Fascinating Facts About Dreams: What a Pain in the…
How Physical Pain Affects Our Dreams
The more facts you read about dreams, the more you realize just how fascinating they are. This week’s “Fascinating Fact” is one you may have experienced yourself. Have you ever dreamed that you were in pain of some sort, only to wake up and find that the pain was REAL?
Some people believe they hurt themselves in their dream, but that’s not the case. What happens is this: When we experience pain with any type of intensity, we often “work” this pain into our dream. If our spouse inadvertently kicks us in the middle of the night, for example, we may dream that something has hit us in the leg.
Lab studies have actually been performed that prove a couple of ways dreamers respond to pain during sleep:
- If it’s a mild, annoying type of pain (for example, they’re foot has fallen asleep and they’re experiencing the pins and needles business), they may dream that their shoe is on too tight or that their foot is stuck in something.
- If they are suffering from something more intense (such as a broken bone or pulled muscle), the pain may manifest itself in the dream as something the dreamer is trying to “escape” from. Physical suffering often shows up in dreams as something that the dreamer is trying to out-run, hide from, or even destroy.
I once got an e-mail from a woman who was CONVINCED she’d cut herself in her dream. She said that, in the dream, she cut herself on the leg with a piece of paper. When she woke up the next morning, she noticed a scratch exactly where she’d dreamed of being cut. I told her that – although this certainly would make for the coolest of stories – it was physically impossible for a dream symbol to leave a mark.
I asked her if she had pets that regularly slept with her or if she slept with someone who might just need to clip their toenails! She said that she had two cats that slept with her and her husband.
When I told her that it was pretty obvious that one of the cats accidentally scratched her leg – she agreed that it was “possible,” but that she planned on sticking with the paper cut explanation.
I guess a “good” story appeals to some people more than the plain old truth!
Fascinating Facts About Dreams: Who Are These People Anyway?!
No One’s Entirely a Stranger in Your Dreams
In addition to the normal dream interpretations and analyses on Dream Prophesy, I’m going to start a series called Fascinating Facts About Dreams. I’ll usually post these on Wednesdays – unless I think of something so fascinating I can’t wait to share it!
The first Fact About Dreams is one that blew me away – in fact, years ago, when I first read about it, I was actually even a little skeptical. But after further research and through personal experience, I’ve found that it’s dead on: There are no total strangers in your dreams.
The faces you see in your dreams are faces you’ve seen at some point in your life. They may be people you’ve seen on television, in movies, in books, or in public. You may or may not have ever talked to these people – all that matters is the fact that your eyes saw them and your brain “acknowledged” them.
When your brain takes notice of a face, it immediately plays casting director. The individual is added to an ever-growing and expansive list of characters that it can draw from for its grand productions called dreams.
That’s why the cashier in your dream may look an awful lot like “Flo” from the Progressive commercials. She (or even what she represents – insurance) may not have anything in the world to do with the dream’s meaning. She may simply be the one that was cast in that particular role!
I have a dream a few nights ago and I kept thinking, “The woman I spoke to looked familiar…” Later I realized the face was that of an English teacher I had in high school. I’m not entirely sure what was up with her hair, though – I’m kind of certain my brain’s hair and makeup department switched up her ‘do a little bit.
When awake, we can kind of imagine the image of a face we’ve never seen. We can think… let’s give her Halle Berry’s eyes, Gwen Stefani’s smile, and Angelina Jolie’s nose. We can come pretty close to picturing the final product (and how lovely would she be?!). However, in our dreams, we simply aren’t able to get that creative.
Think about someone in one of your most recent dreams and see if you can… literally… put a name to the face.
What is Lucid Dreaming?
Can You “Make” Yourself Have Lucid Dreams?
- A Lucid Dream is a dream in which you realize you are dreaming.
- Lucid Dreams are more vivid than other dreams. The yellows are more yellow, the blues are more blue, the emotions are larger, the fear is stronger, and so on.
- Have you ever seen the movie Vanilla Sky? This was an example of Lucid Dreams hitting the big screen!
- During a Lucid Dream, a certain “clue” or “sign” will alert the dreamer that is actually a dream.
Lucid Dreams First Used by Frederik van Eeden
The term Lucid Dream was first used by Frederik van Eeden who used the word “lucid” in the sense of mental clarity. When something tips us off in a dream that it is, in fact a dream, we regain our mental clarity. The clue that tips us off could be seeing someone we realize is deceased, having a magical power such as invisibility, or being able to fly, etc.
Lucid Dreams occur in different “strengths” or “levels.” They’ve gotten a great deal of attention because many people believe we can use them to “control” our dreams and, even, help us solve problems.
Can You Make Yourself Have Lucid Dreams?
The questions on everyone’s mind are, “Can I make myself experience lucid dreams” and “How can I make myself have lucid dreams?!” There’s a bit of a controversy over this particular subject.
Some dream experts believe you absolutely cannot make yourself experience lucid dreams. They argue that these dreams only occur supernaturally and cannot be provoked or invited in any way.
Personally, I believe that “making” yourself experience lucid dreams isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds. There’s certainly no switch to turn on and you can’t “will” yourself to have lucid dreams.
Having said that, however, I believe you can set the stage for experiencing lucid dream. There are steps you can take to become much more in tune with your dreams and this will, in turn, set the stage for lucid dreaming. Once the stage is set, so to speak, they are much more likely to occur.
I’ve written an article How to Have Lucid Dreams, read the article for 10 easy ways to help set the stage for lucid dreaming.
Lucid Dreams Category on Dream Prophesy
In the Lucid Dreams category, watch for many upcoming articles addressing this very premise. As a dreamologist, I am very passionate about Lucid Dreams. I believe they can, like all dreams, give us a lot of insight into our emotions, our thoughts, our core beliefs, etc. A greater sense of self can be gained by paying closer attention to our dreams.
That’s what this site is here for – to help us identify exactly what our dreams mean and what they’re trying to tell us. We’ll learn how to use this information to bring peace into our heart and minds as we build the lives we’ve always… well…dreamed of.
“Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if it were available in waking, would make every man a Dante or Shakespeare.” – H.F. Hedge
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