Dreams [some facts about it]

Dreams have always intrigued us since time immemorial. It is also said there were specific dream interpreters in the courts of kings in early civilizations. However, in the 1800s the father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud and subsequently, his successor Carl Jung, revolutionized the world of dreams. Since then a lot has been studied in this field but dreams astound us with varied meanings and interpretations every time we witness them.

Some of the most interesting facts about dreams in the trailing paragraphs are sure to take one by surprise.

While dreaming we become temporarily paralyzed

Not many of us are aware that we become temporarily paralyzed in the dream state. This can be attributed to the fact that sometimes we may be so moved with certain dramatic dreams as to fall and hurt ourselves, thus, as a natural response the body goes into a temporary inactive state physically.

We can control our dreams

In what is known as a “Lucid dreaming” phase one can control their dreams. Thus, one can also manipulate their dreams and even the outcomes! Another interesting fact is that one dreams things one has witnessed some time before in their life.

Dreams can cause incorporation

How often have we dreamt we were hungry or thirsty or performing an act repeatedly in our sleep until we wake up and undertake the activity? Sometimes one could dream of drinking glasses of water only to wake up and be very thirsty!

Dreams speak in indirect language

Dreams never utilize symbols they actually stand for. A lot of research has already gone into the subject and books have been written on dream symbols and their interpretations. Dreams carry deep meanings that only the subconscious mind can understand.

Dreams are very difficult to remember

Often when we wake up we fail to remember even a single sequence of the dream we had during the night. A strange fact remains therefore, that dreams are almost always forgotten, except if a person is woken up at the REM stage.

We tend to dream of forbidden things

Another startling fact about dreams is the frequent instance of dreaming things one is forbidden to do. A person who is forbidden to eat chocolates may dream of gorging greedily on them. Even medical conditions and psychological disorders may have a direct effect on dreams!

Some people only dream in black and white

Some people dream only in black and white while about 70% of people dream in colors. Certain dreams are very common to some people such as, failing an exam, getting up late for the exam, dreams related to one’s school, seeing a person dead who is alive in real life, being chased by someone etc. Studies are being conducted in the relevance of colors and repeated sequences in dreams.

Disturbed sleep may lead to psychosis

Sleeping and dreaming which occur in the REM stage are very important for healthy living. In a research conducted involving students who were woken up at the start of their REM stage, it was noted the students became irritable, hallucinated a lot, were affected by psychosis and were finally disinterested in everything they did. Thus a good night’s sleep combined with regular dreaming is our body’s way of staying fit too!

Visually impaired people dream too

Very interestingly, people who are born blind only witness dreams involving smell, sound or touch, while people who go blind after birth are seen to witness regular dreams just like their counterparts with vision.

And so do animals

Studies have revealed animals and more specifically mammals dream exactly the way humans do! So even your household pet may be dreaming all night without your knowing about it.

Children have more nightmares than adults

It is widely studied that children have more nightmares than adults.

Some great inventions were first conceived during sleep

Although we tend to forget about 90% of our dreams once we wake up, many great scientists have made discoveries in their dreams and written them down the moment they woke up. Newton, Graham Bell and even some poets have received their inspirations from dreams.

Grace Murano

 

 

 

Inception becomes reality: People can teach themselves new skills in dreams

The idea of the surreal Hollywood blockbuster Inception, where people travel through someone’s dreams to ‘plant’ an idea in his head may not be so out-there after all.

Researchers at Yale have found that ‘lucid dreamers’ – dreamers who have ‘waking dreams’ that they control – are able to learn new skills in their dreams.

A team is now experimenting with the idea of ‘training’ people by telling them what to dream about.

While the idea of ‘walking through’ someone’s dreams, as in the hit movie Inception is fictional – and likely to remain so – dreams are good for more than just entertainment, say researchers

‘We know that by engaging circuits in the brain we can change its architecture,’ says Yale’s Peter Morgan

People who can control their dreams can use the unusual ability to experience a sense of euphoria, as if they have accomplished something.

But new research hints that people can actually ‘use’ dreaming as a tool to learn.

Being in command of dreams opens up opportunities to manipulate them for learning and training – although it may not be quite as precise as learning to play the violin while asleep.

Instead, ‘lucid dreamers’ can control areas of their brain to open up and ‘learn’ while they sleep. What’s more, it seems that merely being a lucid dreamer seems to give you an advantage.

Researchers from Yale University found that lucid dreamers perform better in a gambling task, designed to test a part of the brain important to emotional decision-making and social interactions, said a report in New Scientist this week.

Peter Morgan at Yale University and colleagues think that this region can be trained. 

Morgan and his team are working on how to train people using dreams.

Morgan hopes to be able to improve a person’s social control and decision-making abilities.

‘We know that by engaging circuits in the brain we can change its architecture,’ he says.

It’s already been proven that people who practice tasks in dreams can be better at them in real life.

One Swiss study, led by Daniel Erlacher of the University of Bern, showed that lucid dreamers who ‘practiced throwing a coin into a cup were better at the real thing when they woke up.

- Daily mail

Related articles

• Lucid dreamers could offer an ‘insight into consciousness’ (time4sleep.co.uk)
• Brain scans open window into people’s dreams (cbsnews.com)

First Chinese Sanskrit Pop Singer

Sa Dingding, who won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the Asia Pacific category in 2008, is being promoted as the first Chinese Sanskrit Pop Singer by China ‘s official media. She is being promoted by the provincial government of Tibet and if she garners enough attention she might sing at the inauguration of the May 2010 Shanghai World Expo, which is expected to draw the top business firms

She is the first pop singer who sings in Sanskrit. She is also famous for her ethnic clothes and Tibetan Buddhist style of music. Although she is famous for her ethnic characteristics clothing and Tibetan Buddhist music, she is not a Tibetan girl. Her parents’ ancestral home is Shandong province and her grandmother’s ancestral home is Inner Mongolia .

Only people who can endure loneliness can be successful. As a musician, she dropped fame and learned Sanskrit by herself. She visited all the Chinese cultural sites to find inspiration and to derive affluent nutrition for her music. Her musical inspirations all come from Chinese civilization and culture. 

Apparently, the local government is pushing her to give up song writing and singing in languages other than Sanskrit so she can be presented to the world as a symbol of China ‘s rich cultural heritage. “It is possible China may be trying to show that Sanskrit is part of its cultural heritage. What better way to draw world attention than to get a lovely voice to sing pop?,” a Shanghai based expert on Chinese culture told TNN.