How to wake up to the meaning of your dreams

EVERYONE dreams, but not everyone remembers them, which is a pity.

Because by paying attention to our dreams, we can ground ourselves, and make wiser choices towards our good. In the ancient world, dreams were seen as messages from the gods — the biblical patriarchs Abraham and Jacob were guided by them, as was Joseph in the New Testament.

Dreams arise from bursts of activity in an ‘ancient’ part of the brain: REM, or dream sleep, evolved 130m years ago. Dreams occur every 90 minutes throughout the night, each episode persisting for between five and 40 minutes. They account for a quarter of each night’s sleep.