Lucid Dreams and the Impact of Dreaming in Color

If you dream on a regular basis, you are probably one of over a million Americans who believe your dreams have meaning. While, to some extent, your belief may be correct, researchers are quick to point out that not every dream can be interpreted so literally.

In studying the effect of dreams in sleep study, it has been found that dreams do not seem to predict the future but, instead, may provide some insight into our emotions and subconscious thoughts about the events of our days. In other words, it is believed that dreams may actually work to help us resolve internal conflict and resolve emotions that we normally can't resolve during our waking hours.

In controlled studies, patients who recently underwent a traumatic event were found to recover more quickly from that traumatic event when they dreamed of related events. Without dreams, those patients who experienced traumatic events were still coping and working through the stress disorders that were associated. In fact, on PET scan, the limbic system shows high levels of activity during REM sleep along with increased activity of eye movement. Researchers believe these two factors indicate our dreams are not only being recorded into our memory but also accessing the very core of our emotional being.

With so many "dream experts" ready to assist you in the interpretation of your dreams, how can you know who is the best? Really, there isn't any one method for interpreting the meaning of your dreams. What research has found is that when you dream in color, the actual color may correlate with a particular event or mood of the day. In other words, color correlates with historical events but can not predict the future as some "dream experts" would have you believe.

To that same extent, if you are a lucid dreamer, one who participates in your dreams, you may be at a greater advantage to resolve dilemmas of your day. This is especially true if you find that you are struggling with a decision that is life changing. Often, by becoming an active participant in your dream, known as lucid dreaming, you can guide the outcome and obtain guidance from your own subconscious. To this extent, your dreams may predict your future but only by providing guidance to a major decision and only through lucid dreaming.

As with any psychological phenomenon, many Americans believe their dreams hold the answers to many of their life events. While we can not literally interpret dreams, we can hold onto the research that suggests our dreams may help us work through the emotional aspects of the day and, through participation known as lucid dreaming, we may be able to make more clear decisions when we are struggling with an issue or dilemma.