Dreams are a great insight into our subconscious minds. Our subconsciousness is working overtime constantly, even though we don’t always recognize what our internal minds are mulling through. With all the information we are confronted with every day, it’s no wonder that our brains work well into the night processing it all.
Dreams are our brain’s way of solving problems, creating creative solutions, and sending us messages about our physical, mental, and emotional selves. Humanity has many common dreams between us and we dream of falling, of flying, of being naked in public places, and more.
Our dreams can have these common themes in them as well as highly individualistic symbols that only make sense to us. We dream of familiar faces and familiar places, of conversations that we’ve had and of things that haven’t happened yet. There is much we do not understand about our subconscious minds as well as the meaning of our dreams.
Here are a few common dream themes as well as their interpretations from leading psychologists and dream analyses:
- Water. When we dream of water, this can be an insight into our emotional states. The type of water you dream about can be indicative of your emotional life and if it is wild and turbulent, calm, and serene, an ocean or a river. Your water might be clear or cloudy, and you might be in it or observing it from afar.
Small bodies of water like a pond or a lake can be indicators that you keep your emotional life within boundaries. Moving water, like a river, symbolizes situations where you let your emotions flow
Waters that are rough to you such as oceans and seas without boundaries symbolize free emotional states.
If you are standing in the water, this can mean that you are engaging fully with the emotions you are feeling. If you are observing the water from a distance, you might be keeping yourself from fully experiencing your emotions. The turbulence of the water can relate to the emotional storms or calm you might be feeling in your waking life.
- Being naked. Being naked is something most of us avoid, certainly in public areas. Some of us feel comfortable being naked, while others of us clam up and seek shelter. If you dream of being naked, sense if you are comfortable in that situation or not. If you feel comfortable, it can indicate that you are comfortable with yourself and who you are. If you feel ashamed or embarrassed, this can mean that you feel defenseless or unprepared.
- Losing teeth. Teeth can be a big factor in some peoples’ dreams. Losing or breaking teeth can symbolize insecurities about your physical health. Teeth can also symbolize life changes. If teeth are loose and fall out, they represent a situation that has been developing for a longer period of time. Sudden changes can be represented by a tooth falling out with no warning. Your emotional state is represented in your dreams.
- We’ve all dreamed of being chased as well. We might be chased by a stranger or an object that we don’t recognize, or we could feel as if we know the person or thing pursuing us. This symbolizes feeling or being overwhelmed in a situation that causes us to feel powerless or without options.
This is our brain processing issues and doesn’t mean that you are helpless in the real world. This kind of dream can leave you feeling anxious as you awake, so practice taking deep breaths to recover.
Dreams where we fly are exhilarating for some people and terrifying for others. We might soar with excitement and glee or feel fearful at the landscape passing us by swiftly below. Flying can represent feelings of freedom and liberation and being in control of our lives. Obstacles while we are flying cause us to assess our feelings and adapt to changing circumstances.
If are afraid during flying dreams, this can indicate that we are holding ourselves back because of a fear of failure. We don’t want to risk failing, so we fail to try. This dream can allow you to assess obstacles, even if that obstacle is yourself.
Dreams are very powerful and can give us a lot of insight into our mental, emotional, and physical states. Consider keeping a dream journal or contacting a dream analyst to discover the meaning behind your dreams today.
