- If you've ever had a nightmare, and you thought
you knew what it was about, think again.
(dramatic music)
Nightmares, like dreams, are the brain's way
of processing information and events that have
happened to us during the day, but given how
twisted and strange they often are,
it begs the question, what is the deeper meaning?
These are the 10 most common nightmares and their meanings.
Number one is being naked in front of people.
You're standing on stage or in front of a classroom
full of people, when suddenly everyone starts
laughing, and you realize that you're completely naked.
The nightmare's also often accompanied by an audience
of fully clothed people.
When you dream of being naked in front of your peers,
this can often represent a fear
of revealing something to others.
Perhaps you have a secret that you're worried
that people have or soon will discover.
Being without clothes can also signify a loss of identity.
Perhaps something has happened to you recently
that made you question who you are.
Maybe you're ashamed of something that you did
or the person you've become.
Along that line, it can also mean that you're
feeling misjudged about an action you took
or something you said.
Regardless, it's often a distressing dream.
Number two is being lost, trapped or buried.
No matter what age you are, being lost is a very
upsetting experience, even when you're asleep.
Whether you're stuck in a giant maze of pits
and dangers or you find yourself being turned
around in a massive forest, being lost is super stressful.
The anxiety that takes over when feeling lost
in these nightmares is symbolic of your real life
insecurities about your path through life.
When you're faced with world-altering decisions,
any indecisiveness can be met with dreams
that you can't find your way out of somewhere.
But if you're more trapped than lost, this can
represent being stuck in life, perhaps in a relationship,
a dead-end job or even a school program you
wish you hadn't chosen to take.
Alternatively, if you find you don't feel scared
when trapped, this can signify your desire
to keep things the same.
Maybe you're worried about losing a loved one
or just don't want to give something up.
And finally, being buried alive in a dream
can represent a feeling of being overwhelmed
in your waking life.
It might be time to take a vacation or change something up.
Number three is falling.
Though falling is one of the most common nightmares
people reportedly have, the circumstances
surrounding the experience and ultimately
how you feel while falling
can drastically change the dream's meaning.
For instance, if you're falling from the sky,
this can indicate a fear of losing control
of some elements of your life or an insecurity
that things aren't going to stay the way you like them.
If you're falling into a hole or bottomless pit,
this can represent something in your waking life
that's overwhelming, such as a big project at work,
a final exam or waiting for major health news
about yourself or a loved one.
If you're falling towards water or even falling
in the rain, this can symbolize a deeper
emotional depth about whatever's troubling you.
Perhaps your future at work, school or in your
relationship is in the hands of someone else,
or maybe even fate itself.
Sometimes insecurities about financial situations
lead to the feeling that you're free falling,
often without any land in sight to strike
at the end of your downwards trip.
Number four is seeing ghosts or the undead.
Dreaming about ghosts, zombies or seeing people
that you just know are dead can be really
unsettling and upsetting.
Sometimes we see translucent, spectral images
of people moving about in our dreams.
Sometimes they're monstrous copies of their
former selves that chase us, and sometimes
it's just a person standing there, seemingly
healthy, but our subconscious knows that
something isn't right.
However, we get this eerie feeling, and the reason
behind it is what's important.
A ghost's present doesn't necessarily mean impending doom.
The dead can symbolize regret, thoughts you find
upsetting or a repressed memory trying to break through.
Additionally, seeing a ghost can represent
a task or goal you're having trouble achieving,
and seeing a zombie can actually signify
a major change in your life as the way you've
been living is fundamentally changed for the worse.
Number five is unable to speak or move.
When it comes to nightmares in which you can't
speak or move, often the motivation comes
from regret or frustration.
Being mute can represent a situation in which
you should've spoken up or warned someone of something,
but you didn't or that you feel like you can't
be heard anymore, as if no one cares about your opinion.
Maybe you were afraid to speak up during a big
staff meeting or even around friends for fear
that your idea would be rejected or you would
be attacked harshly.
Alternatively, if an event in your life
literally left you without words, this can
seep over into your subconscious and leave you
unable to speak in your nightmares.
Being unable to move can signify your fear
of taking the next step into something,
perhaps a career path or even becoming engaged
to that special someone.
Immobility can also represent the feeling
that you're stuck in life, in a dead-end job,
stale friendships or, sadly, in a relationship
that's just run its course.
This can be even more impactful if you're
stuck on the spot and there's an impending
disaster about to happen to you.
Number six is being chased.
Close to the top of the most common nightmare
people seem to have is one in which they're
being chased by another person, such as an evil
creature of some kind or even an exact copy of themselves.
When faced with real-life dangers, human beings
either fight or flee the situation, and any dreams
of being pursued can represent their need
to flee from events or situations that they
can't seem to handle in their waking lives.
Often, how far away whatever's chasing you is
can reveal just how close you are to the circumstance
you're trying to dodge.
If what's chasing you is another person,
the first step to figuring out what it is
you're running from is to identify who's chasing you.
A disapproving parent, boss or other authority
figure are popular individuals to have chase dreamers.
An evil creature chasing you can represent
the demons from your past trying to catch up with you.
And if it's you chasing well, you, then you may
be able to outrun a decision you're going
to have to make eventually.
Number seven is being abandoned.
One of the most shaking, depressing nightmares
you can have is one in which you're being abandoned.
But while actually being abandoned brings about real
sadness, simply dreaming about it can actually
bring about reflection on how strong you are
characteristically, even reveal your own clinginess.
Often when we have a nightmare about people
leaving us behind, it's because we're too overly
attached to a person, place or thing, and this
overdependence is weighing heavily on your mind.
If you can't be without certain possessions
or can't go a day without posting on your
buddy's Facebook page, this could manifest
as a dream of being abandoned.
Additionally, traumas from childhood that you
may have repressed could be creeping back.
Or if you've recently lost a loved one,
that could be creating the feeling that you're
being left to yourself.
A good piece of advice is to know where you are
when you're being abandoned in the nightmare
because the more public a place you are,
say for example, an airport, the lonlier
you might just be feeling.
Number eight is taking a big test or exam.
If you find yourself struggling in your sleep
to pass some test, this could mean you've been
experiencing a lack of confidence in some
aspect of your life.
Maybe you're worried about taking a risk
or scared about a big event coming up.
It's actually common for expecting parents
to have these dreams that they're being
tested in a classroom, as if how they do
on the quiz will reflect how good they'll be as a parent.
Additionally, to dream that you're being tested
can represent the feeling that you're
being tested while awake.
Nothing adds to stress like knowing that the work
you're doing is being analyzed, perhaps for
a performance review or a big promotion at work.
Number nine is being cheated on.
Dreaming that your partner cheated on you
doesn't necessarily mean that they did so
in real life or even that you're worried
about they're going to.
Often, it means that you're worried about the stability
of your relationship or maybe even your career.
Sometimes we dream that the person closest to us
betrayed us emotionally because our lack
of trust in ourselves or our decisions.
Many people who aren't even in relationships
dream of being cheated on, sometimes by an ex
and others by a faceless partner.
This can actually signify guilt in yourself
for past mistakes or even that you've just
had bad luck with exes.
And number 10 is death.
And finally, the grand-daddy of them all.
Whether it's you seeing a loved ones dead body
or facing the grim reaper yourself, dreaming
about death is one of those dreams like I
mentioned before, that can stay with you for days.
In dreams, death represents an end but almost
never represents the end of a life unless
that's a reality you're facing healthwise.
It can symbolize the end of a relationship,
the end of a job or schooling or even a phase of your life.
Death is an absolute, and sometimes seeing it
is our subconcious's way of saying
this part of your life is truly over,
time for the next phase.
For instance, sometimes people dream of facing
death when they're moving to a new city
or even on the nights before their wedding day.
Expectant first-time parents often dream of death,
not just in seeing their child, but death in many forms.
High-stress, life-changing events can manifest
the grim reaper and reveal to you just how
different things are going to be from now on.
So, those were the 10 most common nightmares
and their meanings, but I want to know,
have you ever had a really weird nightmare?
Leave it as a comment below and explain
what it was about.
This should get interesting.
I'll be reading through your comments,
and I'm gonna pin the best one to the top.
But as always, thank you guys so much
for coming by today, and don't forget to
come back tomorrow and every weekday at excatly
3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time because
I'll have a brand new video for you.
I'll see you then.