Datalite Article - Understanding Dream Meanings

The dream state has mystified members of the human race for eons, generating a multitude of questions. What are dreams? Do we go anywhere when we dream? Why do we dream? Some speculations include: beliefs that the dreams state is in fact another world or dimension, a predictor for future events, or even a direct link to the afterlife. All these ideas are open to conjecture and one' s personal belief.

From a scientific perspective the dream state has been likened to a 'mind sort process. The human brain has finite memory capacity, and a sifting of important from not so important information is believed to be undertaken whilst we sleep. Furthermore scientific studies have shown the dream link between the often astute subconscious and conscious mind.

Dreams do often have specific meanings and can help an individual enhance their decision processes throughout their life. The dreamer may be able to understand the emotional content, the symbolism, and the reason for certain dream images; providing a unique link between the subconscious and conscious thought processes. They have a wealth of material available, as the average person will dream over 150,000 dreams in a lifetime! Their are many traditional books, electronic books, and software available that provide in encyclopaedic form a ready made index of dream meanings.

Some people blatantly claim they do not dream! Unless they are in a vegetative state this is simply impossible; what they really are stating is that they 'do not remember dreams'. Some individuals dream so vividly their dreams can shock them into waking up. This is when a handy bedside notebook proves invaluable, dreams can then be recorded in the often few minutes available, before they fade into oblivion. Once recorded in written form, it is often very easy to recall the detail of a dream, even many years later.

One of the most surreal experiences is the world of Lucid Dreaming. This is basically dreaming while being aware of actually dreaming. A person in a lucid dream will usually have some power over the dream - anything from being able to fly or making an object or room appear behind a door, right up to being able to change into animals and create a whole world for the person to explore! It is rather like being a director of a movie; with full control over the scenery, props, actors, and the screenplay! Lucid dreams have been scientifically proven to exist, can be surprisingly easy to induce, and formulate a world very few individuals even realise they can experience.

Dreams are said to be a human mind's way of making sense of the various issues it deals with on a day to day basis - whether it is work, family, health, or relationships. Dreams can assist sorting out all the information and events that a person is subject to during the day, particularly pertinent in the current vogue for many of information upload. This can facilitate a pathway for a person, free of conscious limitations, to understand what is really going on, to solve problems, to gain clarity and insight into a situation, issue, or individual. The average person spends roughly a third of life asleep, they owe it to themselves to maximise understanding and control over their dream state!