9 Most Common Dreams and What They Mean, According to Science

Dreams sure are weird. One day you dream about being chased by a dinosaur in the middle of the savanna, next day you’re horse riding under the sea while your baby cousin is busy playing with corals.

What?

It’s only natural to want to understand the meaning behind those bizarre and unexplainable stories your brain showed you while you were asleep.

Psychologist Ian Wallace might have some answers for you.

Throughout his 30 years of practice, he has interpreted over 200,000 dreams and has recently shared a list of nine of the most common dreams, their meanings and related advice, for anyone who might want to know what their dream was about.

9) Finding an unused room

Meaning: The rooms in a house represent different aspects of your personality, thus finding an unused room means that you’re discovering a new talent you didn’t know you had before.

Pro tip: You should spend some time exploring your dormant talents, as they might bring about new opportunities in your waking life.

8) Out-of-control vehicle

Meaning: The car represents your determination in achieving a specific objective. In waking life, you may feel like you lack control over your road to success.

Pro tip: Wallace says that rather than trying to over control the situation, you should let your fundamental instincts steer you into the right direction.

7) Falling

Meaning: Feeling yourself falling in a dream means that you are hanging on too tightly to a particular situation in waking life.

Pro tip: You need to relax and let go of the fear of being out of control. You need to trust yourself and allow some time for things to fall into place.

6) Flying

Meaning: Flying in your dreams means that you have managed to release yourself from circumstances that had been weighing you down in waking life.

Pro tip: Wallace says that although you may regard this feeling of liberation as pure luck or coincidence, it usually means that you have just made a serious decision or risen above the limitations of a heavy responsibility.

5) Unprepared for an exam

Meaning: Dreaming that you were unprepared for a test means that you are critically examining your own performance in waking life

Pro tip: Rather than focusing all your energy in self-examination, you should simply accept your talents by celebrating your knowledge and achievements, instead of constantly judging them.

4) Naked in public

Meaning: Because we normally choose our clothes to present a particular image of ourselves to others, being naked in a dream means that there’s a particular situation in your waking life that is making you feel vulnerable and exposed.

Pro tip: Sometimes you just have to forget about embarrassment and open up to others in order for them to see and appreciate your talents.

3) Unable to find a toilet

Meaning: Toilets are a tool we use to respond to some of our most fundamental needs. This means that there’s an issue in your waking life where you are finding it hard to clearly express your own needs.

Pro tip: Focus on your own needs first, rather than spending most of your energy ocusing on those of others.

2) Teeth falling out

Meaning: Because teeth symbolise self-confidence and power, dreaming of them falling out means there’s a situation that is causing your confidence to crumble in waking life.

Pro tip: Instead of looking at that particular situation as something that will leave you weak and powerless, think of it as a challenge and find all the ways you could benefit from it.

1) Being chased

Meaning: There’s a situation that you want to confront, but you’re not really sure how to, so you’re avoid it.

Pro tip: Take this situation as an opportunity for you to purse a personal ambition or objective you’ve been thinking about for so long. Although the situation might seem scary, your pursuers might be bringing your attention to your unrealised talents in your own pursuit of fulfilment. So don’t be afraid and face your fears.

So there you go. Now you know why that giant dinosaur was chasing you through the savanna after all…