11.WHAT DOES [THIS DREAM] MEAN...? Among people who are interested in dream interpretation/analysis, the current thinking is that dream symbols are highly individual. If you dream of a bull, it probably means something different depending on whether you are a bullfighter, the owner of a china shop, or an Illinois basketball player. If someone tells you with apparent absolute certainty what your dream means, be very wary. Likewise, be skeptical about the definitions that you find in most dream dictionaries. So, how can you ever possibly figure out what your dreams mean? The usual advice is to pay careful attention to your own intuition. If you run across a "correct" interpretation, the common wisdom suggests that you will feel something "click" - there will be an "aha!" of recognition. I'm not sure this is ALWAYS the case. Often, I think we may resist confronting issues that we are not yet ready to face. Nevertheless, the "internal barometer" seems to be a good rule of thumb. Another pervasive idea about dreams is that they may have multiple "correct" interpretations - that there might be many layers of meaning embodied in a single dream. Rev. Jeremy Taylor says that no dream ever comes to tell you something that you already knew. So even when a dream's meaning may seem very obvious, it is often helpful to seek additional explanations. Here are some of the most frequently-mentioned dreams, and some of the suggestions of alt.dreamers as to potential meaning. (To suggest an additional alternative, please e-mail me. I would be happy to give individual credit for specific "interpretations" but have not done so thus far - sorry, but my memory is poor and I do not currently keep records of such things.)

TEETH FALLING OUT Perhaps you are passing to a stage of greater maturity (and are reminded of when you lost your "baby teeth" as a child.) Maybe you are feeling old and decrepit or unattractive, thinking of the possibility of someday losing your teeth. Or perhaps you are subconsciously aware of serious dental problems that could lead to loss of your teeth. Are you overdue for a check up? Maybe you simply feel guilty about your poor dental hygiene. Have you said something(s) that you now regret? If so, maybe it feels as though you had a "loose tongue" and the words just "fell out" of your mouth. Maybe you grind your teeth at night (this phenomenon, called BRUXISM, is quite common) which leads to a strong dream awareness of dental discomfort, which triggers teeth-problems dreams. Perhaps you feel a lack of strength and assertiveness/aggression (there are "no teeth" to your personality). Or perhaps you recently saw, heard, or read something about loose teeth, which made a powerful enough impression to spark a dream.
UNPREPARED FOR AN EXAM OR PERFORMANCE Maybe you have a sense of "incompleteness" about some important aspect of your life (NOT necessarily the one that is presented in the dream.) Perhaps you are currently anxious and feel "under pressure to perform" in some way. Do you tend toward worrying, and over-preparation? This dream could both demonstrate the practicality of your nature, and help you release some of your pent-up worries. Maybe you fear that you are (or might be) unfairly judged or evaluated by someone. Or perhaps you are simply "practicing" coping with a difficult situation. (Research shows that people who suffer anxiety dreams prior to a stressful event actually cope better than people who did not have any such negative dreams!)
CAR OUT OF CONTROL Are you trying to do too much at once? The dream could be demonstrating a need to "put on the brakes." Maybe something in your life feels out of your control. Perhaps you need to take greater control over your own life, and steer it in a better direction. Do you ever fear that something in your life (such as a relationship) may "crash" and be destroyed? Maybe you and are under a great deal of pressure and stress, and you need to "slow down and relax". Or perhaps your "vehicle" (general attitude/outlook on life) is taking you in some dangerous directions.
FALLING Are you falling in love? Perhaps you feel deeply frightened by the loss of control this implies... Maybe you have pushed something past its limit - it has gone right "over the [figurative] edge." Perhaps you are aware at some level of the fact that you are "falling" asleep.If you believe in astral travel, maybe this dream is conveying the sensation of falling back into your sleeping body after you have traveled beyond your physical body. Maybe you feel degraded, as though you are "dropping" in status, esteem, character, etc. Do you believe in reincarnation? Maybe in a previous life, you met your death by falling from a great height, and the feeling impressed itself strongly upon your psyche before you died. Or maybe you just feel that things are "out of control" in some way.
FLYING Perhaps you feel overjoyed; "soaring." Or maybe you feel free and unfettered. Could the dream be emphasizing an over-active ego? Maybe possessing the special power of flight indicates an overly-inflated sense of your own powers/ importance. Are you "flighty" or otherwise not grounded in reality? If you accept the possibility of Out-of-Body-Experiences, maybe you are experiencing astral travel. Perhaps you are an escapist, living in a fantasy world. Or maybe you feel spiritually uplifted; closer to the heavenly or Divine.
INAPPROPRIATE DRESS OR NO PRIVACY IN BATHROOM Maybe you feel "exposed" to others in a way that makes you feel very unprotected and vulnerable. Perhaps you feel unprepared; not properly equipped for some task or duty. Maybe you fear that your deepest, most internal "business" will be examined by others. Perhaps you worry that others will see the "real you" without any facçade - even the messiest aspects of you. Do you repress the full release of your emotions? Maybe you fear that you are "making a mess of things" with lots of other people watching.

12. IS IT NORMAL TO HAVE NIGHTMARES? First off, we should probably distinguish between NIGHTMARES (frightening REM dreams; associated with awareness of scary imagery) and NIGHT TERRORS (terror attacks that occur during non-REM sleep; often involve movement and screaming; usually no dream recall or later recollection of the experience.) Psychoanalyst and sleep researcher Ernest Hartmann estimates that the average person experiences one or two nightmares each year. About 5 percent of people experience "frequent" nightmares (one or more per week). Hartmann notes that nightmare sufferers tend to be more open, trusting, and sensitive than other people. To use his terminology, they have "thin boundaries" between themselves and the world. Sometimes, frequent, disturbing nightmares may be a symptom of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, but this is certainly NOT always the case. In fact, nightmares seem to be a natural response to trauma, stress, or inner conflict. Even people with "thick boundaries" get nightmares under such conditions.

13 HOW CAN I CURE MY NIGHTMARES? Following a few simple rules (such as avoiding heavy meals near bedtime and making sure to sleep in certain positions) may successfully prevent nightmares for some people. Other nightmare sufferers find that their bad dreams are harder to control.Doctors Barry Krakow and Joseph Neidhardt recommend consciously imagining a different ending to the nightmare scenario. First, they say, you should visualize the nightmare in detail (unless you find it too distressing to do so.) Next, imagine - and repeatedly practice visualizing - a transition to a more pleasant and positive scene, replacing the nightmare imagery. Tinker with the altered scenario until it seems just right. The doctors instruct: "...for every night you suffer a nightmare, you want one practice session to imagine a new dream. You can do this as soon as you wake up from the bad dream or later the next day. Either way, practice at least three successive days after any night you've had bad dreams. When you go a few days without nightmares, you can schedule fewer sessions."Many people who try this, or other similar techniques, soon experience a LUCID DREAM (a dream where they are actually aware, during the dream, that it is in fact a dream.) Because they know that it is a dream, and therefore an illusion created by their own minds, they are able to change the dream in exactly the way they have been practicing! Even people who never manage to reach full lucidity usually do reduce the frequency and severity of their nightmares through techniques like these. You should know before embarking upon a nightmare-eradication campaign that some dream workers don't think it is such a good idea. They assert that nightmares are our brain's way of calling our attention to a particularly important problem of conflict in our lives, and they fear that trying to erase these dreams may also erase the dreamer's potential to work through these issues. They would advise being very careful about the ways that you consciously change your dreams. For example, they think it would be better to try to engage the monster in your dream in a thoughtful conversation, or embrace it, rather than trying to destroy or kill it. These methods DO work if you are patient. Good luck to you!

14. IS IT NORMAL TO SOMETIMES FEEL PARALYZED IN YOUR BED? This phenomenon, called "Sleep Paralysis" or an "Old Hag" experience, can be quite frightening. It usually occurs on the borderline between sleep and waking. Sufferers describe feeling totally mentally awake, yet feeling unable to move or call out, and often, feeling a heavy weight pressing down on their chests. Sometimes, these sensations are coupled with the vague perception of an "evil presence" in the room. Scientists theorize that such experiences are probably caused by the brain and body being slightly "out of sync" with regard to sleep/wake functions. Normally, during REM sleep, the body is paralyzed (which is a darn good thing, else you'd go around acting out all your dreams!) Usually, when the brain wakes up, it switches off the body paralysis and you get up and go about your business.But in these cases, the brain neglects to flip the switch (or else the switch doesn't work quite right) and the body remains paralyzed even though the mind is now wide awake.It is usually reassuring simply to know what is going on in these cases - it can really help reduce the anxiety factor. You might be surprised to learn that some people actually SEEK this anomalous state, and try to prolong it when it occurs. Why? Some say it is a good springboard to out-of- body-experiences, and/or lucid dreams.

15 ARE SLEEPWALKERS "ACTING OUT" THEIR DREAMS? According to sleep researcher William Moorcroft: "Contrary to common belief, sleepwalking is not the acting out of a dream." During REM sleep, when our most vivid dreams occur, our bodies are in fact paralyzed. (See explanation above.) So sleepwalking episodes occur in the deeper or "slow-wave" phases of sleep. Moorecroft states that: "It has been estimated that 10 to 20 percent of people have had at least one incident of sleepwalking which usually occurs during childhood, although sleepwalking is more common in adulthood than generally realized (2.5 percent).... There seems to be a genetic base for the tendency to sleepwalk." He also notes that: "Contrary to common wisdom, there is no danger in awakening a sleepwalking person" There is a rare disorder, most common among elderly men, where the REM sleep-paralysis mechanism may be ineffective. In these cases, the dreamer does act out his dreams, often injuring his bed-partner. This disorder, called REM Behavior Disorder (RBD) is usually treated with medication. By the way, sleepTALKING is somewhat different than sleepwalking, in that it does sometimes occur during REM sleep.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 11-15
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