Dreams...

[dele]

I would like to know who makes conscious dreaming choices. ctadams question about color brought to mind times I have "turned on" the color in dreams, like consciously deciding to see the color, as if it was always there but I didn't notice.

Something I practice: guiding the narrative direction of a dream. Saying, wait a minute, I don't like how this is going. I'd better change it now or it will be really unpleasant to be sleeping through this.

Does anyone else do this?

I've only done this once, and it was years and years ago when I was about 5 or 6. I was having a dream that I was a princess and there was a handsome prince coming to marry me. I remember thinking "this is a good dream... nothing's gone wrong yet!" And sure enough, at that moment the prince melted away to reveal a wicked witch.

 

[Crystal]

I would like to know who makes conscious dreaming choices. ctadams question about color brought to mind times I have "turned on" the color in dreams, like consciously deciding to see the color, as if it was always there but I didn't notice.

Something I practice: guiding the narrative direction of a dream. Saying, wait a minute, I don't like how this is going. I'd better change it now or it will be really unpleasant to be sleeping through this.

Does anyone else do this? Usually I remember it only if I wake up shortly after or during. Sometimes I get up for a second then go back to bed and turn the dream on again, but usually it's hard to get it back. Hard to remember exactly what was happening. Takes a lot of practice.

I'm very good at sleeping, ha. I mean, I can fall asleep when I want to and wake up when I have to. I can empty my mind, though if I'm worried about someone they will often be in a dream acting out the bad thing I'm worried about.

I think sleep is something I have developed skill in. Dumb? Maybe being vacuous is a good thing sometimes.

"as if it was always there but I didn't notice. "----ah, that makes sense.

about conscious dreaming, umm, i seemed to have heard about this before. But never tried. sounds very interesting!

 

[Michigan]

I've heard people say they have practically full control over their dream, like anything can happen if they want it to. I wish I could do that, it'd be so cool! Although I do wonder, are they consciously making things happen in the dream, or is the dream just giving them the feeling that they are in control? It's a weird idea.

 

[Michigan]

Ooh, on the topic, I once dreamed that I died. In a car crash. It was really scary and felt really real and the last few seconds seemed to go in slow motion, and my mind went into all the real stuff: 'Oh my gosh this is the end, why does it have to end now?' and I instinctively started to turn my head away so that if I survived my face would be ok . . .

Thank goodness when you wake up you can compare the dream to reality, and so I knew it was just a dream, or else when I woke I might have thought I was in hospital.

It was a very weird car crash, thinking about it, because this green car was just on the road, a long country road without much traffic, on our lane, facing us, and there was no one in the car and it was not moving, and the driver of our car had temporarily turned around to look at people in the back of our car, as had I, and so it was too late when they hit the brakes.

All in all, I just hope that my dream may not be interpreted as a prediction of the future . . .

 

[dele]

That is scary. I heard that it's impossible to dream of dying because you'll go into shock and actually die. I always thought I was just odd because I've dreamed of dying too. Glad it's not just me. But be careful Michigan! I'm sure it isn't a sign or any kind of foretelling of the future, but it's always good practice to drive safely.

 

[Michigan]

Hey, does anyone here believe that dreams are foretellings of the future, or that they have meanings and significance? Personally, I don't. I think they just come from thoughts and memories and the unconscious mind.

 

[funes]

I have tried to direct my dreams when I realize that I am dreaming. However, it usually isn't successful. I guess my mind has a mind of it's own. In fact, almost without exception, such lucid dreams end up being nightmares for me. I even had one, once, that was very similar to the one described by Michigan, except that I was laying on my back on the road, and the car was a yellow taxi. Once I realized that I was dreaming, I knew it was (sort of) OK for the taxi to hit me.
Maybe my brain figured out that having the power, or ability, to engineer and direct my own dreams could be very dangerous.

 

[novella]

Hey, does anyone here believe that dreams are foretellings of the future, or that they have meanings and significance? Personally, I don't. I think they just come from thoughts and memories and the unconscious mind.

Brain scientists believe that dreams are how the brain works out all the little anxieties and problems accumulated during waking hours. A computer programmer I know often goes to sleep with a complex problem on his mind and wakes up in the night with a solution.

The brain doesn't just stop processing information when you fall asleep. All the synapses are still firing, but working on different tasks, sorting through things, creating connections and associations. I think if you are "good" at sleeping, this happens more productively. I always do The Times (London) crossword just before I go to sleep, which loosens up the connections in a way that seems to help me sleep well.

In my experience, pronounced anxiety inhibits the process. It seems harder for the sleeping brain to work things out because some inner censor is still flashing, so the dreaming can seem to exacerbate the anxiety.

 

[Maya]

Does talking in sleep, have anything to do with what you dream?

 

[cajunmama]

I've had dreams in which I have been crying then woke up to the sound of my own crying, minus the tears.

 

[hay82]

A computer programmer I know often goes to sleep with a complex problem on his mind and wakes up in the night with a solution.

I did that with a math problem I had. I simply could not solve it, went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night with the solution. Tried to do it with more math assignments but try telling your teacher that you haven't finished it on time because you haven't dreamt the answer yet.

Hay

 

[ctadams]

Controlling Dreams and Precognition

Hi all.

I used to be able to control my dreams a little, but I have a sleep disorder now and no longer can. In fact, in the past several years -- since the disorder, I have VERY vivid and intense dreams (and nightmares) which frequently include walking, talking and doing things in my sleep. Oh, and my dreams are always in color.

When I was a child I had precognitive dreams and other psychic phenomena. I HATED IT!!! Very scary stuff.

 

[dele]

I did that with a math problem I had. I simply could not solve it, went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night with the solution. Tried to do it with more math assignments but try telling your teacher that you haven't finished it on time because you haven't dreamt the answer yet.

Now that would be a hoot! I dreamed the answer to a problem that was holding back my computer programming project from being finished back in high school. It was incredible and my teacher was so impressed with how clever a solution it was!

Does talking in sleep, have anything to do with what you dream?

I think it must. I dream a lot about where I work (a coffee shop) and my boyfriend will wake me up at night just cracking up laughing because of some of the things I've said to him in my sleep. "I love you too, and what kind of donut did you want with that?" Once I told him to get 14 cents from the till on the other side of the TV ( I must've been pretty confused in that dream!) to give to a customer.

 

[Crystal]

Hi all.

I used to be able to control my dreams a little, but I have a sleep disorder now and no longer can. In fact, in the past several years -- since the disorder, I have VERY vivid and intense dreams (and nightmares) which frequently include walking, talking and doing things in my sleep. Oh, and my dreams are always in color.

When I was a child I had precognitive dreams and other psychic phenomena. I HATED IT!!! Very scary stuff.

Only want to say:

Welcome, ctadams!

 

[mr_michel]

I've had dreams in which I have been crying then woke up to the sound of my own crying, minus the tears.

yeah the same happens to me with snoring

 

[Maya]

I think it must. I dream a lot about where I work (a coffee shop) and my boyfriend will wake me up at night just cracking up laughing because of some of the things I've said to him in my sleep. "I love you too, and what kind of donut did you want with that?" Once I told him to get 14 cents from the till on the other side of the TV ( I must've been pretty confused in that dream!) to give to a customer.

lol
I refuse to believe it, but some years back my aunt told me that I was kissing in my sleep, how is that possible?

The night before a test, I used to read my text-book in my sleep. I didn't sleep before memorizing everything that needed to be studied. So when I went to sleep, I pictured all the pages in my head, and read while turning the pages in my mind. It’s true. I know it sounds corny and a bit stupid, but if I came to a page, and suddenly I didn’t remember a sentence or something, I kind of started panicking.
So I stood up, and turned on the light, found the page in the book and started reading what I didn't remember, and went to sleep after that.

That used to be very troubling, and waking up I felt tired.

 

[Wabbit]

I had a beautiful dream once.

 

[Maya]

ahan... and?

 

[VTChEwbecca]

I rarely ever have nightmares; but while I was working at the US Patent Office, I had nightmares just about every night. I was always running from something (be it a person or a monster or something else). I did not sleep well during this time, due to the nightmares and a huge amount of anxiety caused by my job. Of course, many people who work at the USPTO end up with some sort of mental problem if they stay too long, so this is probably a fairly common occurance. Needless to say, I left that job.

My funniest dream is probably the one I had when I was six. There were dinosaurs on my grandparents farm, and my grandad and I were hiding behind the huge freezer. My nanny & parents were canning veggies in the kitchen, while my great-aunt was outside next to the pond that had a T-rex circling it. I know there were brontosauri in the vegetable garden, and there was a triceratops in there somewhere, as well.

Does anyone else have reoccuring dreams? While in college, I had the same dream at least every other week, but I've never had it again since I graduated. It started during my freshman year, after I met the man who was to become my husband, and continued through my senior year. Its the only reoccuring dream that I can recall, but I thought that was a bit odd. The premise was that I was at college, which was actually my nanny's house, but it wasn't really her house. It was just some old big white farm house that I dreamed to be hers. My DH (then my boyfriend) was there with me, as were some other college students that I never identified. There wasn't much more to it than that...especially when I started realizing that I was having the dream over and over again.

 

[ctadams]

Dreams

OK next question -- who (show of hands) in the forum have actually died within your dreams? I've had them twice.

I have had two periods of my life where I had recurring dreams. One was in my childhood and was about being excluded. One was as an adult and the symbolism was fairly specific to what was going on at that time in my life.

I am also prone to frustration dreams.


And thank you so very much for the welcome!