Although we spend approximately one third of our lives sleeping, few understand the processes of sleep and dreaming, or it's importance. This is unfortunate, for lack of such knowledge hinders our spiritual growth.
While our physical body rests while sleeping, parts of the mind are then free from monitoring it, allowing a stronger connection with the spiritual body. An important factor in an individual's harmony is the balance between the spiritual and physical sides of our existence. I'm sure many lives would improve, if we were all taught at an early age, how to prepare the mind to transfer from the conscious to the sub-conscious each night.
The Antiquity of Dream Therapy
In many of the ancient civilizations, dreams were highly esteemed, and many had temples where people would travel many miles for dream healing, problem solving, and guidance. One of the most famous, Epidaurus, near Corinth, was know for having the most 'seconds', or a person who represents another, who is unable to travel. This temple, begun as a center of worship for Aesculapius (the revered Greek god of healing), was later fitted with beds, and became one of the first hospitals. Even his staff with the winding snakes was adapted as the symbol for healing, which is used now even today.
There are over 700 dreams and visions mentioned in the Bible, all showing an important connection to the lives, problems, and well being of those involved. The first two chapters of Matthew alone contain five dreams which gave warnings or advice. Every major Christian writer in the first four centuries regarded dreams as one way God offered healing, and guidance, to people. For some strange reason, the following centuries produced a shift away from the importance of dreams. The religious and educational thinkers of this period basically believed dreams were 'useless meanderings of the mind".
Sigmund Freud brought the world's attention back to dreams, creating interest with his famous book, 'The Interpretation of Dreams', published in 1900. This first work was joined, then enhanced by Carl Jung, another very important figure in exploring our sub- conscious states of mind.
Modern studies
In the modern study of dreams, professors would recruit students to sleep under laboratory conditions, with a series of tiny wires attached to their heads. On the other end of these wires were 'brain wave' measuring devices, called electroencephalographs, better known as EEG machines.
Studies found several distinct levels of conscious, AND a pattern on how we enter these. One of the results is the 'general sleep pattern' graph which you can see here. There were four basic brain waves found in the relationship between our being awake and asleep:
The fastest waves, called BETA, occur when we are awake. These can vibrate as slow as 12 to 14 cycles per second (cps), when a person is quietly thinking, and range up to 20 cps, when one is tense or excited.
As we become drowsy, the brain moves into what is called ALPHA waves, which have a pattern of 8 to 13 cps. It is here our altered states of consciousness begin (and where dreams occur). Then the brain slows down to the THETA waves (4 to 7 cps), and then into the DELTA waves (.5 to 4 cps), which is known as 'deep sleep'.
Rapid Eye Movements
About 90 minutes after falling into the Delta state, the brain waves speed up again up to the Alpha stage. At this point, our bodies become very still, as though powerfully intent upon watching something. This actually turns out to be quite true, for what we are indeed watching is the story of our lives, as see from the spiritual world.
Upon reaching the Alpha state, our eyes begin to move quickly beneath our closed eyelids, the signal that a dream has started. In America, we call this 'rapid eye movement', which has be dubbed REM by researchers. (So, those of you who are fans of the rock group REM, now you know where their name came from). Students who were awaken during REM were able to recall dreams, while students waken during non - REM periods were not. Dreams were measured to last between 3 to 5 minutes. After having a dream, the brain would move back down into the Delta phase, but not as deep as the first time.
Then, 90 minutes later, the brain would move up to Alpha waves again, vibrating a little faster. Once again REM would occur for 3 to 5 minutes, and then drop to a state between Theta and Delta. By looking at the graph, you can see that this process is repeated until one becomes awake. Interesting also, was the fact that if one was deprived of REM sleep one night, there would be almost twice as much REM activity the next night - meaning that your body NEEDS a certain amount of 'dreaming' each night, just as it NEEDS a certain amount of sleep!
Dream Recall and Training
Researchers have also reported that people awaken during, or immediately after dreaming, had vivid and seemingly complete dream recall. But when these students were awakened as little as five minutes after the dream ended, part of the dream was already forgotten. If as much as ten minutes were allowed to elapse before being awakened, only a small fragment of the dream could be remembered.
Also, an interesting pattern was seen by all those who were woken during REM. For most of the subjects, their first, second and third dreams were very abstract and seemingly difficult to see any meanings, or messages. These early dreams, also, have a very slim chance of being remembered when one awakes.
In most cases, and probably holds true for all of us, the last dream we have is the one we will most likely remember. The optimum time to awake, in order to remember your dream, is WHILE you are having it. You can train yourself to do this, by simply BEFORE falling asleep, telling your sub-conscious you want to do so. Yes, it is THAT easy! Besides showing that students could wake themselves to remember their dreams, another control group woke by telling themselves they wanted to awake at a certain TIME. Nearly 85% were able to wake within 10 minutes of the pre-arranged time they were given each night!
A few types of dreams
The 'physical' dream is caused by physical noises, such as police sirens, singing cats, or machine sounds - or from discomforts, such as too much pizza, an elbow in your back, cold wind blowing on you, or perhaps a pet bounding on your bed (or playing with your toes). Basically, your sub-conscious will create a dream around these events, so your mind is 'tricked' into thinking these disturbances are merely part of the dream. In a way, this type of dream acts as a protective shield, allowing the physical body to continue sleeping undisturbed.
The 'sub-conscious' dream is mostly symbolic, or a picture language, which needs to be interpreted. They often reflect upon conditions of the body, often symbolized by vehicles - and even the emotions, often symbolized by elements of water. These dreams are to help us become aware of our problems, and bring assistance in solving them. Most of our dreams fall into this category.
'Clairvoyant' dreams are usually classified as visions, spiritual experiences, or
revelations. ESP dreams, and those that preview the future come into this category also.
One way to recognize these dreams is by the background setting. These are nearly
always outdoors, on a mountain top, or by a river. You, and the subjects are surrounded
in a special light, and there is often a special feeling of lover inspiration and joy.
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