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Dreams and How They Affect You

part 1 - by Lorraine Murray

I have always been interested in dreams and I am an avid dreamer. I dream every single night and I usually remember all or some of the detail of those dreams. But why bother?

Dreams are a way of your unconscious self communicating with you. And if you learn the 'language' or symbolism of your dreams then you can find they are a very useful guiding tool for every day life.

We have different states of consciousness which can be measured by the brain's activity in Hz (hertz). When we are awake we have a rhythm of up to 30 Hz and when we are in deep sleep the rhythm slows down to 4 Hz. Our dream state has a rhythm of approximately 7 Hz.

The different stages of consciousness help us in life. If we are fully awake we can eat, walk, talk, work etc. When we are in deep sleep our body goes into 'repair' mode which helps us to physically recover and cells to regenerate. The dream state is a way of the mind recovering and regenerating but there are different levels to this.

The light sleep state (often known as the 'alpha state') is where we feel relaxed but alert. We can awaken quickly from this sleep and if you are interested in meditation, it is one of the states you can develop so that you are 'in the moment' with a sense of relaxed alertness. We move into the alpha state as we go to sleep. People with sleep issues or insomnia can benefit from meditation as it teaches you how to move into this alphasstate and permit deeper, restful sleep (think of it like going to the gym and doing some warm up exercises before you can do more physical work).

Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions.

Answers in Dreams

The stage after 'alpha' is the 'Theta' state and there is much interest in the healing qualities of this state. In this deeper state you may observe abstract images/thoughts and or receive 'answers' to problems or questions that you pose. This is why we say a good night's sleep can help resolve issues! This level of sleep accesses part of your mind that touches a deeper part of your being and helps you to gain a new perspective or solution - especially if you go to sleep asking for a solution to the issue. When people sit in meditation they also take a similar approach sometimes by asking that deeper part of themselves for guidance to a solution or insight that will help solve a problem.

But I Do Not Dream?

If you are like my husband, who seems to very rarely dream, I would suggest that you do dream but you just do not remember your dream. However you can change this.

I usually tell my husband all about my dreams when we wake up - especially if they feel very informative of profound. The act of doing this helps me to remember and memorise what happened in my dream. I remember once having a dream where it seemed rather abstract with no meaning until I started to describe it. When I heard myself talking about the dream, the meaning of it came to life! This act of remembering the dream is similar to what we do when we teach meditation, where we go around the group to hear about people's experiences but not so that we can be nosey! The reason is to encourage the person to repeat and remember their meditation and perhaps gain more understanding of what they saw or felt.

How to Remember your Dreams

The first step in remembering your dreams is to set your intention before you go to sleep. Saying out loud or silently "I want to remember my dreams" to yourself 3 times. In the morning have a pad and pen or something to record your voice and start to describe anything you remember at all, even if it does not make sense. The more you do this, the more detail and information you will remember each morning when you awake. Set aside 10 minutes to do this and try to do it before you get up and do too much (eg before breakfast) as it gives you a chance to tap into your mind and remember the dream.

At this stage do not try to understand or interpret the dream. Just start to write down what you can remember and in the next dream article in March's newsletter I will give you some ideas about what your dreams mean and how to 'read' the language of your dreams.

Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you.

Learning to Meditate can also be a useful way to find answers to problems, for healing or to help you understand your dreams. Lorraine runs meditation courses in Edinburgh for all levels.

Information on Meditation Courses >>> .

If you wish to use this reproduce this article, please contact Lorraine in the first instance.

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