Learn about dreams
Guides to sleeping better and understanding what you dream.
Guides
Practical guide
How to interpret your dreams yourself, step by step
Interpreting a dream isn't cracking a secret code. It's more like a conversation with a part of you that speaks in pictures. No one knows your life better than you do, so the best interpreter of your dreams is the person who dreamed them.
Practical guide
How to keep a dream journal: what to write and how to read it back
A dream journal is a notebook, on paper or on your phone, where you write down what you dreamed as soon as you wake up. One dream on its own says little; many dreams read together, slowly, start to show what's on your mind.
Understanding
False awakenings: when you dream that you've already woken up
A false awakening is a dream in which you believe you've already woken up: you shut off the alarm, get out of bed, start your morning… and then you actually wake up, still in bed. It's a well-known and almost always harmless experience, and for some people it's a doorway into lucid dreaming.
Understanding
Sleep stages and REM sleep: what happens through the night
Sleep isn't an off switch. Over the night your brain moves through distinct stages several times over, each with its own rhythm, and knowing them helps explain when we dream most and why some dreams stick while others vanish.
Practical guide
Sleep hygiene: a simple routine to sleep better
Sleep hygiene is the set of everyday habits that make it easier for your body to fall and stay asleep. It won't work miracles, but plenty of bad nights get better with small changes you stick with.
Understanding
The history of dream interpretation: from Mesopotamia to modern science
For as long as there has been writing, people have recorded their dreams and tried to make sense of them. Walking through that history shows how each era read dreams through its own questions, and how you can borrow the best of each one today.
Practical guide
Sleep paralysis: what it is, why it happens and how to get out of it
Sleep paralysis is waking up with your mind alert while your body is still asleep: for a few seconds or minutes you can't move or speak. It's terrifying, but it's common, it has a clear explanation, and it's harmless.
Practical guide
Nightmares: why they happen and how to have fewer of them
A nightmare is a dream so distressing that it wakes you up, heart pounding, with the memory still sharp. Nearly everyone has one now and then; when they come often, there are proven ways to cut them down.
Understanding
Why do we dream? The main theories about dreams
Nobody knows for sure yet why we dream. There are several serious theories, each with its own evidence and its own critics, and more than one of them may be partly right.
Practices and traditions
Astral projection: what it is, how people practice it and what science says
Astral projection is the experience of feeling that you've left your body and are seeing it from outside. It's an old practice in many traditions and something a great many people say they've lived through; science, for its part, explains it in a different way.
Understanding
What affects your dreams: food, alcohol, medications, fever and more
Some nights your dreams are more intense, stranger or easier to remember, and it isn't always about your day. What you eat and drink, certain medications, a fever or noise from the street can change them too. Here's what research shows, and what it still doesn't know.
Practical guide
How to remember your dreams: what to do at bedtime and when you wake up
Nearly everyone dreams every night, yet most dreams are gone within the first few minutes of the day. Remembering them is a skill you can build with small habits at bedtime and, above all, in the moment you open your eyes.
Practical guide
Sleepwalking and sleep talking: what they are and what to do
Walking and talking in your sleep are two of the most common things the body does while the mind is still asleep. They're nearly always harmless, but sleepwalking calls for a few precautions at home, and it helps to know which signs are worth a visit to the doctor.
Practical guide
Dreaming of someone who died: grief dreams and how to live with them
Dreaming of someone who died is one of the most common experiences in grief. These dreams can bring comfort, pain or both, and there's no right way to go through them.
Practical guide
Children's dreams and nightmares: how kids dream and how to help
Nightmares are a normal part of childhood, and most children grow out of them. What helps a scared child most is simple: a calm grown-up nearby and a night that goes the way they expect.
Practical guide
Pregnancy dreams: why they're so vivid and what to do about them
During pregnancy many people dream more vividly, remember more and have dreams that unsettle them. It's very common, it says nothing about the baby or the birth, and there are simple ways to rest better.
Practical guide
Lucid dreaming: what it is and how to have a lucid dream
A lucid dream is one in which you realize you're dreaming while the dream carries on. Many people can train themselves to have them with a little patience, though results vary a lot from one person to the next.
Understanding
The most common dreams and what they mean, according to research
Some dreams nearly everyone has had at least once: someone's chasing you, you're falling, your teeth are crumbling, or you're late for an exam. Researchers call them typical dreams, and just knowing how common they are takes some of the sting out.
Understanding
Can dreams predict the future? What we know about prophetic dreams
Almost everyone knows someone who dreamed something and then watched it happen. This article explains, with respect for those experiences, why they happen, what traditions and research say, and how to live with them without fear.
Understanding
Recurring dreams: why you keep having the same dream
A recurring dream is a dream that keeps coming back: the same scene, the same house or the same dread, sometimes for years. Most adults have had one, and it usually has something to say about what's still unresolved.
Practical guide
Anxiety dreams: why stress shows up in your sleep and how to calm down
When your days are heavy, your nights tend to notice: dreams about running late, failing a test or being chased, and 3 a.m. wake-ups with your mind racing. Here's why it happens, what you can do tonight to go to bed with a quieter head, and when it makes sense to ask for help.
Practical guide
Dreams and creativity: how to incubate a dream to solve a problem
"Sleep on it" is more than a saying: studies suggest that sleep, and especially the edge between waking and sleep, can help you see a problem differently. Here is what is known, what is legend, and a simple method to try tonight.
Practical guide
Dreams and the Moon: does the full moon affect your sleep and dreams?
Plenty of people swear they sleep worse or dream more vividly under a full moon. Research has found a few hints about sleep, some that didn't hold up, and almost nothing about what we actually dream, so the best way to find out what happens to you is to track it in your own journal.
Practical guide
Night terrors in children and adults: what they are and what to do
A night terror is an episode in which someone screams, thrashes or sits bolt upright in bed, eyes wide open and terrified, without actually being awake. It's frightening to watch, but in most children it's a passing phase, and the next morning they remember nothing.