Dreams are one of the most fascinating aspects of our sleep state. Sometimes our dreams are very vivid and other times they are really hazy. Sometimes our dreams are self explanatory but most of the times they are puzzling. Some people dream almost daily while some claim they have never ever dreamt! What exactly are dreams? Is there a science behind dreams? What is the importance of dreams? What messages they convey to us and why and how can we interpret them to decode the messages?
The psychology and psychiatry community seems to stand divided on dreams. There is one school of thought, which believes dreams are just frivolous messages relayed by our mind as it is idle while we sleep. The second school of thought believes dreams are strong and meaningful communication from our mind and if interpreted and understood appropriately can help us do well in our life. This article will focus on the second school of thought as in the recent years, there have umpteen number researches and studies showing the relevance of messages communicated to us in dreams.
What is a dream?
Let us first understand what dream actually is. Dreams are direct communication from our sub-conscious mind. This communication is given to us in form of symbols, signs, images, etc. Sleep is a state when our sub-conscious mind can communicate directly with us without the interference from the conscious logical mind as it is asleep. This makes it easy for the sub conscious mind to communicate without any hindrance.
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Our mind
Before going in detail about dreams, let us understand a bit about our mind. Well known psychiatrist and hypnotherapist from USA, Dr. John Kappas has researched and developed a theory of mind. According to this theory our mind is a subtle body of energy, circle in shape with 12 feet in diameter and it remains the same size from the time of birth to the time we die. Since it is a subtle body of energy, the mind is actually not visible to the naked eye.
There are two parts of our mind: Conscious (10-12% of the total mind) and sub-conscious (88-90% of the total mind). The conscious mind is the logical, analytical, and thinking part of the mind and the subconscious mind is the data bank and stores all the information that comes in. Because the sub-conscious mind is our data bank and has all information about us (whether remembered by conscious mind or not), it sends us messages at times to warn us about situations or our behaviors.
Traditional vs Modern approach to dream interpretation
There are two models/approaches to dream interpretation: the traditional and the modern approach. The traditional approach to dream interpretation involves the models of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud explained dreams to be a way of our mind to fulfill our unmet wishes. Jung, on the contrary, believed that dreams stemmed from our own psyche and had much more importance than being just an expression of our suppressed wishes. Jung also believed that dreams Jung believed that dreams were highly symbolic and required intense information about the dreamer subject before interpreting his or her dream.
The modern approach to dream therapy was developed by Dr. John Kappas, Ph.D., who is known for pioneering the modern way of dream interpretation and analysis. The model developed by Kappas is currently used by many contemporary psychologists and hypnotherapists around the world. Kappas model actually is inclusive of Freud’s and Jung’s approach, yet it is very unique and by far the most comprehensive and authentic way of dream interpretation.
Kappas model of dream is the first one to introduce individual interpretations based on the unique dreamscape of each client. In other words, this approach established that an exact same dream by two people will have different interpretation for both of them based on their sub-conscious patterns and experience. This model also requires a direct an active role from the dreamer in the process of interpretation of dreams.
Types of dreams
Based on the sleep and dream model (modern approach to dream interpretation) presented by Dr. John Kappas, it is established that our sleeping time is divided in three stages of equal duration and the mind uses the information accumulated during the waking hours and processes, updates and vents them, as required. Based on these three stages of sleep, there are three types of dreams we get:
1) Processing Dreams
2) Predictive Dreams
3) Venting Dreams
Any dreams that come during the first one third duration of our sleep fall in the category of processing dreams and are not very relevant. These are usually just random images that are flashed to us as the mind is going through the information and organizing it in the respective files.
The next set of dreams that come during the second 1/3rd part of our sleep is considered to have the most significant messages for us and is called the predictive dreams. This second stage of our sleep is when the mind has gone through the information and is updating it in accordance with the old data it has. This is when it identifies patterns and behaviors which hold relevance in our life and shows a predictive dream. This type of dream is most important for us to interpret as they can help us identify erratic patterns in our life and work towards changing them.
The last 1/3rd part of our sleep is when we get the venting dreams as the mind is venting unnecessary information, thoughts, feeling and emotions that we would have experienced. These venting dreams are also important for us to interpret as they indicate where are we taking unnecessary stress and what are the things we just need to let go and forget completely.
Some quick facts about dreams
– Every living person dreams (except extreme psychological disorder cases), some forget it completely, some remember it briefly, while others remember them vividly.
– We forget our dreams in the first 10-15 minutes of waking up
– Dreams vent out a lot of our negative emotion and are an important part of automatic healing process of our mind
– Dreams are very specific to individuals and can not be interpreted to generic symbols
Pay attention to your dreams and listen what your sub-conscious mind is telling you!
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