What are your dreams trying to tell you? Holly and Rodney welcome back to the show dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg, who answers callers' burning questions about the secret meaning of dreams.
Why is it so difficult to remember your dreams when you wake up?
Everyone dreams every night, Lauri says. The average person has five dreams each night, occurring about every 90 minutes throughout sleep as he or she enters the REM stage, which is when dreams occur. Having said that, the act of dreaming takes place in the same part of your brain where short-term memory is stored. "So by nature, they're slippery little buggers," Lauri says.
Why do we remember some dreams better than others?
Lauri says people tend to remember the dreams they wake up from, rather than the ones they sleep all the way through. Dreams that jolt you from your sleep, such as nightmares or deeply emotional dreams, are also more memorable—and they're also the dreams you need to pay attention to. "Those are the ones that have the important message for you—the ones that you can't shake all day," Lauri says.
Why do sex dreams feel so real?
According to Lauri, dreams of a sexual nature feel real because your body doesn't know the difference between a dreaming event and waking event at that point in time. "[Your body is] going to react the same," she says. "So while you're in the throes of passion in your dream, your brain is releasing those same signals to all the nerve endings in your body—especially in that special area."
Why do dreams suddenly switch scenes?
"[Dreams] don't necessarily follow the logical conscious timelines that we're used to," Lauri says. But that doesn't mean there isn't a reason behind the madness—abrupt shifts in time and place might be showing you how one thing can lead to another, she says. For example, if you're in the grocery store buying cookies and cakes, then suddenly you're in jail, Lauri says your dream may mean you need to watch your fat and calorie intake or you'll end up in the nutrition pits!
