I wake up wondering what is Midrash. Surely Hebrew but a word I am not yet familiar with. Daylight breaks with a question in mind. What is Midrash? “Where did you hear this word?” “In my dream” I responded. “A Beit Midrash is a house of hebrew bible studies.”
As I retold the dream he smiled and said “it doesn’t surprise me”. Didn’t surprise me either this wasn’t the first time I had dreamed in Hebrew recently but it was the first time I heard a word I did not recognize in my dream. Midrash. I’d been summoned to come to Midrash by an unknown messenger. A subconscious gesture of my curious mind?

3 years later I can see the dream with my eyes open. I can still feel my spirit lift each time I see the robed arm release me with his message willowing in my ears. 3 years later I am still floating in his message. Come to Midrash…

Scenes of water and sadness consume my dreams more nights these days. The closer I get to Midrash the more questions I have. Gates have opened but the forked road I must take to get there keeps me in the middle. Perhaps the only direct way to the gate is a decision to be
made, What does it mean to me?

From the Dream Diary of Janice Hunter

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Some people would surely jump at any conclusion upon waking up with the ideas formed through what they have dreamed of. However, there are some dream symbols that seem to be irrational or incomplete due to the possibility of these being forgotten when one has already awakened. To avoid these concerns, people should be able to follow some very easy techniques in order to analyze their dreams even as beginners in the field of dream psychology. In the studies of Freud and Jung, the dream meanings have been found to come from the unconscious mind telling the person of certain warnings and fulfillment of goals. These can be done through these simple steps upon waking up, either in the morning or in the middle of the night.

1. Before going to sleep, keep a notepad and pen ready at the bedside. This will keep the person ready to write down thoughts as soon as possible at any time. It would also be helpful to put a date on top of the sheet to ensure that all details are available, in case there is a chronological or repetitive dream.

2. Upon awaking, recall or replay the events in the dream. Jot down the dream symbols and events that hold most of one’s interest or those that created emotions. Determining these feelings may also be relayed by matching the emotion with the event or dream symbol.

3. During a quiet time, it would be good to go through the notes that were made on the dream notebook to recall the events and feelings. Add some thoughts and additional information that might have been forgotten.

4. Clear the mind of any concerns and worries by doing some stretching, relaxation, and breathing exercises.

5. With this collection, the person can now try to relate these thoughts to the events encountered in reality. Most of these would surely relate to daily responsibilities such as family concerns, work, or school. There are also instances when the strongest feelings and concerns that a person experiences, especially those that are repressed or kept in much secrecy, arises in relation to the dream.

6. If there is a feeling of uncertainty, it would be best to revisit the dream collection later on after a few days. The time for this will allow a person to reflect more on the experience and clarify one’s mind.

In having an understanding of one’s dream, a person is able to have a clear picture of how the mind works. It is also a way that the mind and body relay the information and its beliefs to the person which is through dream symbols. There is no harm in finding out about one’s dreams because it is usually something that would aid the decision making responsibilities of a person like that of what Jungian dream psychology has been explaining for several years now.

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Nightmares definitely contain unpleasant dream symbols that people would wish to avoid. There are many suppositions that aim to keep a person away from nightmares and the horrid dream interpretations that cultivate fearful thoughts and feelings. Although nightmares bring negative feelings, its appearance in one’s dreams is an important indication to maintain a person’s security and safety.

There is a belief that negative dream meanings imply warnings. Although this is not always true in physical reality, the unpleasant dream meanings may indicate dangers that one’s psyche might encounter as a person faces reality. In contrary to beliefs that nightmares are psychic episodes, dream psychology states that nightmares occur because of occurrences in a person’s life that the unconscious would wish to resolve. For example, a person dreams of bleeding and getting badly wounded. This does not precisely signify getting into an accident or getting hurt physically. Dreams symbols as such may post as an alarm to your conscious mind that your body is undergoing pain coming from stressful situations or emotional liabilities or may encounter pain with the current decisions and actions the person has recently undertaken.

Dream psychology studies the important messages that nightmares bring. During dream interpretations, each aspect of the experience is dissected in dream psychology. Dream symbols may imply the negative feelings the unconscious mind is trying to communicate whether during the present or whether it had been a recurring theme since the time of childhood.

Reverence should also be maintained from the dream meanings nightmares provide. Extreme unconscious dream symbols may also imply psychological needs and psychiatric issues that need to be addressed. Recurring nightmares, on the other hand, would present dream interpretations that remind the dreamer of responsibilities that are consistent, duties that have continuously been postponed, or the need for the person to understand a certain reality that he or she encounters in life.

A classic example of nightmares is the dream symbols that give feelings of falling with the inability to save oneself. Dream psychology explains that dream symbols similar to this indicates deceptions to prepare a person to become strong and determined to face challenges like these.

Following dream meanings may help lessen the appearance of unpleasant dream symbols. Nightmares indicate the abstract means that the unconscious uses to communicate with our conscious. Dream psychology suggests a person could solve and overcome problems encountered in life by following the guidance of the unconscious mind through the dream interpretations it presents. So, whenever encounter weird and fearful dream meanings, keep in mind that your unconscious mind is giving you signals to protect and prepare you to face possible problems that you are experiencing or may encounter very soon.

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Dream meanings have been continuously interpreted through the years. Many have developed false beliefs and distorted the truth behind our dream interpretations. You might even think dream meanings are complete hoax, but dream psychology proposes the most accurately way to explain how and why dreams occur.

Since dream symbols are difficult to dissect because of the hidden dream meanings, some people might think that there would be no way we can finally interpret our dreams. In contrary to this, dream psychology reveals ways to discover the true meanings of dream symbols. Carl Jung’s study of dream psychology reveals that the unconscious messages hidden in our dreams are protective of our well-being.

A simpler method of dream interpretations is by putting it into our own words. Sigmund Freud used a similar method of free association in dream interpretations of his patients. Jotting down specific entities in a dream will help a person discover the dream meanings and signals. There are dreams that might show repetitiveness, consistency, and sometimes, continuity. All of these pieces work together in defining our life choices and experiences.

Let us try to look into common dream symbols and possible dream interpretations that can possibly apply to it.

• People: As Carl Jung explained the Anima or Animus, our unconscious portrays people who we characterize ourselves with. We project our character using other people to represent our weaknesses or strengths. People in our dreams may mean specific traits that we have or want to have that other people have attained.

• Animals: In reality, we describe animal to have instinctive nature. Similar to this, animals used as dream symbols uncover our instinctual emotions and actions. The characteristics of animals represented in dreams are interpreted as repressed emotions we encounter in reality.

• Falling: Dream psychology has observed that falling had been a usual theme of nightmares. Falling is often described as a dream symbol that poses warnings that people or events may deceive us.

• Blood: Other common symbols seen in dreams are blood and accidents. These represent pain, whether emotional, physical, or psychological.

• Train: Vehicles, such as trains and buses are defined by Sigmund Freud as a phallic symbol, implying a sexual desire. Missing a ride may also mean an opportunity a person has overlooked or neglected.

• Work or School: Since a person has to spend most of his or her waking hours at work or in school, the unconscious mind continues to remind us of the responsibilities we have at work.

Some people may wish to keep track of the dream symbols they experience and be intrigued with the themes that recur or continue. Dream interpretations differ from person to person. Each dream allocates to specific life experiences that a person can apply to his or her life experiences. Being aware of our dream meanings will help develop a person’s maturity and decision-making skills.

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Whenever complicated problems arise, we try to decide by choosing the best and the more important choice. In considering all necessary options, some people even experience difficulty in sleep and rest. During these times, the conscious mind has been working double time to address the problem, but we would later on discover that the unconscious could also help solve the problem for us.

Let us give more meaning to our Conscious and Unconscious mind.

Conscious mind is responsible to rationality of human. It is responsible for our abilities to think, speak, and reason out. The conscious mind aims to understand our thoughts, problems, and concerns. It also holds the responsibility of keeping our unconscious needs and desires repressed as what dream psychology supposes.

The unconscious mind, on the other hand, is the area of our deepest desires, urges, and feelings. Sigmund Freud suggests that the dream symbols we have are created by the unconscious mind. The dream meanings suggest the things that our conscious mind refuses to manifest because it is inappropriate. The unconscious is also responsible for the involuntary movement of our body. It also manifests literal dream interpretations and associates information with more concrete or tangible means to represent our dreams and aspirations.

Dream Psychology defined dreams as a camouflage that conceals the desires and feelings that we repress. The dream interpretations execute the abstraction of the thoughts of a person. The dream meanings show the continuation of the repressed feelings that one has encountered during the day, sometimes even extending the activities experienced during the day. If a person has a clinging desire to succeed or change a reality, yet unable to speak about it or perform the action, dream symbols take its place to fulfill the person’s wish.
There are occasions when we ponder on the peculiarity of certain dream meanings due to the translation of thoughts into abstract means. This is the work of the conscious mind struggling to hide the repressed feelings in abstract dream symbols. As we delve deeply of the dream interpretations, we discover that the expression of one’s feelings takes the form of objects that indirectly refer to the more specific insights. This is called symbolism.

Upon waking up, the conscious mind aims to determine and understand the themes of our dream meanings. It would either rationalize and give it a reason or push the ideas and dream interpretations away, especially if it opens up the dark secrets that a person keeps from reality.
In the evaluation in dream psychology, the unconscious mind, although responsible for the formulation of dream meanings, would distort and break the connections of the dream symbols with a person’s life and feelings. This is together with the influence of the conscious mind over the unconscious.

Both areas of the human mind work together in keeping a balance between a person’s needs, wants, and desires, with the capacity in which a person should perform in reality.

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The Freudian dream psychology searched the unconscious of a person where fears and desires dwell. These emotions were camouflaged in the form of dream symbols. Dream meanings communicate to our conscious mind the desires that it tries to suppress.

Freud developed several themes on dream psychology. He proposed the structure of the Human Psyche – the id, ego, and superego. Id characterizes our reflexes, urges, and primal functions, while Ego is the rational part of the psyche. Finally, the Superego represses the Id by enforcing one’s moral responsibilities. When one is asleep, the superego and ego takes a break, allowing the Id to present itself in dream symbols. Upon waking up, we sometimes forget what we dreamt about because the Superego resumes work to suppress the evaluation of the dream meanings that represent desires of the unconscious mind.

Dream meanings could also be discovered in the Five Psychosexual Stages of Development of Freud. These personality foundations also take part in dream interpretations:
1. Oral Stage takes place during birth to infancy where in the fixations focus on the mouth. Recurring dream symbols of being incomplete refer to themes based on this stage.
2. Anal Stage refers to the potty training stage wherein a person learns about controlling one’s body functions. Being unable to meet the challenges on this stage would be seen in people with obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Dream symbols that show one’s inability to put things in order are dream meanings with difficulty in this stage.
3. Phallic Stage is during the preschool years where Oedipus and Electra complexes may arise. Boy’s anger and jealousy towards the father are dream interpretations of the battle for the mother’s love. This also happens in girls, which is represented in her love for her father.
4. The Latency Period is the time when the child begins to learn about his/her sexuality. Dream psychology proposes that sexual tendencies begin to arise during this phase, because the child begins to learn about gender roles.
5. Genital stage starts from 12 years of age. This is where the sexual and erotic interests appear. The dream meanings of erotic dreams imply difficulty in this stage of development.

The studies of Freud on Dream Psychology also focused on wish-fulfillment, where dream symbols present thoughts of one’s dreams and aspirations. Thoughts on issues that a person lacks like love, encouragement, and other means of satisfaction can be seen hidden in the dream meanings seen during sleep. The dream interpretations would show the repressed thoughts and feeling resurface as dreams are discussed and identified.

In closing, Freud’s theories of dream psychology main focus and revolve around the unconscious mind of a person. The unconscious satisfies the desires of the person while one enjoys the time of hi or her deep sleep.

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The unconscious mind contains the two distinctions, namely the personal and collective. The personal distinction holds the individual experiences of a person, while the collective distinction grasps the dream symbols that appear, having the same sequences in all human beings.

Dream symbols appear in similar formats based on the theories of Carl Jung.

• The Persona signifies the images and dream symbols that is directly associated with the real world. These are mostly disguised and have dream meanings that pertain to one’s social status and distinction. The Persona is also labeled as the mask used by a person to present one’s self to the others. In dream interpretations, the Persona shows the relationship that a person would want the world to accept and a character that could protect one from rejection.

• The Shadow is the underdeveloped part of the human psyche, containing characteristics of a person that evolves based on the life experiences one encounters. This presents the unconscious dream meanings that imply a person’s instincts and weaknesses. In Jungian dream psychology, the Shadow contains the unconscious desires and experiences that the mind keeps which is basically rooted in childhood. The irrational instincts involve a projection of one’s flaws to the incapacities of others, forming an illusion with reality and symbolisms encountered in dream interpretations.

• The Animus or Anima is the idealistic image of man or a woman. Carl Jung’s dream psychology notes the Animus or Anima as the unconscious expression of one’s inner feminine or masculine personality. In dream symbols, it may present itself in a form of an existing human person as the ideal man or woman that a person idolizes. Because society has established gender roles, these distinct images are repressed and manifested as it is hidden in dream meanings.

Carl Jung’s dream psychology proposes that dream symbols cultivate creativity. He believed that all dreams come in a sequence to help a person develop and evolve as one delves into the dream interpretations presented by the psyche. The acceptance what dream meanings imply would help people in accepting and realizing the Self and the characteristics that a person possesses.

The theories of the studies of Carl Jung in dream psychology concentrates on the negative aspects of a person’s characteristics as it is masked and kept in dream symbols to avoid reality. As dream meanings are discovered, translated, and accepted people are able to transform and apply these negative characteristics to more positive means.

Jung suggests that individuals have the responsibility for their lives, regardless of the most painful and difficult circumstances. Responsibility in one’s actions and decisions should be achieved and avoid projecting one’s weaknesses to that of others. The patterns of dream symbols encountered by a person coordinate with one’s life experiences.

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During the ancient times, people perceive dreams as portals for receiving wisdom from the gods. Shamans depend on dreams to diagnose illness. In 1900’s, western people rely on dreams to forecast weather and predict the future. But a brand new idea of dream interpretation has come out when Sigmund Freud created his theory about dreams as a representation of unconscious desires, thoughts and motivations.

Sigmund Freud is recognized for his theories of the unconscious mind. According to his book, The Interpretation of Dreams, dreams are disguised fulfillments of repressed wishes. However, his limited research about REM and NREM sleep cycles makes his research unable to support the real psychological significance of a dream. Carl Jung, Freud’s great follower also has his own interpretation of dreams. According to him, dreams fill up for the personalities that are not properly developed in real life. His theory however disagrees with the reality that our wake times and our dreams explain consistent thoughts and behaviors.

Some researchers suggest that dreams don’t have actual purpose, while others see that dreams are important to mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Dreaming is highly involved in learning and memory. More often than not, they relate to events and thoughts when we are awake. The structure of the brain is shaped by the stimuli it takes in while we are awake and conscious. For instance, thoughts and experiences are known to strengthen the connections between certain neurons. With these, dreams can be possibly be resonance of the changes during the times when we are awake.

There are different modern theories that may explain why we dream. One of them tells that we dream to practice responses to threatening situations. In REM sleep, the brain functions similarly when it is threatened for survival. In this dream, we may be dreaming of being chased, fighting an enemy, or falling from a cliff. The brain also exercises our motor activity even though our limbs are not moving. In this theory, we dream to rehearse behaviors of self-defense in sleep in order to get better and be prepared in the real world.

Another theory is that dreams create wisdom. Remembering every image of our waking lives would clog our brains. This is where dreams come in to sort through our brains to determine which ones should retain and which ones should lose. Sleep is concluded as a process which separates the long term memories to short term ones.

It has also been said that dreaming organizes our brains, like a hard drive being defragmented. The brain works like a computer that connects its data in some ways. Dreams shuffle the old connections that allow us to keep important connections and delete inefficient links. This suggests that dreams are reordering connections to streamline the system.

Dreams can be like psychotherapy. When we dream, we are dealing with emotions which we put into pictures. This is where we think less rationally and less defensive where we are able to accept truths we might otherwise repress.

Others say that dreams don’t mean anything at all. They are just random functions of a brain that is not conscious at that time. It may be just consciousness that finds deep meaning in our brains.

Dream research may have been found to have many theories but still there is no answer to the question: why do we dream? Dream has always been a mysterious topic to the human mind, and with that, researchers will go on exploring and new theories may be possible to emerge.

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For years, psychology and medical communities have been showing us that lack of sleep is a major health crisis. Pharmaceutical companies manufacture pills to handle widespread problems of sleeping. But there are several ways you can adopt to sleep better.

Sometimes, we make sacrifices just to fulfill other demands during the day and even at night. Our sleep is affected and the natural rhythm of day and night is interrupted. Everything else in our own human body gets affected too, including our safety and overall health.

Insomnia

Insomnia usually starts with something that gives you one or a few restless nights. Maybe you have pain, jet lagged, anxious, or just feeling blue, you just can’t fall asleep because of these things. Your brain thinks that you’re awake but you are actually asleep.

Sometimes it’s not insomnia’s fault why we have problems falling asleep. We may have been doing activities at the wrong time. In this case, we are suffering from ‘sleep-phase disorder”.

Factors affecting sleep

Circadian rhythm. This body’s biological clock guides the body through cycles of sleep and alertness. It runs a day-night cycle of about 24 hours. The more stable and consistent our circadian rhythm is, the better our sleep.

Aging. Our sleep patterns change when we reach the age of 40 where we have more frequent nocturnal awakenings compared to our younger years. This affects the quality of our sleep.

Psychological stress. Reviewing for exams, deadlines for projects and other things that give us mental stress may keep us awake the whole night. We can’t just simply turn off the switch to get a good night’s sleep. It takes time to “switch off” all the noise from the day.

Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. These substances can interfere with your sleep. Caffeine makes you stay awake up to 10-14 hours of drinking it. Nicotine, in high doses, is a stimulant that causes arousal during sleep. Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but the subsequent metabolism of it causes arousal that disturb sleep.

When you don’t get the amount of sleep you need, your cognitive function may get impaired; your immune system may get weak, and you may have a tendency to be susceptible to accidents due to lack of motor coordination.

Tips on how to get better sleep

• A light snack before bedtime can help promote sleep. Try to choose foods that contain L-trytophan. Research shows that foods with L-trytophan can help people go to sleep. Avoid heavy meal before bed. Also, stay away from caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine.

• Your bed should be used for sleeping purposes only. Do not associate it with other activities such as TV watching and eating. When you go to sleep, try to keep your bedroom as comfortable as possible.

• Use dim or small night light instead of bright light when you get up at night.

• Avoid vigorous exercise before going to sleep if you are easily aroused by exercise. It is much better to do in the morning or afternoon.

• Avoid sleeping with your pets. They may cause arousal from either allergies or their movements on bed.

Dreams

According to Psychology of Consciousness, sleep has two states of consciousness which are dream and deep sleep. If you get more sleep, you tend to be more energetic when you are awake. The duration of your dream is regulated because of deep sleep. When you dream about wonderful things, your body tries to lessen the chances of your awakening while it is regaining itself. Rapid eye movement (REM) and its points in time during sleep is when dreams occur. Our brain takes us on a virtual reality of our thoughts while our body regains itself for the next day.

Good sleep hygiene has a great effect upon getting better sleep. It is clear how important a sound sleep is to our health and well being. It is already part of our lives that we encounter sleep problems, but how we should respond on these completely depends on us. When everything else won’t work, visit your doctor to help you with your sleep problems.

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