Why do we dream? What do they mean? How do we remember them? I’m sure we all ask ourselves these questions when we wake up somedays. Here are some interesting facts about dreams that may answer your questions!
What is sleep paralysis?
When you wake up, you might’ve noticed that sometimes your brain is active but you aren’t able to move your body at all. It is also possible that while asleep, some of us may find ourselves walking, running or doing some other physical activity in our dreams. In these cases, your brain has the important duty of preventing you from moving in accordance to your movements in the dream. In other words, your brain keeps you in an anesthetic state regardless of what you experience in a dream. This is why waking up suddenly causes your body to remain still. If you find yourself in this state, remain calm and take a few deep breaths, and you’ll find yourself back to normal in no time. Several years ago, Sleep Paralysis was known as the work of evil ghosts!
Do animals have dreams?
Much like humans, animals also happen to have dreams in their sleep. However, animals are unable to differentiate between the events happening in their dreams and real life.
Are there strangers in our dreams?
Many people claim that they have seen people they’ve never actually seen in real life, in their dreams. While in actuality, our brains aren’t able to create new faces and since we don’t even have the capacity to do so. In our day-to-day life, we see a lot of people, and their faces are recorded into our subconscious memory. As you may have guessed, the unfamiliar faces you see in your dreams aren’t really strangers, but are faces that you’ve seen before at some point!
Average time spent on dreams
The average person spends around 6 years of their life dreaming. It is said that one can even have up to 2,190 dreams in a year.
Symbolism
There is a common belief that dreams symbolize something, that is, there may be deeper reasons behind the happenings in our dreams. A possible explanation behind this is that our brains create simulations as dreams, to test how our body would react in real life if such a situation is to arise.
Here are some examples of symbolism:
- If you see any dirty water in your dream, it is possible that our brain is telling us to check on our body’s health.
- If your dream has a newborn baby, it hints towards your life being filled with new ideas and innovations in the near future and even signifies yourself stepping in a new direction.
How can we remember our dreams?
Research says that we forget more than 50% of dreams within 5 minutes of waking up, and up to 90% of our dreams within 10 minutes of waking up. So, if you want to remember your dreams, it would be a good idea to have a notebook that you can jot down your dreams in, immediately after waking up and reread it later on.
Why is there no sound in your dreams?
If you ever see an ambulance in your dreams, you definitely won’t be able to hear the siren sound it is often characterized by. The only sounds you will probably hear while dreaming, are your mobile ringtone or alarm!
