“A lot of contemporary neuroscientists believe during REM sleep, the brain is involved in maintenance tasks, and it accidentally ‘kicks up dust,’ visually. At that end, dreaming is considered totally meaningless,” he explains. “The other end is that dreaming is more substantial than waking. And we see this in ‘dream cultures,’ such as the indigenous people of Australia, who believe dreaming is intrinsic to our spiritual existence.” Most psychological theories surrounding dreaming fall somewhere in the middle. One of the most generally accepted ideas is the notion of dreams as memory consolidation, where the dream is a reflection of waking life, “almost like a funhouse mirror,” Naiman says. “From that perspective, dream interpretation is about decoding the dream. It enlightens us and expands our awareness psychologically,” offering an “expansion of consciousness.” The key here, he says, is not to try to interpret the dream literally through its symbols and visuals but rather to feel into the emotions it evokes, asking, What is this bringing up for me emotionally? “We need to learn the dream language; we don’t always have to translate it into waking.” That said, here are a handful of common dreams and some interpretations of what they could represent. And depending on their details, spider dreams can represent “some sort of deceit or web of lies surrounding you,” according to professional dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg. One thing to consider is easing up on alcohol consumption, especially right before bed. Another option is to linger in your morning grogginess and purposefully stay in that half-awake, half-asleep state for longer. “Grogginess is an exquisite hybrid state of consciousness,” Naiman notes. “Most people jump into their day when they wake up, immediately pushing the dreamy mind away. To remember dreams, we simply have to linger, without intention […] We’re not chasing the dream, we’re kind of waiting. It will come.” And when the dream does come back to you as you wake up, even if it’s just one thing you can remember, write it down in a dream journal or make an audio recording of what you recall. This will help you get into the practice of “bridging the dream into waking life,” as Naiman puts it. RELATED: The Psychology Of Dreams: Why They Happen + What They Can Teach Us
