Facts About Dreams

1. The average person has at least 5 dreams each night.

2. Most dreams are 5 to 20 minutes in duration.

3. Over a lifetime, you'll spend approximately 6 years dreaming.

4. There are 5 stages of sleep and it's only during the final stage (called ‘REM sleep’) that you dream.

5. Dreams are an expression of your real life thoughts, feelings, concerns and experiences.

6. Everybody dreams; even those people who can’t remember having any.

7. The images and storylines that make up your dreams should generally not be taken literally; they typically contain hidden meanings.

8. Men are more likely to dream about other men than they are to dream about women; whereas women dream of women and men equally.

9. A particular dream that recurs and persists over a period of time is a strong indication that an important issue in your life needs to be resolved.

10. To end a recurring dream you must interpret its true meaning and resolve the issue in your life that it refers to.

11. Whilst dreaming, some people realise that they’re dreaming and are able to control what happens in it; this is called ‘lucid dreaming’.

12. A process called ‘dream incubation’ allows you to increase your chances of dreaming about a particular topic, person or place.

13. Before trying to sleep, spend a few minutes thinking about the good and bad points of your day; doing so clears your mind and improves the quality of your dreams.

14. Alcohol and medications reduce your ability to remember your dreams; eating near to your bedtime has a similar effect.

15. Watching television or reading a book immediately before going to bed increases the likelihood of you dreaming about what you watched / read; such dreams tend not to have hidden meanings.

16. 5 minutes after waking up, people forget 50% of the content of their dreams; 10 minutes after waking up, 90% has been forgotten.

17. To increase your chances of remembering your dreams you should have a regular sleep pattern; going to bed and waking up at the same times each day.

18. If you want to remember more of your dreams, tell yourself before going to sleep that you want to do so; repeating it over and over in your mind as you lay in bed.