How to decode a dream

Can You Analyze Your Own Dreams? Yes, and Here's How

Dream interpretation can offer new perspectives into the nature of your mind, but it isn’t backed by research and might be best practiced with the help of a psychotherapist.

Dreams may reveal information about your emotions and thoughts, although in ways open to interpretation.

A good starting place for dream analysis is identifying common symbols and understanding what they might mean for you specifically.

Interpreting your dreams is likely to result in better results when you work with a psychotherapist specializing in dream analysis.

To interpret your dreams is to identify specific elements and try to understand if they hold any significance to you.

Dream interpretation has been used as a therapeutic tool. It may serve as a self-awareness resource when digging deeper into your subconscious and emotional state, and when you’re working on finding peace of mind.

Both Jungian theory and Gestalt therapy, for example, have included elements of dream analysis in their therapeutic approaches.

Jungian dream analysis considers individual symbols of each dream to be of great importance. These symbols may relate to your childhood experiences, spiritual perspectives, or culture.

For example, dreaming of a red hat lying on the floor of your high school could represent a present concern about your appearance or a need for social appreciation, something that you may have also felt when you were a teen.

A large aspect of dream interpretation considers your associations and what each symbol means to you personally. In that sense, interpreting your own dreams can be very effective.

In Gestalt therapy, dreams may be considered messages from your subconscious mind. In this approach, dreams may be viewed as expressions of your personality that could require unification or attention.

Contrary to the Jungian analysis, Gestalt dream interpretation may not be about working with specific symbols but rather identifying the aspects of your personality that may need attention and bringing awareness to them.

Research on symbols or interpretations of dreams is limited and inconclusive, however.

The relationship between your mental health and what you dream about hasn’t been established yet, but some evidence suggests there is indeed a connection.

A 2018 study indicated that someone’s waking mental well-being might influence the content of dreams.

For example, researchers found that experiencing peace of mind before falling asleep was linked to a higher chance of pleasant dream experiences. On the other hand, anxiety typically led to negative dream affect.

Study authors suggested that based on these preliminary findings, dreams have the potential of being mental health markers, giving you insights into your mental well-being.

And since dreams do often involve emotional responses, it’s also been hypothesized that they may help you process and manage emotions. They would serve as a way to emotionally reset and could prepare you for any emotional challenges you may face the following day.

Some experts believe there’s a connection between the sleep cycle and your emotional state.

Lack of sleep may lead to mental health symptoms while achieving the REM cycle — a stage where you tend to experience vivid dreams — could be linked to mental health benefits.

In any case, more research on this topic may be needed.

You can explore dream interpretation by becoming familiar with common symbols. These symbols may mean many things, so keeping context and personal significance in mind is recommended.

Consider asking these questions when identifying symbols in your dreams:

What was the symbol or object doing in your dream?
What did it look like?
Where was it?
How did you feel about it while you were dreaming?
How do you feel now when you think of it?
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of this symbol in your dream?

Here are some of the most common symbols in dreams and what they could mean:

House or room

Houses and rooms can represent unexplored aspects of yourself.

For example, if the house or room was frightening, it could represent an aspect of yourself that you may feel fearful about exploring.

Looking into other symbols in the same dream scene may help you develop possible personal meanings.

Dog

As a source of affection for many people in the waking state, dogs can represent a need for love or affection.

If you’re fearful of dogs or dream of an aggressive one, it may mean you’re sensing danger about a specific situation or person, or you may feel hurt by someone and haven’t yet become aware of it.

Teeth

Teeth can be symbols of aggression, assertiveness, or your “bite.”

Dreaming of falling teeth may indicate you’re experiencing intense stress or anxiety. It could also mean you’re fearful or concerned about a lack of control and power in your life.

Guns

Weapons such as guns typically involve themes surrounding personal power or control.

Dreaming of using weapons may be linked to the desire to hurt someone or have them disappear from your life. If you’re being hurt in the dream, it could mean you feel vulnerable in a situation or with a person.

Friends and family

People who appear in your dreams may reflect parts of your own personality. Analyzing these dreams may help to think about what the person was doing in the dream and what part of yourself you think may be shown to you through the other person.

Water

Water may be a symbol of your emotions. If the water appears still and murky, it could represent a disconnect from your emotional state or the need to explore your own emotions.

Driving

Driving can be thought of as a type of forward momentum. If the car doesn’t start, you may feel stagnant or stuck. If the car is running smoothly, maybe you feel you’re making good progress on your life path.

Falls

If you dream about falling, you may be dealing with control challenges in your life.

If you felt relieved about falling, or it was a pleasant sensation in the dream, you may be letting go of some emotional weight and may now feel relieved.

If you felt scared while falling in your dream, you could be having a hard time not being able to control everything around you. It could also mean that you feel you’re letting someone down.

Interpreting your dreams takes patience, practice, and an open mind. It may be a good idea to remember that you give meaning to your own dreams by identifying symbols and thinking about what they mean to you personally.

The same dream can mean different things to different people in this sense. The same dream could also mean different things to you, depending on when you dream it.

Here are some tips to start analyzing your dreams:

1. Try to recall your dreams every day

The best time to recall your dreams is as soon as you wake up, while the dream is still fresh.

If you tend to wake up during the night, it might help to have a notebook next to the bed to record your dream before you fall asleep again. Recording a voice memo on your phone may also help.

It’s natural to only remember fragments of your dreams at first. They may seem vague or meaningless. The more you practice recalling them, the more details you’ll remember from your dreams.

2. Consider keeping a dream diary

In addition to writing or recording aspects of your dreams as soon as you wake up, keeping a more in-depth diary may help you with dream interpretation.

Based on your notes when you wake up, try to write down as much detail as you can remember. As you write every aspect of the dream, include how you feel or felt about those symbols or scenes.

If any ideas or memories come to you while you write about your dream, make a special note. These ideas, memories, or emotions give you more clues about what the dream may mean to you.

3. Telling someone about your dreams can help

Sometimes, it’s about how you describe a dream more than the dream itself.

As you tell someone else about your dream, try to become aware of how you describe specific symbols that may not be as clear at first.

Talking about your dreams with a psychotherapist may be particularly beneficial when trying to analyze them. They may be able to give you feedback about specific words you used or facial expressions you made, which could also add to the dream interpretation.

4. Try to identify symbols and associations

Once you write details about your dreams, try to read your notes again to identify hidden symbols that you may have missed at first.

Maybe you dreamed about cooking with your grandmother, which you wrote in your notes.

On a closer look, you may remember it wasn’t your grandmother’s kitchen or that all the windows were open and the wind was blowing inside the kitchen.

These aspects of your dream may also hint at the possible meaning of the dream.

Dream analysis can become an interesting tool for exploring your mental and emotional health.

You can interpret your dreams by learning more about common symbols, keeping a dream diary, and trying to identify personal associations.

Dream analysis may be better achieved by working with a psychotherapist. They might be able to link different aspects of your dreams and ask you specific questions that could lead to more profound insight.

How to Interpret Your Dreams

By Katie Arnold-Ratliff

Photo: Kladyk/iStock/Thinkstock

During REM sleep, your subconscious puts on a fantastic show—but the plot can be tough to follow. (Why were you on a trampoline in Indonesia?) "A central function of dreams is to allow us access to thoughts and feelings we may not be aware of," says Mark Smaller, PhD, president of the American Psychoanalytic Association. We asked Smaller to explain the dream-deciphering process. Just grab a pencil and take a dip into your subconscious.

Step 1
As soon as you wake up, write down everything you can recall about your dream, recording as many objects, people and locations as possible. Says Smaller, "One of Freud's greatest discoveries was that tiny elements of your dreams can point to big issues. A lot of information gets condensed into a small detail."

Step 2
Write down the association each detail carries for you. For example, if the dream took place in your childhood home, consider what's significant about that place and how it might relate to the larger premise of the dream.

Step 3
Write down the emotions the dream sparked. Were you exhilarated, afraid, upset, giddy? How about when you woke up?

Step 4
Ask yourself what else in your life inspires these same emotions. For example, if your childhood home reminds you of being bullied by your older brother, think about what's happening in your life now that parallels that experience.

Step 5
Return to your list of associations and try to combine them into a single narrative. (Your childhood home reminds you of being bullied.... The orange you were eating reminds you of Florida. ... Your boss, who grew up in Miami, was pretty aggressive with you in that meeting yesterday....) Then go forth into your waking life armed with greater insight into what's going on in your head.

To kick-start your analysis, Smaller shares the meanings of three common dreams...

Dream: Your Teeth Fall Out

Possible meaning: "If in the dream you can't speak, you may be feeling in waking life that there's something you don't want to—or can't—say. If you can't eat in the dream, it may be about unfulfilled desires (in fact, some interpret this dream as inherently sexual). Perhaps there's something you're hungry for."

Dream: You Cheat On Your Partner, Or Vice Versa

Possible meaning: "First off, why now? What's happening in your relationship that's bringing this to the surface? The dream may be a measure of your anxiety about your partner—or it could also be that you saw someone attractive on the bus. Not all dreams have a deeper meaning."

Dream: Seeing a UFO

Possible meaning: "Maybe it sounds obvious, but the key word here is invasion. Is something unwelcome intruding on your space right now? And consider what we know about heavy machinery: It doesn't have feelings. Does that describe you—are you feeling dulled, like you're on autopilot?"

From the September 2014 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

interpretation of dreams free online, the meaning of dreams for women and men

Dreams and dreams are still a mystery to modern science. What's this? Dreams, subconscious, dreams or all together? From time immemorial, they have haunted many of us, we strive to unravel them and use dream books for this.

Sleep is a mystery. And we are now not only about the interpretation of dreams, but also about the process itself. We can say that this is a state opposite to wakefulness and is characterized by a reduced reaction to the world around ¹ . There is no doubt that rest has a beneficial effect on cognitive functions, helps to cope with stress and has a positive effect on the psycho-emotional state ² . But if we know at least something else about sleep, as a physiological process, then practically nothing about night visions.

The mystical properties attributed to night dreams have captured the minds of people since ancient times. How the interpretation of dreams developed, what interpretations of dreams are, and why dream books are needed, we will describe below. nine0003

Why we dream

It is not known for certain why we dream. Some suggest that this is the appeal of the unconscious to us. Others hit into mysticism and look for answers to their questions in them or make attempts to predict the future. Many eminent psychologists, whose names you have probably heard more than once, also turned to dreams in an attempt to find clues and help people.

So why do we have dreams? They, like any process, have several functions ³ :

Physiological manifestation function. Actually this is the time when the body rests and recovers.
Compensatory is responsible for relieving psycho-emotional stress after an active day.
Semantic is responsible for "recycling" everything that happened during the day. This function starts the process of saving information, creating images, meanings and the appearance of landmarks.
Mythological or archetypal function reflects what is happening in life, "suggests" ways to solve problems. In other words, the brain in the form of dreams analyzes and builds various solutions to a particular situation. nine0022
Religious function displays people's interpretation of their beliefs.

4th and 5th functions are important and interesting for the dream book.

Interesting facts about dreams

We have collected some interesting facts that will help you take a deeper and closer look at dreams and dreams.

The first science of sleep	Oneirotherapy was the name of the first science that healed with the help of dreams. It originates in Ancient Greece and a whole rite was required for the treatment. The treatment took place in the asklepions (temples dedicated to the god of healing Asclepius) ⁴ . One of the most famous followers is Artemidorus of Daldian, author of Oneirocritica. This book is, in fact, the first interpreter of dreams in 5 volumes.
The importance of dreams	The body needs dreams. Almost everyone has them. At the very least, science doesn't know of healthy people who don't dream ^5.
Benefits for the brain	Based on recent research, the brain literally detoxifies during sleep. Research will continue, but this is another step towards understanding the physiology of sleep ⁶ .
How we fall asleep	The hormone melatonin is responsible for the synchronization of circadian rhythms. In order not to delve into scientific research, we will call it a sleep hormone, which is not so far from the truth. The production of melatonin is tied to the dark time of the day and this usually happens about 8-10 hours a day. The peak production of the hormone occurs at 3-4 o'clock in the morning.

Popular dream books

Dream books are a controversial phenomenon. But using them wisely and scientifically allows you not only to "look into the future", but also into yourself. Learn a little more about your desires, fears, obsessions. Skillful analysis will allow not only to randomly predict the future, but also to help yourself in the present. nine0003

Miller's Dream Book

Miller's Dream Book was written by the famous psychologist Gustav Hindman Miller. Actually, he gained fame after writing the work "Dream Interpretation, or the Interpretation of Dreams." The peculiarity of the book is that there is an appeal not only to psychology, but also an attempt to single out the same from a series of images in thousands of people. The author analyzed the elements that people dreamed about and collected information about previous events, as well as what happened to the person next. nine0003

Islamic dream book

Islamic dream book, as it is quite obvious, is based on the interpretation of the Koran and is associated with it. For Muslims, dreams are sacred phenomena that are given to us for a reason.

The analysis of dreams is not based on the images, feelings, thoughts and emotions that were caused by the vision, but on the basis of Holy Scripture and various interpretations.

Tsvetkov's dream book

One of the most popular dream books, written by Evgeny Petrovich Tsvetkov. A feature of the dream book is that dreams are divided into two categories: meaningless dreams that are quickly erased from memory and prophetic dreams. The correct interpretation will help not only to understand yourself and find additional motivation, but also to prevent unpleasant situations. According to the author, vivid and memorable dreams, inside which we experienced strong emotions, are of the greatest importance. nine0003

Wanga's dream book

It doesn't make much sense to talk about Vanga, the Bulgarian seer. Each of us at least once in our lives heard about her and her prophecies. But in addition to predicting future events, Vanga was engaged in the interpretation of dreams. And she was convinced that many people see future events in their dreams, but often not immediate, but very distant.

A feature of her dream book is that it describes the most common and frequent visions, their interpretation. An extensive and detailed analysis of each image is given. To interpret what you see, you must first determine the symbolism of sleep, then remember minor details, and lastly evaluate your emotions during and after waking up. And then you can watch the interpretation in the dream book. nine0003

Freud's dream book

If not the most famous psychoanalyst, then definitely one of them. Each of us has heard about jokes “according to Freud”. Dreams for him were a projection of our subconscious desires and, also often, sexual desires.

Freud noticed that dreams are a reflection of our thoughts and images from real life, combined into bizarre plots. Let's be honest and say that Freud, as such, did not write a dream book. He has a popular scientific work, The Interpretation of Dreams. The interpretation of dreams occurs with the help of the question "about what?" The meaning is influenced not only by the plot, but also by any, even seemingly insignificant, details. nine0003

Hasse's dream book

The creator of this dream book is a mysterious person. All that is known is that it is customary to call her Miss or Mrs Hasse, and she was born in Milawa in Poland on March 25, 1954.

The dream book is written in a simple language, as accessible as possible to the majority. In it, the details of the dream play an important role, and not just the main plot.

No less important role in the interpretation of what is seen is played by the theory of numbers. Miss Hasse believed that each number has its own meaning and influences fate in a certain way. Therefore, it is important to consider the date when the dream was seen. nine0003

Esoteric dream book

Written by Elena Anopova. The dream book is based on the interpretation of subconscious images transmitted to us through a dream. It is more suitable for someone who is not "new" in the interpretation of dreams. For an accurate and correct interpretation of sleep according to an esoteric dream book, experience and an intuitive understanding of one's night visions are required. And this requires painstaking multi-day work.

Dream Interpretation of Nostradamus

Another very famous predictor on our list. Nostradamus, who lived in the 16th century, was engaged not only in the interpretation of dreams and the prediction of the future, but also in medicine and spent a lot of time fighting the plague. nine0003

From an early age, he noticed that his dreams predict future events, but this is done through associative images that need to be unraveled. Gradually, Nostradamus began to record dreams and their interpretation, which later resulted in a dream book. The author proposes to first analyze the dream as a whole, and then proceeds to particulars - details.

The dream book consists of two parts. The first gives an explanation of the individual images that can be seen in a dream. And in the second part, the pictures are explained, consisting of disparate images from the first part. nine0003 The mystical properties attributed to night dreams have captured the minds of people since ancient times. Photo: shutterstock.com

Loff's Dream Book

Its author is David Loff, an American psychologist known for his theory of dream interpretation. A distinctive feature of the dream book is the author's belief that dreams are sent down to us by higher forces, which with their help transmit information to us. According to the author, each dream has two main characteristics that are important for interpretation:

Human life stage - birth, education, etc.;
Psycho-emotional state and everything that affects it - conflicts, self-doubt, neurosis, and so on.

Dream Interpretation Longo

Yuri Longo (Golovko) is another predictor from our list with a difficult fate. He was born in the Kuban in 1950 and died a mysterious death in 2006.

A distinctive feature of the dream book is its bidirectionality to the scientific and esoteric base. The dream book helps to reveal the deepest fears, desires and fears of a person. But it also allows you to look into the future, which makes it related to esoteric works. nine0003

when and on what days do you dream

The father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud said: “The more strange a dream seems to us, the deeper meaning it carries”. It is not for nothing that we used to call night visions with subtext prophetic dreams. They, like an internal oracle, not only suggest what is wrong, but also indicate where to run. Human consciousness is critical: sometimes it devalues events that are important for his internal development, forcing him to perceive them as something insignificant.

Haven't called your parents for a long time? Nothing, then, - calms the mind. Didn't talk heart to heart with the children? Time is like that. But the psyche can not be deceived - recognizing an obstacle that creates problems for the inner "I", it sends us signals in a dream when consciousness loses its vigilance. She pushes the "owner" to concentrate on something, to rethink, hints at the correct outcome. After all, prophetic means predictive. nine0003

But a person cannot always distinguish when he has prophetic dreams, and when the brain simply draws meaningless pictures. Experts say it is possible to learn to recognize dreams with meaning and understand why they dream. You can even calculate when the "dream prophecy" will come true.

- It depends on what phase the dream was in, - explains numerologist and esoteric Anton Ushmanov . - It is conditionally possible to divide a dream into 3 intervals - the beginning, the middle and the end. If a prophetic dream had a dream in the first phase, then it will come true within a year. If in the second, in the middle of the night, then - within 6 months. If in the third, closer to the morning - for a month. If you saw a prophetic dream just before dawn, it will come true within 12 days. And if, before sunset - during the day. nine0003

In addition, it is useful to know on which days of the week prophetic dreams occur.

What is a prophetic dream

Prophetic dreams are usually viewed from two positions - scientific and esoteric. From the point of view of science, sleep as such is the result of the work of the brain, which, as you know, never sleeps. Throughout its life, the human supercomputer has been busy modeling reality based on experience gleaned through receptors, hearing, smell, sight. The human brain processes a million signals per second. But while we are awake, we cannot realize the results of this “revision” - consciousness interferes. nine0003

“At night, when our rational part is resting, the brain calmly processes all the information during the day through the subconscious,” psychologist Lyubov Ozhmegova explains the process. - And we see the images that the subconscious shows.

Just with their help, according to psychiatrist, psychotherapist, dream specialist, author of the first scientific Internet dream book in Runet Yaroslav Filatov , the brain helps a person understand how this or that situation will develop. In fact, the models that the brain builds are the very prophetic dreams. nine0003 Dreams are nothing more than information processing. Photo: pixabay.com
“Some people say that the brain predicts in a dream,” says Filatov. - But it would be more correct to say - it models: the state of objects, the reactions of people. Brain models are built constantly, and in a dream they appear to us.
Esotericists and followers of spiritual practices associate the phenomenon of prophetic dreams with reading information from space.

— It happens unconsciously, — Alena Arkina, an energy therapist, the author of the life reconstruction method, shares his thoughts , - Possible scenarios in real life are read.

— The most important thing in prophetic dreams is that, having seen them, a person can draw conclusions, realize the reasons for what is happening to him, get answers to questions, — summarizes the psychologist-hypnologist Alexandria Sadofyeva.

Why prophetic dreams occur

Mystic Denis Banchenko is sure that prophetic dreams occur for three reasons. First, when a person was too close to an important event. Secondly, when the "genius of the earth" directly pushes him to pay attention to this or that situation. And thirdly, when consciousness reaches such a level of development that it itself conducts an information signal from the outside. nine0003

- A person can capture the vibrations of space in the form of a beam of information (future event), - energy therapist Alena Arkina explains . - In parallel, there is an infinite number of options for the development of events. And a person catches one of them in a dream.

This happens when the brain and subconscious are trying to show the most probable scenarios for the future. But why does our supercomputer and inner self need this? Why should they show us where to go and where to spread the straw? nine0003

“The brain is busy helping us to survive every minute,” psychiatrist Yaroslav Filatov reminds . If nothing bad happens, it doesn't mean that there are no dangers. And the task of the psyche is to reveal our capabilities and abilities that will help in development. From the fulfillment of these tasks, prophetic dreams are born.

In other words, in order for a person to “receive a hat” less during wakefulness, the psyche tries to get through to him at night.

- Dreams are dreamed by all living beings who have a soul - assures esoteric Anton Ushmanov . - At night, we get the opportunity to live through some of the negative scenarios, "digest" them in a dream in order to avoid or learn how to cope live.

On what days prophetic dreams come true

Monday

It is believed that empty dreams are dreamed on the first day of the week. There can be many emotions and experiences in them, but not very prophecies. But if the dream that occurred on Monday is vivid and memorable, you can try to decipher it. Perhaps he will suggest a solution to some minor life task, but you should not look for a deep decisive meaning in it. nine0243

Tuesday

Dreams on Tuesday may come true. And, quite quickly - within two weeks. If the Tuesday dream is with a plus sign, it is better to make every effort to make it come true. And if with a minus sign, on the contrary, it makes sense to try to make sure that the dream does not come true. In fact, Tuesday is the day of choice, when you have to decide whether you want the dream to turn into reality or not. The consequences of inaction can be very unpleasant. nine0003

Wednesday

On Wednesdays, as esotericists say, there is not much trust in dreams. They are mostly empty. You don't have to trust them too much. In dreams that occurred on Wednesday, as a rule, there are no prophecies, but there are “bells” regarding your character and personal qualities. They can be a revelation. Try to figure out what the psyche signals: this will help to work on yourself.

If the dream you had on Monday is vivid and memorable, you can try to decipher it. Photo: pixabay.com

Thursday

"Dreams from Thursday to Friday are prophetic" - this is how people think. And experts say it's true: Thursday's visions openly hint at the future and indicate how this or that situation will develop. Prophetic dreams that appeared on Thursday will come true within three years. Often on Thursdays, romantic, fabulous visions come. But in fact, they are far from romance as such. She is just a symbol. Even in such dreams, you need to look for important life prophecies. nine0243

Friday

Friday dreams are usually very ordinary. Deciphering them is just a waste of time. But if you dream of a romantic plot on Friday, it directly hints at a relationship with your soulmate. A bad dream "about love" does not bode well in reality. So be vigilant and take action.

Saturday

Saturday sleep should be analyzed more closely. It may come true before noon. In addition, esotericists say that a dream that occurred on Saturday can predict not only your future: you can see in it what awaits your loved ones. I often have nightmares on Saturdays. They do not need to be afraid, but worth taking into account. nine0243

Sunday

Sunday sleep can be "ordered". If you concentrate well and formulate a desire (or question), you may dream of exactly the situation that worries you the most. Sunday dreams are often prophetic and come true quickly. Often on Sundays, good prophetic dreams are dreamed, predicting prosperity.