Dreams are still somewhat a mystery in terms of cause, purpose, and content. Much scientific research has been dedicated to sleep and dreams, but because dreams are a personal, subjective experience they are hard to study in a rigorous manner.

What is known is that dreams occur while in a phase of deep sleep called Rapid Eye Movement (REM). REM sleep is characterized by the following physiological signs:

* Muscles relax
* Respiration speeds up
* Brain wave activity increases
* Major voluntary muscles become paralyzed
* and of course, rapid eye movements which can sometimes be visible as fluttering eyelids

It’s during this phase of sleep where people (and animals) experience dreams, which can be very intense experiences involving any or all five senses. It is believed that the paralysis of major voluntary muscles during REM is to prevent us from acting out our dreams, but as we know this is not always the case. Witness this sleepwalking dog (poor guy):

It’s unclear why some people remember their dreams frequently while others claim not to dream at all. Researchers believe that everyone dreams – some people just rarely remember their dreams. Why do some people remember dreams while others don’t? That’s yet another unanswered question.

Why do we dream, anyway? Just a few theories, according to Wikipedia:

* Dreams help solidify our memories

* Dreams help us work through repressed thoughts and desires

* Dreams help regulate mood

* Dreams serve as “expectation fulfillment” which leads to lowered stress levels

* Dreams help create new ideas

Whatever the purpose, dreams can be fascinating, thrilling, arousing, terrifying, and often bizarre. Personally I find that I have certain recurring dream themes that seem to represent some of my fears, anxieties, and insecurities. Other people have dreams that replicate their mundane, everyday experiences. I seem to run the gamut of all of the above – the mundane, the recurring, the real-place-with-a-twist type dreams. I can’t wait to share more of them with you.

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