15 Top Dreams----how many of these have YOU dreamt?

[marcandalysse 0]

This is from this week's issue of Newsweek, a very interesting special report on DREAMING

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TOP DREAMS BY GENDER

% who have had these dreams
DREAM ------------------MEN WOMEN
1. Chased or pursued, not injured 78% 83%
2. Sexual experiences 85% 73%
3. Falling 73% 74%
4. School, teachers, studying 57% 71%
5. Arriving too late, e.g., for a train 55% 62%
6. On the verge of falling 53% 60%
7. Trying to do something repeatedly 55% 53%
8. A person living as dead 43% 59%
9. Flying or soaring through the air 58% 44%
10. Sensing a presence vividly 44% 50%
11. Failing an examination 37% 48%
12. Being physically attacked 40% 44%
13. Being frozen with fright 32% 44%
14. A person now dead as living 37% 39%
15. Being a child again 33% 38%
Source: Dreaming Journal

www.newsweek.com

"The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton

[Lindsey 0]

Your list has my FAVORITE (flying) and LEAST favorite (being attacked) recurrent dreams. What was cool was that when I started skydiving my flying dreams changed. When I was a kid I use to run and jump and bike-peddle my legs to fly....lol. THEN one day I started learning how to actually FLY. My dreams are so much smoother now

Peace~
linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[misskriss 0]

I just read that in Newsweek yesterday.. the ones I remember really well are 1,2, 3 and 9

[freeasabird 0]

I have had every single one of those dreams---repeatedly. What's it all mean?

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[Evelyn 0]

I used to have the dream where I was falling and then would wake up with a jolt. Now when I have the falling dream I just enjoy it.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing ~ Helen Keller

[diablopilot 2]

2, 3, 6, 9.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[marcandalysse 0]

Alysse always had the dream of floating out of her bed and into the sky, where she would fly around above it all. When she did her first tandem, she realized that she could live her dream.

I lived in the mountains, and I often had a dream where I was climbing up a mountain, grabbed a handhold, and slipped off it, plunging to the ground. I always woke up before the 'splat' though....

But one dream that still pops up so many years after graduating college is that I am being told by some college admin that I haven't graduated yet and that I still need to turn in some research paper or take one more final! Amazing how that school shit stays with you!

Do you have any of the dreams on this list over and over?

[adamjenner 0]

i've had 1,2,3,4,6,9,12 and 13.
what about drowning dreams or dreams with water? i have a ot of those because i HATE swimming.

i also had a dream once where i was a woman. very interesting....and scary

[Shotgun 1]

I've had all of those except for the ones about school, teachers, and examinations. The dream (nightmare) that I have most often is not on there though, which is about not being able to move (but it is often accompanied by the "sensing a presence vividly" that they do have on the list).

I love having flying dreams, floating through the air, but I don't have them often enough. Every time I have one it is the same thing - I am thinking "Wow, this time I'm NOT dreaming! I really CAN fly!", and then I wake up.

[Zenister 0]

if you can learn to recognize that you are dreaming you can keep flying (or fly whenever you wish, in any dream) without waking up....

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[linny 1]

i have sexual dreams all the time, with people whom i'd never expect. but it never fails that i wake up right when the good stuff starts to happen damn

[Shotgun 1]

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if you can learn to recognize that you are dreaming you can keep flying (or fly whenever you wish, in any dream) without waking up....

I've had this happen ONCE. Actually, I was having my usual nightmare of not being able to move, but I was very aware that it was a dream so I started trying to control it. Then for a moment I was floating around in my room and having a great time, almost like an "out of body" experience. But for some reason it turned back into a nightmare and then I woke up. Anyhow, that was a long time ago and I haven't been able to do it again since then. I dream SO much every night that it seems like I would be a little better at recognizing that I'm dreaming and controlling it. Guess I need to try harder!

That is cool if you are able to do it all the time!

(Actually, I often know that I'm dreaming when I'm having the "not able to move" nightmare, but I'm usually so panicked about not being able to move that I use all my energy trying to wake myself up. )

[RoysPlayThing 0]

wow! I've had almost all of these dreams.... very interesting, very very interesting.

_______________________________________________
My mind is like a parachute...it functions only when open.

[davedlg 0]

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The dream (nightmare) that I have most often is not on there though, which is about not being able to move (but it is often accompanied by the "sensing a presence vividly" that they do have on the list).

That's called "Sleep Paralysis" and it's quite common. It's usually accompianed by feelings of asphixiation (sp?) or a weight on your chest or just feeling like you can't breath right for some reason. It happens (to me at least) because you partially wake up and have consciousness, however you do not yet have control of your muscle functions or breathing. I often feel like there is some kind of presence in the room with me as this is happening. It's very scary!!

Edited to add: clicky

[happythoughts 0]

People often dream that they are immobile or they run very slow. It is because they send signals to muscles while that are asleep. Your body sends back "I'm still not moving, try again."

The main sources of dreams are physical sensation, emotional events, memory processes.

Your brain transitions some memories from short term to long term memory while you sleep. Some random dreams are just your brain doing its thing.

One of the most common is being naked. The most common cause of this dream is being too cold, a physical sensation. The blankets fell off.

Every memory has an image and an emotion. Some emotions are stronger, some to the point of traumatic. Some images or situations trigger memories that have strong emotions linked to them. The emotions are dealt with in a dream. Stress is a good example.

A popular dreams is that you are chased by monsters and fly away. Problems/stress are overtaking you, flying is escapism.

[Zenister 0]

a good way to practice is to focus on an image or event that will que you to the fact you are dreaming.... I used a stop sign in a wheat field initially (if you find it you might be able to follow me ) seems you already have that with the paralysis dream... but being able to relax and impassionately will what you wish to occur is the next step... most people start with flying because it is a very obvious sign that you are dreaming and its something nearly everyone dreams about...

once you are flying try to focus on the specifics.. turns, spirals, dives etc.. and not on the "WOW I"M FLYING" [I]which will usually wake you up[/I].....it sounds silly but the less you ‘think’ about it the easier it is to maintain...eventually you’ll realize you can affect any dream in nearly anyway you wish……..

of course becoming lucid will affect how the rest of your dreams progress.. its very easy to 'derail' them with conscious effort.. but at some point your mind will force you to dream about whatever it is your ignoring... those kinds of dreams (being aware of dreaming and unable to affect it) are the only real 'nightmares' i've had in 15+ years...

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Shotgun 1]

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That's called "Sleep Paralysis"

Yep, that's what it is. I had it for YEARS before I finally found out it had a name and that other people had it too. I had tried to describe it to other people before, but no one ever understood what I was talking about. So I was quite happy to find others who understood. It still really sucks though...

[happythoughts 0]

Sleep paralysis is the way that your brain tells your body not to act on the images that are going on. Otherwise, a dream of being chased by a big dog would cause you to run out of your 5th story window.

Dream paralysis occurs when you are essentially in that state, but your brain is waking up, instead of both at the same time. You are just outside of REM sleep.

If you want to wake up your body, try to move all the parts until you find one that works, then move it a lot.

If you want to take advantage of it, Google "lucid dreams". There are methods to control your dreams and use them to really increase your creativity. Art, music, writing, cool stuff. You can use the half-awake state to control your dreams using certain techniques.

The downside is that people feel suffocated, trapped, or "like someone was sitting on my chest" until they get it figured out.

[marcandalysse 0]

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"lucid dreams". There are methods to control your dreams and use them

That reminded me about an animated movie called 'Waking Life'. Not everyone will enjoy it, there's a lot of philosophical mumbo jumbo...but a variety of animators worked on it so the graphics are a trip, and there are some interesting discussions....

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Opening with the aphorism, "Dream is destiny," Waking Life is all about dreams...In Waking Life, the unnamed protagonist realizes that he is dreaming when he is unable to do simple things like read an alarm clock or turn lights off. In his dreamscape, he floats from person to person and conversation to conversation, listening to the assorted musings, theories, and rantings of a wide cross-section of scientists, activists, street philosophers, and barroom oddballs---there is no dispute: Waking Life is an innovative film, intelligent, challenging---However, other words can describe Waking Life, too: confused, unfocused, superficial, pretentious.
http://www.aboutfilm.com/movies/w/wakinglife3.htm

heheheh.....life is but a dream? (at 4pm still in the office, i am falling asleep!)

[eeneR 3]

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if you can learn to recognize that you are dreaming you can keep flying (or fly whenever you wish, in any dream) without waking up....

Even before I started skydiving I had dreams like that, it was soo cool, i would just take off and fly where ever i needed to...was kinda funny, i didnt understand it till i started skydiving why my arms were not out in front of me like superman

She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

[Kennedy 0]

2, 7, 10, 12

The one that scares me is equipemtn failing
(not being able ot pull a trigger, a tool failing, etc)

Rig failure never scared me though. Hmm.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[Shotgun 1]

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a good way to practice is to focus on an image or event that will que you to the fact you are dreaming.... I used a stop sign in a wheat field initially (if you find it you might be able to follow me )

Ok, I'll be on the lookout for a stop sign in a wheat field.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give it a try... It is really exciting to be able to control a dream. It seems like a completely different level of consciousness. Of course, if I ever get good at it then I'll probably be wanting to sleep all the time!

[Shotgun 1]

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If you want to wake up your body, try to move all the parts until you find one that works, then move it a lot.

I read something like this recently, which said to try just wiggling a finger or toe... And the few times I've actually thought of it while having the dream, it has worked pretty well.

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If you want to take advantage of it, Google "lucid dreams". There are methods to control your dreams and use them to really increase your creativity. Art, music, writing, cool stuff. You can use the half-awake state to control your dreams using certain techniques.

I'll try that... I've been dreaming a LOT lately, so it's probably a good time for experimenting.

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The downside is that people feel suffocated, trapped, or "like someone was sitting on my chest" until they get it figured out.

I get that sometimes, except usually I AM suffocated. If I fall asleep lying on my stomach, sometimes I end up turning my face into the pillow... which almost always leads to a paralysis dream... and these are always the WORST because when I finally do wake myself up, I am gasping for air because I had been smothering myself with the freakin' pillow!

In the ones where I'm not actually smothering myself, usually the panic is from some sort of presence... like I'll be absolutely certain there is a burglar in the house or sometimes I can even see someone standing near me with a knife or a gun or something, yet I'm unable to move or even scream.

Oh well, I'm probably just a psycho.