What does it mean when I dream about getting chased by something?



Chase dreams are one of several common dream themes, stemming from feelings of anxiety in your waking life. Flee and flight is an instinctive response to a physical threat in the environment. In such dreams, the scenario often features you being pursued by an attacker, an animal, a monster or an unknown figure, who wants to hurt or possibly kill you. Ask yourself who is chasing you, so that you can gain a better understanding and insight on the source of your fears and anxieties.



The pursuer or attacker who is chasing you in your dream may also represent an aspect of yourself. Your own feelings of anger, jealousy, fear, and possibly love, can manifest itself as the threatening figure. Next time you have a dream of being chased, turn around and confront your pursuer. 



If you are the one doing the chasing, then the dream may highlight your drive and ambition to go after something you want. Or perhaps the dream suggests that you are falling behind and having to catch up with everyone else.



 



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What does it mean when I dream about falling?



Falling dreams are quite common and can be linked to anything that is subject to falling or going up and down -- finances, stocks, status, relationships, expectations, etc.




  • Your perspective, view, or outlook of something may have fallen or is not living up to what you thought it might be.

  • May indicate you are taking risky chances and putting yourself in danger.

  • Falling in your dream may symbolize failure or your fear of failure.

  • May indicate you are taking risky chances and putting yourself in danger.

  • You may be feeling overwhelmed or out of control.

  • Falling in a dream may be a result of a physical movement of the body, a change in your level of consciousness or a change in your blood pressure.

  • May be a reference to the fall or autumn season or something that happened or will happen then.



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What does it mean when I dream about flying?



Life’s going great. You feel like you have the freedom to accomplish anything!  A flying dream could indicate strong feelings of freedom and bliss, which can represent moving toward a higher state of awareness or connection with spirit.  It can also provide a broader perspective on your life by virtue of giving you a higher vantage point. For the most part flying dreams are very positive dreams that signify high exceptions that reflect your walking life. Though it can also hold a negative translation if you are having difficulty taking off.  These thrilling type dreams are fairly common and considered one of the top dream themes we get in our life time. Flying dreams can be extremely vivid as if we are superman for the night. 



 



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How long do I need to sleep before I start to dream?



The Alpha stage is a period in which the body and mind prepare to relax and might be accompanied by daydreams and a hazy feeling that may make these visions feel like actual dreams. Some could also experience realistic physical, visual, or auditory events during this time. It is estimated that people take an average of 7 minutes to fall asleep, but we should not actually begin dreaming until much later during the sleep cycle.



About an hour and a half into our slumber experience, we enter REM, or the Rapid Eye Movement portion of rest. This is when the actual dreaming starts. It is at this level that the muscles in the body are at their peak rest, while brain activity peaks.



The REM stage may only be a few minutes long when a person first experiences it. Sleepers go through the various cycles several times in one night and REM should grow longer each time it comes up in the cycle. This should also dictate the length at which your dreams last, as they happen in real time.



 



On average, it should take approximately 90 minutes to start your nightly adventures. But how long it lasts depends on the amount of time you are able to sustain deep REM sleep so be sure to practice mindfulness and meditation techniques that promote deeper sleep!



 



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Why do some people snore in their sleep?



Because something is keeping the air from moving freely through the passages behind their noses and mouths. Maybe they have bad sleep posture, or maybe they’ve put on weight or have a sinus infection. Sometimes, snoring is brought on by age. Whatever the reason, snoring can get loud. A woman in England once snored loud enough to drown out the sound of a low – flying passenger plane!



Those who have enlarged tonsils, an enlarged tongue or excess weight around the neck are more prone to snoring. And structural reasons like the shape of one’s nose or jaw can also cause snoring. The snoring sound itself is a result of the narrowing of a person’s airway, which causes a throat vibration and the snoring sound. No matter the reason, 40% of normal adults snore regularly, whether they realize it or not.



 



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Why do we dream?



Scientists aren’t really sure. Studies suggest that dreams help us cope with painful memories. Dreaming might also make us smarter and more creative during our waking hours. So if you’re feeling drained, grabbing 40 winks – and a few vivid dreams – might recharge your brain.



Dreams facilitate memory consolidation. New things learned during the day are reinforced by the firing of the new neuronal connections at night. But people don’t generally dream about a task they learned.



Dreams occur when specific neuron networks are activated. This is evidenced by neurocognitive research showing that during sleep neural activity only decreases by 10%. Without the neuron connections constantly firing, connections may degenerate. And thus, dreams are non-functional side effects of activation of networks that need to be activated to help keep the brain intact.



 



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What happens if I don’t get enough sleep?



Doctors believe that good night’s sleep comes with many benefits, including improved creativity and mental sharpness. Avoid going to bed and you’ll soon suffer the consequences: crankiness, clumsiness – even hallucinations if you miss a few days. Your brain will go on strike, and easy tasks will become supremely difficult until you turn in and switch off.



If you continue to operate without enough sleep, you may see more long-term and serious health problems. Some of the most serious potential problems associated with chronic sleep deprivation are high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Chronic sleep deprivation can even affect your appearance.  Over time, it can lead to premature wrinkling and dark circles under the eyes. Also, research links a lack of sleep to an increase of the stress hormone cortisol in the body. Cortisol can break down collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth.



 



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Why do I get sleepy?



Whenever you try to defeat drowsiness to finish one more Harry Potter chapter, you’re actually locked in a losing battle over bedtime with your brain stem. This chunk of gray matter at the base of your brain regulates your sleep, along with other automatic bodily functions such as breathing and the ticking of your heart.



When the stomach is full, then sleepiness will occur. This happens to many people. Sleepiness after eating is caused by many factors, such as the type of food you consume, messy sleeping habits, your health condition and so forth. Bad sleeping patterns can also cause sleepiness post-meal. After a meal, the body feels full and relaxed, making the body feel like it is resting, resulting in a feeling of sleepiness, particularly if you didn’t get a good night’s sleep the night before. 



To avoid this, improve your sleeping habits to prevent stress. Engaging in regular physical exercise can help you get a good night’s sleep. It is recommended that you avoid napping if you are having trouble sleeping at night.



 



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Is yawning contagious for other animals besides humans?



You bet, at least among higher primates such as chimpanzees and bonobos (for the same reason as for humans, researchers suspect). Even more surprising, experiments show that dogs catch yawns from watching people!



When two groups of chimpanzees were shown videos of familiar and unfamiliar chimps yawning, the group watching the chimps they knew engaged in more contagious yawning. This study, by Matthew Campbell and Frans de Waal, supports the theory that yawning plays a role in the evolution of social bonding and empathy.



And dogs not only catch each others’ yawn, they are susceptible to human yawning as well. In one study, 29 dogs watched a human yawning and 21 of them yawned as well — suggesting that interspecies yawning could help in dog-human communication.



 



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Is yawning contagious?



Absolutely! In fact, yawning is so contagious that even reading about yawning can make you yawn.(Go ahead and get it out of your system) Studies have shown again and again that people who see other people yawn – even in videos – are more likely to yawn. Yawning most often occurs in adults immediately before and after sleep, during tedious activities and as a result of its contagious quality. It is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, sleepiness, or even boredom and hunger. In humans, yawning is often triggered by others yawning (e.g. seeing a person yawning, talking to someone on the phone who is yawning) and is a typical example of positive feedback. This "contagious" yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees, dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles, and can occur across species.



 



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Why do we need to sleep?



Video games, track meets, chemistry class – your waking hours are crammed with activities and tasks that give your noggin a real workout. All that processing causes chemicals to clutter your brain. A good night’s sleep clears your head – literally. While you snooze, your brain goes into housekeeping mode, flushing the toxins and preparing itself for a busy day of math classes, socializing, and beating your brother in basketball.



One of the vital roles of sleep is to help us solidify and consolidate memories. As we go about our day, our brains take in an incredible amount of information. Rather than being directly logged and recorded, however, these facts and experiences first need to be processed and stored; and many of these steps happen while we sleep. Overnight, bits and pieces of information are transferred from more tentative, short-term memory to stronger, long-term memory—a process called "consolidation." Researchers have also shown that after people sleep, they tend to retain information and perform better on memory tasks. Our bodies all require long periods of sleep in order to restore and rejuvenate, to grow muscle, repair tissue, and synthesize hormones.



 



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Why do I breathe without thinking about it?



Credit goes to your brain stem, the autopilot for your most important automatic functions: breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate.

The brain controls some of our body activities without us having to think about them. Such examples include breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature. When we sleep or even if we faint, these activities keep working. They are all automatic. 



The brain sends out signals along nerves to the muscles of the heart, intestine, lungs, stomach, liver, kidneys, bladder, and other internal organs telling them when and how to move. Usually you are not aware of this unless something happens, like when you are frightened and your heartbeat and breathing become faster. 



The part of the nervous system called the autonomic nervous system is a network of nerves that carries these automatic signals back and forth between the brain and the different organs. This system makes sure that your normal body functions continue to run smoothly. 



 



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Can we control our dreams?



Sleep experts say we can seize control of our dreams and do all fantastical things – fly, relive favorite memories, eat a mountain of ice cream – but only after we realize we’re actually dreaming. Achieving this deep – sleep state, known as lucid dreaming, isn’t easy. Wanna be dream masters practice every night for years and still never achieve success. A variety of masks and headbands promise to help sleepers reach a lucid state by flashing tiny lights above the eyelids. Sleep researchers, meanwhile, are researching other methods of triggering dreams.



 



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How can I get a good night’s sleep?



1. Keep to asleep schedule. Set a bedtime and a wake – up time and stick to them.



2. Relax with a book before bed, but don’t keep your smartphone within reach. It’s a certified sleep stopper.



3. Don’t fall asleep with the television on.



4. Don’t eat any big meals or chug any large drinks within two hours of bedtime.



5. Getting plenty of sun exposure during the day helps you sleep at night, so spend some waking hours outside!



 



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Why is yawning contagious?



Yawns don’t catch a among children younger than five a among people with emotionally dampening disorders. That leads researchers to believe contagious yawning is just another way humans reinforce social bonds between people. Humans are social and emotional animals. We tend to understand and feel the emotions of friends and even strangers. Yawning falls into that category. When we see someone yawn, we yawn.



 



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