Ever dream you can’t land a punch? December 11th, 2008
Allright gentlemen, this post is for you! One of the most common dreams that you guys seem to get is the one where you are in a fight and when you throw a punch, it either goes in slow motion or you just can’t land it! Now, you can finally find out what it means.
Yesterday I was a guest on The Atom Smasher show on Hot 96 in Evansville, IN again and a male listener called in with this very male driven dream. Listen to the audio below to find out what it REALLY means!
Flamingos, breaks that don’t work and exes, oh my! December 5th, 2008
Recently I was a guest on the Spezzano and Sandy Morning Show on WPXY Rochester, NY. As usual, the listeners called in with some really good dreams… dreams I’ll bet you’ve had! Okay, maybe you haven’t dreamt of a flamingo sleeping in a cardboard box like Spezzano, but I’m sure you’ve dreamt the breaks on your car aren’t working or that you are back with an ex. Listen to the audio below to find out what these common dreams REALLY mean!
The Flamingo dream is first, the car breaks dream is about halfway through and the ex dream is two thirds of the way through. Enjoy dahling!
Dreaming of Brad Pitt November 20th, 2008
I’ve been researching and analyzing dreams for 14 years now and in that time Brad Pitt has remained a constant figure in our collective dreaming mind. In fact, he has remained the most commonly dreamt of male celebrity, other than the president. But what is more interesting is that his meaning has changed!
Up until a couple of years ago, when Brad made a cameo in our dreams, he usually was standing in for what we perceive as the ideal man. For a woman, he represented everything she wanted in her intimate relationships and would find herself dreaming of Brad when her relationship wasn’t going so well OR when she was was looking for a relationship. For a guy, Brad often stood in for what he wanted to be. When a guy was feeling really good about himself and his accomplishments, Brad would be a common symbol in his dreams.
But NOW, 6 kids later, Brad seems to represent fatherhood in our dreams. I know for me personally, Brad and Angelina would grace my dreams whenever hubby and I discussed the idea of having more kids. And in the audio clip below, you’ll hear another great example of how Brad = Dad. This is from the other day when I was on Hot 96 in Evansville, IN with host Atom Smasher. The first dream in the clip is a pretty interesting one about an execution. If you want to hear the Brad dream, forward to right to the middle of the slide. It’s really interesting how it all pieces together!
What is this dog trying to tell us? November 19th, 2008
Every now and then I’ll post something that has nothing to do with dreams simply because… it’s my blog and I can if I want!! Naw, because sometimes there are things out there that even I can’t explain! So now it’s your turn. Please… PLEASE! Someone tell me what this dog is saying!!! But beware, watching this video may cause side effects such as side splitting, milk spewing from the nose and bizarre dreams. Leave your translations below.
Joe Drops the F Bomb and Blames Ambien! November 10th, 2008
By now you may have heard or seen Joe Scarborough drop the F Bomb on MSNBC this morning.
What I found most interesting was that he blamed it on the sleep aid Ambien! Ambien is responsible for causing all kinds of odd sleep behavior, otherwise known as Parasomnias, such as sleep eating, sleep driving, sleep painting and sleep sex! There is even a case of sleep eating on Ambien where the person made themselves a butter and cigarette shake!! The thing is Joe, it only causes such behaviors while the person is actually ASLEEP! A for effort.
Why does Ambien cause Parasomnias while other sleep aids such as Rozerum and Lunesta do not? Because Ambien is a Zolpidem, which is a sedative hypnotic - hypnotic being the key word here. That means it activates the subconscious mind and therefore can cause one to do very strange things while in an hypnotic trance.
Frighteningly, a lot of people, namely teens, are getting a hold of this drug and using it recreationally. If you want to creep yourself out, just search youtube and you’ll find an endless supply of people tripping out on Ambien. I discovered this - unfortunately - when I was searching for some good video of the guy that sleep paints on Ambien!
Posted in Sleep disorders | 1 Comment »
Could this be a haunting? November 7th, 2008
One of the most common dreams I am asked about when on the air is the one where you are in your bed and a dark, sinister presence enters the room. It is so terrifying that you’re unable to move, speak out or scream. Very often it is difficult to breathe because the creature is on you, suffocating you!
People are horrified by this experience and , understandably, believe they have been haunted because it is very real and some swear they are awake.
The truth is, this is not a dream… nor is it a haunting. It is actually a fascinating physiological experience called Sleep Paralysis, or The Old Hag Syndrome! And there is not a thing one should worry about when it happens.
Here’s the deal, when we sleep and enter the REM state, which is when dreaming takes place, our brain releases a chemical that literally paralyzes our skeletal muscles so that we don’t act out our dreams. When we’ve had a fitful night of sleep or haven’t slept long enough, we will start to wakeup before our brain can re-activate our muscle control, which causes us to get “stuck” in that inbetween state of sleep and wakefulness. This is called Hypnogogia. Cool name, huh? In this state you are asleep and awake at the same time, which is why you are aware that you are in your room and in your bed. This is also why you can’t move, speak or scream… because you are still paralyzed!
Now, about that dark, frightening creature in the room. That is still a mystery to many researchers but I have a theory. We tend to have fitful nights of sleep because something is “weighing heavy” on us - hence the pressure on the chest. There is some negative force in our life that is keeping us from sleeping peacefully. It can be anything from debt, to relationship troubles. And in Dream Psychology, negative elements in our life often show up in our dreams in the form of a dark shadow, a monster or some other villainouscharacter. So when we are temporarily stuck in that Hypnogogic state, which is a hallucinatory state btw, it is no wonder that the very thing that is causing disrupted sleep would still be present in our mind. I have spoken to numurous people who have experienced this and when asked if was something heavy on their minds that night the answer has always been yes.
If this happens to you… fear not! It is mostly physiological and will subside in a moment or two. It is not harmful in any way and does not mean there is anything wrong with you. No need to call your priest or the ghost hunters! The cure is to try to get your negative issues off your mind before bedtime. Try writing out what is bothering you at bedtime. Get it out of your mind and onto paper. Very often, writing it down can also help you sort out your thoughts and even come up with ideas on how to handle it. Plus, this will ensure your dreams that night will work hard on your issue for you. After all, that is the purpose of dreaming.
Boo! Discussing Nightmares on Oprah and Friends November 1st, 2008
On Halloween Day I had the pleasure of appearing on Oprah and Friends radio to discuss the dark side of dreaming with Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete. Rodney told me about recurring nightmares he has about being kidnapped, blind-folded and dropped out of a helicopter. Yikes!
Go ahead and take a listen and post your creepiest nightmare in the comments section below!!
http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahandfriends/peetes/20081031_oaf_peetes
Posted in Audio Clips, Nightmares, Oprah and Friends | 1 Comment »
You MUST hear this! October 29th, 2008
This week I was a guest on FM 100 in Memphis with my old radio buddy Dana Fox. A gal called in about having a progression of dreams about giving birth to a baby and giving it away. Her dream is a great example of how our dreams help us out when we are facing tough life decisions. Her dream is also a great example of how the real life story behind the dream, is often more fascinating than the dream itself! Go ahead and give it a listen. I had to dig a little with this caller but when we finally got to the root of the dream, it’s like a chorus of angels began to sing!! Please feel free to leave your thoughts or your baby dreams below.
Celebrity Nightmares! October 28th, 2008
Since this is the week of all things scary, I thought we could have some fun and delve into the nightmares some of our favorite celebrtits have had. I recently did an interview with the Daily Blabber at ivillage.com where we talked about what haunts the dreams of Madonna, Rihanna and more…
Halloween Special: Celebrity Nightmares
What better time to talk about celebrity nightmares than on Halloween? I interviewed Cracking The Dream Code author Lauri Loewenberg, who has analyzed the dreams of many famous Hollywood folks, and she spills their nightmare secrets…
Which celebrities have you worked with and is there one that sticks out as being the most memorable?
Lauri: I’ve talked with Diane Sawyer, Star Jones, Desperate Housewives‘ James Denton, Anderson Cooper, Rihanna, Alice Cooper, and Dustin Diamond. And, no — not a sex dream… thank God!
The most memorable celebrity interaction was with Rihanna. She had a nightmare about watching a plane crash into a building and pieces of it landing on her brother. Naturally, she had no idea why she had this dream and worried it might be telling her something bad was going to happen to her brother. I told her the plane represents her career and how it’s “taking off.” It crashes in her dream because she fears her career might come crashing down before she reaches her career goal. (Plane crash dreams are very common with celebrities, by the way.) I asked her how her relationship with her brother is and she said they are very close and she misses him very much. That made me realize that she’s concerned her rising celebrity — that has her jetting all over the place — might harm the close relationship she had built with her brother, the building representing that relationship. She got pretty emotional at this realization. She obviously loves her little bro a great deal.
Did you ever have to tell a celebrity that something they were dreaming about was a dire warning that their subconscious was communicating to them?
Lauri: Thankfully no. Well, not yet!
Let’s have you decode some of recurring nightmares that celebrities have. Madonna has said that she has a nightmare that she’s being attacked by a dwarf with a knife. Do Lourdes, Rocco and David have to worry about their mum’s safety?
Lauri: No, no! Certainly not. I love Madonna’s nightmare because it reveals so much about her. Madonna is a huge celebrity. She keeps getting this nightmare because her big fear is to diminish — or be “dwarfed” — in the public eye. That knife is significant too because it represents wounding and cutting remarks — criticism. This nightmare shows us that Madonna, despite her hordes of fans and accomplishments, really lets criticism “bring her down.” I wonder if she’s been having this dream since she returned from Malawi.
Back in 1997, Whitney Houston had recurring dreams of trying to cross the George Washington Bridge as it started to break apart. Do you think that was a premonition about her marriage going south all these years later?
Lauri: If only she had heeded that warning! Actually, bridges in dreams are all about transitions, our ability to get from one point in life to the next. I don’t think this dream was foretelling of the demise of her marriage to Bobby Brown, but it does show us that she’s not the most stable individual. She doesn’t have confidence in her ability to make it through tough situations or transitions. This may be why she turned to drugs. Godspeed, Whitney! We believe in you.
Star Jones told you that she dreams over and over that she’s drowning. Is a membership at the Y out of the question?
Lauri: [Laughs] That might not be a bad idea. She also told me she doesn’t know how to swim, so that could play a role in her drowning dreams, but I believe it goes deeper than that. We’ll dream of drowning when we are overwhelmed, when we are in over our head in responsibilities. At the time, she was co-hosting The View, was the spokesperson for Payless Shoes, an E! correspondent and planning a little wedding you may have heard about to a guy named Al. Yeah, I’d say she was definitely in over her head.
Winona Ryder has said that she has a nightmare about being on a beach and seeing kids about to fall off a cliff. But she wasn’t able to run in the sand, so she couldn’t save them in time. What in the world does this mean… and does it have anything to do with trying to outrun security at Saks.
Lauri: Now behave, young lady! Actually, Winona says she used to have this dream all the time and it really bothered her. At the time of these dreams, Winona was worried that something precious to her — symbolized by the children — was falling away. Perhaps she was worried about falling out of someone’s graces, a “young” relationship falling away, losing a part she really wanted… or maybe she feared the idea of growing up, in which case the children would represent her childhood. Whatever the case, the dreams stopped indicating that Winona overcame the issue.
Lastly, I keep having dreams about celebrities. The other night I was hanging out with K-Fed. Matthew McConaughey tried to set me up with his friend. Does this mean I’m going crazy… or am I just working too much?
Lauri: As Freud once said, “Sometimes a cigar’s just a cigar!” …or maybe that was Monica Lewinsky. Anyhoo, you need a vacation, sister!
You MUST hear this! (a past life?) October 24th, 2008
Last week I was an in-studio guest on WFUS Tampa. Lester, one of the co-hosts, told me a disturbing dream he had about being a wounded confederate soldier. What his dream revealed was pretty amazing!
Click play to listen to the dream.
It’s not unusual to dream of being in a different time period, and many people believe that they are dreaming of their past life when that happens… I’m not so sure!
What do you think?
Click the “Comments” link below and leave your thoughts.
Posted in Audio Clips | 4 Comments »