Dreams interpretations in traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine - TCM podcast

Script: episode-14-dreams-interpretations-in-traditional-chinese-medicine

A dream is one of three states that the soul experiences during its lifetime. The other two states are the waking state and the sleeping state.

Since the old times, people regard dreams as mysterious and meaningful. Many people believe that the dream world—with its own metaphoric language, can help us fully understand our life in sanity and lead us to greater knowledge and self-realization. Dream interpretation has been practiced throughout all time very likely by all civilizations.

Unconscious lies hidden beneath the conscious mind of every person. It is an area that has a very distinct effect on dreams and on all human thoughts and actions.

Consciousness and unconsciousness

Consciousness is not a simple state, but has many “layers.” Even when wide awake, we are not equally aware of everything around us or of our own actions. An experienced bus driver, for example, does not need to concentrate in order to change gear. In the same fashion, unconsciousness does not mean a lack of inactivity. During sleep, the brains are very active. Data from some unconscious layers can appear during sleep in the form of dreams. When we awaken that very unconscious data can trigger sudden inspirations or déjà vu itself.

What is sleep?

Sleep is an active process in which the body repairs and regenerates itself, as our brains process and analyze the days awaken state of action. We experience four or five sleep cycles, which are made up of various stages or kinds of sleep. Each has its own unique characteristics and is designed to maintain health and prepare us for a new day.

How much sleep?

The amount of sleep needed to maintain health varies from individual to individual. Most newborn babies spend 80% of their time asleep. By the age of three to five months, babies need less sleep, and the requirement continues to decrease throughout life. Someone needing eight hours in middle age is likely to need only seven when they reach old age.

The duration of sleep also changes as people grow older. By the age of 10, most people need between nine and 12 hours to sleep. The average for most adults is between seven and eight and a half hours.

Some adults need as little as six hours, while others require as much as nine. In general, a pattern of decreasing sleep needs continues until old age when a more interrupted, infant-like pattern may re-emerge.

The average person in the course of a lifetime will spend around 20 years asleep and experience at least 300,000 dreams. Sleeping and dreaming are active functions of the nervous system.

People die more quickly from lack of sleep than they do from lack of food. A person kept awake for long periods becomes increasingly disoriented, starts hallucinating, and after about 10 days of total sleep deprivation usually dies. Many people, however, have survived years with little sleep. It has been demonstrated that both dreaming sleep and non-dreaming sleep are necessary to maintain health and vitality.

Stages of Sleeping

Sleep involves four distinct stages that combine to form the sleep cycle. During the first stage, the individual relaxes and drifts between sleeping and waking. In the second stage, the person can be woken by even slight disturbances. The eyes roll from side to side. During stage three the body is greatly relaxed and only a loud disturbance could wake the person up. These three stages together take about 20 minutes. In stage four the body’s tissues are repaired with the aid of growth hormone. After stage four the cycle goes into reverse but instead of waking up after stage one the person enters REM sleep and begins to dream. The cycle from stage one to four and back takes between 90 and 100 minutes. In the course of a night’s sleep, this cycle repeats itself between four and five times.

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