Our title poses quite a heavy loaded question as the word “dream” can have many meanings for many of us. Some may say that within our dreams inhabit our most personal and deep desires. Others say that dreams are only a way for our brain to process information that it can’t process while we are awake. Whatever your idea of a dream may be it’s a fact that dreaming is something we all do. So, what do dreams mean?
I tend to be a very vivid dreamer, remembering the most intricate details and tending to recall even multiple dreams that I may have had in a night. I like to dream and I must admit that even though it may not be a genuine emotion, I like the way I feel after having a pleasant dream. Sometimes I even like feeling shaken up after a bad dream as I believe those dreams can help me process what I haven’t dealt with in my waking life.
I’ve always been interested in the different ways that dreams can be interpreted. Sleep psychologist Ian Wallace is an expert at dream analysis and believes firmly in the correlation between our dreams and our waking life. According to Ian “every dream is an invitation to fulfil all of your dreams”. He believes that our dreams can be opportunities to transform our waking lives.
I tend to agree with that school of thought, and thought it would be interesting to find out what Ian’s take on a few of my most recurring dreams. These also tend to be quite popular dreams in general and I bet you have probably had one of these dreams at least once in your life.
What do Dreams Mean: Being Chased
If you are being chased it is frightening to feel that no matter how fast you may run away or how clever you think you are at eluding your chaser they appear to be at your heels. This dream is quite disconcerting as many a time we have no idea what it is we are running away from in our dream. Ian interprets this dream as the pursuer actually being part of our own self and symbolises an opportunity we are pursuing in our waking life.
Being unprepared
Being unprepared in an exam is a recurring theme for those of us who tend to take on too much. I tend to have this dream quite often and it manifests itself as me going back to high school and being unprepared and completely lost in class. More commonly it takes shape as me returning to my old corporate America job after years away and being made to perform as if I had never left. The interpretation of this dream is all about taking on too much and not meeting the high expectations set by oneself and can also indicate a fear of failure in our waking life.
What do Dreams Mean: Inability to Speak
I haven’t had this dream as of late, but accurately enough it was a quite prevalent one during certain difficult periods of my life. Being unable to speak in your dream when you are desperate to communicate something important is quite life needing to communicate in your waking life and not feeling heard.
Have you had any of these dreams before?
Despite our age, we all dream. It’s great to see that Ian Wallace is not only interpreting the dreams of adults, but also those of children. Children’s imaginations are incredible, and that seems to also pass onto their dream life. According to Ian you can learn so much about children based on the dreams that are having and the stories that they are developing based on concepts that they dreamt about.
I have always been interested in the psyche of children and if you are too I encourage you to take a look at the video below in which children’s dreams are explained by Ian Wallace in conjuction with adjustable beds maker Adjustamatic.
Myself and the people at Adjustamatic would love to know more about what your dreams are. Join in the discussion and find out more about some common dreams by using the #DreamsExplained on social media.
Do let me know what the strangest/scariest dream you have ever had is in the comments section!
collaborative post
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