What Are Some Of The Most Common Dreams?
Sometimes, when you wake from a strange dream and decide to share it with a partner or friend, they look at you like you're crazy. "You dreamed what?!" But there are some dreams which, if you told most people that you had experienced, would be unlikely to strike anyone as strange, since so many of us have them. While dreams are, of course, unique to each dreamer in the minute details, there are certain themes that many, many of us have encountered in our sleep.
Since dreams are often metaphorical, the fact that some themes are almost universal would suggest that we all experience similar things in our lives, whether fears, embarrassments, or feelings of excitement and liberation (via Sleep.IHG.com).
One extremely common dream is one in which someone or something is chasing us. We may or may not see what or who is on our heels, and we may or may not have a sense of who our pursuer is and why they are hunting us, but the common thread here is running away in fear. Professional dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg says that dreams like this one mean you are running from something in your life that is bothering you, but you haven't faced it yet. This dream can often be recurring, but once you face whatever the issue is and deal with it, the dreams are likely to stop.
More of the most common dreams
Another common dream is of falling. Whether you are falling off of a building or a cliff, the symbolism is one that your subconscious might bring to you when you are feeling depressed, or like something in your life is going in the wrong direction. This is a good time to evaluate how you might redirect whatever aspect of your life feels like it is pulling you down or taking you off course (via Sleep.IHG.com).
Have you ever dreamt of your teeth falling out? You're far from alone. Yet, even though this is a very common dream, the jury is still out with regard to what it means (via Mental Floss). While some experts feel that losing teeth in a dream represents a loss of confidence, others feel it could be a sign of a broken relationship. Still others feel it means you are feeling unable to communicate, as your mouth and throat represent your voice (via Sleep. IHG).
What about being back in school? Yep. Virtually everyone has had a dream like this. Maybe you're taking a test and suddenly everything turns into a foreign language. Maybe you're standing in front of the class naked. In the test situation, you might a perfectionist who is feeling you are falling short of your expectations. If it's the naked dream, you might have just accepted a job or promotion or you might be experiencing some other life event that puts you in the spotlight.