An interesting thing I saw on National Geographic about dreams

[unclesirbobbyrobson]

Well babies also sleep a great deal and dream a lot. So there is not so great a difference between babies and foetoses(sp). The body needs to grow and develop and most of a babies energies are put into that. Yet the child also needs to be stimulated. If we are inactive(like a fopatus) then we start to dream and maybe the mind creates a wonderful imaginery world for us.
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It is actually possible to understand what dreams mean. Simply look at the effects on people who have gone without sleep for a long time period. If you are deprived of sleep for several days then you will slip into madness. The reason for this is that sleep and dreams are linked to vital brain functions.

During the day we store up new thoughts and experiences within short term memory blocks. So if we are deprived sleep these become overloaded. The mind has no more space to store new feelings so these are merely forgotten.

During sleep vital brain waves emerge. Beta waves and theta waves are only ever detected within the brain at night. These help us process through those new feelings and experiences stored in short term memory. We integrate these new feelings into long term memory blocks. So if you do not sleep then you will not be updating your thoughts. You will not be building a bigger picture.

A dream dictionary that explores the variety of meanings in a dream symbol DREAM DICTIONARY
Dream symbolism and dream dictionary interpretation - How to interpret dreams Some tips
Dream symbolism - How to use dream symbols How to use dreams symbols

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[Wolfjk]

Originally Posted by paisley

SIX dreams! That is amazing! I wonder how our minds pick which ones to remember? Also, I wonder if each of those 6 dreams are the mind playing out the same scenerio (dream meaning) but in different manners or is it working out the same scenerio like we would work through a choice by considering the positives and negatives and the final dream is our mind's final conclusion and that is the dream we remember? Anyway, I find not only dream language and meaning interesting but also the process behind dreaming to be very interesting.

Hi Paisley,
I have been studying dreams for many years. dreams regulate the level of consciousness in sleep. There is always a dream going on in sleep, but we remember dreams onle when our level of consciousness is near to waking. Dreams sort of put the brain in gear!
Dreams are an essential part of life as in sleep we need a constant flow of mental energy to maintain or raise our level of consciousness.
I have also studied animals, especially pet dogs dreaming. If you know your dog well and observe his behaviour, you can often tell what it is dreaming about. Its rapid eye movement may follow a fly, a wasp, a rabbit, or a spider.
Cheers Wolfjk

[paisley]

"Do foetuses dream; very doubtful."

Well, I have no idea either if it is true or not since I can't remember being in the womb, and you are right that sometimes a lay-person's guess is just as good as a scientist's. However, although this show did not directly make the connection between dreaming and the developements of a fetus, some of the observations seemed like clear connections to me. For example, the show said studies indicated that a fetus remembered and responded to music that a mother listened to regularly. I do believe that a fetus can hear in the womb because my son always would swirl happily in my stomach when my husband spoke or came home from work, yet he did not swirl in response to other men's voices. He also had clear preferences towards music based on how he responded in my womb. He also showed clear emotions in the womb of happiness, uneasiness, excitement, frustration, and surprise. So I believe the study when it said a fetus recognized music. Thus, I think the fetus is probably dreaming about the sounds it is hearing or its experiences like the sensation of when the mother goes swimming or the sensation of feeling shock from a loud sound or sharp movement, but these are merely my "lay person" guesses.

"dreaming also occurs in the waking state; think about it." Yes, but I think the researchers concluded the fetus was sleeping when these "dreams" occurred. Anyway "day dreams" and "night dreams" are a whole other interesting topic. I have never even considered studying day dreams, but to me they are much different than night dreams because a day dream makes sense because it is completely controlled by the conscious mind and can be turned on and off at a person's whim. Whereas a night dream speaks in its own language, is controlled by the unconscious mind, and just turns on and off at its own whim, at least in my experience that is how it is.

"we remember dreams onle when our level of consciousness is near to waking."

That makes sense.

"Yet the child also needs to be stimulated. "

This also makes sense to me. Perhaps the dreams are what helps develop the brain so even though the baby is helpless once it is born, it is not completely brainless! I know once my son was born, he was crying and crying and the midwife and her assistant tried to soothe him, but he kept on crying, but the second my husband walked in the room and said something, my son instantly stopped crying. I think he had been processing my husband's voice while he was in the womb so when he came out, he knew my husband, but did not recognize the strange voices of the midwife and her assistant. Who knows maybe he was dreaming about my husband's voice as well. Whether it is true or not, it is still a nice thought to have.

[unclesirbobbyrobson]

I am never sure about the term "day dream". I think they are just fastasies. But to me dreams are linked to all of our thoughts. They link to our essential brain activities.

Its a fascinating subject and question this one you raise here paisley. There are some sweeping claims you make about what your baby felt. They maybe true. I am not sure. You are talking as if the mother and baby are seperate beings. Maybe its best to see a mother and child inside her as one. The baby may feel and pick up on the emotions of the mother. Who knows. I do not exclude things even though I do prefer to be scientific and rational. I do believe in pyschic forces and telepathy. It maybe that your child felt more contented because you felt contented. Moods are real and do increase our feelings of well being.

Personally I am absolutely certain that foetoses will dream because they are as near as can be to babies. The younger the child the more they need to sleep.

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There are no hard and fast rules to symbolism in dreams. Some dreams use symbols which are absolutely textbook. A bird may symbolise a bad omen. A tree may symbolise a family tree. Many simple symbolic meanings maybe totally correct. Yet do not expect symbolic meanings to repeat. If a soldier symbolises the need for discipline in one dream it may have a totally different meaning in another. Added to this symbols may have very personal meanings. Here you can use the method of free associations and try to see what links to any symbol in the dream. Simply think back to everything in your current mindset and see what connections you can make. Even simple connections can mean lots. Say if a set of traffic lights appear in your dream it may link to some incident that happened at a traffic lights the previous day. Always remember that your dream mind does not feel it necessary to translate its message to you. The need to understand the language of a dream is not strictly necessary to you. Its like a telephone. You can benefit from it without needing to know the way in which the microprocessor and communications work. But nevertheless we feel the need to study and understand dreams.

These pages are especially helpful in showing you how to interpret dreams

Dream symbolism and dream dictionary interpretation - How to interpret dreams Interpreting dreams
Dream symbolism - How to use dream symbols Triggers for dreams
A dream dictionary that explores the variety of meanings in a dream symbol Dream dictionary
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