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Dreams and what they tell us

Have you ever dreamed about being naked in public? What about being chased by an unknown creature?
While you may think those dreams, or nightmares, aren’t relevant to your real, waking life, you’d be wrong.
Dreams can be a powerful tool for looking deep inside your own subconscious, said Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, a certified dream analyst who has made appearances on Good Morning America, The Today Show and thousands of radio shows.
“Dreams are an extremely useful, healthy part of who we are and are a powerful tool in helping us make better decisions because they show us about how we really feel about something,” Loewenberg said.
“When we dream we don’t lie to ourselves.”
The meanings behind certain dreams are more obvious than others.
After having a recurring dream in which she was being chased by a cloaked figure, Beth Walker, 24, of Nashville, Tenn., was able to make a good guess as to what it might mean.
“I feel like when I get those dreams there are things in my life that I’m stressed about that I can’t get to at the moment,” Walker said.
Walker isn’t alone in having such a dream, and her analysis was spot on, Loewenberg said.
“Dreams in which you’re being chased, almost always are related to an impending deadline or something else you have to get done,” she said. “When we go to sleep, our conscious thinking falls away and the subconscious mind takes over and tries to work out our issues for us.”
Though there is still much speculation as to where dreams actually come from, most vivid dreams happen during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep. Dreams also occur in the right side of the brain; the side associated with creativity and imagination. Because of this, there are some people who are less likely to remember their dreams because they do most of thinking with the left brain, Loewenberg said.
“Artist, musicians and generally creative people tend to remember their dreams more than accountants because creative people are more likely to use the side of the brain where dreams come from,” she said.
“I usually have extremely spacey dreams pretty often,” said Alex Collins, a 20-year-old guitar player from Nashville.
“I just think it’s random stuff that my mind assembles without my permission,” Collins said.
Loewenberg said the mind is working, whether you give it permission or not. But there are some factors which work against someone remembering their dreams.
It is much easier to remember the last dream of the night as opposed to the first, she said. Dreams progressively get longer the more time someone spends asleep. For instance, the first dream of the night may only last five minutes but the dream right before the alarm clock goes off could be 45 minutes long.
“The best way to [remember dreams] is when you wake up in the morning, don’t just jump out of bed and start your day,” Loewenberg said. “Stay in that same position because it’s probably the position you were dreaming in.”
While it’s likely that you’ll toss and turn during the night, you’re likely to always return to the same position when you start to dream, said Loewenberg.
“It’s important to realize what position you dream in because if you move from it when you wake up, your dreams are probably lost.”
Loewenberg also suggests keeping a dream journal by the bed to immediately write down dreams when you wake up. Most people can only remember their dreams for the first few minutes after they wake up.
“By keeping a dream journal, you’re going to see patterns of symbols that keep popping up in your dreams,” Loewenberg said. “You can then look at something in a dream and think about how it applies to your day.”
The next time you wake up with a dream fresh on your mind, “whether it involves your in-laws chasing you down a long hallway or a green monster feasting on your favorite books, “you should stop and write it down, Loewenberg said.
You might just learn something about yourself.
“I think a dream journal is one of the best things you can ever do for yourself,” Loewenberg added.