In Your Dreams Part 1

HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU SAID TO SOMEONE .. "I HAD THE WEIRDEST DREAM LAST NIGHT?"

SO WHAT DO THOSE DREAMS MEAN?

LAURA TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT WHAT GOES ON WHILE WE SLEEP..IN A SPECIAL REPORT.

SCOTT...SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THOSE STRANGE .. NIGHTLY .. VERY PERSONAL MOVIES PLAYING WHILE WE SLEEP ARE THE LANGUAGE OF OUR SUBCONSCIOUS.

OTHERS .. BELIEVE DREAMS ARE JUST RANDOM BRAIN IMPULSES.

TONIGHT .. WE BEGIN AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT WHY WE DREAM .. AND WHY NIGHTMARES MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT DREAMS OF ALL.

AS WE EXAMINE WHAT GOES ON.."IN YOUR DREAMS."

FOR CENTURIES .. PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY OF DREAMS.

WHAT, IF ANYTHING, DO THEY MEAN?

SHAKITA RICE / NASHVILLE RESIDENT: "basically I think theyre describing something that either is happening or is gonna happen .. but I think they are tied into reality"

HOPE STOVER / SAVANNAH, GA: "I believe dreams are a way of trying to tell you theres something in your life you need to change and things you need to look out for,."

CANDICE MOBERLY / BOWLING GREEN, KY: "I think in a way sometimes something is trying to touch us and tell us whats really going on then other times I just think its our imagination wandering."


WHETHER YOU BELIEVE DREAMS ARE YOUR BRAIN TRYING TO WORK OUT PROBLEMS IN REAL LIFE .. OR NOT .. THE FACT IS .. WE ALL DO IT.

4 TO 7 TIMES PER NIGHT ...AND IN COLOR.

LAURI LOEWENBERG / DREAM ANALYST: "whatever happens today .. whatever accomplishment you made, whatever struggle you had you will dream about it tonight."

CERTIFIED DREAM ANALYST LAURI LOEWENBERG SAYS DREAMS ARE YOUR OWN BUILT IN THERAPIST .. AND EVERY ONE HAS A MESSAGE.

lauri loewenberg says "you can come up with the next multi million dollar investment if you pay attention to dreams."

THAT STARTS BY KNOWING WHEN YOU DREAM.

EXPERTS SAY ITS 90 MINUTES AFTER FALLING ASLEEP .. WHEN WE HIT THE VERY DEEP, RAPID EYE MOVEMENT STAGE OF SLEEP.

loewenberg: "every 90 minutes we go through a cycle of rem when dreams take place and each cycle of dreaming is longer than the previous one .. so the first dream you have is about 15 minutes .. the last dream you have before waking up can be 45 minutes to an hour long."


LAURA FABER / FOX 17 NEWS: "remembering your dreams takes practice. experts say five minutes after the end of a dream .. we forget half of it. Psychologist sigmund freud theorized that's because dreams contain repressed thoughts and wishes we don't want to remember. But dream analyst's like loewenberg say good dream recall starts with NOT moving when you wake up .. and keeping a pen and a journal next to your bed.

Lauri Loewenberg: "let it come back to you give yourself 90 seconds or its gonna fade .. whatever you remember, even if its a tiny piece thats alright .. write it down!"

LOEWENBERG SAYS A JOURNAL CAN HELP YOU CONNECT THE DOTS BETWEEN DREAMS AND DAILY LIFE .. WHETHER THEY'RE HAPPY OR DISTURBING.

Loewnberg: "you'll be able to remember that that angry bear you dreamed about last night kind of reminds you of the angry phone conversation you had with your mother that day."

WHILE HAPPY DREAMS ARE MORE PLEASANT TO REMEMBER .. MANY EXPERTS SAY TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT DREAMS YOU CAN HAVE.

WHEN YOUR ADRENALINE AND HEART RATE RISE .. AND YOU WAKE UP IN A SWEAT .. IT'S TIME TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION.

Loewenberg: "its the way we smack ourselves in the face .. and say wake up .. weve got to deal with this .. theres something wrong in our life .. weve got to handle it and thats how to stop the nightmare from coming back."

HERE'S WHAT SOME COMMON NIGHTMARE SYMBOLS MEAN ...

BEING CHASED USUALLY MEANS YOU'RE AVOIDING AN ISSUE .. OR "RUNNING" FROM SOMETHING.

BLOOD IN A DREAM .. LOWENBERG SAYS IT REPRESENTS YOUR ENERGY .. IT MEANS SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS DRAINING YOU .. WHETHER ITS A RELATIONSHIP OR FINANCES.

AND FINALLY .. DREAMING OF A BASEMENT IS A SIGN THERE IS SOME ISSUE YOU'RE PUSHING DOWN AND NOT DEALING WITH.

Loewenberg: "a nightmare is actually good for you, its alerting you to a situation you're either ignoring or mishandling."

A LESSON IN LIFE MANAGEMENT THAT BEGINS BY PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR DREAMS.

LOEWENBERG SAYS IT'S COMMON FOR CHILDREN TO BEGIN HAVING NIGHTMARES AT ABOUT THREE YEARS OLD.

THIS IS WHEN THEY START PROCESSING NEGATIVITY .. THEY REALIZE THEY DON'T HAVE MUCH CONTROL ... THEY CAN GET HURT .. BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN.

AND EXPERTS BELIEVE NIGHTMARES IN KIDS ARE TIED TO SOME REAL LIFE ISSUE .. LIKE BEING BULLIED .. OR CHANGES IN THE FAMILY.

TOMORROW NIGHT AT 9 .. FALLING .. BEING NAKED IN PUBLIC .. LOSING YOUR TEETH .. AND ANIMALS.

WHAT THE MOST COMMON DREAMS MEAN MIGHT BE HAPPENING IN YOUR LIFE.