By Kim Forrestor
Intuitive and spiritual teacher
The Science of Psychic Dreams
You may be surprised to hear that the vast majority of people – even educated, intelligent and rational individuals like you – have had some form of psychic experience.
The trouble, of course, is that for 400 years we have been told that these experiences are a scientific impossibility. This has left anyone who has encountered these events – millions of people around the world – unable to fully accept what has happened. Instead, most people are forced to ignore or suppress their experiences, or simply never speak openly about them.
Thankfully, all that has changed. You see, in the past century scientific discoveries have opened our eyes to new realms of possibility. It is now known that at a subatomic level we are all interconnected, entwined and in constant interaction with each other. In addition, over the past forty years, scientists have provided clinical evidence – over and beyond scientific benchmarks – that telepathy, precognition and a range of other ‘psychic’ phenomena truly exist.
In the new reality of the 21st century, our quantum reality, the sixth-sense is alive and well and is proudly advocated by some of the most intellectual minds on the planet.
What does this mean for many of you? Well, it means that weird experience you had was probably real. It means that the funny feeling you get in the presence of “person x” is meaningful. It means it’s entirely feasible you had a premonition of that event. And – importantly – it means that it is wise to pay attention to your dreams.
Dreams: Sixth Sense While You Sleep
After a century of study, researchers now understand that psychic phenomena (or psi, pronounced sigh) is an unconscious process. And, like all of your unconscious processes, psi information can be easily drowned out by what’s going on in your busy, noisy conscious mind.
(You are not aware of your heart beating, or your cells regenerating. And neither are you always aware of the effect your psychic awareness is having on your mind and body – strange emotions; a gurgling stomach; unusual, fleeting thoughts.)
So it’s not surprising to discover that the most common form of spontaneous psychic experience – over half of all events globally – occurs while the individual is sleeping; when their conscious brain has been (blissfully) switched off and their unconscious thoughts come out to play. Put simply, it appears that you are most psychic when you are dreaming.
History shows us that psychic dreams are not just common, but that they can also be incredibly powerful. In the mid-1960s, Beatles legend, Paul McCartney dreamed of a beautiful, catchy tune. He went on to transcribe the melody and it became the Beatles’ hit, Yesterday. In the 1980’s, a US taxi driver named Ihsan Khan dreamed of a set of numbers. He played those number in the District of Colombia lottery for over a decade, before eventually winning a $55 million jackpot. In 1865, just twelve days before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln dreamed of his own funeral.
It’s important to note that not all dreams are psychic. Many of your night-time visions will just be ordinary, garden-variety imaginings. These are dreams that replay events from the previous day, highlight a longing or desire (well, hello Ryan Reynolds!) or reveal a deep fear or anxiety.
In contrast, psychic dreams have some distinct characteristics:
– They are often incredibly vivid and full of profound symbolism – such as pregnancy or birth (newness, beginnings); travel and vehicles (the direction of your life); houses and buildings (your mind/mental state)
– They contain unexpected and unusual content – such as the set of numbers Ihsan Khan (and others) have used to win the lottery!
– They are highly emotive and carry an overwhelming sense of significance with
them – the profound sense of meaning can last days or weeks after the dream
– They may contain visions or references to people or events significant to the dreamer
– They are memorable – if you forget your dream upon waking it is unlikely it has contained any profound psychic information
It is not entirely known by researchers why psychic dreams occur or whether we can learn to control when they arrive. However, there are some simple techniques that can help you connect with your psychic awareness while you sleep:
– Before you sleep, ask yourself for information about a particular event, situation or person. Note the content of any dreams that you recall from that night.
– If you cannot remember your dreams, pay attention to your emotional state when you wake up – this will offer clues from your unconscious psychic awareness.
– Sign up for Shadow – an app that wakes you through the night as you dream and allows you to record your dreams’ details.
Kim’s new book, Infinite Mind explores the capabilities of the human mind; offering true stories of psi insight and inspiration and the science that is beginning to explain these experiences.