Misconceptions:

1) Why do I keep having nightmares?

Bad dreams are about the stress your conscious mind experienced during the day – the worse the nightmare, the worse the stress probably is.  Your subconscious is trying to give you a message.  The scarier the dream, the more urgent it may be.  You need to figure out the reason you are having nightmares to stop them.

2) Why can’t I remember my dreams?

Everyone dreams.  If you are not in the REM cycles for long enough, you may have what are called “dreamlettes”.  They are little itty bitty dreams that do not make snese or you cannot remember the next day.  The more you bring yourdream life into your waking life, the more dreams you will be able to remember.

3) Naps give me the strangest dreams, why is that?

Naps are great, especially if you are not getting enough sleep at night but sleeping for a short time after your body and brain have been awake and active may lead to strange dreams.  It may be hard for your mind to slow down and take when it feels like it should be awake (like in the afternoon). If you require naps, it means that you are probably not getting enough sleep.  Experts do not have an exact formual on how much REM sleep you need each night but i your brain doesn’t get enough downtime whil you sleep, it may catch up to you later when you take a nap.  That’s why when you are sleep deperived, you will have really weird and stressful dreams – your brain is skipping through the sleep stages quickly to get to REM sleep.  The best and most telling dreams happen when your mind is fully rested.