Stages of Sleep

The stages in your sleep cycle are organized by the changes in specific brain activity.

STAGE 1:

• Light Sleep
• Non-rapid eye movements
• (NREM) 
• Muscle relaxation
• Lowered body temperature 
• Heart rate slows down

Your body is preparing to enter a deep sleep. 

STAGE 2:

• (NREM)
• Body temperature decreases more 
• Relaxation of the muscles decrease more as well
• Immune system works on repairing the day's damage
• Endocrine glands - secrete growth hormones (Put hormones in the blood)
• Blood is sent to the muscles to recondition 

You are now completely asleep. 

STAGE 3:

• (NREM) 
• Deeper sleep

STAGE 4:

• Eyes move back and forth erratically (Like you're watching something from underneath your eyelids)
• REM SLEEP - 90-100 minutes after you fall asleep
• Blood pressure rises
• Heart rate speeds up 
• Breathing increases
• Brain activity increases
• Involuntary muscles become paralyzed 
• Your emotions are being tuned and played with

Dreaming usually occurs in this stage, and if you wake up during this stage then you will most likely remember your dreams or most of them. 

These 4 stages repeat themselves during the night as you sleep. 

While they repeat, you will spend less time in stages 1, 2 & 3 and most in 4.

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamresearch.htm

Your Sleep Cycle

There are 4 stages of the sleeping cycle. There is a fifth stage but that fifth stage does not repeat itself throughout the night like the others so it's not part of the "Sleep cycle". 

The sleep cycle repeats itself about 4-5 times per night but can go up to 7.

You can dream in any of the 4 stages of sleep but the most vivid and memorable dreams occur in the last stage of sleep (REM). 

This is why you can have several different dreams with a variety of different themes of each. 

But you usually dream near the morning when you are soon going to wake up. 

You may wake up and think back and not remember having any dreams but you did, you just don't remember them. 

You have several dreams a night, and you dream anywhere from 1-2 hours. 

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamresearch.htm

Falling into Darkness

Have you ever had a dream where you were falling into darkness? And you just kept
falling &
falling &
falling &
you just weren't hitting the bottom?
Well.
Falling dreams are a common type of dreams that many people have.

Ever heard of the myth, "You will died if you do not wake up before you hit the ground during the fall?" Well it is a myth, you will not die if you don't wake up before you hit the ground.

Falling in your dream represents insecurities, instabilities and anxieties. May be reflecting from a relationship or in your work life.
Keep your head high and stay positive not negative because it gives you negative thoughts and that can cause falling dreams.

Your falling dreams can reflect a sense of failure such as failing at your job, school, or love. Your self-esteem has been lowered.

According to Freudian theory, falling dreams indicate that you are contemplating giving into a sexual urge or impulse.

When you are in your falling dream, you're usually in your first stage of sleep. The symptoms include muscle spasms in arms, legs, and anywhere else.
If you remember ever sleeping and then all of a sudden jerk or twitch and you wake up with a rush and your heart is beating fast?
Well that is because you were in the middle of a falling dream and the muscle spams caused the twitch which can wake you up.

http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/fallingdreams.pl?method=exact&header=dreamid&search=fallingintro

DREAM FACTS

1. You will spend 1/3 of your life sleeping

2. Average life span: 6 years of it is dreaming.
(Over 2,100 days spent in a different reality)!

3. Dreams have been with us since mankind.
In Roman Era, significan dreams were sent to the Senate for interpretation and analysis

4. EVERYONE dreams. Most of the time you do not remember, unless it is a nightmare but you have several dreams EVERY NIGT.

5. Average person has around 4-7 dreams a night, averaging from 1-2 hours.

6. Blind people have dreams

7. 5 minutes after a dream = half the content forgotten
10 minutes after a dream = 90% forgotten

8. On average, men dream about other men,
women dream equally about men and women.

9. Studies show, your brain waves are more active when you're dreaming compared to when you're sleeping

10. Researchers found in a physiological way, that during REM sleep (stage 4 of the sleep cycle, blood pressure rises, heart rate speeds up, brain activity increases, dreams occur during this stage) it DOES NOT MATTER ON THE DREAM ,males have erections and females have increased vaginal blood flow.

11. "Wet dreams" are not always because of a sexual dream content . ^

12. People who are in the process of quiting smoking usually have intense and longer dreams

13. Toddlers DO NOT dream about themselves. They don't appear in their own dreams until 3 or 4 years old.

14. You will not dream when you snore.

15. From a poll: 67% of Americans have experienced Deja Vu appears more in females then males dreams

16. Most common setting: Your house

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamfacts.htm

Why do Dreams Recurr for Anyone?

Your unconcious self is sending you a message that is demanding you to understand it and until you do it will never stop recurring.
Anytime you have a dream, it contains a message, that is the purpose of them. But most of the time you won't remember having one, and if you do it's because you woke up right in the middle of it. Most of the time you don't remember having one at all during the night. But with a recurring dream, you have them because the message is so important that its never ending and keeps recurring. Since the dream is that powerful, it will keep recurring until you notice what the message is, stop pushing it away and trying to ignore it and do something about it.
Since the dream is recurring and is trying to get your attention really bad, it will usually be a bad dream or a nightmare therefore making you have a better memory of it so you DO NOT forget it.
Like childrens nightmares, recurring dreams are common and are usually caused by a certain life situation, changing phase, or a problem that is never ending. Sometimes they can be looked at as a weakness in something you're doing, fear in something or someone, or you being unable to cope with something that happened/happening. Unlike the average childrens nightmare (couple times a month), recurring dreams can happen as often as every night, once a week, or once a month.

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtypes/recurringdreams.htm

Why Did Nightmares Reccur During Your Childhood?

Well Abena I found this, I hope it helps you with what your looking for!
Nightmares reoccur because they are a series of events that terrify you. Recurring nightmares are a common disorder for children because it represents any fear that the child has. Once you have a recurring nightmare, you will continue to have those nightmares throughout your childhoo.d There is no specific age when nightmares begin but usually when the child has learned to start speaking, and it continues to well averages around 4-6 years old.
A childs nightmare will reocurr many times in one month, the reason it scares a child so much is because the child gets so involved with the nightmare it seems so real.
Some "Popular Recurring Nightmares" are :

• Being followed by a horrible person
• Confronted by a monster
• Trapped in a dark or scary place
• Mommy leaving

But a terrifying nightmare usual are metaphors of a frightening real life situation. Just like how it is said that the people in your dreams are all images of people you have seen before.
Nightmares usually stop whent the child gets to preteen or teenager. But for someone people nightmares never stop, it stays with them even into their adulthood.
Because children get so attached to their nightmares (Makes them believe it is truly happening and terrifies them) when they wake up they are in a critical state. This means that it is difficult for them to explain or talk about how they are feeling. Almost like they are in a state of shock. Since a nightmare is fear, the child wakes up and does not speak about the nightmare properly because they are afraid of the threatening memories that is now in their mind.
A lot of nightmares can come from parents, because children and infants are afraid of their parents leaving and this is a frequent cause of a nightmare and therefore when they wake up they see their parents and it reminds them of their nightmare and the memory is stuck in thier head.
So basically, nightmares recurr for children when they are going through a hard time such as being bullied, society, or school which is very scary for children especially if there are being bullied on, or they aren't learning/understanding the work it creates more stress. A child only has to have ONE nightmare, and it will recurr. Same with adults.


http://sleepdisorders.dolyan.com/what-causes-recurring-nightmares-in-children-2/

Nightmares are good

Have you ever woke up breathless or grasping for air or just terrified?
You wake up scared and look around to try and remember where you are and whats going on?
Well this is called a nightmare.
A nightmare is in a subcategory of dreams. Usually in a nightmare it is about emotional or scary content. It will never be happy thoughts otherwise that would be just a dream. Since your nightmare will be vivid and scary, when you wake up you are more likely to remember it and what happened. When you do wake up for the day, it has an impact on you and causes you to remember what happened and the images that you saw in the nightmare and it affects you all day. Your nightmare has a bigger impact on you when you're awake during the day then when you are actually experiencing the nightmare.
If you're a person that is sensitive, creative, imaginative, or intuitive then you are more likely to have a nightmare because you are more tuned in and pay attention to your surroundings.
If you are in a situation or problem and it is affecting you or you're trying to avoid it, you will have a nightmare. This is because your conscious is getting your attention and it's telling you to fix the problem and stop pushing it away.
Sometimes a nightmare can actually warn you about a problem that might be rising in the future. If your health is not safe or someone elses you will have a nightmare about it. This also goes for an accident, if something is going to happen.
If you actually pay attention and not be afraid of your nightmare you will start to realize what the message is and analyze what is going on.
I think nightmares are now somewhat a good thing in the sense that they're helping you in the way of fear. It is your own mind and thoughts that are causing the nightmare because you're pushing away those certain thoughts, that you're really suppose to be taking care and solving them.
Next time you have a nightmare, if you rememeber you should try and analyz what happened and what it could mean and maybe it will help you.

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtypes/nightmares.htm

Did you know you daydream?

Daydreaming
Daydreaming is usually wondering thoughts, and the meanings of your dreams of night are symbols to your applicable daydreams. It is when you allow your imagination to run away from you. It can be random images, or images from your past. It happens when you are semi-awake.
It is said that the content in your daydreams, help you understand of your true feelings and what you want to do with your life, what your goals are for your future.
When you daydream, you are using the right side of your brain because that is the creative and feminine side of your personality.
When you worry about something you are visualizing and unwanted or negative outcome of a situation and therefore this can be classified as daydreaming because the more you think about it the more likely it is that they can happen.
You can use daydreaming to become successful because you imagine a positive thought that you want to come true.
For example an athelete might daydream about making the fastest record or throwing the farthest distance of a football, and a musician might have a positive daydream about having their single hit the charts at number 1 for a long period of time.
It is said that Tiger Woods, has used the techinique of daydreaming to improve his golf game, and it seems to have worked because he is one of the top golfers in the world.
Next time you have a test, daydream about acing it and it might just so work.
It is healthy for the body to daydream because it helps escape you from reality and makes you think of different things like what should of been or could have happened. It helps you let your emotions such as anger and sadness out and deal with them in a way that's not physical.
I think daydreaming is now a great factor to help you cope with things or get your different emotions out and if you don't like talking to people about your problems then it is the perfect solution for it.

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtypes/daydreams.htm

How to Control Your Dream

Do you want to know how to control your dream?
Well I found this picture/explanation on how to go into lucid dreaming which allows you to control what you do and what happens in your dream while you are sleeping.
This is what you do.

Lay down and go to sleep. Works best if you are extremely tired.
Lay on your back with your arms at your side, and keep your eyes closed.
STAY PERFECTLY STILL. DO NOT MOVE.
You must stay awake. Your body will then send signals to your body to see if you are ready to sleep. These signals include:

• Getting an itch
• Changing your body position
• Wanting to blink or move your eyeballs (eyes have to stay closed though)

FORCE YOURSELF TO IGNORE THESE IMPULSES.
After about 20-30 minutes you will feel a weight on your chest; you may even hear weird noises.
You are now in sleep Paralasis.
If you open your eyes at this point, you will begin to hallucinate (dream with your eyes open) and you will not be able to move your body.
Your body is now completely asleep.
But since you are aware that you are dreaming, you can shut your eyes and begin to dream instantly.
You will be fully aware you are dreaming and can now control your dreams.
But it will take some practice. You may have some luck and can control somewhat of what you're doing but you will need to practice to be able to fully understand and control your body and dreams successfully.

I really want to try this out and see if it actually works, I will try my best and later write a post about it if I can become successfull with it.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=dream+controlling+tumblr&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=dream+controlling+tumblr&sc=0-17&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=769629F3E7956D8710109FE1FC1CB48D56FE95B7&selectedIndex=0

I Wish

Lucid Dreaming.
One thing I wish I could do is lucid dreaming. This is when you are sleeping and dreaming but you are aware that you are dreaming. You self-conciously know.
If you're having a lucid dream or are a lucid dreamer, you have high chances to have some control with your dreams and are sometimes able to manipulate your imaginary experiences in the dream environment.
They can be vibid and realistic.
There is rumours that lucid dreaming is not a state of sleep persay, but a brief state of wakefulness.
But also there is no way to prove this other than asking a person who is a lucid dreamer what happens.
I think it would be really cool to be a lucid dreamer, especially since then you would be able to control your dreams and what goes on in them. So anything that you've ever imagined and wanted to happen, you could make happen in your dream.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dreaming

Dream Loudly

What is a Dream?

A dream happens every night numerous times as you sleep, there is series of images, ideas, emotions and sensations. The average person has 3-5 dreams but some have 7 every night. Nothing is certain what they actually mean but philosophers have researched and came up with theories throughout history. Scientists have said that all mammals dream, but other animals such as birds or reptiles is uncertain.
REM- rapid-eye movement.
Dreams manly occur when you're at your REM mode of sleeping. This is because your brain activity is high and this causes it to resemble or being equivalent to being awake. At this stage of sleep when you dream, these tend to be the dreams you remember when you wake up.
When you wake up and don't have any recolition of dreaming, those are different stages of sleep but ththese ones are less vivid and not as memorable.
When you dream it can be anywhere from a couple seconds to 20 minutes.
Dreams usually last longer as the night continues on, and if you get a full 8 hours of sleep, your dreams will occur during your 2 hour REM stage. And if you wake up any time in this REM stage you will remember your dream.
Your dreams range anywhere from exciting, frightening, magical, adventurous or sexual.
The events that happen in your dreams are usually beyond your control meaning.
But there is something called lucid dreaming and this is when you're self-aware of what's happening.
Dreams can give a person a creative thought or sense of inspiration.
In earlier days (5000-4000 BC) dreams were believed to be direct messages from the gods or from the dead. Even to this day certain religions believe different things about dreams and that they are telling you messages or someone is telling you messages, or its just random thoughts that you create up in your mind during the day.
Depsite anything, dreams can scare or help you with anything your mind thinks of. It can actually be quite scary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream

Lisa's Happiness

So I decided to ask a peer about what kinda dream she has in life.
Her name is Lisa.

So I asked her:

1. What do you want in life?
"Happiness."

2. What is your definition of "happiness"?
"Being content, with your life."

3. How are you going to achieve this goal of happiness?
"By surrounding myself with people  I love. Having a career I love and only eating the most fine cuisine the world has to offer."

4. Is there any paticular place you would want to live and be happy?
"My hometown, Ayrshire Scotland or London Ontario."

The point of this post is that I want exactly what Lisa wants. To be happy, and I want to be happy in California.

California Dreaming

Have you ever had a dream?

One where you can finally be free at last? 

You can do what you want, when you want, where you want. 

No one would get in your way, you are free to your will? 

Happiness could be an everyday thing. 

All your hard work would finally pay off. 

Live in a big city. 

Bright lights. 

New people. 

New background. 

New setting. 

New lifestyle. 

Well California is my dream.