Dreams

Dreaming and sleep go hand in hand. We have an idea why we sleep but no idea why we dream, where dreams come from or what causes them. Research shows dreams are associated with a period of sleep involving rapid eye movement or REM sleep and why REM sleep is essential for proper psychological health is another mystery. The curious thing is, all mammals from dogs to dolphins, experience something during REM sleep what we would recognise as a dream.

We dream every night but only if we wake up during that REM sleep do we remember bits of it. Because the subconscious resonates with metaphors dreams are full of moving images and pictures and seem so real they allow us to experience intense emotion. Some say images are the language of the subconscious; researchers also say dreams in themselves are meaningless but if that was the case, why do some dreams, recur?

What is also interesting, when confronted with a problem, how ‘sleeping on it’ often has a beneficial effect, the subconscious works on the problem while we sleep coming up with new ideas and perspectives in the morning. Many ideas have been attributed to dreams; the structure of benzene, the sewing machine even Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

So how can hypnosis be beneficial?

For those who believe in the power of dreams and particularly those who are prolific dreamers hypnosis can:

• Deflect a dream turning into a nightmare
  
  
• Help create beneficial dreams that encourage problem solving
  
  
• Encourage creativity - especially beneficial for musicians, artists and writers