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How The Mind Interact With The Body
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Dreams are something that are experienced by everyone at some point in their life, what people do not understand is why we have the dreams we do. Questions about why the mind would create the images it does during a nights rest are often misunderstood. Nowadays scientists are able to take a step into the mind to see the workings of normal dreams, lucid dreams, nightmares, and night terrors. From a young age each and every one of us has had a dream of some sort, but never knowing why. Research shows “dreams have been characterized as meaningless” ( The Meaning of Dreams.2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015) as scientist believe. This is something reasonable because tons of people have dreams that are as pointless as eating a sandwich or about another insignificant event. Dreams are not always something that actually matters to a someone.Typically it is known that “brain rids itself of unnecessary information” (The Causes of Dreams.2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.) which is why some dreams feel like they have no significance. This could mean that a dream was created about a small time frame or even a thought that crossed …show more content…
Researchers say the mind “enters a state of consciousness in which they are aware that they are dreaming and can control dream events.” (Inducing Lucid Dreams. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. ). The best part of these dreams is even if it is becoming a bad dream you know it is just that, a dream. They can be the most comforting as well if it is an enjoyable dream you desire and want out of actual reality. Research shows that a person is able to “create the dream” ( Lucid Dreaming. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2015 ) themselves. It is basically a dream where you have control of what you want to happen and are able to make it occur. This would feel like a very light dream by knowing you are awake and being able to control the dream
Have you ever woken up feeling like you’ve been to the end of the world and back, yet never left your bed? Or maybe you might have had all your worst fears realized when you were asleep? In that case, you were probably dreaming. Dreams are a “series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep” (The American Heritage High School Dictionary, 2004). Everyone has about three to seven dreams a night, but it has been estimated that we forget up to 95 percent of them ( Stevens 2011). Although no one really knows why we dream every night, it’s more likely than not a way for our brain to help us solve problems.
Dreams are series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. Dreams occur during a certain stage of sleep known as REM. Several different psychologists, including Freud and Hobson, have studied dreams. Psychologists have provided many theories as to what dreams are and the meanings behind them.
All human beings have dreams, since the day that we are born till the day that we die. Dreams come from our minds and they are actually helpful to our body and mind. There are different types of dreams that every person has. Some have dreams of adventures, wild things, animals, food, etc. Some people have deep sleeps where they have dreams where tragic things occur and they cry or others have funny dreams and they start laughing and they would still be asleep. Some dreams may be real or imaginary, when someone thinks about an event or problem too much throughout the day, the person might dream it when they go to sleep. It is very difficult to define what the dream means, you don't know if its a signal or whatsoever. Some dreams feel as if they are real and some people freak out because they don't know if its really happening.
The term lucid may be a bit misleading. In the literal sense, true control is never actually achieved but the dreamer can influence the course of action indirectly. On a basic level, the dream will take a life of its own but the lucid dreamer is able to subtly alter the direction that it takes. Lucid dreaming is more complicated than this. There are many levels of lucid dreaming and awareness. Awareness that one is dreaming is considered the lowest. Researchers have identified two main types of lucid dreams, referred to as "high-level lucidity" and "low-level lucidity". High level lucidity is defined as "a state in which the dreamer is aware that he is in bed dreaming and that no physical harm can befall him" (LaBerge, "Lucid Dreaming Frequently Asked Questions and Answers", 1997). Conversely, low-leve...
A lucid dream is a dream where the person is aware he is dreaming. Instances of waking up immediately on realising that one is dreaming do not count as lucid dreams. While lucid dreaming can be learnt, it also occurs spontaneously.
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during a slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares.
What is a dream? Why do we have dreams? Do dreams have deeper meaning in our lives? The answers to these questions have eluded and intrigued many psychologists throughout history and have sparked my interest as well. As an avid and vivid dreamer I have often found myself wondering what the true meanings to my dreams were. So what are dreams? “Strictly speaking, dreams are images and imagery, thoughts, sounds and voices, and subjective sensations experienced when we sleep.”1 Even after thousands of years of research, psychologists have still not come to an agreed answer on why we dream. There are as many opinions out there as there are individual dreams. Some psychologists believe dreaming is simply the minds way of distracting itself from outside information during sleep to allow people to get deep rest. Others such as Dr. Eric Hartman suggest dreams serve almost as a psychotherapy in which the brain can make connections between different emotions and thoughts in a safe protected environment. Do dreams have any direct correlation to everyday events and experiences? Are they meant to aid individuals in understanding and interpreting their world around them?
Despite the large amount of time we spend asleep, surprisingly little is actually known about sleeping and dreaming. Much has been imagined, however. Over history, sleep has been conceived as the space of the soul, as a state of absence akin to death, as a virtual or alternate reality, and more recently, as a form of (sub)consciousness in which memories are built and erased. The significance attributed to dreams has varied widely as well. The Ancient Greeks had surprise dream encounters with their gods. Native Americans turned to their dreams for guidance in life. Shamans dreamed in order to gather information from the spirits.
First, let examined the definition of dream according to Sigmund Freud “dream is the disguised fulfilment of a repressed wish. Dreams are constructed like a neurotic symptom: they are compromises between the demands of a repressed impulse and the resistance of a censoring force in the ego” (Freud, 28). This simple means that all dreams represent the fulfilment of a wish by the dreamer. Dreams are the mind way of keeping an individual asleep and to digest and work out all that we have going on inside our brains, the negative, positive, fear and unclear thoughts and actions. This set the framework for dream work. Freud also stresses that even anxiety dreams and nightmares are expressions of unconscious desire. Freud further went on to say that, “the general function of dreaming is to fending off, by a kind of soothing action, external or internal stimuli which would tend to arose the sleeper, and thus of securing sleep against interpretation” (Freud, 28). With this, it shows that a dreamer can take apart his dream and analysis it, if he or she remembers, once conscious.
To sum up, lucid dreaming happens when the brain switches into waking mode inside the dream. In comparison to normal dreams, where one’s self awareness is shut down, the conscious brain in lucid dreaming wakes up during sleep. Based on scientific research, this is a safe and natural state and it is not a literal out of the body experience as the dreamer always remains asleep in bed. Furthermore, when one becomes lucid in a dream state, their senses become more alive and are free to explore the inner workings of their subconscious mind. Lucid dreaming has also proved to be a powerful mental tool. To conclude, lucid dreaming exists and in no way should equate to belittle the subject at hand.
We spend one third of our lives sleeping and 15-20% of that time is spent dreaming. (1) Dreams are a sequence of images that appear involuntary to the mind of somebody who is sleeping, often a mixture of real and imaginary characters, places, and events, according to the Encarta dictionary. There are many types of dreams. Lucid dreams can be the most fascinating if one can master them. In lucid dreams you realize that you are dreaming and instead of automatically waking up you stay asleep and control every aspect of your dream. Your thoughts can effortlessly paint any dreamscape and you have full mental faculties as you would if you were awake.(4) Your imagination is the limit! Another more mysterious type of dream is precognitive dreams. This is where time and space no longer seem to fit any rational logical meaning. Precognition is an ability to know and experience a future event before it ever occurs (4) Many experience this type of dream and slowly forget it over time, until it happens in real life. When it occurs in real life you automatically feel a sense of déjà vu and you notice something familiar about the s...
“What is a dream?” Or “Why do we dream?” Still two of the greatest unanswered questions today. The most popular definition of dreaming is “A series of images, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dream The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition copy right 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company) We all know we have dreams, but no one really knows why, or what causes us to dream. We have often found ourselves trying to relate the crazy dream we had the night before to our everyday lives, or what the dream was trying to tell us. The human brain is a small ball full of huge amounts of information that we don’t even think we know. There is a theory that states we dream because our “brain is sorting through everything that has been collected during the waking hours.” (http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/why-do-we-dream.htm , Why Do We Dream, Charles W. Bryant) When you think about all the things that you see, hear, and store in your mind throughout that day, this theory is makes total sense. Sleep is a very important part of human life, which we spend most of that time dreaming. In order to dream we have to be in the When breaking down the dreaming process, you find that there is eleven types of dreaming. Daydreams, you’re still awake, but you let your imagination carry you away. Most of us find ourselves doing this at work, or in school. False Awakening, when you think you have woken up and done your normal daily things only to actually wake up and realize it was all a dream. Lucid dreaming, when you realize that you’re dreaming and get to a point of controlling the outcome of that dream. “Nightmares, is a disturbing dream ...
Dreaming is very different than everyday life, yet somehow still relates to it in some way. In everyday life we have stress and happiness along with many other emotions. Yet in someway when we drift off into a deep sleep this emotions come right back. Dalai Lama once said that “sleep is the best meditation.” Sleep may be the one thing that people turn to, a place where your mind is totally set free to do what it wants and think what it wants. An idea or vision that is created in your imagination that when suddenly when you awake, feels so real.Dream reflect reality because most peoples dreams are in fact related to past, and recent experiences, or events that have happened in a person’s life. Dreams are more than just a method of entertainment, They should be taken more seriously because of the fact that with dreams imitating own reality, you can then learn more about yourself.
All of us dream, several times at night. It is believed by some that we sleep in order that we may dream. Dreams can come true if somebody makes them true, as the saying goes, “A dream is just a dream, unless you make it come true”. Dreams provide us the actual picture of our thoughts. Dreams may tell us about any physical event which took place with us or which is going to happen with us. The dream is trying to inform the dreamer about his condition in any walk of life. Basically, we can dream about anything logical or illogical, fictious or non-fictious and reasonable or unreasonable.
Although an individual believes a dream has no importance, statistics have proven that dreams can be sent as warning messages or messages of reassurance. The aftereffects of the dream can leave feelings ranging from foreboding to understanding to complete confusion. The only part left to figure out is how the dream applies to daily life.