Sleep

What is a Dream?

Dreams are a communication of body, mind and spirit in a symbolic communicative environmental state of being. That's it! Now that you are thoroughly confused let me explain in a more down to earth language. Our brains are in constant activity. Different states of consciousness (like awake, asleep, alert, drowsy, excited, bored, concentrating or daydreaming) cause different brain wave activity. Our conscious mind, or the part we think with, our "window" into life, only takes up a very small portion of our brain activity. (some say this is only 10%) Other areas control things like breathing, heartbeat, converting light to vision, sound to hearing, balance when we walk, etc. etc. This too has it's own percentage (small). Another area controls imagination. This area is widely an undiscovered frontier. Imagination is more then dreaming of a new car or picturing someone with their cloths off! When you look at clouds and see shapes, or wood grain and see images, this is the "order from chaos" part of your imagination. The mind cannot deal with chaos very well, in fact it will resist it and sometimes manufacture order. (very important to the dreaming process.)This too occupies a small percentage of brian activity. Then there is memory. Memory is vast! And I believe it occupies more of the brains resources then most people believe.

And then there is the activity called dreaming. I think that to a certain extent, we dream all the time. Even while awake! But the process is functioning in our subconscious mind, out of view from our "window". If defined precisely, they may not be referred to as dreams technically, but the activity is very closely related. During certain cycles of brain activity while asleep, we can "view" these dreams with our conscious mind and record them in our memory. (this is why we sometimes remember them).

Fine Mike, but what are dreams? Well, with the above kept in mind (especially the order from chaos part) try to imagine this.; Your brain mind and spirit, while at rest "review" and analysis in it's own way long term, short term and spirit memory. It kicks around emotions, thoughts, ideas, actions and interactions of the short term memory. It has in it's background the trends of your life and philosophy to influence it. Your mind is also processing spiritual data, your beliefs, whether or not you violated them, your information gained through psychic intuition (we ALL have this to a certain degree) and of course, any communication from God. ALL THIS data, as well as your subconscious "reading between the lines" of what people do and tell you, is then processed unsupervised by you! All this data is a form of chaos, and your mind (like seeing images in wood grain or clouds) puts it all together in a form of visual "screenplay", a medley of sight, sound,emotion and imagined interactivity. The end result is.... You guessed it, a dream!

Ahh but would it not be nice if it were that simple! Dreams are easily influenced by factors in your life and spirit, and these influences create "categories" that are almost infinite. We do broadly categorize them in terms like "prophetic, standard, physical and nightmare" (to name just a few) And these we study each their own, in order to gain benefit from them. I look at it this way: Our mind and spirit together with our brain, is actually the greatest computer ever devised! To understand it's "back of the house" processing is to learn more about ourselves, God, our future and each other. Many things can be gained from dreams, better health (mental and physical), entertainment and even financial gain! (dreaming of a invention or idea) Now that you know some of the basics about dreaming and what (theoretically) dreams are you should have a better grasp on how to understand and use your dreams.

http://altmedangel.com/melaton.htm

BBC Sleeping

To see the six positions studied by Professor Idzikowski click here. The Foetus: Those who curl up in the foetus position are described as tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. They may be shy when they first meet somebody, but soon relax. This is the most common sleeping position, adopted by 41% of the 1,000 people who took part in the survey. More than twice as many women as men tend to adopt this position. Log (15%): Lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These sleepers are easy going, social people who like being part of the in-crowd, and who are trusting of strangers. However, they may be gullible. The yearner (13%): People who sleep on their side with both arms out in front are said to have an open nature, but can be suspicious, cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are unlikely ever to change it. Soldier (8%): Lying on your back with both arms pinned to your sides. People who sleep in this position are generally quiet and reserved. They don't like a fuss, but set themselves and others high standards. Freefall (7%): Lying on your front with your hands around the pillow, and your head turned to one side. Often gregarious and brash people, but can be nervy and thin-skinned underneath, and don't like criticism, or extreme situations. Starfish (5%): Lying on your back with both arms up around the pillow. These sleepers make good friends because they are always ready to listen to others, and offer help when needed. They generally don't like to be the centre of attention. The remainder of those in the poll said the position they fell asleep varied or did not know. Health effect Professor Idzikowski also examined the effect of various sleeping positions on health. He concluded that the freefall position was good for digestion, while the starfish and soldier positions were more likely to lead to snoring and a bad night's sleep. Professor Idzikowski said: "Lying down flat means that stomach contents can more readily be worked back up into the mouth, while those who lie on their back may end up snoring and breathing less well during the night. "Both these postures may not necessarily awaken the sleeper but could cause a less refreshing night's sleep." The research also found that most people are unlikely to change their sleeping position. Just 5% said they sleep in a different position every night. Duvet position Professor Idzikowski also found that one arm or leg sticking out of the duvet is Britain's most common position, followed by both feet poking out the end. One in ten people like to cover themselves entirely with the duvet. Click to return