Our brains need to dream. A psychologist tells us what it affects

“Sometimes our parents or mentors tell us to stop dreaming and get busy. But what if it is the dream that becomes the starting point for action? Together with a psychologist, let’s find out why we need to cherish our dreams.

psychologist

The ability to dream is a purely human trait. We can say that it is a kind of exit beyond their own limits and restrictions, which, unfortunately, with age, many lose. In our reality, an adult has to think about how to make money, and for all sorts of “silly” dreams, it is simply pathetic to waste time.

Such people live in survival mode, immersed in negative feelings and thoughts, notice only bad things and unconsciously attract such events in their lives. Often they act out of habit, not realizing that they live “on automatic”.

How bad is the path of automatisms?

In the human brain there is a reticular activating system – a set of neurons and nerve fibers connecting them, also known as the reticular formation. This system filters all incoming information and “decides” which data should be allowed into the brain and which should not.

It controls our belief system: it recognizes and supports only the information that is consistent with our attitudes, and simply discards everything else. If a person lives in the captivity of his beliefs, automatically noticing only bad things, it is difficult for him to break out of the vicious circle. Because such a system is always “guiding” him along a known, already beaten path.

For example, if a person has a belief that money is earned by hard work, he will unconsciously attract to himself only those situations that are consistent with this belief. At times like these, it’s worth looking inward – what beliefs and fears are hindering our progress? In the previous article we told you how to work with them.

If a person, even in imagination, lives a new positive experience, for example, of a future event, it is fixed in the brain in the form of new neural connections. And pleasant thoughts and emotions associated with this event help the body to feel and fix the new experience. This allows us to break the habitual stereotypes and begin to change.

Let’s conduct an experiment

Imagine a lemon and fantasize that you cut off a slice of fresh lemon and put it in your mouth. Did you feel the sour taste? Did your salivation increase? Notice that your body reacted as if you had actually eaten the lemon?

The thought process doesn’t happen in a void. Every time we have a thought, the brain sends a chemical signal to the body with specific information (lemon is sour). And the body, in turn, triggers a chain of reactions that correspond to the content of the thought (salivation increased) and then sends a signal to the brain that at this moment it (the body) feels the same way the brain thinks.

If we think of pleasant events, a loved one, a child, a pet, our thoughts are positive, we experience joy, and the body reacts by relaxing and smiling on our face.

Thus, we see that:

• a person reacts to any life event on three interrelated levels: mental (thoughts), emotional (feelings, emotions) and bodily (sensations in the body);

• the power of imagination is so powerful that we are able to perceive it as reality.

Think about it, how often do you dream? What are your dreams about?

Why is dreaming useful?

Dreams are a reference point to keep you on track. They are a projection of your future life. Many people know that it is better to start any business with a clear plan. So, a dream is a rough sketch of what you want, from which you can start, formulate a clear goal and realize it. And this will make life full and happy.

Dreams have a lot of inner energy and motivation. They encourage you to get up from the couch and act, move forward, achieve goals and bring out your best qualities. At the same time, of course, it is important to study and assimilate the information that is necessary for the realization of the conceived, so as not to become a person whose dream never materialized.

Dreams develop an active imagination. They unleash creativity and are responsible for creativity. By living a new experience in the imagination, the brain records it in the form of new neural connections. This allows you to see yourself from the outside, to fix old habits and, if necessary, replace them with new ones, as well as to look at the situation from a different angle, to see new unusual angles in familiar things, to build non-obvious relationships between events.

And in conclusion, I would like to note that it is very important to realize which dreams are really ours, and which are copies of other people’s wishes. If our dream is true and born from within, it already has a coherent relationship between mind, emotions and bodily sensations that helps shorten the distance between dream and reality.

Sometimes other people’s ideas seem so appealing that it is almost impossible to distinguish them from our own. Read the link below to find out what we want for ourselves and what is being imposed on us.