Tag Archives: physical changes during sleep

“The post is a follow up from the previous one, which talked about Sleep Series (1): 5 Benefits of Naps💤“

Welcome back to part 2!

In this article, I’ll be discussing dreams because it ties into the sleep topic.

What Are Dreams?

“Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening, and sometimes bizarre” (Adam Felman , 2018) 

We’ve all experienced good or bad dreams in our lifetime here on Earth. It can be puzzling to figure out what they mean or even decipher them. There are websites which provide detailed explanations and reasons on the meanings of dreams. However, they aren’t actually 100% accurate so it’s subjective to the individual.

Sleep Stages (5)

Dreams occur during our sleep cycles. There are five stages we go through every night and I’m going to discuss in detail stage 5 which is most related to dreams.  This part is called REM – it stands for Rapid Eye Movement – our bodies go through a number of changes physically. The eyes move rapidly under the lids, breathing becomes shallow and the limbs paralyse. Also, blood pressure increases too.

During this time, you can experience yourself being half-awake half asleep. You’re in a state of rest but are still able to hear what’s going on in your surroundings. At this point, lucid dreams can occur so it’s a hybrid between day-dreaming and sleep thinking. Towards the end of this period, we start to wake up and start a new day.

Dream Memory Recollection

Not all dreams can be remembered upon rising in the morning. I’ve come to recognise there are two outcomes. One is you recollect all entirely and the other route is it’s forgotten about. The lost dream can be triggered back into the mind from stimulation in the external environment. It helps if you are able to log the dreams in a diary or notebook. It works if you’re a frequent dreamer and there are reoccurring themes discovered (or a feeling that comes up as a result of it).

Pre-Cognition & Dreams

It has been reported dreams can be a form of pre-cognition. Pre-cognition is the ability to see future events. I don’t know how popular this circumstance is amongst people (or those of you who are reading this post), but it has been noted it does happen. Dreamers have predicted the future; for example, you may have dreams about events or situation that will happen later on in life. The time frame within when it comes into fruition may vary between people, so you’d have to refer to stored memories or notes to clarify it’s action in reality. There’s an article on the validity of precognitive dreams (click the hyperlink to find out more and people’s experiences).

Closing

Dreams are complex and full of possibilities. It has become a subject that many scientists are still investigating. I believe this is because there’s no concrete method of proving its existence. The visuals happen in the individual’s brain and can’t be captured on sleep monitors. Personally, dreams are a great way to clear the subconscious and let go of repressed memories. Also, exploring their meanings and seeing if they are precognitive ones are interesting too. It’s similar to fitting a puzzle together as you search for the pieces (browsing for its prominence) to see the bigger picture.

All websites used have been referenced.

We’ve come to the end of the post now and I’d like to thank you for reading this post.

Stay tuned for the next one 

💛