Though the average person spends 6 years during a lifetime dreaming, only about 5% of these dreams are actually remembered. Though dreams are still somewhat shrouded in mystery, they do have benefit and some interpretations have been created for the common types of dreams. Some of this will be explained below.

Dreams Defined

Dreams are basically mini movies created by your mind while you sleep, so they may be linear in nature or abstract. They can come in various shapes and forms with numerous emotions (boring, exciting, depressing, calming). Some will make perfect sense while others will be very odd. We all dream on a nightly basis, on average four times a night for about 20 minutes at a time.

The most vivid and memorable dreams occur during REM sleep, though they can happen at any stage. During REM, the brain is highly active when compared to other stages. During different stages your brain goes through theta, delta, and alpha waves that mimic waking life. Even animals experience REM sleep, but there is no scientific way to measure this.

Why We Dream

There are many theories about why we dream, but nothing concrete. Some feel dreams have no meaning, but others see them as a way to reveal deep truths about life and the universe. Those who believe they are nonsense see them as nothing more than electrical brain impulses. Freud believed dreams were repressed memories coming out. One theory, the threat simulation theory, believes dreams are a biological defense that prepares us for life events and dealing with them safely.

There are also no definitive answers about why we struggle to remember dreams. Some feel it is because part of the brain is asleep and the dreams right before we wake are remembered because our brains are waking up as well.

Benefits of Dreaming

The decision on whether dreaming is meaningful has not yet been answered, but we do know it is a part of overall wellbeing.

• Memory and Learning

REM is the stage of sleep in which we process daily learning and commit it to memory, even though this only makes up about a fourth of our overall sleep time, usually later in the night or sleep cycle. This is also why an average of 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night are needed. If this is avoided, REM sleep is missed and you may struggle with focus, mental stability, and cognitive performance.

Research has also supported this connection of learning and dreams over several studies. One study found French students who dreamed more did better in the class, while another found that dreams were better recalled immediately after REM sleep. Damage to the parts of the brain that aid in dreaming, can cause learning and memory issues.

• Emotional Benefits

REM sleep is further associated with emotional health. Disturbed REM sleep leads to anxiety and insomnia as shown in research. In one study, people were woken up during REM, while others were allowed to sleep through the night. Those forced awake had higher instances of depression, anxiety, weight gain, hallucinations, and a lack of focus and coordination. Lack of or disturbed REM sleep negatively affects the emotions.

This can mean that dreams are a way of problem solving for our minds. During sleep, the brain works uninterrupted and without distraction. This can improve our health over time.

• Creativity

Many creative people find their best creativity comes from dreams. A great deal of research backs this up as REM sleep has been found to allow our brains to solve abstract or complex problems. This is because while we dream, the mind throws random images together that we may consider illogical when awake. The abstract associations, when remembered, help us creatively solve problems.

Dream incubation is a process that people use to encourage their minds to dream about or focus on a specific topic or issue. This was tested and found that focusing dreams was both possible and helpful for many.

Dream Interpretations

Some dreams are mundane and reflect daily life, but others feel more significant. We all have some common dreams or at least dream elements, that hold specific meaning. Psychologists have come up with theories on what these mean, but everyone is unique so this is simply a guide.

• Naked Dreams

Naked dreams can have you waking up concerned, but they tend to mean that the dreamer has something to hide or that they are hiding. They may fear being exposed or simply be unprepared for what is coming up in life. This can be taken further when exploring how the people in the dream feel about the nakedness. If no one is worried, then the dreamer probably is not either, however, if they are offended or surprised then the anxiety may be based in reality. If the actual dreamer is unfazed by the nakedness, it can be a sign of self-confidence.

• Falling Dreams

Dreams of falling can suddenly wake a person due to a hypnic jerk. These are completely normal on occasion, but if happening often, the person may be overly stressed, ill, or need to limit caffeine and other drugs affecting sleep. As for the meaning, falling is representative of anxiety and a situation in which the person has no control.

• Running Dreams

Running dreams are often about not being able to run no matter how much you may want to in the dream. This, like falling, suggests a lack of confidence and powerlessness. These may also happen with sleep paralysis or REM parasomnia, somewhere between sleep and waking. This is the body being sleep, but the brain awake and feeling like there is no ability to move.

• Chase Dreams

Also based in anxiety, chase dreams are suggestive of a dreamer avoiding an issue or problem. Whatever is chasing the dreamer, represents the problem. If the dreamer is chasing something, it can be working hard toward a goal that seems unattainable.

• Test Dreams

Being unprepared for a test in a dream is a representation of feeling unprepared for something that is happening or will soon happen. Additionally, these types of dreams could mean you are feeling overly scrutinized over something in life.

• Teeth Dreams

Teeth dreams usually manifest as having no teeth or teeth falling out unexpectedly. Since experts believe teeth are symbolic for power and communication on a personal level, these dreams mean a feeling of powerlessness and inability to communicate are present.

• Prophetic Dreams

While some believe that dreams can be prophetic, it is more likely that a dream encourages someone to work toward a specific goal and attain it.

• Complex Dreams

Complex dreams are a source of creativity, but have no specific meaning. These dreams are like watching a movie or reading a book where characters are developed in a complex storyline.

• Recurring Dreams

Recurring dreams and nightmares tend to relate to unresolved conflict in a person’s life. When the issue is solved, the dream often ends as well.

• Nightmares

Nightmares usually stem from stress, conflict, and even anxiety in life, but they are a common form of parasomnia. While most prevalent in children, adults have nightmares as well. If they occur with regularity, there is something in life causing fear and anxiety that must be dealt with as soon as possible. Nightmares can also be caused by some drugs, medication side effects, and trauma disorders.

Night terrors are not nightmares and tend to occur earlier in the sleep cycle. The person is asleep, but may appear awake with open eyes, talking, screaming, and even violent behavior. Once awake, the person may not remember the night terror at all. These are much more common in childhood, but can continue on with disorders like autism.

• Flying Dreams

Flying dreams can be fun and usually reflect a new view on life, security and happiness. If your flight finds trouble, you may be facing obstacles in life or a challenge you are not sure you can overcome. Lucid dreamers often focus on flying as part of the practice.

• Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreams are those in which the dreamer knows they are dreaming. Most people wake up in the midst of these dreams. Some people enjoy exploring this type of dreaming as parts of it have real world application. Some people feel lucid dreaming can improve confidence and even athletic ability. This is a challenging skill to learn and more so to master. It requires mind training each and every day.

The MILD technique, mnemonic induction of lucid dreams, is the most successful method use to enhance reflection techniques. Before falling asleep, tell yourself to remember what you dream about and take control of what is happening. Over time this practice can lead to consistent lucid dreaming.

• Daydreams

People spend an average of 2 hours each day daydreaming. This is while you are awake and the imagination takes over.

• Dream Recall

Since research has found that those who recall their dreams are more creative, remembering these dreams can be helpful or just fun. Below are some tips to help you recall your dreams when you awake.

• Training

Before going to sleep, remind yourself of the desire to remember your dreams. If this is your intention right before falling asleep, it will be more likely to happen.

• Dream Diary

Another way to remember is to keep a notebook by your bed and as soon as you wake, write down the dream details you remember. Over time you will be able to recognize patterns. There are smart phone apps for this type of recording as well.

• Alarm Free

Using an alarm forces us awake and draws the mind’s focus. If you can wake up naturally instead, you can hold onto your dreams longer, making them easier to remember.

• Plenty of Sleep

Since dreaming takes place most often in REM sleep, you need plenty of it. Limit caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine before bed so REM sleep can increase. The more REM you experience, the more dreams you will have over time. You need an average of at least 7 hours of sleep per night on a regular schedule to be truly healthy in REM sleep.

• Temperature

Normal temperature regulation shuts down during REM sleep which can wake you up if you are too hot or cold. This interrupts REM sleep and can limit dreaming. Adjust your home temperature so that you are as warm or cool as needed to be comfortable all night.

If you would like to learn more, additional resources are available.

It has been scientifically proven that lucid dreaming is real and that there are millions of people all around the world that do it.  Lucid dreaming has been around for thousands of years and if this is true does that mean lucid dreaming is real?

Even though lucid dreaming is well known, there are many people who don’t believe that it is real because of movies such as Inception.  This has caused lucid dreaming to be labeled as a fantasy.

The truth is, that it is a real skill and that there are many people that use it.  Some people will claim it to not be true because they have never experienced it and find it frustrating to think that they would not be able to do something.  This doesn’t mean that it is not real, though.

Lucid dreaming is like someone picking up a new skill.  Playing drums, for example, if someone can’t pick up the skill of doing that, it doesn’t mean that drums aren’t real when there are millions of people around the world that can play drums.  It is crazy how people’s minds work but we are going to discuss the facts that lucid dreaming isn’t at all a myth.

Is Lucid Dreaming a Myth?

Take a minute and consider all of these facts:

• Most people don’t write down their dreams when they first get up.
• People don’t check to see if they are really awake during the day.
• Some people live in autopilot for many times during the day while they are working, eating and more.
• Some people refuse to try lucid dreaming.
• People don’t know what lucid dreaming is or how to accomplish it.
• Since they don’t know about it, people think it is not real.

People who do things like these facts above are mostly the people that think lucid dreaming is fake.  They think this because they have a skill or habits in their life that they have never tried to use.  When you first hear about lucid dreaming, it does sound like it would be impossible to do it, but so are many other things.

There are many things in our lives that would seem crazy and before they actually happened, people that did these things were called crazy such as:

• Flying an airplane.
• Communicating with people in other continents.
• Driving a vehicle.
• Going to space on a spaceship.

People will always doubt things that they have not witnessed on their own.  It is part of our human nature and so if you don’t believe in lucid dreaming, don’t feel bad, at least just be open minded about it.

Unless you begin to write down your dreams each morning and doing reality checks throughout the day, then you will not have the skill of lucid dreaming.  This is a skill that you have to use or you will not have it.  Most people don’t practice this skill so they don’t know that it exists, they just think it is impossible.

Scientific Proof

A British parapsychologist, Stephen Laberge, created an experiment where people would go into a lucid dream and they would always be dreaming.  He would know this by the way that they moved their eyes in certain patterns and this made it measurable in the labs.

Eye movement can be measured when someone is asleep and the regular pattern is the eyes moving left, left and then right, left and then right, left.  This group that was measuring, made sure that the sequence was correct during the dram stage.

The study stayed secret for years so not man people looked at the research.  During another study, they found that people who were in lucid dreaming had increased activity in parts of their brain.

The research showed that on the EEG machine that the activity showed increased focus and awareness which was a type of behavior where people would know that they were dreaming.  It is almost impossible to prove that lucid dreaming is happening other than based on the eye movement technique because our thoughts are considered objective and we cannot see what someone is actually thinking.

Maybe in the future we will be able to see what people are dreaming like watching it on a movie screen.  For now, we only have a few experiments to check out the data.

Knowing You’re Dreaming

If you ask someone that was a lucid dreamer “is lucid dreaming real?”  They would tell you that it is real and that they know that it is real.  Even though dreaming is complex, dreams are considered subjective and are hard to explain.

Lucid dreaming isn’t something that you can prove like if you could prove you knew how to play the drums.  Think about what you are feeling this second while you are reading this article.  How do you know that in this instance, that you aren’t really just dreaming?  Just think about it.

The laws of the universe happen to us normally such as breathing and gravity and time.  Even when you scroll down the page of an article, all of your senses work together and you know that you are awake.  You’re in waking life at the moment, just because you know you are.

In the same type of way, when you are dreaming, you have the same senses that are happening.   You can look around you and piece all the parts together in your mind but something doesn’t feel the same.  It’s not the same and if you can practice with your brain, then you can get good at telling the difference between being awake and dreaming.

So, to answer the original question, “is lucid dreaming a real thing?”  the answer is yes.  Hopefully this article explained why and that you can understand where this is coming from.

What Does Lucid Dreaming Feel Like?

Lucid dreaming feels like being awake.  It is like you know that you are awake but you are in a dream at the same time.  You know that nothing you do will have negative consequences and you can do anything you want to in this state such as:

• Fly around the world.
• Look at alien worlds.
• Have sex with whoever you want.
• Sing or make music.
• Remove your fears.
• Anything unimaginable.

How to Practice Lucid Dreaming

Do you want to get to the point where you can control your lucid dreaming?  The best way is to just do it.  There are some small ways that you can get started but all you need to know is that this is a skill and that you need to practice this skill.  Here are some things that can help you:

• Take a class which helps you to have lucid dreams and tells you what to practice.
• Figure it out on your own or watch online tutorials.
• Increase the chances by taking supplements and listening to binaural beats when you are falling asleep.
• Write down all your dreams each morning before you get out of bed.

Dreaming is a normal and natural part of life. Dreams tend to reflect what is happening in our lives, but in a symbolic way. A dream about your school time crush could actually be related to an upcoming exam and a dream of a fight, about losing a job. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to why our dreams take the direction or imagery that they do as we sleep. We are all aware that our dreams seem to be encoded in our subconscious in some way, not necessarily a clear representation of our daytime thoughts.

This symbolism applies to dreams about people as well. Dreams about one person or what one person represents, may in actuality be about someone else entirely. We must understand that anyone who appears in our dreams, even for a moment, have psychological significance.

One way to truly learn about yourself and your thoughts that exist just below the surface and come out in your dreams is by keeping a dream journal. This is a journal in which you record dreams, as detailed as possible, as soon as your awake each day. This allows for future study, but gets it down on paper before you forget after getting busy during the day.

Dreaming About Someone You Know

There are times, as mentioned, that we dream about those we know. Each person in a dream serves as a meaning which will be explored below.

• Family Members

Dreaming about a family member or about several at once is usually representative of the characteristics we believe of ourselves. Dreaming of one specific person could mean that whatever that person represents is not used enough in your own life. If the person is in the dream, but more of a bystander then the characteristic they represent is likely under used in your life.

• About Death

Dreaming about someone who has died is considered a positive, though it may not be thought of one at first. The dream is the way of the subconscious to bring that person to mind, allowing them to cheat death, for a few moments. This is typically considered a positive experience.

However, if the person has not died, but is sick or disliked by you, the dream is a signal for fear of the future. This can be considered ominous.

• Someone You Like/Love

Dreaming of someone you like or love can be both pleasant and seem very real. If you dream of someone you are truly passionate about it could simply be an indication of your passion levels. However, if they are part of an urgent situation, it can signal that part of your life is slowing down and it may be time to recommit or move on.

Dreaming about your loved one with someone else can seem very real and is often carried over into real life. We must caution ourselves to remember that a dream is just that, a dream. We need to journal about the situation in the dream with specifics, but realize it is not real life. In fact, dreaming of a loved one cheating may simply mean you are no longer passionate about the day to day life you are living.

• Work Colleague

Dreaming of a coworker or superior out of the work context tends to be a representation of how we view or have viewed ourselves. Dreaming of a supervisor on vacation with your family can be representative of self and personal roles. It is important, when dream journaling, to write out all the players and small details to be later analyzed.

Examples of what dreams could potentially mean are included at the close of this article. Remember to record dreams as soon as you wake so they can be explored further later on.

If we dream of…

• Catching someone in a mistake, we are afraid of surprises
• Catching someone making a mistake due to another person, we do not want to face facts about problems in our own lives
• Someone we fancy, we have analyzed the relationship and know how far we can go
• Kissing someone, we want to improve that specific relationship in some way or we are in love
• Killing someone, we have placed all our hate on that person
• Mourning, we cannot let go of something in the past

When we dream, it means our unconscious mind is at work.  Interpreting dreams comes with a lot of benefits. Would you like to understand the meaning of your dreams and learn about these confusing dream symbols?

Truth be told, interpreting dreams is not only useful but very easy too. You will be able to pay attention to your subconscious mind more often if you learn how to LUCID dream. However, if you are not sure what lucid dream is then worry not because I have got you covered. Here are some things that you should know about dream interpretation:

• You will have more realistic and vivid dreams if you encounter lucid dreams.
• Through this, you’ll be able to understand your dreaming mind better than before.
• Truth be told, it’s very easy to get lost in the happenings of your mind while asleep.
• That’s the reason why step by step, you’ll be able to have an idea of what your dream means.

Why do we dream?

There are distinct opinions why we dream, but nobody knows the answer for real. There are very interesting theories about dreaming that are in history according to the well-known psychiatrists- Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

• Theory I

Freud trusts that our dreams are ways of fulfilling wishes. He suggests that our thoughts, unconscious desires, and motivations are represented by dreams. He trusts that it’s only through studying dreams that answers of our unconscious mind will be provided easily.

• Theory II

Jung says that dreams are those unsolved emotional issues. He continues to say that dreams reveal fears and worries that we should know.

The idea was that dreams should tell us our characters and personalities that are out of control. That will help us towards our psychological growth and integration.

Advantages of dream interpretation:

• The meaning of your dream is important for several reasons.
• It helps you connect with your inner self
• It helps you locate your unconscious fears and desires
• It improves your creativity
• It helps you find solutions for your everyday life
• It gives you guidance and insight

People have been mystified with dreams since the first person had one. Why do we have dreams, and what do they mean? Hippocrates was a Greek physician who is considered to be the father of modern medicine. He thought that dreams were a sign of diseases in the body that had yet to be diagnosed.

A lot of military leaders and ancient rulers made military and political decisions based on their dreams and interpretations of them. And, in Sigmund Freud’s book, The Interpretation of Dreams, he theorized that our dreams reflect thoughts and emotions that our egos repress. (Basically, he thought that we live out our fantasies in our dreams.)

Our theories about the reasons we have dreams are as varied as they have been through the ages. Currently, the most popular theory is that our brains are like computers, and dreams are their way of processing data, such as our memories, hopes and fears.

What Happens to Our Brains During Dreams?

Scientists have wondered about what causes dreams, too, so they’ve done extensive research to see what our brains do when we dream. There are still a lot of unknown and mysterious brain processes that take place, but they did find out a great deal about which parts of our brains “light up” and become active during dreams.

The part of your brain that is most active during a dream is the limbic center, which is what controls our emotions. The dorsolateral cortex, which controls reasoning and logic, is disabled during dreams. This is why what happens in your dreams seems perfectly logical while they’re happening, but not when we wake up and think about it.

Is Dream Interpretation Easy?

You would think that interpreting your dreams would be as easy as performing a simple Google search, right? But it’s not that simple. There’s no one-size-fits-all interpretation for dreams. There are a wide variety of cultures, beliefs, and feelings. A dream about a snake may mean one thing to one person but mean something completely different to someone else.

One person may love snakes, while another may be terrified of them. And, in some cultures they symbolize rebirth, while in others they can symbolize vengeance. So, there’s not really a universal system for dream interpretation.

Dream Diaries

Dreams are very personal, and everyone interprets them differently. If you want the best possible insight into your dreams, start keeping a dream journal. As soon as you wake up, write down the main subject of your dream and as much of the details as you can remember. Over time, you’ll get better at recalling details. You may also notice that there are recurring themes. These could indicate things you’re stressed out about, things you’re afraid of, or things you’re dealing with at the time.

The rate of scientific and medical advancement in the past century is astounding, and yet much of the human mind remains a mystery. So, we still don’t know as much as we would like to about dreams. It’s very likely that people will be mystified by them for years to come.

Moving in our dreams usually feels very real to us at that time regardless of what we do. Our brains also seem to agree. Researchers have come to realize that we move in our dreams, this was after imaging the brains of people sleeping. They found that the brain waves move in the same pattern just like when we move into the real world.

How Does the Mind Create Dreams?

Researchers are not aware of how our minds create dreams since we forget them as soon as we wake up. There are some neuroscientists who wanted to discover what individuals were doing in their dreams by using imaging techniques. They will need to know how their brain looks especially when undertaking a task in the dream for them to perform this technique. This isn’t an easy thing to do since many dreamers cannot control what they’re doing while they are dreaming.

Lucid Dreaming

They are certain that dreamers encounter something called lucid dreaming, although this is very rare. Lucid dreaming means a sleeper knows that he or she is dreaming and can control the actions in the dream. Quite a number of individuals have experienced lucid dreams according to Dr. Dresler, but few people experience them regularly. Some individuals can lucidly dream more often.

When you dream, it is important that you write down your dreams. If you are lucid dreaming, this journaling can help you to know what happened. Write this down immediately when you wake up, so you don’t forget your dream and how it made you feel.

Individuals and Lucid Dreaming

Six individuals were recruited by Dresler and Czish. They had been trained in lucid dreaming. They were given instructions to dream that they were clinching either of their hands and let them fall asleep in a brain scanner. Once they started dreaming, they moved their eyes from left to right to let the researchers know. The researchers, therefore, checked them to ensure that they were actually dreaming. They then recorded their brain activity.

They found out that only two people were able to have lucid dreams in the noisy scanners. Dreams are not only represented as a visual scene, but they are represented mentally as well. To make their findings stronger, the researchers decided to bring on board more lucid dreamers to find out whether the brain responds similarly to everyone that dreams or if the brain waves respond differently.

Doctors and scientists are also hopeful to find out what really happens to the brain when dreamers undertake tasks such as walking, flying or even speaking. This will help them interpret dreams and comprehend how d why the mind creates them.

Final Thoughts

Dreaming is something that everyone does but not everyone remembers them. Just the same, not everyone lucid dreams while other people report having lucid dreams often. Finding out how dreams work has been an important science for years.

You dreamed what?!

Maybe you dreamed that you had hot, steamy sex with a coworker. Or perhaps you caught yourself sexually fantasizing about a complete stranger. What do those things mean? Or what does it mean if you prefer to get frisky in the morning? Or if you can’t keep your mind off your ex?

None of this means that you’re destined to be a homewrecker. But your sex-related thoughts and dreams are like a window on your sexual self. Here are some of the basics of Psych Between the Sheets 101.

What Sex Dreams Mean

Dreaming about having sex with an ex does not mean that you aren’t over him. His presence in your dreams may be taking the place of somebody else. You may have unresolved issues with somebody other than your old flame.

The core emotion to dreams about getting caught having sex, or performing sexual acts in a public place, is often anxiety. Dreams like this may represent fears of sexual intimacy, or discord in a non-sexual relationship.

When women dream about having sex with other women, they often fear that this is a sign of denied or repressed homosexuality. But the woman in such dreams is usually somebody perceived as an achiever of her personal goals. This dream is just evidence of the dreamer’s desire to reach an equal plane of success.

In dreams of sex with an acquaintance or coworker, the experience is often dull, because the dreamer generally isn’t attracted to this particular partner. Dreams like this indicate possible boredom with a current employment or life situation.

What Fantasy Partners Mean

If your fantasy partner is your husband or significant other, you may fear letting your guard down and running uninhibited and wild. Fantasizing about your mate can be invigorating, as long as you’re not limiting your daydreams and fantasies out of guilt.

Fantasizing about a former lover indicates that you’re sentimental and you’re not afraid to indulge a little. This does not mean that you would immediately hop in the sack with your ex if the opportunity presented itself. It just means that you relish and enjoy the good feelings associated with a fun sexual experience.

If your fantasy sexual partner is a celebrity, you’re the type of person who often wants things that you can’t have. Celebrities are unrealistic and ultimately unattainable, so the word “no” will never come up.

When your fantasy partner is a stranger, you have an active imagination, and you enjoy taking risks. You have a playful sense of humor, which frees you to indulge in your own private thrills that come from eyeing up your hot neighbor every so often.

Your Sex Schedule

Do you prefer sex at certain times of the day? Your preferences reveal some hidden details about your love life! If you prefer sex first thing in the morning, you’re comfortable with yourself and unreserved. People generally feel most uninhibited after they’ve been having dreams all night.

If you’d rather have sex right before bedtime, you’re traditional and practical. Preferring sex before bedtime indicates you’re in a monogamous, committed relationship, and that you prefer a structure to your life. If the middle of the day is your preferred frisky time, you’re adventurous and romantic. You like to break the rules, and tend to be spontaneous, free, and rebellious.

What happens when you die during a lucid dream? This is a question that people commonly ask about lucid dreams. In a lucid dream, it’s like the dreamer’s brain awakens and the dreamer can control and change what happens in the dream.

Questions about death in lucid dreams are probably due to the 2010 science fiction action movie Inception. In fact, many lucid dream misconceptions relate to that movie. Maybe it should have been called Misconception! At one point in the movie, the characters talk about dying in a dream; more specifically, what would happen if they were shot. A character explains that dying in a dream strands you there for years, or even decades.

Dying in Lucid Dreams

But actually, if you die or kill yourself in a lucid dream, you’ll just wake up. Nothing bad can happen to your physical body, because lucid dreaming is all in our minds. It’s a commonly-held belief that dying in our dreams will somehow cause us to feel pain, or prevent us from waking up, or increase our likelihood of actually dying.

But that’s a myth.

Nothing in lucid dreams could really harm us physically. Dying in a dream just wakes you up. You may wake up in a sudden or shocking way, and you may not feel very good. But you will not be harmed. It’s the same as waking up from an intense bad dream or very bad nightmare. You may feel sweaty or shaky, and your heart rate may skyrocket, but you will not be hurt.

So, dying in a lucid dream is nothing to worry about. Things you do that are exciting or emotionally charged in a lucid dream will just give you that sweaty, heart-pounding awakening.

Pain and Lucid Dreams

If you’re injured or die in a lucid dream, it may feel painful in the moment. Pain is almost all in our minds, so we can feel pain in lucid dreams. It’s one of the scarier things about practicing lucid dreaming, but don’t let this make you feel like you should avoid the experience. It will always be part of it. But much like in waking life, you don’t constantly fear pain, do you?

Just focus on remaining lucid, and you’ll be far less likely to be injured in your dream. Staying lucid makes it less likely that you’ll be hurt. You just have to tell yourself that it’s not real and that it doesn’t actually hurt. You’ll only have problems if you begin to lose lucidity and fade into a normal dream.

Suicide and Lucid Dreams

If you kill yourself in a lucid dream, it’s the same as dying or being killed: you will wake up pretty quickly. If you’re lucid and you know you won’t really hurt yourself, you may experience the closest possible thing to the Inception movie. If you try to commit suicide but you understand that you can’t really hurt yourself because you’re lucid dreaming, you can feel like you’re trapped in the dream. This doesn’t happen often, and it usually doesn’t occur with beginners. If you’re a more experienced lucid dreamer, it’s just an annoying thing that happens sometimes.

It feels like you’re stuck because you’ve gotten so good at lucid dreaming and staying in dreams that you’re unable to break out of the dream. It’s easy to escape, though; you just have to wait a few seconds (or minutes at the most) and keep your eyes closed. You’ll usually wake up fairly quickly if you just keep your eyes closed.

Lucid Dreams and Time

It’s worth noting that when we dream lucidly, it feels like more time is passing than it actually is. This is because our hyper-alertness causes time dilation. When we dream, it’s more difficult to keep accurate track of passing time, so it feels like we’re dreaming for longer than we actually are.

Many people have experienced lucid dreams in which they’ve either died accidentally or gotten killed by somebody else in the dream. Some argue that lucidity implies total control over the dream, so getting killed means the dreamer wasn’t actually lucid. But there’s a lot we don’t yet know about lucid dreaming. Sometimes even if we’re lucid, we’re not in total control of all of the things that happen.

Lucid Nightmares

You are not required to be in control of anything for the dream to be considered a lucid dream. You can have dreams in which you’re in control of nothing, and dreams like that are scary. These are lucid nightmares, and they’re quite terrifying! You’re aware you’re dreaming in a lucid nightmare, and you understand that it’s not real, but you’re not able to control anything. So, if anything bad happens, you’re just that much more aware of it. It feels like you’re trapped, which is one of the worst possible experiences when it comes to lucid dreaming.

Have you ever had a dream in which a loved one of yours has died? This can be very distressing. Dreaming about somebody dying doesn’t necessarily mean that person will actually pass away. But what do the dreams mean?

Death dreams can be a way that our subconscious minds convey important messages to us about different aspects of our lives. They can be about the end of a certain phase in your life, the dawn of a new beginning, the defeat of a bad habit, or the recognition that an important aspect of yourself has come to a close.

The meaning of the dream also depends on who died in your dream, as well as the nature of the death. People in your dreams generally symbolize different aspects of your life or of your personality. Therefore, it’s important to understand what the person represents to you.

For instance, if an elderly person in your dream dies, this could be a warning that it’s time to end bad habits because they are becoming destructive. If a child dies, the underlying message may be that you need to begin acting in a more responsible and mature manner.

Dreams about people dying may be warning you that you’re allowing the wrong types of people to influence you in your life. Or it may mean that there’s an issue in your life that needs to be resolved because it’s time for you to move on.

If your dream involves finding a dead body, it’s important for you to analyze the details around the discovery. Is the dead person somebody that you actually know? Where and when did you find the body? Do you know how the person died? Once you answer these questions, look at your own life to see if there are any correlations.

Dreaming of committing a murder and subsequently running from the police is a warning that a recent bad judgment or some previous guilty feelings may be resurfacing to trouble you.

Here are some more common dreams about death, and what they may mean:

1. Your own death.

Dreaming of your own death could indicate several things. You could be feeling like you always make sacrifices, but nobody else notices. Or it could mean that it’s time to start putting yourself first. This type of dream may also be a wake-up call that it’s time to end unhealthy practices and habits that are endangering your life.

2. A baby’s death.

This dream is very common among new mothers who suddenly come face-to-face with the reality that they alone are responsible for the safety of their baby. The dream may help them realize how important their duty is regarding their newborns.

3. A child’s death.

A common dream for parents of older children typically occurs when the children are preparing to leave the nest. The dream actually mourns their offspring’s childhood and the fact that it’s over.

4. A parent’s death.

If your parents are still alive but you dream that they died, your subconscious mind could be stressed over losing them at some point in the future. This is especially true if your parents are elderly. If your parents have actually passed away already, the dream may be giving you the opportunity to say goodbye to them.

5. A sibling’s death.

Dreaming that a brother or a sister of yours died could indicate that you don’t properly spend enough time in your busy life with them. Take the time to tell them how much they mean to you, and maybe even recall some of your happy times together.

6. A spouse’s death.

Dreaming that your spouse, your most precious loved one, has passed away may be an unconscious admission to yourself that you lack a specific quality that your partner possesses. To understand a death dream like this in more detail, you’ll need to consider what you particularly love or admire about your spouse and discern if you lack that quality.

7. A stranger’s death.

If you don’t know the person in your dream that died, this indicates that you’re aware of changes that are happening around you, but that you feel completely out-of-touch with them.

Death dreams relate to a wide array of aspects of our lives. Death dreams can be especially disturbing. But most experts would agree that despite their distressing nature, dreams about death remind us of all that life is precious, and it needs to be treasured.

Every person on the planet dreams from ninety minutes to two hours every night. Sometimes these dreams are very simple wish fulfillment; you will the lottery, an old friend visits, etc.  Many dreams aren’t as simple to define as that.  Dreams have left people so full of concern and consternation that dream research has expanded.

Dreams create images out of concepts created by emotions.  Some of these dreams and concepts are so connected that they can be identified as common in a dream database. There is no absolute true meaning for any of the signs and symbols, but there is a generally accepted connected meaning.

1. Being Chased

One of the most common dreams is of being chased.  It is a vivid dream, and it causes us anxiety as we remember the trapped feeling. The anxiety in the dream doesn’t usually come from the actually chasing, but rather what they are running from.  This dream may symbolize our inability to acknowledge something that requires attention.

2. Water

Water is a common sight in our dreams. It is representative of what is in our emotions and in our minds.  The type of water can give us information on how well we are handling or lives.

3. Vehicles

Anytime we are on a vehicle of any kind, best plane, train or automobile, the dream is usually indicative of the direction we think our life is taking.  The vehicle shows us we have power to make a transition.

4. People

When you see others in your dreams, you are seeing a reflection of the different sides of yourself.   These people are representative of the characteristics that you want to examine. If you see people, you know in the dreams they are directly related to an aspect of yourself.

5. School or Classroom

A very common dream is set in a classroom or school. This is the setting for a dream where you are being on tested on something for which you are not prepared. This signifies an area of our past that we need to take another look at.

6. Paralysis

Most people have moments of paralysis while they dream.  This temporary state keeps us from acting out the actions we are going through as we dream.   This is why it is common for they paralyzed state to drift over into other parts of the dream.  When we dream that we can’t move it means that we feel as if we have no control over our lives.

7. Death

Even though a dream about death may seem negative, it is actually linked to a big change for the dreamer. It is the end of one stage of life in order to make way for something new.

8. Flying

When we see ourselves flying it is related to the kind of control we have in our lives. If we are sighing fly, we can be heading for something great. If we are low to the ground, we are feeling frustration.

9. Falling

Dreams of falling are quite common.  Slow falling dreams mean peace and letting go. Falling uncontrollably is directly connected to feeling out of control.

10. Nudity

Nudity is linked to a vulnerable feeling.  Our vulnerability is seen in dreams through nudity.  Whatever body part that is exposed can give you more information about exactly what you are feeling vulnerable about.

11. Baby

If you dream about a baby, it is representative of newness. New growth, new development and new potential.

12. Food

Dreaming of food is connected to energy and knowledge as well as nourishment.  Food can also symbolize being hungry in our souls as well as our bodies.

13. House

A house in a dream is usually the mind of the dreamer.  The different rooms are related to the different areas of their lives and levels of consciousness. A basement in a house is representative of things that the dreamer is not aware of or what has been neglected.

14. Sex

One of the most commonly misinterpreted signs in dreams is sex. This dream can be purely an outlet for expression. It can also be indicative of connections to and with others.

While there are common themes in dreams, every sign means something different to each person. Only the dreamer can really understand what the symbols mean. And how they connect to their lives.