Dreaming Essay

Submitted By Katie-Boyer
Words: 1658
Pages: 7

Dreams Dreams are a naturally occurring reaction due to our brain activities. We can use our dreams in several different ways like relaxing, planning, and remembering ideas we forgot before. There are several different dreams that can take place at night during sleep and many theories as to why these dreams do take place. The different types of dreams and the theories we have help us to figure out how we can use our dreams to help us overcome fears that we experience.
There are many different types of dreams that a person can experience. The first type of dream is a normal everyday occurring dream. When dreaming, it will seem as though a person is in their average everyday life, even though some dreams can be very bizarre. Normal dreams occur during REM sleep (rapid eye movement). REM sleep takes place for about ten through twenty minutes, getting longer each time it cycles through. During the night a person may go through an average of four REM stages, but it may vary depending on how many hours of sleep they may receive. In REM sleep the eyes move quickly, the heart rate begins to increase, and the other bodily processes begin to speed up. Sleep paralysis is when our body parts are paralyzed while our brain begins to move faster as if our body parts were actually moving. Our bodies are paralyzed because our brain stem is able to block messages, freezing our body. When we dream during REM sleep if one were to wake up their dreams would be most vividly remembered here. Dreaming is something that occurs naturally and in several different ways. There are numerous different kinds of dreams that can occur, like lucid dreams. These kinds of dreams are dreams that can be controlled by the dreamer. Most dreamers who have lucid dreams wake themselves up after realizing they were in control, others can train themselves to keep dreaming (Jung). When a lucid dream happens the dreamer becomes an active participant in their own dream. During lucid dreams a person will be more willing to confront a fear they may be afraid of (Jung). Because of this people may return to their daily lives and be able to confront a situation that they were afraid of in the first place. An example of someone overcoming a fear through a lucid dream is by having a fear of riding a bike and in the dream a person will teach themselves to learn to ride the bike. Then, when the person wakes up they have a better idea of how to ride a bike and feel more confident because of the control they experienced during the lucid dream. Approximately half of the adult population has been reported to have had at least one lucid dream before (Jung). Lucid dreams are rather unique dreams that one can look forward to having.
A third type of dream is a prophetic dream, or often times referred to as precognitive dream. In this kind of a dream a person is able to see the future but it can only be confirmed after the event takes place (Jung). Scientists believe that in order for this psychic ability to occur a person must self-edit the dream to match the event or outcome (Jung). Prophetic dreams are said to be connected to things such as wars, accidents, and are even useful in helping solve crimes. There are several different types of prophetic dreams, some of these dream types include apparition dreams, clairaudient dreams, and empathic dreams (Proffitt). Apparitions are when a person has a dream about the deceased returning to deliver a special message. Movies are a good example of this because in the dreams they often times have someone come back and give an important message. Clairaudient dreams are dreams that have a distinct voice but the dreamer cannot tell where it is coming from. During a clairaudient dream someone may feel as though they are at a play or a movie because it will seem as though there is a narrator that they can only hear. The last type of prophetic dream is an empathic dream. During this type of dream someone may often wake up feeling a flood of