Frequently Asked Questions about DREAMS
(c) Pamela Ryan

In general, the opinions expressed in this FAQ are my own, although I have tried my best to include other viewpoints and to present them with fairness and accuracy. If you have suggestions, corrections, additions, etc. please e-mail pryan@prairienet.org.

1. Does everybody dream?
2. Is it normal to have dreams immediately upon falling asleep, without going through the other sleep stages first?
3. How can I increase/decrease my dream recall level?
4. Are dreams really important or meaningful?
5. Is there anything special about recurring dreams?
6. Why do we dream?
7. Do we dream in color?
8. Do blind people dream?
9. Is it true that you can have an hour’s worth of dreams in just a few seconds?
10. I would like to interpret or analyze my dreams – how should I do it?
11. What does [this dream] mean…?
12. Is it normal to have nightmares?
13. How can I cure my nightmares?
14. Is it normal to sometimes feel paralyzed in your bed?
15. Are sleepwalkers "acting out" their dreams?
16. Do people really have psychic dreams?
17. How can you tell whether your dream will come true?
18. Is it true that if you die in your dream, you will die in real life?
19. Are dreams related to our health?
20. How do substances like drugs and foods affect our dreams?
21. What are the best books about dreams?
22. Is it possible to control your dreams?
23. Is it normal to have a "dream within a dream"?
24. How do we know that we aren’t dreaming right now?

1. DOES EVERYBODY DREAM? It certainly looks that way. Even people who say they do not dream very much generally do recall dreams if they sleep in a laboratory and are awakened during REM ("rapid eye movement") sleep (the phase of sleep most closely linked to vivid dreams.) The average person experiences REM sleep 3 or 4 times each night, with each phase longer than the one that preceded it. The last REM period of the night may last upwards of 45 minutes. For about 90 minutes before the onset of REM sleep – and for shorter periods between subsequent REM phases -the body experiences cycles of a different kind of sleep. If awakened during these "deeper" sleep stages, the person reports mental activity that is more mundane, more thought-like than dream-like.

2. IS IT NORMAL TO HAVE DREAMS IMMEDIATELY UPON FALLING ASLEEP, WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE OTHER SLEEP STAGES FIRST? People sometimes report that they experience vivid dreams even when they fall asleep only for a very short time. (For example, during the ten minutes between snooze alarms.) How could this happen, if it takes 90 minutes to progress through the other sleep stages and arrive at REM sleep? There are three possible logical explanations for this phenomenon. First, on the borderline of sleep, there is a phase called HYPNOGOGIA, during which many people experience bizarre and dream-like imagery. Based on clinical data, this phase is not the same as true REM sleep, although hypnogogic dreams may be indistinguishable from REM dreams. Second, if a person is sleep deprived, they may experience an effect called REM REBOUND. For some reason, the body tries to "make up for" REM time that is lost. So, following a period of sleep deprivation, a person may experience much higher rates of REM sleep than usual. The REM cycles would be more frequent, with fewer intervening sleep stages.Third, as the night progresses, the rate of non-REM sleep drops sharply. So if you return to sleep when you are actually very well-rested, there is a good chance that you will return directly to REM sleep.

3. HOW CAN I INCREASE/DECREASE MY DREAM RECALL LEVEL? There are wide differences in different peoples’ levels of dream recall. Some people routinely remember three or more dreams every night; other people almost never recall dreams. Even for individuals, there are often large fluctuations in recall, depending upon time, energy, and life circumstances. While many people are satisfied with their personal level of dream recall, others are not. Some low-recallers feel they are missing something and would like to recall more dreams; some high-recallers feel "drained" because of a too-active dream life and would like to recall fewer dreams. The tips below are for increasing dream recall (the more common request in this forum). Do the opposite to decrease recall. · Pay a lot of attention to dreams. Think about them. Read about them. Talk about them. Recall generally increases with interest and involvement. · Keep paper and pencil (or a tape recorder) at your bedside. · Write down any dream that you remember, even if it is just a fragment of a dream, or even if it seems silly or insignificant. · Invest some energy into the care and maintenance of your dream journal. · Whenever possible, try to awaken naturally, without the aid of an alarm clock. Each time you awaken from internal cues (rather than an external stimulus), you are awakening directly from REM sleep and have the highest likelihood of recalling a dream. · When you wake up, stay quiet and still. Keeping your eyes closed, try to cast your mind BACK ("What was I just thinking about, a minute ago…?") rather than forward to the coming day’s events. · Some people suggest drinking water before bed. The idea is that the urge to urinate might awaken you in the middle of the night, directly from a dream! (Of course, you risk having lots of dreams about oceans, toilets, etc.) · Others suggest setting your alarm clock for odd times during the night, to try to catch yourself dreaming. Or you could try waking up a half-hour early and then going back to sleep. · Be actively involved in waking life. Try new activities. Learn new things. This gives you more "material" for dreams. (To decrease dream recall, focus a great deal on outer, waking reality but avoid too many new and exciting activities, which may make your dreaming brain work overtime.) · The power of suggestion can be very strong. Before you fall asleep, read about dreams, and then state, aloud, your intention to recall a dream the next morning. One caution: Don’t try TOO hard. Give yourself "a break" from your efforts, every now and then. Good luck to you!

4. ARE DREAMS REALLY IMPORTANT OR MEANINGFUL? This subject is open to debate. Most of the people who participate in the alt.dreams newsgroup feel that their dreams are personally meaningful, and enjoy exploring them. Some scientists and theorists agree with this perspective; others do not. You won’t win a lot of popularity contests on alt.dreams if you constantly opine that dreams are meaningless nonsense. Regardless of your personal "take" on the inherent value of dreams, it is certainly true that many people throughout recorded history have felt that dreams are meaningful, and that many dreams have had an important impact upon cultures around the globe. Every major religion contains references to Divine inspiration through dreams; many creations and inventions (from fine art & literature to sewing machines to the theory of relativity) have been based upon dreams; and many dreams have been historically important (for example, in changing the course of battles or wars).

5. IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL ABOUT RECURRING DREAMS? Most people who work with dreams agree that recurring patterns or themes in dreams deserve special attention. The basic idea is that there is a long-standing problem or an important message that the dreamer has not yet fully understood, so the dream keeps "sending" the same message over and over. These dreams are said to give us significant clues about our own issues, personality, and/or behavior.

6. WHY DO WE DREAM? This is a real mystery. On the one hand, theorist William Domhoff states that "the best evidence for now is that dreams have no physiological or psychological function." On the other hand, theorists since Sigmund Freud have been suggesting possible purposes of dreaming: maintaining sleep, coping with psychological stress, preserving psychological and physical health, spurring us toward spiritual enlightenment, integrating new information and skills with stored memories, etc. This much is clear: our bodies seem to insist upon a certain quota of REM time, and REM sleep is apparently linked to important functions such as learning and memory. However, since the relationship between REM and dreams is not perfect, we cannot say that REM functions are necessarily DREAM functions. It was once believed that sleep/dream deprivation caused hallucinations and insanity. However, any such symptoms are extremely temporary, and it is difficult to separate the effects of sleep deprivation from the effects of dream deprivation.Some theorists point out interesting similarities between dreams and symptoms of such disorders as schizophrenia and delirium tremens, but to date, there is no solid evidence to support such a relationship. Perhaps someday we will discover why we dream. Today, we cannot answer this question.

7. DO WE DREAM IN COLOR? People who notice color more in waking life (artists, house painters, etc.) generally notice color more in their dreams, as well. Sleep lab evidence suggests that most dreams ARE in color, although people frequently do not supply color information unless specifically asked for it. It is likely that color information is often simply forgotten, especially if the dreamer doesn’t think the dimension of color is particularly important, anyway. Memory of specific aspects of dreams usually degrades very rapidly after awakening. If the dreamer does not make note of color information right away, it just evaporates, and is no longer accessible.

8. DO BLIND PEOPLE DREAM? As stated above, everyone dreams. In general, people’s dream experience is similar to their waking experience. That is, while most sighted people’s dreams are primarily visual, blind people dream more an auditory, tactile, and other sense modalities.People who lose their sight very early (before age five) apparently experience no visual imagery in their dreams. Visual imagery is variable for those who lose their sight between ages five and seven. People who lose their sight after age seven almost always have some level of visual imagery present in their dreams.

9. IS IT TRUE THAT YOU CAN HAVE AN HOUR’S WORTH OF DREAMS IN JUST A FEW SECONDS? Although there are quite a few anecdotes about this phenomenon, research evidence suggests that time is NOT distorted in dreams. Rather, our dreams seem to take place in real time. For example, if we experience a five-minute REM period and are then awakened and asked to report a dream, we report about five minute’s worth of activities. And furthermore, we estimate that the dream lasted about five minutes. In cases where the dreamer claims to have experienced time compression in a dream, the effect can usually be explained by "time lapses." Just as a one-hour television show can depict events that take place over several days, weeks, or even YEARS through techniques such as "fade outs/fade ins" that represent leaps forward in time, so may our dreams employ similar techniques to designate discontinuous events in time.

10. I WOULD LIKE TO INTERPRET OR ANALYZE MY DREAMS – HOW SHOULD I DO IT? First, a disclaimer of sorts: Rev. Jeremy Taylor asserts that "All dreams come in the service of health and wholeness," even (especially?) the ones that may initially upset or confuse us. Even so, dreams can be powerful experiences, and dreams do have the potential to unleash some very deep and raw emotions. If you think it would probably be fun and spiritually uplifting to try your hand at dream analysis/interpretation, by all means go ahead. If, on the other hand, you actually suspect that you have a serious emotional disturbance and you are hoping that dream work would really be a form of do-it-yourself psychotherapy, please consider picking up the phone and calling in a professional person to guide you through the process. If you do decide to go it on your own, I think it is wise to follow Taylor’s advice, and consciously seek to identify (and actualize) dream messages that facilitate a more positive, loving, and healthful life. Don’t EVER allow your dreams to encourage you to do anything destructive to yourself or others. If you find that your dreams are interfering significantly with your waking life, it would certainly be a good idea to seek professional psychological counseling. Assuming you’re still with me after that warning…There are a dizzying array of methods and techniques of dream analysis! Which one(s) you choose is(are) largely a matter of personal preference. A method that provides profound, earth-shaking revelations to one person may seem trite and hokey to another. Let your own feelings (and your own common sense!) be your guide. Here are a few of the more more popular and/or time-honored methods (consult books for additional ones)

A. FREE ASSOCIATION: FREUD Sigmund Freud suggested that the dreamer create a "chain" of associations to each important object or element of the dream by saying the first word that popped into mind when prompted by a cue word. The dreamer’s response to one cue became the next cue word. For example: Shoes => Clothes, Clothes => Closet, Closet => Hidden, Hidden => Secrets …. Etc. Freud believed that this technique of speaking without thinking might lead the dreamer to uncover some repressed material (latent, or hidden content; probably sexual) that might have been encoded into the dream.

B. SYMBOL AMPLIFICATION: JUNG Carl Jung liked Freud’s idea of associations, but disagreed with Freud’s desire to lead the dreamer farther and farther away from the actual dream image. Instead, he advocated returning each time to the image itself as the cue word. For example: Shoes => Clothes, Shoes => Feet, Shoes=> Pair, Shoes => Ground ….. Etc. Jung believed that this technique of "mining" each image to unearth all its possible associations might lead the dreamer to discover which associations were actually most important.

C. DESCRIBE IT TO A MARTIAN: DELANEY Gayle Delaney (and others) advises the dreamer to amplify the dream images in a slightly different way. Instead of generatting free-floating associations, she suggests describing each image in simple, powerful terms, as if explaining its purpose and outstanding features to a Martian who knows nothing about life on Earth. For example: Shoes => These protect our feet (from cold, damp, dirt, etc.) when we walk. We can walk farther wearing these than we could without them. Sometimes, they are more stylish than practical/comfortable…..

D. EMPTY-CHAIR ROLE PLAY: GESTALT Frederick Perls, founder of the Gestalt psychology movement, popularized "encounter" groups. He recommended that the dreamer hold imaginary conversations with dream characters/objects, in order to give them a "voice" to communicate their meaning. He had the dreamer sit opposite an empty chair, imagining the dream character/object sitting across from them. The dreamer would ask questions of the character, and then would switch chairs to answer them trying to express the attitude of the dream character as much as possible. For example: => Dreamer: "Shoes, why did you rain down on me like that?" => Shoes: [yelling] "You idiot! Can’t you see that you aren’t walking in the right direction?" He urged the dreamer to see each character, object, and action in the dream as some (possibly alienated) aspect of the dreamer’s own personality.

E. TTAQ (TITLE, THEME, AFFECT, QUESTION): SAVARY, BERNE, and KAPLAN-WILLIAMS (From DREAMS AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH, 1984) This is a four-step process. First, the dreamer gives the dream an appropriate TITLE. "Let it come to you spontaneously or ask yourself, ‘What title does the dream want itself to have?’" Next, identify any THEME or THEMES. Next, identify the AFFECT (emotional aspects) of the dream. Last, the dreamer formulates an important QUESTION that the dream is addressing: "What is the dream asking of me? What is the dream trying to help me be conscious of?" For example: TITLE: "Barrage of Shoes" THEMES: spirituality/religion, self-image AFFECT: fear, helplessness QUESTION: "In what areas of my life do I feel pelted, attacked, beaten down?" Phillosophically, this technique asserts that dreams should be regarded as questions to spur thinking, rather than as puzzles to be successfully "solved".

F. ACTION PLOT: REED/SPARROW Most dreams focus on the objects (nouns) in dreams. In his book, DREAM REALIZATIONS (1984), Henry Reed descriibes a method (which he attributes to Gregory Scott Sparrow) of paying particular attention to the action (verbs) in the dream. Reed writes, "An action plot is a short statement of what transpires during the course of the dream. In order to emphasize the structure of the action, all mention of specific symbols is avoided." For example, "Someone feels attacked by something, yet does nothing about it."

G. LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS A majority of dream workers would doubtless agree that the "language" of dreams is (visual) metaphor. Often, the same metaphorical analysis techniques that are applied to works of literature may also be applied to dreams. Some people also find it useful to look for standard literary devices such as setting, dramatic structure, etc. in their dreams. It may also be helpful to look specifically for verbal or visual "puns." For example: METAPHOR: Shoes as outer expression of "direction" and purpose? … Or groundedness"? SETTING: Old rustic church (ancient, earthy spirituality?) in stormy weather (turbulent motions?) POSSIBLE PUNS: Rain => reign or rein? Sole => soul?

H. DUALITIES It may be instructive to try to identify glaring "opposites" in your dreams. These oppositional forces often underline important conflicts, imbalances, or concerns. For example: Agression vs. Passivity, Style vs. Function, Heaven vs. Earth.

I. GROUP DREAM WORK: ULLMAN Jungian therapist Montague Ullman developed a highly structured group method of exploring dreams. The basic premise is that each group member imagines the dream as their own dream, and then tries to "interpret" its message FOR THEM, rather than for the dreamer. This alleviates any suspicion of negative judgement against the dreamer, and has the additional advantage of leading to personal insights among ALL participants, even when their own dream is not the current topic of discussion. It is a 4-phase process: 1) A dreamer volunteers and tells a dream in detail. Others may only interrupt to ask clarifying (non-interpretive) questions. 2) Others take the dream as their own, speaking of it as if they had actually dreamed it. They suggest what the dream might mean for them. The dreamer listens without participating. 3) The dream is officially returned to its original creator. The dreamer may respond to everyone else’s input, and may share her/his own insights. 4) The dreamer thinks further about the dream, and reports (at a later time) any additional insights. It may be possible to join a dream group in your area — or you can start your own, if you can’t locate a pre-existing one. These groups are often leaderless peer groups without professional participation. There are also some on-line dream-groups that follow a similar format. Look for the notices of "Dream Wheels" which are frequently posted in alt.dreams.

J. ARCHETYPES: JUNG One of the most popular techniques in dream analysis is searching for "archetypes", mythic figures which Carl Jung believed were present in everyone’s dreams. Classic Jungian archetypes include The Hero, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow (darker side of our own personality), and Anima/Animus (aspects of the opposite sex present in our own personal psychology).

K. DREAM RITUALS: JOHNSON Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson advocates going beyond understanding dreams at an intellectual level, and "acting consciously to honor dreams." His idea is that by doing a physical act which actualizes he dream’s message, you move toward truly integrating the dream’s meaning in your waking life. In choosing an appropriate ritual, Johnson advises us that correct ritual is "symbolic behavior, consciously performed." He recommends choosing rituals that are small-scale, inexpensive, private, and safe. So if the shoe dream seemed to be emphasizing the need to be "grounded," to value function over style, and to consciously and assertively pursue a positive direction in life, the dreamer might for example: =>Solemnly (and privately) arrange several pairs of shoes on the floor, labeling them with signs that said "Style," "Function," etc. The dreamer could ceremoniously sweep the "unwanted" shoes aside and put on the "desirable/positive" shoes.

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.

16. DO PEOPLE REALLY HAVE PSYCHIC DREAMS? This question is open to debate. While reports of such dreams are amazingly common (2 out of 3 people surveyed by researchers David Ryback and Letitia Sweitzer claimed to have personally experienced a psychic dream), many of these are probably "false positives." For instance, let’s say that you dream of a tornado one night, and then awaken to hear news reports of a destructive tornado that touched down the previous evening. Chances are, you are likely to feel a bit spooked by this correlation between your dreams and outer, waking reality. Was it just a coincidence, or was your dream "psychic"?Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself before deciding that your dream came true: · Were there tornado warnings on the weather before I went to bed, which might have triggered my dream? · Could I have subconsciously incorporated external noises I heard while I was asleep (such as wind, tornado sirens, etc.) into my dream? · Have I ever dreamed of a tornado before? (Perhaps tornados are a common theme for you. If so, the odds dictated that sooner or later your dreams were bound to coincide with an actual tornado, by mere chance.) Were there any unique details of the dream which identified the tornado in my dream as the specific tornado that actually touched down? On any given night, hundreds or even thousands of people may dream of tornados, airplane crashes, earthquakes, floods,etc. Scientists would be very surprised indeed if no one ever dreamed of these disasters on nights when they actually occurred. Simply put, the laws of probability would predict a fairly large number of these coincidences. On the other hand, there are many compelling examples of dreams whose details match those of actual events so closely that it would be hard to attribute it to chance alone.And there are some very interesting studies of dream telepathy, which suggest a weak (and highly individual) psychic effect. These studies are difficult to refute from any methodological standpoint.

17 HOW CAN YOU TELL WHETHER YOUR DREAM WILL COME TRUE? Unfortunately, I am not aware of any way to separate or identify psychic dreams until after the fact. If you feel that you frequently experience psychic dreams, you may be able to identify some personal patterns if you pay close enough attention.Documenting your dreams, and telling them to other people before the event takes place in reality, can lend credibility to assertions of psychic dreaming ability.

18. IS IT TRUE THAT IF YOU DIE IN YOUR DREAM, YOU WILL DIE IN REAL LIFE? Absolutely not. Many of us would be happy to share examples of dreams in which we clearly died. And I promise that I am, as of this writing, still alive to tell about it! =) Many people dream of falling, but wake up before hitting bottom. Perhaps our minds, even while asleep, have such a strong survival instinct that they often simply do not permit us to dream about the actual phenomenon of death. People who do dream their own death and live to tell about it may be more curious about death, so much so that their curiosity overcomes their natural fear of it.

19. ARE DREAMS RELATED TO OUR HEALTH? Dreams have always enjoyed a special relationship with the area of physical health. In ancient Greece, sick people slept in special temples designed to incubate diagnostic or curative dreams. Later, famous psychic dreamers such as Edgar Cayce suggested a link between dreams and information about our physical health. Some scientists suppose that, during sleep, we may have greater access to information about the state of our bodies, which may be incorporated into our dreams. (For example, germs loose in the body may be represented as insects or other pests running loose in our house. Or a high fever may be depicted as a fire raging out of control.) When we are awake, there are hundreds of external stimuli competing for our attention. While we sleep, on the other hand, we may shut out the external stimuli in favor of internal ones. Maybe this allows us to pick up on very subtle signs of bodily infection or distress.

20 HOW DO SUBSTANCES LIKE DRUGS AND FOODS AFFECT OUR DREAMS? It is a fact that many substances affect dream recall. Laboratory studies suggest that depressants such as alcohol, marijuana, sleeping pills, and sedatives tend to reduce REM sleep and therefore reduce dream recall. (Some people report the opposite. This is probably due to an effect called REM rebound. For more information about REM rebound, see number 2 above)Some drugs, such as certain anti-depressants, greatly increase dream recall. Some people enjoy these strong, vivid dreams; to others, they may be upsetting or disturbing. People should discuss such drug side-effects with their doctors.Some people say that products such as Ginko, Choline, B vitamins, and/or Zinc may increase dream recall. Others have no success at all with such products. In any case, a word of caution is certainly advised – some substances may be toxic when ingested in large enough quantities.Certain foods, such as milk and turkey, contain a substance which may increase drowsiness. Lastly, it is probably a good idea to follow the common wisdom, to avoid heavy and/or spicy meals near bedtime. When our bodies are very busy with digestion, it may negatively affect our dreams.

21. WHAT ARE THE BEST BOOKS ABOUT DREAMS? Dreamers are sure to disagree on this subject! Some people would prefer books from a scientific perspective; others would like a more psychological approach; still others would want a spiritual emphasis. Most of us agree that "dream dictionaries" usually have very limited usefulness. Some of the more prolific authors who write dream books include:

Robert Bosnak
Kelly Bulkeley
Gayle Delaney
G. William Domhoff
Ann Faraday
Jayne Gackenbach
Patricia Garfield
Ernest Hartmann
J. Allan Hobson
Strephon Kaplan-Williams
Stanley Krippner
Stephen LaBerge
Patricia Maybruck
Henry Reed
Jeremy Taylor
Montague Ullman
Robert Van de Castle
Marie Louise Von Franz

Your local librarian or bookstore clerk can help you locate good books.

22. IS IT POSSIBLE TO CONTROL YOUR DREAMS? Yes, at least to some extent. Dreams have been shown to be quite responsive to presleep stimuli. Some people are able to "incubate" dreams that address certain issues or involve certain places, characters, or scenes.It is also possible to develop a skill called "lucid dreaming," which means an awareness DURING SLEEP, that a dream is occuring. To learn techniques for developing this skill, consult books by Stephen LaBerge or visit alt.dreams.lucid

23. IS IT NORMAL TO HAVE A "DREAM WITHIN A DREAM"? These dreams, called "false awakenings" (or, less commonly, "nested dreams" or "recursive dreams") seem to be linked to the ability to experience lucid dreams. Some people enjoy these odd muddlings of dream life and waking reality; other people find them very disturbing.

24. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE AREN’T DREAMING RIGHT NOW? Good question. Lucid dreamers are famous for constantly "checking" reality, to see whether they are dreaming at that moment! One "reality check" might be to attempt complicated mathematical equations, which seem to be very difficult to perform in dreams (although this effect is less true for mathematicians than the rest of us.) Most people also find that text tends to shift and change in unnatural ways in dreams. So you might try reading a passage of text, looking away, and then re-reading it to see if it still says the same thing it did a moment ago.But, to be honest, this question is one of the great conundrums of history. Chinese philosopher Chuang-Tzu reportedly said in the 3rd century B.C., "One night I dreamed I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, content with my lot. Suddenly I awoke and I was Chuang-Tzu again. Who am I in reality? A butterfly dreaming that I am Chuang-Tzu or Chuang-Tzu imagining he was a butterfly?"