This article originally appeared and was published on AOL.com
For many, dreams have always been a weird topic. We can’t wrap our head around the fact that our mind tells stories and pictures as we snooze.
More often than not, we wake up never recalling what we dreamt of the night before. But sometimes, something sticks with us. That person, that place, what we wore, how we felt.
It can make total sense to us, or be totally random. Many times, our dreams are bizarre. They can make total sense when we’re dreaming. But then we wake up and are like WTF just happened.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know what they meant? Stop wondering and start digging a little deeper into what our minds are telling us.
6. You’re falling from the sky
We’ve all had this dream, where you wake up flinching in your bed. The feeling is all too realistic.
Falling means you’re nervous something is going to spiral out of control. Psychologist William Braun explains this feeling of free-falling is “associated with feeling out of control or overwhelmed. They may also relate to feeling unsupported and insecure”.
5. You’re unprepared for a test
It’s such a horrible feeling. It’s right before a huge exam, and you show up, and your mind goes blank. Or there’s a test you just had no idea about. It’s life or death.
Showing up unprepared in your dream means ‘you’re critically analyzing yourself’. You put too much pressure on yourself, or there’s an underlying anxiety about succeeding and doing well.
4. Your teeth are falling out
It’s gross, and if you’re unlucky enough to remember your dream, your first instinct is to touch your mouth and make sure your teeth are still intact.
Like many other dreams, teeth flying out is yet another symbol of anxiety. In times of big changes and transition, “We might think of this as being concern about one’s potency, competence, strength, power, ability to ‘take a bite out’ of the world,” said Braun.
3. You’re being chased
It’s more than a dream, it’s a nightmare.
While being chased is a pretty popular dream, it’s meaning varies on the context.
In a nutshell, it means you’re nervous to confront an issue, and thus you keep avoiding it. If a monster is chasing you, it be an indication that you’re avoiding a big problem — like an addiction or a chasm in your relationship.
Even if you don’t recognize the person who is chasing you, the dream has implications. “Keep in mind, people in dreams can be substitutions for other people or even substitutions for aspects of ourselves,” Braun said.
2. You’re naked in public
Cover up!
Being naked in front of a crowd, when everyone else is dressed, relays a sense of vulnerability and innocence. “These dreams are often accompanied by feelings of embarrassment and shame,” Braun said. Furthermore, it could mean “this person wants to be seen, acknowledged, admired.”
1. You need to scream out, or you can’t move
It’s really scary when you need to use your voice to ask for help, or something is coming after you but you are immobilized.
However, Braun explained that it “may not just be a dream, but may be the result of sleep paralysis.” During REM sleep, you’re essentially paralyzed as to not move and hurt yourself when we dream. So, according to Braun, if you wake up from sleep paralysis, it’s usually before the REM cycle. It’s merely you experiencing this as a dream state.
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