Dreams are one of the most fascinating things that we get to experience daily. Despite years of research, there are still many things that we haven't uncovered about them. Every night, we have about three to five dreams, each lasting between 5-20 minutes. This means that throughout our lives, we spend years dreaming without always remembering those experiences. We dream most in the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep, when our brains are most active. However, the majority of these dreams are quickly forgotten the first 5-10 minutes after you wake up because they are usually stored in short-term memory. If you want to remember them, writing them down just after waking up might work. Many psychologists suggest keeping a dream journal next to your bed, since writing down just a part of your dream can help you recall later.
There are different types of dreams, one of them being lucid dreaming. In lucid dreams,the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming and can sometimes control what happens. Some people train themselves to lucid dream through techniques like meditation. So why do we dream? Although the exact purpose of dreams is uncertain, many experts believe they help us process emotions and reflect on our experiences from the previous day.
Dreams sometimes help you gain insight on a challenge that you were facing, and sometimes they turn into awful nightmares. Nightmares are thought to be caused by anxiety, suppressed emotions and unresolved fears. Another unpleasant phenomenon you might experience is sleep paralysis, which happens when the sleep cycle is shifting between stages. During sleep paralysis, you're not able to move and can sometimes hallucinate. Other than that, it's harmless. Some common dream themes include being chased, falling, and death, which have been universal human concerns since the beginning of our evolution. Researchers think a significantly large amount of human population have dreams, if not all. Even blind people dream, though their dreams are more focused on senses like touch, sound, and smell.
Some theories suggest that dreams act as a kind of virtual rehearsal, allowing us to practice handling challenges or develop creative solutions to our problems. Some people view them as messages from the universe and many claim that they have predicted the future via dreaming, and modern science doesn't have an explanation for that. In many cultures, dreams are seen as a spiritual connection to ancestors or the nature. Either way, dreams reflect the complexity and creativity of our minds, while also helping us deal with emotions. Whether they are scary or inspiring, they remain an important and valuable part of our lives.