children, Loewenberg says this is a positive dream to have, as “it’s reflective that something is growing and developing inside of you.” It could be anything from a new idea to working toward a promotion, and in fact, “a lot of women get this when they’re working on a degree, or even when they’re on the verge of a new relationship.”
THE DREAM: YOU’RE STANDING ON A CLIFF, AND SUDDENLY YOU’RE FALLING INTO NOTHINGNESS.
The Interpretation: “Dreams of falling can be associated with feeling out of control or overwhelmed. They may also relate to feeling unsupported and insecure,” says Braun. If you dream of falling due to the floor coming out from under you, or a different variation, it can also be interpreted differently. “The devil is in the details. Even though there may be a general interpretation of falling, what is most important are the particulars for the person dreaming. He or she will have very different associations with the details of the dream. For a particular patient, falling may conjure up images of 9/11. Another may think of ‘falling from grace.’ In short, even though the dream of falling may be very common, the details are different in each case.”
THE DREAM: YOU’VE LOST YOUR VOICE AND YOU’RE UNABLE TO CALL OR SHOUT FOR HELP.
The Interpretation: “This may not just be a dream, but may be the result of sleep paralysis,” explains Braun. “During REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the sleep cycle during in which we dream, our bodies experience REM atonia, a natural paralysis during the REM cycle. Physiologically, we are paralyzed during REM sleep to prevent our bodies from acting/moving while we dream. People who experience sleep paralysis usually wake up before the REM cycle is complete. This space between sleep and waking can be experienced as a dream. It can also be experienced in the waking state as being unable to move, talk, and in some cases breathe.”
THE DREAM: YOU’RE NAKED, IN PUBLIC.
The Interpretation: “These dreams are often accompanied by feelings of embarrassment and shame,” says Braun. “They can also be related to feelings of vulnerability and exposure.” But if you’re in the nude and feel no shame, it could be the total opposite. “Perhaps this person wants to be seen, acknowledged, admired.”
THE DREAM: YOUR TEETH ARE SUDDENLY FALLING OUT.
The Interpretation: Are you an anxious person? It could be pent up anxiety coming through in the form of a dream. “We might think of this as being concern about one’s potency, competence, strength, power, ability to ‘take a bite out’ of the world, ” says Braun. This common dream can also be associated with times of change and transition.
THE DREAM: YOU’RE BEING CHASED.
The interpretation: It all depends on who is doing the chasing. “Often people are being chased by a monster. The monster may be a manifestation of an indiscretion, an addiction or a debt,” explains Braun. If you have the unfortunate dream (or nightmare) of being chased by someone you know, it could differ. “Your associations about the person chasing you are often more insightful than focusing on the actual person chasing you,” says Braun. “Keep in mind, people in dreams can be substitutions for other people or even substitutions for aspects of ourselves.”
THE DREAM: YOU’VE DREAMT ABOUT AN ASPECT OF YOUR DAY, OR THE CURRENT LOCATION WHERE YOU’VE FALLEN ASLEEP
The Interpretation: “This is a great example of ‘Day Residue,” explains Braun. “Often, what happened the day before dreaming is used in our dreams,” he says. We often construct the dreams of our thoughts and sights throughout the day.
THE DREAM: YOU’RE IN A POSITION OF POWER: A CEO, PRESIDENT, KING OR RELIGIOUS FIGURE.
The Interpretation: “On the surface, dreaming of being in a position of power seems to be grandiose,” said Braun. “However, it can be argued that most people who dream of being in a position of power are not in a position of power. Therefore, the dream turns the unpowerful dreamer, in the dream world, into the opposite. What looks like grandiosity is compensatory. The dream compensates (or covers up) for the feelings of being powerless.”
THE DREAM: YOU’RE AT AN IMPOSSIBLY ELEGANT DINNER PARTY OR YOU’RE WITH A DECEASED FAMILY MEMBER, OR OTHER IMPOSSIBLE (POSITIVE) SCENARIOS
The Interpretation: This kind of dream, along with other dreams of elaborated elegance can represent a need to supplement reality with fantasy. “Dreaming of a banquet is an attempt to satisfy the hunger of the missed meal,” explains Braun. “Dreaming of a dead loved one is a way to bring them back to life,” he says.
Source: harpersbazaar.com
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