10 Most Common Dreams: What They Mean, Why They Occur & How They Impact Your Waking Life

Have you ever had a dream where you’re falling from the sky? It’s a terrifying feeling. But no matter how hard you try, you don’t wake up until right before you hit the ground.

When you finally snap out of it, your heart’s racing – and you have no idea why you dreamed it in the first place. You keep wondering:

• What does it mean?
• Why would I dream of something that scares me? 
• Is my subconscious trying to tell me something?

The short answer: Yes.

Your dreams do mean something – even when they terrify you. They’re not just random images. It’s your subconscious mind communicating with you.

As a spiritual counselor, I’ve helped many clients interpret their dreams. And usually the tough times are when dreams provide them with the most information.

Now, what your dreams communicate can’t always be taken at face value. Because there’s a deeper meaning – and sometimes those meanings go beyond the images we see. But before we dive into that, let’s understand the basics.

What Are Dreams?

Dreams aren’t just random pictures or scenes you make up in your head. Your dreams come to you at night and are there for a reason.

At their core, dreams are reflections of your deepest thoughts and feelings. They can reveal insights into your daily life and highlight your:

• Fears
• Aspirations
• Unresolved emotions

Dreams are stories from your brain that feel like a conscious experience. They often include familiar people, places, and things from your real life – but they’ll have a fantasy-like feel to them.¹

Why Do We Dream?

Dreaming has many purposes. Many researchers believe that it’s a process akin to overnight therapy² because it helps your mind:

• Organize Memories & Information – Since dreams reflect events from your real life, your mind uses nighttime to sort through and “file away” your memories. It digests and processes the information learned from these experiences so it can quickly find them in the future.¹
• Regulate Your Emotions – Dreams also draw on the emotions from real-life events. While your mind processes your memories, it’s natural for it to experience and process the emotions that occurred, too. This is especially true if you’re suppressing your emotions while you’re awake because your unconscious mind will search for a way to process them.
• Practice Social & Behavioral Strategies – Since dreams occur in your mind, the brain has a consequence-free zone where it can rehearse survival strategies.¹ It can use dreams to act out stressful, uncertain, or confusing social situations. So you’re better at navigating relationships and interactions in real life.

Dreams are an important part of your mental and emotional health. They help you process emotions, solve problems, and understand your everyday experiences.

But there’s a deeper meaning behind what you dream about – and it takes a little bit of practice to figure out what they mean.

What Are Your Dreams Telling You? How to Interpret Them.

Dreams speak in a symbolic language. Understanding this language can help you heal, grow, and transform your life – especially when you’re going through major life changes like graduating college or divorcing your partner.

The first step to understanding and interpreting your dreams starts with recollection. Keep a journal next to your bed. When you wake up each morning, jot down details from your dreams that you can remember. 

Over time, see if you can find recurring themes or symbols that keep popping up in your dreams. These could represent personal aspects or life events that are important to you.

The 10 Most Common Dreams

While dreams are unique to each person, some themes are almost universal. For example, flying might symbolize a desire for freedom – while being chased could reflect a feeling of anxiety or avoidance in your waking life. 

These themes aren’t random. They’re your mind’s way of processing and preparing for various aspects of life. Here are ten common dreams most of us experience and what they usually mean:

1. Falling – This type of dream is often linked to a fear of failure or loss of control. You might feel stuck in a situation or anxious about things going wrong.
2. Flying – This dream most often relates to freedom and ambition. You might have a desire to feel free or want to escape limitations.
3. Teeth Falling Out – You may have some underlying concerns about your appearance, public perception, or body image.
4. Being Chased – You’re likely avoiding a situation or confrontation. So the stress, anxiety, and other emotions might start to “chase” after you until you deal with the problem.
5. Failing a Test – While actual tests might be a distant memory, you may be experiencing performance anxiety in your career, relationships, or personal life. You might feel unprepared, uncertain, and out of your depth.
6. Dying – As scary as it seems, rest assured this isn’t a premonition. Dying is symbolic in dreams. It most often represents changes, endings, and new beginnings happening in your life.
7. Meeting a Celebrity – This dream is indicative of personal aspirations or qualities you admire. You want to emulate the attributes or characteristics that you like in your role models and heroes.
8. Being Naked in Public – This type of dream usually relates to vulnerability. You might be afraid of exposure and showing others your true self.
9. Being Pregnant or Giving Birth – Like dying in dreams, this shouldn’t be taken literally, either. Whether or not you’re attempting to give birth, pregnancy dreams usually represent a new idea or development in your life. 
10. Flowing water – Depending on the scene, water in your dreams most commonly relates to your emotions. Calm water can signify feeling peaceful, while turbulent water can indicate emotional turmoil.

Look back through your journal and see if any of these types of dreams reappear. What are your dreams trying to tell you?

And keep in mind – dream interpretations are deeply personal. What holds a specific meaning for you may not hold the same for someone else. So don’t be discouraged if your dreams don’t align with these common themes.

The Spiritual Meaning of Dreams

In addition to figuring out how to interpret your dreams, you can also view them as messages from the soul that offer guidance and clarity. 

Dreams can reveal spiritual paths and soul yearnings you have yet to be aware of. Or they help you connect to deeper universal truths.

Dreams are often the starting point for my spiritual counseling sessions with my clients. Whenever a client comes to their appointment and tells me, “I don’t know what I want to work on today,” — my first question is usually, “Have you had any dreams lately?” 

Because your dreams could be a signal from the soul level that it’s time to address a spiritual wound. And if dreams are coming to you at night, they’re there for a reason. 

How a Spiritual Counselor Can Help

When it comes to interpreting your dreams, sometimes it can be difficult to uncover and process the deeper meaning of your dreams – especially if they stem from spiritual wounds.

But a spiritual counselor (like me) can help you interpret these nightly narratives. At The Well Grounded Soul, I offer a unique approach with techniques like:

• Depth hypnosis 
• Applied shamanic counseling
• Shamanic healing techniques

I listen and hold space for you. So you can navigate your inner world and make sense of your dreams. You can start to unravel the complexities of your subconscious – which leads to greater self-awareness, personal growth, and healing.

Find Out What Your Dreams Mean

Dreams play an important role in your life and come to you for a reason. They are your mind and soul’s way of communicating with you. They can help you process and resolve your conscious experiences and emotions. 

But understanding and interpreting your dream’s messages isn’t always easy. So I recommend keeping a dream journal and looking for recurring themes. And if you’re going through a major life transition like…

• Becoming a parent for the first time
• Switching careers
• Graduating from high school or college
• Divorcing your partner

…your dreams may hold the key to helping you work through this difficult time. Reach out to me today if you need a safe, supportive space to unravel the meaning of your dreams – and understand yourself better.

Sources:

1. Guerra, Julia. “The Psychology Of Dreams: Why Do They Happen + What Can They Teach Us?” Mindbodygreen, mindbodygreen, 29 May 2022, www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/psychology-of-dreams. 
2. Staff. “Dreaming.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dreaming. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.