The brain is a very complex and confusing part of the human anatomy. It can comprehend and perceive situations in less than nanoseconds. We use it for every single thing we do including sleep. Did you know that if you added all the time spent dreaming in an average life span, it would equal up to six years? Dreams are the brain’s way of processing information, emotions, memories, and problems. This phenomenon has always been so fascinating to me because of the minimal research about the many aspects like nightmares, lucid dreaming, pregnancy dreams, the healing aspects, recurring dreams, and even claims of religious awakening or contacting people through your subconsciousness. While the majority of this is speculation or unprovable, it is known that our minds are a mystery on how it works and maybe it’s for the better. 

Now, there are 7.7 Billion people on this Earth, and yet there seems to be very common themes in dreams that almost everyone has that includes the following; being chased, death, falling, flying, being in public without attire on, snakes, teeth, and testing. Taylor Eberly from Dover High School stated, “ I experience many dreams of being chased, and it definitely freaks me out. Having someone or something chasing me will definitely make me tense for the rest of my day”. These stressful and emotional things are very impressionable when dreamt because they are an exaggeration of our own reality, and over the years, people have theoretically connected the symbolism of the events to a person’s inner consciousness. These theories are never going to be one hundred percent researchable and proven because of the complexity of the human brain. Nevertheless, the explanations are sort of like a horoscope in the sense that you can categorize yourself and others based on personal information. 

Chasing stems from the feeling of anxiety in real life. It can often signify avoidance, close-mindedness or fear, but consider the distance between you and the pursuer because it can indicate your closeness to the issue. With that in mind, there is the possibility that you are the one chasing something which highlights your ambition to go after something you want in life.

Death is a seemingly dark theme that is actually a symbol of new beginnings that can indicate interchanges, transformation, and positive development. Death can also be seen as a way for your body to send you a wake-up call by trying to grab your attention for something important in your life.

Falling can suggest loss of control, insecurity, and reckless behavior in your life. It can mean that you subconsciously feel a lack of stability, security, control, or that you have nothing to hold onto, but mostly it just results in suddenly being awake at night. 

Flying is subsequently the opposite of falling, symbolizing the feeling of control, new perspectives, freedom, spiritual connection, and escape. The height, direction, and speed is also of significance, showing how connected or confident you are with your current life, and flying backwards can imply self reflection of your past. 

Exposure in public places is one of the most dreadful dreams because for a second the embarrassment of forgetting to put on pants before going to school seems real. This theme could imply the feeling of being unprepared, insecurities, fear of exposure, arrogance, or attention. It should be noted that most of the time when you experience this dream nobody around you notices, and it shows how your anxieties are your own projections that only you notice or put on yourself.

Snakes are a common and complex theme that can have religious ties or both positive and negative connotations to the subconscious. There is a common symbol of fear, hidden threats, transformation, and, interestingly enough, temptation in the subconscious. Many of these themes correspond to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden Egen when they were tempted by the snake. On the other hand, peaceful dreams of snakes could indicate creative potential or healing in your life. 

Teeth can relate to vanity towards anxieties of how others perceive you, but it could also indicate feelings of embarrassment, powerlessness, or deception. Moreover, there are weird claims of your body trying to indicate sickness, poor diet, malnutrition through dreaming of your teeth falling out, but don’t worry because it could symbolize the possibility that there will be money coming to you in the future. 

Testing or rather failing a test can symbolize fear of failing, lack of confidence, being unprepared, or implying that you are setting your goals way too high. This action is never about the contents of the test, but the process and stress you endure while taking it which can be a way for your mind to process your insecurities. 

Along with the many themes involved with dreaming, there are different types of ways to dream. Lucid dreaming is when the dreamer has complete control of the setting and actions that take place throughout, and, typically, lucid dreamers do not know that this is not the average way to dream. There is also the possibility to understand your presence in a dream and either wake yourself up or continue along the story line. Day dreams are also classified as dreams where you withstand a level of consciousness, but your mind begins to wander, and you become less aware. It has been proven that you can daydream from seventy to one hundred and twenty minutes a day. Whether you enjoy dreaming or not, note that there are several benefits to writing your dreams out that can help improve your memory which could cause you to become a lucid dreamer. I hope you can now understand a little more about the dreams you have, and be less in the dark about what they could mean.