Sleep and the human subconscious. Changing beliefs in a dream. A famous professor solved his problem in a dream

Content:
- Limitless possibilities of the subconscious;
- How the subconscious works;
- How to change your lifestyle - what affects the subconscious during sleep;
- The parable of the good and evil wolf;
- Sleep exercises that will help change your lifestyle by influencing the subconscious.

Limitless possibilities of the subconscious

Studying the subconscious is always an amazing journey into the fantastic and inexplicable world of the unconscious processes of the universe. And now you have to plunge into this amazing, but very difficult to comprehend galaxy of invisible images, in which lie riddles, changes in a person’s lifestyle and answers to any questions that your imagination can come up with. But, unfortunately, not everyone will be able to fully absorb and ideally comprehend everything that will be written here.

Surprisingly, the functionality of the human subconscious is so intangible, unproven and inexplicable that it is difficult to even imagine where its limits could end - most of all, that they do not exist at all. It sounds fantastic, but just imagine that each of us, ideally, should now be able to directly read information from the Earth’s energy field, which allows us to solve and even accurately imagine any riddles or events that have ever occurred on our planet, without learning to fully understand all kinds of sciences and even see exactly everything that certain current actions can lead us to in the future. And it is completely incomprehensible why today the overwhelming majority of people almost completely lose the ability to interact with all these subconscious processes, because by all indications, absolutely each of us from childhood should be able to work with them without any obstacles or “intermediaries.” ". But, unfortunately, today everything is happening the other way around, and this relationship only occasionally manifests itself in the form of indirect, vague and unfounded clues (intuition and the like), and even then, only in the most emotional moments of life. And yet, although we are not aware of much and are not able to completely control it, we can make all these processes work for us. Even in a dream, the subconscious can change our lifestyle and each of us has the right to take advantage of this.

About working with the subconscious

Friends, I understand that perhaps for many of you everything written here will seem fantastic, especially if you are hearing about it for the first time, but in fact this is not fiction, but real reality. When I began to absorb information of this kind, I also could not fully understand and comprehend everything. I just had to trust the authority of those sources from whom I was lucky enough to learn about all this. You can look for multiple documentaries proving and exploring these processes, or read books by popular authors such as Valery Sinelnikov, Joseph Murphy, John Kehoe, or the same Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and many others.

Subconscious is a limitless repository of information and our beliefs. By rummaging through it we can find any event that has ever happened to us; and it doesn’t matter whether it was significant for us or not, whether we paid attention to it or perceived it unconsciously. And even when something happens to a person during sleep, the subconscious is still not asleep and this information will definitely be saved on his “Server” :). Each person is a kind of endless information repository that not only stores everything that has ever happened to him, but also interacts with the collective or general information unconscious field of the whole world.

Any discovery or work of art is still the same work of the subconscious, which found the necessary information from existing information or launched a new process of searching for answers to the necessary questions. If we directly address the unconscious, then any question and any intention will not remain completely unresolved, even the most sophisticated ideas will certainly find a response in the universe, but the question is different - will we be able to perceive them after that, realize, hear, understand, because the process mutual exchange is almost completely blocked by the negative side of our consciousness. And yet, quite often, the answers still make their way to people. If we read about the most famous inventors, we learn for ourselves that each of their grandiose discoveries came to them as an insight, as an accident or during sleep. All the ideas came to them completely unexpectedly and mostly at the moment when they were no longer thinking about the task at hand. But before that, they had to devote a lot of their energy to thinking and searching for answers, which is how they launched subconscious processes. But notice that during their research and reflection, answers to difficult questions did not appear. They came at a completely different time and completely out of nowhere. An unfounded idea simply appeared in their thoughts, which later turned out to be exactly the desired answer, over which they racked their brains to no avail. This process was very well manifested in the way Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein worked on their inventions. They knew the main secrets of this process and used it effectively, as they themselves confirmed. The same applies to works of art - muse, inspiration, and so on and so forth.

In view of all this, I am increasingly inclined to the conclusion that the world already has almost any of the possible options for the manifestation of events and answers to all kinds of human questions or desires. At least, we can assume that it is 95% accurate - after all, only now humanity is coming to understand that many others lived before our civilization, some of whom were many times more developed than ours, and they simply could not help but ask those questions, answers to which we are looking today and will continue to look in the future. And, nevertheless, it is unlikely that the subconscious vessel will ever be filled to 100% - the universe is something infinite and intangible, and a person’s thought is even more infinite and cannot be limited by anything other than conscious beliefs in the limitations of itself individual. From all this, only one conclusion follows - in space there already exist infinite billions of possible options for the development of events in our future life, we are mentally already where we would like to be and where we would not want to be, as well as in many other situations. But the question remains: where exactly do we want to go, what questions do we want to get answers to, and what subconscious images will we fill our unconscious with? It is this set of images that will be reflected in reality. We just direct our subconscious along one path or another. Everything we want to create or come up with has already been invented, we just need to take it, find it or direct it. That is, direct your subconscious, through our thoughts, onto the path we need, where from the infinite space of options it will find exactly what we are thinking about so intensely. This process is described very well by Vadim Zeland in the book “Reality Transurfing”.

How to change your lifestyle - subconscious during sleep

If we want change your lifestyle, we need to radically change our thoughts that shape our beliefs. Beliefs are what guide our subconscious. If we are sure that we are sick and every day we are getting worse, our subconscious will begin to block the healing functions of the body and suppress the immune system. If, on the contrary, we are sure that every moment we are getting better and better, then day and night our body will recover and heal. No matter what we are sick with, in any case we will be absolutely healthy if we are completely convinced of this.

The subconscious is always working, regardless of whether we are asleep or awake. It constantly does its programmed work. During sleep, the activity of the subconscious mind increases significantly. This happens due to the fact that at this time our consciousness is asleep and does not interfere with the work. The constant imposition of conscious ever-changing beliefs, anxieties, fears, limitations, desires and identifications ceases. And our subconscious begins to work without interference only with the most basic functions of restoring the body, as well as with the strongest and currently active beliefs that occupied all our thoughts while awake, and which the subconscious will try to display/attract in real life or provide give you tips for implementing them yourself. These beliefs will be mostly positive and constructive, unless you become too immersed in negative experiences during your conscious waking hours. But, unfortunately, this is exactly what happens to the majority of people alive today. And it’s still nice to know that the subconscious will try to work only with positive and favorable beliefs until the end. After all, our external and internal world, the universe itself and in general everything around us is always abundance, prosperity, healing, multiplication. From one grain grows tens, hundreds and thousands of others just like it. Millions of thoughts, desires and ideas flow from one dream. One cell multiplies into an infinity of others just like it. But there is one main “but”: try with all your might not to allow very strong and long-lasting negative beliefs to lurk inside you (fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, horror, resentment, jealousy, and so on), because such a moment may come. when the subconscious begins to perceive only them. And then only everything bad will increase in size, because of which you actually began to suffer.
To add to the above, there is one very good parable that goes something like this:

Parable of the Wolf You Feed

Once upon a time, an old Indian revealed one vital truth to his grandson.
- There is a constant struggle in every person, very similar to the struggle of those two wolves.

Not far from them, two large animals fought in a fight, one was white, and the second was black.
“One wolf represents evil,” said the old Indian, “envy, jealousy, regret, selfishness, ambition, lies, doubt.” The other wolf represents goodness - peace, love, hope, truth, kindness, loyalty, confidence.
The little Indian, touched to the depths of his soul by his grandfather’s words, thought for a few moments, and then asked:
- Which wolf wins in the end?
The old Indian smiled faintly and replied:
- And the wolf you feed always wins.

Exercises for programming the subconscious in a dream

Sleep time is the best time for you to influence your subconscious, because it is at this time that your consciousness, which is an obstacle to instilling new beliefs, is fast asleep. So if you want change lifestyle, you need to change your beliefs, and the easiest way to do this is during sleep. There are several ways in which we can use our sleep constructively:

• - Repeating affirmations in a conscious state as you prepare for sleep. Continue repeating the affirmations until you fall asleep. As you fall asleep, your subconscious mind will begin to process your affirmations more efficiently. Every day your affirmations will sink deeper and deeper into your subconscious, slowly but surely working on your beliefs. After a few months, as your subconscious becomes addicted to your affirmations, it will begin to lead you in seemingly disjointed steps toward fulfilling your affirmations. And all this will happen without the participation of your consciousness or intentional actions on your part.
• - Visualization before bed. Visualization is the most famous way to achieve your goals and... When you go to bed, simply close your eyes and relax your body. Start visualizing your desires and goals. If you visualize during the daytime, you will need to move in and out of trance. At night, you do not need to leave this state. Your subconscious mind accepts your visualized images like affirmations, and also, after about a few months, begins to act. If you fall asleep too quickly during visualization, try visualizing while sitting in a chair. After about 20 minutes of the visualization process, go to your bed in the same sleepy state and continue to sleep. So, your subconscious mind will take note of the visualized images.
• - Using audio recordings (you can find out more about this and special audio materials in the article ""): one of the best ways to influence the subconscious is listening to an audio recording while sleeping. Record your affirmations on audio media and turn on the player before going to bed. As stated above, during sleep, your consciousness turns off. Thus, during the entire period of your sleep, the subconscious will be under the influence of your affirmations, gradually changing your beliefs. Soon after this, you will begin to notice changes.

A person’s subconscious is a storehouse of everything he encounters throughout his life. All traumatic situations repressed from consciousness, automatic thoughts are stored in the subconscious. It is believed that during sleep, the subconscious expresses itself as clearly as possible and you can establish contact with it.

Human consciousness and subconscious

The two minds in the head are closely interconnected and mutually influence each other and often argue with each other. The conscious mind (the objective mind) sends messages to the subconscious mind, which encodes the information into symbols. And if consciousness can be compared to the captain of a ship (human), then the subconscious is the crew. The subconscious, unlike the conscious, knows everything about a person. Intuition, limitless resources, but also negative ossified beliefs and attitudes are stored in the subconscious.

Subconscious mind - how to control it?

Managing the subconscious is based on one, but very important and powerful tool, its name is awareness, which means being in the moment and observing. This is the only way to control the subconscious. When the mind is chaotic, it controls a person, but when thoughts are taken under control by a person: analyzed, consciously changed to constructive ones - contact with the subconscious becomes commonplace.

How to get an answer from the subconscious?

Communication with the subconscious can be established using simple techniques; some people succeed the first time, while others need time. Simple methods of contacting the subconscious:

1. Glass of water. A problem that worries a person is written on a piece of paper, then a glass of water is taken, and with eyes closed, the question or problem is mentally spoken out and half a glass is drunk. The glass is placed on a piece of paper and the rest of the water is drunk in the morning. The answer may come that same night in a dream.
2. Book. Choose a book, formulate an answer to the subconscious, open the book and place your finger anywhere. Read.

Words-keys for the subconscious

Password words for the subconscious or switchers are an effective technique, the creator of which is J. Mangan. “Magic” words go directly into the subconscious, helping to change a person’s condition. Everyone knows these words:

• change - getting rid of pain in the body;
• attention - getting rid of oppressive sadness, melancholy;
• patience - to achieve success;
• count - to gain financial independence;
• together - when you need to do something;
• close - repeat when there is strong resentment or annoyance at another person;
• collect - children become obedient;
• directly – increasing self-esteem;
• finish – builds endurance;
• be - allows you to maintain health and calm the mind.

How to work with the subconscious?

How the human subconscious works is not fully understood; the brain is fraught with many mysteries. The entire evolutionary basket of ancestors throughout the history of mankind is embedded in the psyche, so certain mechanisms emerging from the depths of the subconscious are not always clear. Today, psychologists use different methods (each has its own advantages and disadvantages):

• NLP techniques;
• trance techniques;
• holotropic breathing;
• method of affirmations;
• visualization.

How to remove fear from the subconscious?

Fear can turn out to be both a person’s ally - an instinct that encourages you to flee from danger, or completely groundless, so all people periodically ask themselves the question: how to remove anxiety and fear from the subconscious? This is always an individual process and if the fear is deep-seated, it is better to consult a specialist; minor anxieties and fears can be removed by following the following recommendations:

• mentally replay the situation that causes fear with a positive attitude for several days (if you are afraid of riding the elevator, imagine it several times in detail and imagine yourself calm and balanced)
• face fear face to face (start doing something that previously caused fear, for example, jumping with a parachute if you are afraid of heights);

Working with the subconscious – elaborating attitudes

Negative attitudes in the subconscious often nullify all a person’s efforts to overcome a problem or strive for success. Against his will, a person often mentally creates a bunch of problems where there are essentially none. But besides the destructive power of the subconscious, there is also a creative one, and it is within the power of a person to realize this and begin to think constructively, influencing the subconscious. The step-by-step “Positive Attitude” technique can help with this:

1. Take responsibility for your actions, problems, despondency. Take a piece of paper and write down all your negative attitudes and problems, starting with I (I chose this low-paying job, partner).
2. Ask yourself for forgiveness.
3. Replace a negative thought with a positive one that has the opposite meaning (I am unworthy→ I am worthy, I have no strength→ I am full of energy) and repeat it as an affirmation for 3 months.

How does the subconscious mind work during sleep?

The human subconscious never sleeps; there is even a statement from experts that during a dream the subconscious is more active than in a waking state. The brain processes the information received during the day, analyzes it with past similar experiences and can produce disturbing dreams if a negative experience in a similar situation has surfaced in the subconscious, so the subconscious mind tries to warn the person: “don’t go there!”, “You can’t deal with this person!” " Sometimes the subconscious gives prophetic dreams; how this happens is a mystery to scientists.

There are useful practices that allow you to effectively rebuild your subconscious during sleep:

• affirmations said before falling asleep in a state of alpha rhythm reconfigure the brain to a wave of healing and introduce the desired attitude into the subconscious;
• visualization – working with the subconscious before going to bed, in a relaxed state, visualize in the smallest detail your desire as already fulfilled.

Books about the subconscious

The power of the subconscious is great, say psychologists and people who have embarked on the path of self-knowledge. Using the techniques described in the books, it is important to rely on your well-being and condition, because discovered destructive programs and mental trauma can cause colossal harm to a person. Some techniques and exercises will be useful for development. Books about the capabilities of the subconscious:

1. « Secrets of the subconscious» V. Sinelnikov. The author gives healing techniques that program a person to recover and achieve harmonious relationships.
2. « Secrets of the subconscious» L. Nimbroek. Exploring the “black box” of the subconscious through lucid dreams.
3. « Superpowers of the human brain. Journey into the subconscious» M. Raduga. The book provides revolutionary tools for hacking limiting beliefs and attitudes implanted by parents and society.
4. « Open subconscious» A. Sviyash. The entire “kitchen” of subconscious processes in an understandable presentation, plus many of the author’s tools for the effective use of brain resources.
5. « The subconscious can do anything» J. Kehoe. Bestselling book. The author offers a systematic approach that activates unconscious processes to achieve what you want in reality.

Films about the subconscious

Films about the mind and subconscious are of interest to psychologists, people who are engaged in discovering their abilities. The human brain is a mysterious substance, who knows what might be hidden there? Masterpieces of cinema that lift the veil of subconscious processes:

1. "Areas of Darkness / Limitless". Eddie Morra is a failure in life, his marriage is destroyed, he is not in demand as a writer, but everything changes when he meets his ex-brother-in-law Vernon, who offers him miracle pills that reveal 100% of the brain's potential.
2. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". The film is about love, which is not afraid of “erasing memories”; the subconscious of the main characters refuses to erase feelings, and somewhere in the subconscious depths Joel and Clementine remember each other and collide again and again.
3. "Deja Vu / Déjà Vu". The film is about the mysterious phenomenon of the subconscious, known as déjà vu, expressed in the brain's message “it has already happened.”
4. "Shutter Island". Federal agents Teddy Daniels and Chuck are sent to a psychiatric clinic on Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of child killer Rachel Solando. The investigation becomes tangled and complicated by the fact that Daniels' subconscious keeps its own secrets.
5. "Inception". Dominic Cobb is a valuable expert in hacking people's subconscious minds, stealing valuable information through lucid dreaming.

1. What is the subconscious?

We have already heard a lot about the subconscious. Now we will compare in one place everything that is attributed to him.

First of all, the subconscious is the energy center where the instincts of the id begin to form. It is useful to compare the subconscious to a factory. This factory is full of generators, the energy of which moves the machines. All kinds of raw materials come into the factory from outside. These raw materials pass through machines driven by generators and are transformed into finished products.

It is important to note two things here. First, the products that come out of a factory are completely different from the machines that make them. Secondly, the parts that make up such a product are not at all similar to the finished product as a whole. Consider, for example, a car. The presses, stamps and furnaces used to make a car are not at all similar in appearance. Likewise, any part of a car, say a carburetor, does not look like the finished car. Seeing the carburetor, you can't guess what the car looks like. On the other hand, when looking at a car, it is impossible to guess what a stamping press or carburetor looks like.

In the same way, a person cannot guess how his thoughts are made by observing their movement through his brain. Thoughts are finished products, and observation of them is unlikely to tell anyone except a specialist what the parts of those thoughts or the “machines” that make them might be like.

If, however, the car is looked at by a specially trained engineer, he will probably be able to tell what parts are contained in it and by what machines they were made. Likewise, if someone's thoughts are listened to by a trained psychiatrist, he can estimate quite accurately what parts they consist of and where they come from. Surprisingly, untrained people are often more confident in their ability to explain a thought than a car, even though the thought is much more complex. A car can be completely decomposed, that is, it contains a very certain number of parts and is made by a very certain number of cars. True, there are quite a lot of them, but in the end we can list them all. Meanwhile, thought consists of an infinite number of parts and the process of its formation is endless. No matter how many parts we decompose it, upon closer examination more and more new ones are discovered. An example is the thought that caused Mr. King's blood pressure to rise. No matter how much Dr. Treece studied it, there was always something that would be discovered upon further examination. We will show this more convincingly as we learn more about Mr. King and discuss Mr. Meliger's dream. The study of any thought stops not because we already know everything about it, but simply because of lack of time.

Let's go back to our factory. The generators of the factory correspond to the energy of the subconscious, originating from the instincts of the It. These generators supply energy to machines that correspond to images contained in the subconscious. The machines in a factory look different from the products they produce and act very differently. In the same way, subconscious images look and work differently than their products, that is, conscious or mental images. This can be understood by thinking about dreams, which in their form stand between conscious and subconscious images; they resemble in some ways and differ in some ways from both. The conscious psyche puts everything in order using logic, while the subconscious psyche “dissolves” feelings and does not use logic. A dream represents a glimpse of the subconscious; to the dreamer, it may seem as strange as a stamping press in a car factory would seem to a taxi driver.

Thus, the subconscious is the source of energy of our psyche and at the same time is part of the mental apparatus that “produces” thoughts; however, the way the subconscious mind works is different from the way the conscious psyche works. Further, the subconscious is the area where feelings are stored. This is not like storing goods, but rather like keeping animals, so that the subconscious mind resembles not a warehouse, but a zoo: all the feelings stored in the subconscious are constantly trying to come out. Feelings are stored enclosed in images, just as electricity is stored in some kind of battery. If a feeling is stored in the subconscious or, as they say, “suppressed,” then it either breaks away from the idea that gave rise to it and is associated with some image that already existed in the subconscious, or it takes its own idea with it, transferring it to the subconscious.

In the first case, the idea remains conscious, but the feeling becomes subconscious, so that the individual is not aware of the existence of this feeling; in the second case, the idea is also forgotten, since it too becomes subconscious. Thus, forgetting is explained not by simple “wear and tear”, but by suppression. Storage by suppression of the whole image (feeling plus idea) is always associated with forgetting something; conversely, oblivion means that some idea is suppressed. We have already talked about another version of this process, when the idea is suppressed, but the feeling remains conscious.

When, in the story we already know, Mr. and Mrs. King were preparing for a reception, Mr. King remembered the appearance of Mr. Castor, a horseman from the Hawaiian Islands, but could not remember his feelings for this man. In this case, the feeling was torn away from the idea and was suppressed in the subconscious, where it was associated with another (and, moreover, unpleasant) image related to horse riding. Thus the idea remained conscious, but the feeling became subconscious, so that Mr. King was not aware of his dislike of Mr. Castor.

Subsequently, after this conversation, Mrs. King suppressed her feelings for Mrs. Metis, with whom she was angry, and in this case the feeling took with it into the subconscious the name of the hated person, so that she forgot about the very existence of Mrs. Metis. When it came to sending out the invitations, Mrs. King had a feeling that she had overlooked some important person, but she could not remember who it was, and she made the mistake of not inviting Mrs. Metis, the banker's wife, to the reception.

Mrs. King was never able to remember the name of “that wonderful Mr. whats-his-name”; in this case the feeling was not suppressed, but the name was forgotten because the idea was suppressed. As we see, in all these cases, suppression means oblivion, and oblivion comes from suppression.

The practice of psychoanalysis and dreams convincingly prove that oblivion does not mean “wearing out”; The individual often remembers in these cases things that he considered naturally forgotten many years ago, for example, an excerpt from a children's poem or an episode that happened in the first years of life. Mr. King often had recurring dreams about horses, and during treatment with Dr. Treece, he suddenly remembered an incident that happened to him in the Hawaiian Islands, where he was brought at the age of three. His father, a great lover of horse riding, bought little Midas a saddle. One day, when Midas upset his mother, his father took this saddle from him and sold it, which caused the boy to have an attack of rage and grief. He "never thought about the incident again" until he remembered it at the doctor's.

One of the reasons why people don't remember things that happened to them before the age of three is that adult thinking operates primarily in words, or at least things that have names. Meanwhile, a child under three years old knows few words and can call few things by name, so he has to store his feelings in “nameless” images, which are subsequently not easy to explain to himself or anyone else. Under such circumstances, one often feels only a nameless feeling for some nameless thing. Almost everyone has nameless feelings for nameless things, and we usually don't know where they come from. These feelings can go back to that period of life when the individual did not yet know how to use words. It took a long time before Mr. King was able to explain the nameless feeling that was returning to him, which arose, as it appeared from some circumstances he cited, no later than the second year of his life. This feeling, he eventually realized, related to the fact that his mother was in the habit of taking food away from him without letting him finish if he ate more slowly than she wanted. It is this feeling, already in his adult years, that largely explains his desire to quickly get rich and his attachment to his property; it caused him to always be in a hurry and irritated by every failure, so that his blood pressure rose at the end of the working day.

There are good reasons why people need a special place to store unsatisfied libido and mortido tensions. If every unsatisfied desire and every unsatisfied irritation experienced by a person from the day of his birth were always present in his consciousness, then he simply could not live. His psyche would be in such constant confusion and disorder that he would not be able to engage in practical matters. (Something similar actually happens in certain mental illnesses.) In order for a person to be able to deal with the important issues of the day in accordance with the Principle of Reality, our Self is endowed with the ability to suppress accumulated feelings, placing them in the subconscious and thereby removing them from our path .

However, as we have already said, storage in the subconscious is not storage in a warehouse. It is not like keeping a pile of books in the basement, where they gather dust but otherwise remain unchanged until the owner needs them. It is much more reminiscent of keeping a herd of rabbits in cages. These “rabbits”, feeding on the feelings of the current day, multiply and gain strength; if they are not released, they threaten to soon take over our entire psyche. But if you sometimes release baby rabbits, leaving their fathers and mothers locked up, then sooner or later the rabbits will fill the whole house; in the same way, indirect relief of tension It does not give lasting results and must be repeated again and again so that It does not take over the Self. No matter how often the tension is released in indirect ways, the primary “parental” tensions remain in their place and can produce new offspring. Only direct satisfaction of primary tensions can completely (albeit temporarily) free the id from unsatisfied libido and mortido. Of course, under normal circumstances the latter is not possible.18 Most people know that such acts of violence will make them feel very bad. One of the strongest tensions is the inward mortido, which originates from the superego, and in most cases it increases after an attempt to completely remove any of the tensions. However, after successful sexual intercourse with a beloved woman or a beloved man, a state is established for some time that is very close to the complete release of libido tension.

So, the subconscious is the source of energy of the It, a “factory of thinking” and a place of storage. It itself cannot think in the same way that a car factory cannot drive. It can only feel and desire, without paying any attention to time, place and the laws of the physical world; this often manifests itself in dreams: in them the dead are resurrected, separated people are united, and the law of gravity is not necessarily valid.

Everyone knows the "bouncing" of the leg after a light blow to the knee tendon. This movement occurs against our will and causes some people to have a strange sensation, sometimes leading to vomiting; The loss of mental control over some part of the body has such a strong effect on a person. Jumping is carried out by the action of the spinal cord without the participation of the brain, and the spinal cord works completely differently. The brain works according to general plans in which all muscles act together to produce some movement, such as kicking a leg. The spinal cord controls individual muscles, contracting them without a specific purpose. In the same way, the subconscious differs from consciousness: our consciousness perceives as something incomprehensible and bizarre a special way of connecting different things inherent in our subconscious. If we see a market square in a dream, then it bears no more resemblance to a real market square than a foot jumping into a kick.

2. What does the subconscious consist of?

The subconscious contains mainly the unfinished affairs of childhood and related objects. Here lie tensions that were never brought to consciousness but can still indirectly influence behavior, and tensions that were once conscious and then repressed. Along with these tensions are corresponding images; some of them never reached consciousness, while others were pushed out of consciousness.

Since imagination, or fantasy, is as real to the subconscious as genuine experiences, many of the ideas contained in the subconscious have little connection with reality, but are just as influential as the phenomena of reality. A good idea of ​​the Father may be based on memories and fantasies of what he was like, or on present manifestations of his kindness.

We have called subconscious tensions "unfinished business" because these tensions have not been relieved in the past, do not disappear until they are relieved, and continually seek complete or partial relief from their objects or their surrogates.

The main tensions present in the subconscious of most people are unsatisfied oral aspirations, unsatisfied anal aspirations, as well as unsatisfied aspirations for the further period of life, starting from the fifth year. These tensions are of two kinds, arising from libido and mortido, from love and hatred. They can be directed both inward and outward. Tensions directed outward take the form of attachment or hostility. If they are directed inward, they take the form of a desire for affection and approval or a desire for punishment. Their goals vary widely, from sexual intercourse and murder to simply looking at an object or verifying that it exists. Objects also change widely, from parents and relatives to random acquaintances and inanimate objects. Any one or several tensions at once, even contradictory ones, under suitable circumstances can become conscious and seek direct relief on its own goal and object or indirect relief through a displacement of the goal or object. In everything that an individual does or imagines, he seeks relief from as many tensions as possible, conscious and unconscious.

Subconscious (as well as conscious) tensions can be divided into groups belonging to the id and to the super-ego (the super-ego is a split-off part of the id), so that ultimately both groups arise from the instincts of the id. What the individual actually does and how much he expresses himself is a compromise between these two groups of tensions that occur under the control of the Ego (and the Ego, according to some scientists, in turn is also a split-off part of the Id). (These splits should not cause confusion. You just need to remember that in adults It is split, but in small children it is not split.)

If everyone tried to satisfy all the desires of their id, it would lead to the destruction of society. Satisfaction of desires It often causes suffering to other people; free expression It means pleasures for the powerful and disasters for the weak. This is evidenced by many political situations memorable in history.

Superego tensions in normal cases strive to bring happiness to other people. They promote the development of generosity and thoughtfulness. The basis of our civilization is largely the victory of the super-ego over the id, and this victory must be consolidated if civilization is to last. The force of development, or physis, the manifestations of which we see in the individual and in society, when properly trained in childhood, acts together with the super-ego, so that the individual feels the need to grow and behave "better", that is, in accordance with the principles inherent in a mature stage of sexual development that takes into account the happiness of others. Both the superego and the physis in normal cases resist the crude and unrestrained expression of the desires of the id. They begin by encouraging the individual not to soil his diapers, and ultimately lead to the ideals of the United Nations.

If the development of the superego encounters obstacles or occurs in an unusual way, then, as we will see later, trouble can arise. In the same way, under the influence of suppressive forces, feelings and ideas stored in the subconscious can be upset, which can lead to undesirable consequences.

3. Why do people dream?

Now it is not difficult for the reader to understand what a dream is. This is an attempt to relieve the tension of the id by hallucinating the fulfillment of some desire. It continuously strives for satisfaction both in reality and in dreams. During waking hours, its direct expression is prevented by the super-ego with harsh concepts of right and wrong and the ego with an assessment of the consequences of thoughtless gratification of our impulses. In sleep, the pressure of the Ego weakens, and the Principle of Reality, with the help of which the Ego tries to control, loses its strength. Thus, the content of It is somewhat out of control. However, the Super-Ego weakens little even in sleep, and its influence manifests itself as soon as the It tries to express itself. Thus, even in sleep, the It is forced to hide the true nature of its aspirations, for fear of offending the Super-Ego. Therefore the aspirations of It dare to appear only in disguise; dreams are rarely frank and represent these desires distortedly. The task of the dream interpreter is to unravel the meaning of dressing up and find out the true nature of the desires of It, which sought to be expressed in a dream.

Because the individual is asleep, he cannot move and is unable to truly satisfy his desires. All he can do is see their satisfaction in his imagination, since in this case the Self, capable of checking reality, does not fulfill its functions, then the individual believes in the authenticity of his visions and they satisfy him at that moment just as if it was in reality. A sexual dream can give the sleeper the same satisfaction as sexual intercourse in reality. When the Self is awake, it prefers that satisfaction be genuine. But when the Self is asleep, the psyche can be content with imaginary satisfaction.

To better clarify what has just been said, let us dwell on two apparent exceptions. Firstly, sometimes a person moves in a dream. In sleepwalking we sometimes find that sleepwalking is connected with the dreams of the individual and resembles an attempt to achieve by walking the usual goal of these dreams. This can be seen in the example of a dwarf from the country of Brshis, who entered his parents’ bedroom in a dream. At that time, he had a desire to separate his parents, and the night walks were something of an attempt to fulfill this. Secondly, it sometimes happens that a waking individual believes in his own dreams. This happens with some mental illnesses. We have already given an example of an alcoholic who believed in the reality of his terrible hallucinations associated with mortido. The effect of alcoholism on the psyche includes, in particular, the work of the ego to test reality, so that imaginary sights and sounds seem genuine; this is called hallucinations.

What is the role (or purpose) of dreams? The dream serves to prevent the sleeper from waking up under the influence of shameful or terrible manifestations of his own Id. Dreams are the keeper of sleep.

When the I sleeps, the suppression is partially removed and the tensions of the It go out of control. As we know, It is ruthless and devoid of any morality. How would these tensions affect an individual if he felt their full force? He might immediately have the desire to wake up and cause death or sexual violence to those around him, no matter how close these people are to him; in fact, those closest to him may be his most likely victims, since they evoke the strongest feelings in him. It in its primary being does not believe in moral distinctions and does not accept half measures, as is often found in criminal crimes, when the system of suppression collapses and terrible deeds are committed. However, the sleeper has no need to wake up and fulfill his desires, since he can be content with their imaginary fulfillment in a dream. His hallucinations (i.e. dreams) are real to him, and the action turns out to be unnecessary, since he can obtain pleasure for his id without interrupting the dream.

But if the true goals and objects of his id became known to him even in a dream, then he would be awakened by the indignant reaction of his super-ego. Distortions in dreams deceive the super-ego in such a way that it has no reason to rebel, so that the dream can continue. And here the situation becomes clearer if we examine the apparent exception. When the tensions are so strong that they threaten to break out openly, in spite of the super-ego and the small amount of repression that still remains in sleep, the ego is half awakened, and a terrible struggle begins to prevent the open manifestation of the id and to avoid the fury that follows. Super-ego. If the Ego cannot win this struggle while asleep, then an alarm sounds and the sleeper wakes up with a palpitating heart, drenched in sweat, in panic that he has narrowly escaped acquaintance with the power and ruthlessness of the tensions of his own Id. A nightmare is a dream that has failed in its attempt to remain asleep. If an individual feels or knows from experience how dangerous it is for him to weaken his suppression system in a dream, he prefers to lie awake all night, without risking becoming acquainted with his subconscious desires. Insomnia often occurs precisely from this fear of falling asleep. Sometimes this fear is conscious, but usually it is subconscious, and in this case the person subject to it, not suspecting the true reason for his vigil, looks for all sorts of excuses, for example, fatigue, noise, etc., which usually suits himself and his family.

Dreams serve not only to prevent the sleeper from waking up from the tensions of his own id; they also protect sleep from external stimuli. A familiar example is a person waking up to the unpleasant sound of his alarm clock. If his sleeping self had interpreted this sound correctly, he would have to wake up, climb out of his cozy bed, put his feet on the cold floor and go to work in the dark and chilly hour of dawn. “By dreaming” the sound of the alarm clock, he deceives his super-ego and ego so that they will let him sleep and thereby help him avoid this unpleasant experience. At the same time, the id, always ready to seize any opportunity for satisfaction, uses the sound of the alarm clock to relieve some of its tensions. In this case, for example, It can transport the sleeper to the happy days of his childhood, when he did not have to control and restrain his desires for satisfaction and when life was much sweeter and more pleasant. In a dream, he may think that he hears the ringing of bells, as if telling him: “What a wonderful sound I hear! This is the bell of the Olympic Church. How wonderful that I am there again, that I am experiencing my carefree childhood again!”

After learning the subject's reaction to his dream, the interpreter may discover that the Olympia church bell reminds the subject of his long-dead mother. Thus, the dream satisfies three desires. First, the desire to sleep: since sleep enables him to believe that he is hearing a bell ringing and not an alarm clock, there is no reason to get up. Secondly, the desire to be a child again: if he hears this particular bell, it means that he is a child again, because this is exactly what this bell sounded like in childhood. And thirdly, the desire for his mother to be alive again: in those days when he heard this bell, his mother was next to him, and since he hears it again, she must be here too.

In this case, he inflates both his super-ego with his sense of duty and his cautious self, which knows that he must be on time for work. But this can't go on for too long unless he wants to take truancy, and eventually he starts tossing and turning uncomfortably in his sleep. Then he suddenly jumps up, awakening with the acute awareness that he will be late if he does not hurry. And he reluctantly parts with the world of his dreams, plunging into the cold reality of the morning.

It is often said that dreams are “triggered” by external stimuli. This is not true. The truth is that It uses external stimuli as convenient material around which it wraps itself to satisfy its desires. It follows in its expression the line of least resistance, using the most accessible paths. This can be called the law of the id or even the basic law of the id. This law applies not only to dreams, but also to neurotic symptoms. We have, therefore, wish-fulfillment dreams based on, but not caused by, indigestion, and wish-fulfillment neuroses based on, but not caused by, bodily injuries. For example, the pain of indigestion can be used by Ono to construct a dream with anal satisfaction. Since anal satisfaction often frightens the adult superego, a terrible internal struggle may follow, and such a dream may take the form of a nightmare.

The dream attempts not only to express anal desires, but also to satisfy the desire to continue sleeping; At the same time, he has to face both the pain itself and the tension of the id increased by pain. “Discharging” pain as material for wish-fulfilling sleep produces the same calming effect as in the case of an alarm clock. If the ringing of the alarm clock were perceived as ringing, the sleeper would wake up; in the same way he would have woken up if the pain had been perceived as pain. But if, for example, his mother used to massage his stomach in childhood when he suffered from constipation, then the pain can be diverted, turning into a pleasant hallucination, as if a woman similar to his mother was rubbing his stomach; and then he can sleep blissfully, despite the pain. If the idea of ​​such a massage outrages the super-ego, then the dream turns into a nightmare and does not achieve its goal, so that the sleeper still wakes up. Here is an example of such a nightmare.

Mr. Meliger saw a psychiatrist because of symptoms following his uncle's death. At the beginning of treatment, he complained of weakness, palpitations, insomnia, nightmares, exaggerated fears, depression, inability to concentrate and impotence. All his life he suffered from a lack of self-confidence and constipation, finding relief from both in massage parlours.

Mr. Meliger's associations regarding his dream were as follows: in the dream there was a huge woman, unlike his mother, but somewhat reminiscent of her. He further remembered that she had hands like his mother and that she wore a wedding ring of the same kind. He then recounted several pleasant experiences he had at a local massage parlor. Suddenly he remembered something that he had not thought about since early childhood: when he was constipated, his mother used to massage his stomach. Moreover, he remembered something that surprised him even more: the feeling of pleasure that he experienced on such occasions. At that moment, in the doctor's office, he was shocked when this feeling came to life in him in all its significance, including the fear of his mother.

The dream can be reconstructed as follows: it was based on the desire for his mother to massage his stomach, which would bring great satisfaction to his id. Such a dream was completely unacceptable to his superego, since it revealed too openly how much he had at one time enjoyed physical intimacy with his mother, how much he still desired this intimacy and how much this procedure and the satisfaction associated with it contributed to childhood his tendency to constipation. Therefore, his psyche, “processing” the dream, disguised the nature of the desire of the id, which was satisfied in it. First, his beautiful mother was disguised as an ugly giantess so that his superego could not recognize the real object of the dream. Secondly, instead of imagining a real massage in a dream, he “symbolized” it in the form of a shining rubber roller in the hand of a giantess. This no longer meant “she’s massaging you,” but only “she’s going to massage you”; although this was not entirely equivalent, it was at least a partial substitute and, if the deception had been successful, would have provided satisfaction with less guilt.

But in this case Mr. Meliger was unlucky: his super-ego was not deceived by the indirect character and disguise of the dream, and the violent protest of the super-ego caused the panic sensations of a nightmare. When It threatened to break through directly, allowing the giantess to massage (and he, as often happens in a dream, with all his fear could not escape, so it was not difficult for her to catch him), the Super-Ego was in danger of losing control. The alarm sounded and he woke up. I, apparently, also perceived this dream as a threat, because his mother really bullied him thoroughly as a child.

This dream and its interpretation, found through Mr. Meliger's associations, were the turning point in his treatment. Such a vast mausoleum of long-buried feelings and memories was opened that from that moment rapid progress began. Regarding this process of dream interpretation, it should be noted that it could not have led to its goal without Mr. Meliger's associations. The interpretation was based on a sudden memory of childhood pleasure, which remained subconscious for about forty years and was discovered only during the method of “free association” used by psychoanalysis; we will deal with this method in a later chapter. Without the association, the dream would have little to say either to Mr. Meliger or to the psychoanalyst. The doctor could guess its meaning from general considerations, and this guess might help him understand Mr. Meliger better, but it would not help Mr. Meliger understand himself better. He was able to derive great benefit from this interpretation only because the free association aroused in him a genuine feeling connected with the underlying experience.

However, such a useful revelation of his childhood emotional life, which gradually led to a beneficial restructuring of his personality, occurred only after six months of daily visits to the psychoanalyst, and the completion of this work required many more months. However, as Mr. Meliger told his friends, increased productivity allowed him to ultimately increase the income from his law practice, so that the relief he achieved from symptoms and the newfound easing of tensions in his personal and family life did not really cost him anything: he returned own money invested in treatment.

We have learned in this paragraph that the function of dreams is to preserve sleep, and dreams are the fulfillment of desires in a disguised form. In order to correctly interpret a dream, it is necessary, as we have seen, to recognize the associations that have arisen in the individual; This interpretation reveals a person's subconscious desires to such an extent that dreams are called the "highway to the subconscious."

It also seems likely that dreams have another purpose, namely, to help heal the psyche from emotional wounds and overwhelming emotional experiences. As the reader will learn, Sy Seyfus's nightmares of battle scenes appear to have represented a failed attempt at this type of healing from his traumatic war experiences. According to the evidence now available, even everyday emotional experience must be in some way “digested” by dreams in order for the individual to feel good. If a person is deprived of the ability to dream, this can lead to serious difficulties; psychosis is often preceded by a long period of insufficient sleep, and thus an insufficient ability to experience dreams. There is an assumption that the remaining mass of “undigested” emotions somehow influences the development of psychosis.

4. Interpretation of dreams

We have just given an example demonstrating the method of dream interpretation. In short, the material for interpretation is obtained as follows: having told his dream, the subject then accurately reports everything that comes to his mind when he thinks about what he saw in the dream, without in any way censoring his thoughts or trying to organize them in any way.

The purpose of interpretation is to discover what tensions the id seeks to express in dreams, what their true goals and objects are, and what their meaning is for the individual. These factors are called the "latent content" of the dream. Interpretation is an attempt to find out the latent content, starting from the explicit. An experienced dream interpreter can, even without the subject's associations, from the explicit content alone, guess what tensions the It seeks to express in a dream and even what their goals and objects are; he cannot, however, find out the most important thing - what significance all these things have for the individual. And until the individual realizes this meaning by feeling it, interpretation is of no more value to him than an interesting scientific study. Only by forming associations to his dream can he experience these most important feelings.

It is often mistakenly believed that the most important thing is to find out the meaning of a dream. This is not true. The meaning must be felt and this feeling must be properly related to other past and present feelings of that particular person; Only under this condition can interpretation change the underlying tensions of the id, which is the goal of therapy.

The interpreter must keep in mind that a dream is a disguised attempt to imagine some feeling in a dream. The manifest dream is formed from the latent content under the influence of the following factors:

1. During the dream the ego is largely inactive. The dream is thus formed with only a little help from the ego in "ordering" the material and with very incomplete use of the skills of learning experience that are within the competence of the ego. Therefore, after awakening, the ego may find the dream strange. It may seem absurd, disorderly, and even uncontrollable; it is also not bound by any demands of reality, time, space, gravity, death and other basic factors that the Self must take into account when a person is awake; the content and course of development of a dream may be devoid of any logic.

2. During sleep, the super-ego is partially inactive. Therefore, the sleeper does things in his sleep that he did not dare to do or even think about in reality.

3. Among the subconscious ideas which the waking ego more or less eliminates, or at least controls, but which express themselves more freely in sleep, are three "absolutes." In his dreams, a person is always immortal (if he sees his death in a dream, he experiences it as a spectator); his charm is irresistible (he can and does possess any woman he wants); his thoughts are omnipotent (if he thinks that he can fly, all he has to do is jump - and he flies!).

4. The task of a dream is to show complex feelings in pictures. But a feeling cannot be directly represented by a painting.

You can only depict an action that denotes this feeling. It is impossible to depict fear in a painting, but you can depict the expression of fear - flight. It is impossible to depict love in a painting, but it is possible to depict rapprochement, gifting, admiration or sexual intercourse. It is impossible to depict hatred in a painting, but it is possible to make visible destruction, expulsion or insult. Sometimes the task of the dream requires condensing all three of these senses into one picture and, in addition, disguising them in such a way that the super-ego cannot recognize what the picture represents. Further, the goals and objects of the senses can also be compressed and disguised. This is one of the reasons why the analysis of one feature of a dream can sometimes take an entire session.

In Mr. Meliger's dream, the principle of "disguise by opposite" and also "disguise by symbolization" was very active. When Mr. Meliger finally felt the meaning of his dream, he told the doctor (not the other way around - the doctor told him) that the dream expressed a long-forgotten physical desire for closer physical intimacy with his mother. Thus the disguise was exposed. His beautiful mother was disguised by the principle of the opposite in the form of an ugly woman; instead of running to her, he, again on the principle of the opposite, fled from her; The male sexual organ was not his, but hers. The male organ was symbolized for camouflage with a rubber roller, and its hot, albeit childish, passion was symbolized as fire.

The figure of the giantess demonstrates the phenomenon of “compression” of different objects into one picture. Firstly, she portrayed his mother. Secondly, she portrayed two tall, ugly masseuses who aroused a strange sexual desire in him. In addition, her ugliness depicted the ugliness of his desires, her terrible appearance depicted the fear that these women aroused in him, and her huge body depicted their powerful forms. He told all this to the psychoanalyst with strong feeling; at the same time his heart was pounding and he began to sweat.

5. First of all, the interpreter must keep in mind that the sleeper is the author of his own script. A dream is a product of his and only his individual psyche. Like the author of any script, he can insert any characters into it and do with them what he wants. Having chosen a heroine, he can marry her, kill her, make her pregnant, force her to work, enslave her, beat her, drive her away, generally do with her whatever his imagination suggests and that his sleepy super-ego allows. If he feels passion, he can caress; if he wants to have some thing, he can rob; if angry, he can kill; it can satisfy even the most unusual desires. But no matter what he does, with whom and to whom he does it, no matter what masks he covers it up, the dream is a product of his own psyche - and no one else’s. The manifest dream then turns out to be a compromise between the restraining supervision of the superego and the unsatisfied desires of the id, and the analysis of the dream leads to latent thoughts caused by these two forces. We can assume that in this case the influence of the ego participating in the organization of the “details” of the manifest dream is also observed.

5. What is sleep?

The meaning of dreams does not end with their interpretation. Since Freud, we have learned a lot about the connections between dreams and sleep. During sleep, as during wakefulness, the brain sends out electrical impulses; they can be recorded using a machine called an electroencephalograph. As these impulses indicate, there are four levels or stages of sleep. The most interesting thing is that in one of these stages, when the waves emitted by the brain take on some special shape, the eyeballs begin to rotate rapidly under closed eyelids. Sleepers were awakened in various stages of sleep, and it was thus discovered that almost all dreaming occurs during this special stage of sleep called "rapid eye movement sleep", or REM sleep. Other stages are called non-rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep.

During REM sleep, the body may actually be more active than during the waking state, although the individual maintains his position in bed. At the same time, the heart rate often accelerates, blood pressure rises and falls faster, breathing becomes irregular and the muscles of the arms, legs and face contract. Blood flow to the brain is higher than during wakefulness, and men often experience penile erection. According to one study, REM was accompanied by an erection in 80 percent of cases. This is an important confirmation of Freud's assumption that almost all dreams are of sexual origin. Freud came to this conclusion through psychological intuition and interpretation, without any means of experimental verification. Only now, seventy years later, has he been proven right by experience, at least in the case of men; there is no reason to doubt that the same is the case among women, although in this case confirmation is more difficult.

Normal night's sleep consists of REM sleep interrupted by periods of REM sleep. These periods are repeated every ninety minutes, three or four times a night, and each lasts about twenty minutes. In order for an individual to function normally, he needs both types of sleep. If, for example, you deprive a person of REM sleep (waking him up every time this stage begins), then after several such nights he may develop serious disorders. Once he is allowed to sleep as much as he wants, he makes up for all the lost time with REM sleep and has all the dreams he missed during the experience. As the electroencephalograph shows, REM sleep is characteristic not only of humans, but also of other mammals - cats, dogs and even the opossum, which has lived on Earth for more than a hundred million years.

Sleep and awakening depend on a part of the brain called the “reticular activating system,” or RSA for short. When RSA is in effect, the person is awake; when it doesn't work, he falls asleep. If the RSA is acted upon by certain hormones during sleep, animals begin to experience REM sleep; other substances, acting on RSA, cause BDG. Having figured all this out, scientists are learning more and more about sleep and dreams. Suggestion, isolation in a separate room, and LSD increase REM time and thus the number of dreams. Barbiturates, alcohol, and some tranquilizers reduce REM time. Although REM periods may become longer or shorter, they are still separated by approximately ninety minutes. Interestingly, these studies confirm some folk beliefs about dreams: it turns out that sandwiches with cheese actually lengthen them, since cheese contains a substance that increases REM time. A dream can last from one to eighty minutes, and their apparent duration in sleep is approximately the same: “rapid” sleep actually passes quickly, and “slow” sleep takes a long time.

Almost all experiments confirm what Freud said about dreams: not only their sexual nature has been established, but also their independence from external events and from what the sleeper did immediately before sleep. External stimuli, for example: sounds, light or a stream of cold water, do not in themselves cause dreams, but are usually woven in a symbolic form into those that have already begun. Further, the events of the previous day have a much stronger influence on dreams than what happened in the evening before going to bed. In other words, dreams follow their own laws and appear during REM sleep, occurring every ninety minutes, regardless of anything that happens outside the sleeper's body; even the stomach, which is inside the body, does not have much effect on REM sleep. However, the sleeper himself controls his dreams to some extent. One man, for example, feared that his dreams might reveal too much about him, and recordings of his brain waves showed that his REM periods stopped immediately after they began, instead of the usual duration of twenty minutes. This means that even in his sleep he stopped the periods of his dreams as quickly as he could. In the morning, he said that he dreamed of someone turning on the TV, and then he turned it off, and the screen went dark again.

People who complain of poor sleep are actually sleeping a significant portion of the time they think they are awake, but this is REM sleep. What they lack is REM sleep. Involuntary urination, sleepwalking and night terrors in children occur only during periods of REM sleep; Teeth grinding, head noises, and nightmares occur during REM.

The official record for staying without sleep is 264 hours (11 days) and belongs to a seventeen-year-old schoolboy from San Diego. He didn't have any consequences. For most people, sleep is regulated by the clock, as seen on long flights: People want to sleep when their clock tells them to, regardless of the position of the sun at their location. This 24-hour rhythm is called the "circadian" rhythm (from the Latin circa diem, "around the day"). The circadian rhythm regulates not only sleep and awakening, but also body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and urine production; all these processes wax and wane according to the correct daily cycle. An interesting experiment in this regard was carried out on cockroaches, whose circadian rhythm is controlled by a special part of the brain. If you transplant this part of the brain from one cockroach to another, removing its own clock, and if the new clock shows the same time as the old one, then the cockroach that received it feels excellent. If, however, the clock readings diverge, then this cockroach gets cancer and dies. This is a remarkable result, the meaning of which is not yet entirely clear; it testifies, in any case, to how important the correct rhythm is for the functioning of the body.

What is the meaning of this nightly failure of meaning? All these questions were answered by Vladimir Kovalzon, Doctor of Biological Sciences, chief researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A. N. Severtsova.

More than 3,000 years ago, scientists in Ancient India intuitively came to the conclusion that the soul can exist in three states: waking, dreamless sleep and dreaming - a unique state that is unlike anything else.

Until the 19th century, European science argued that sleep is an analogue of death. According to Europeans, at night the soul flies out of the body and performs all those feats that we perceive in the morning as a dream. There were a lot of superstitions that called for sleeping children to close their mouths, otherwise their souls would fly out and not find their way home. One of the superstitions was, I must say, very pleasant: they tried not to wake up sleeping people, so that they would not inadvertently wake up without a soul.

But in the 20th century, science put everything in its place. The Hindus were right! Throughout our lives, our brain never stops functioning for a second. It just works, as the Indians said, in three different modes: wakefulness, dreamless sleep and dreaming sleep. While living only in a coma or under anesthesia, this work can be temporarily suspended. Or after death - forever.

Sleep recording

Unfortunately, it is still impossible to record the dream that a person sees and release this “movie” for distribution. Or better yet, a collection of TOP 100 craziest dreams! But no. For now, we can only record how the brain works during sleep. This is done using a positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine.

The devices record which areas of the brain are activated at which times of sleep. If during the period of slow sleep the activity of all zones is moderate, then by the REM sleep phase the cortical zones responsible for vision (we see a picture) and emotions (we actively experience joy, sadness, excitement, disappointment, etc.) wake up. At the same time, the areas of the cortex responsible for feeling yourself and controlling your own actions are completely disabled.

How did it happen?

How did a person learn to “turn on” such an exciting movie at night? And why do we need this? Scientists put forward many theories. One of them – neurocognitive – is currently leading in popularity. It says: the ability to dream is a random collision of two evolutionary streams.

First - . After all, in the process of evolution of species, sleep evolved along with them. Animals sleep differently than we do: humans spend 20-25% of their total sleep in REM sleep, ferrets spend 40% of their time in REM sleep, and dolphins and eared seals generally sleep with one hemisphere of the brain, while the other is awake.

The second branch of evolution is the evolution of our four-dimensional images. We are accustomed to thinking that we live in a three-dimensional world, but there is also time - and this fourth dimension in dreams is very important.

And when we reached a certain level of development in the ability to sleep and the ability to perceive four-dimensional images - bang! These two skills collided, and the brain began to turn on at night to show us movies.

What's the point?

The question has been troubling humanity since ancient times. And since that time, there has been a certain set of people who make money from this fortune-telling. Dig on the Internet and get a bunch of new knowledge: you dreamed about the sea - you get pregnant, you dreamed about a spider - expect guests... Is this true?

Psychologists have been studying this problem for a long time. One of the most radical dream interpreters was Freud. His interpretations of what his patients dreamed cannot always be retold in polite society.

According to modern science, Freud was absolutely right that our subconscious, with the help of images, communicates to us (consciousness) its impressions of life.

Everything that we have ever seen, heard or felt is stored in our subconscious, although we have already forgotten about it a hundred times. Oddly enough, events that amazed, shocked, or still torment us with their unresolved nature can also be blocked in the subconscious. If, with the help of a competent psychologist or psychotherapist, you decipher these “letters” from the subconscious, you can get rid of many complexes, fears and anxieties.

Freud was wrong in that he tried to interpret images in relation to all people on the planet. In fact, dreams are individual, each has its own system of images.

AiF "PRO Health" recommends: books by Michel Jouvet "Castle of Dreams" (Vek-2 publishing house, Fryazino, 2006) and "Dream Thief" (Vremya publishing house, M., 2008), works of fiction written by one of the leading French sleepologists - scientists who reveal the secret of sleep, as well as the recently published popular science book by Peter Sporck “Sleep” (Publishing house “BINOM - Laboratory of Knowledge”, M., 2011).

Sleep speed

– This is the phase of sleep characterized by active brain activity. One of the signs of REM sleep is rapid movements of the eyeballs (hence the name of this phase). In 1953, Nathaniel Kleitman and Eugene Aserinsky from the University of Chicago proved that REM sleep is directly related to dreaming - it is in this state that we watch our exciting night movies.

REM sleep accounts for 20-25% of total night sleep. It alternates with slow-wave sleep, when brain activity is minimal. During the night, the cycle of fast-slow sleep is repeated 4-6 times. With each repetition, the duration of the REM sleep phase increases. Thus, the first phase of REM sleep at night lasts 10-15 minutes, and by the morning it can reach 40 minutes.

Those that you dream about at night during REM sleep, as a rule, are not remembered. But if you sleep too long, the REM sleep phase lengthens, and dreams become viscous and painful. These are the ones we, as a rule, remember.

Paradox

Quick sleep for life...

American scientists conducted a cruel but revealing experiment. They put the rats on a carousel, which, with its non-stop movement, completely deprived the animals of the REM sleep phase. At the same time, thanks to humane and careful “inhibition,” the rats did not experience stress. Two weeks later, the rats developed an autoimmune disease, leading to sepsis - blood poisoning. The animals died calm. Simply from the lack of REM sleep, they started a self-destruction program.

...or for depression?

Danish scientists have developed a non-drug treatment for depression. A person goes to the hospital, where he is woken up at a certain time at night, thus depriving him of the REM phase of sleep. Plus, the person is irradiated with light of an individually selected spectrum. And voila – no more depression! The fact is that depression (even clinical depression, in which a person physically cannot feel happy because he does not produce enough of the “joy hormone” serotonin) is directly related to the REM sleep phase. No REM sleep - no depression. Therefore, most strong antidepressants deprive a person of REM sleep.

A person can die without REM sleep, or they can live happily ever after, having recovered from depression. This is why REM sleep is also called paradoxical sleep.

Probably every person has heard about the existence of the subconscious, but not everyone can explain what it is. In fact, these not fully understood mental processes in our brain have a huge impact on people's lives. What is the subconscious? Is it possible to learn to control it? Is it possible to influence the subconscious of another person?

The concept and essence of the subconscious

The subconscious is special mental processes occurring in the human brain, not controlled or controlled by our consciousness. It is with him that causeless fears, self-doubt, and intuition are associated. Our subconscious always tries to protect a person, help him cope with problems and protect him from danger. Even those actions of people that seem impossible to explain actually make sense.

Many scientists believe that most of our actions, habits, and preferences are determined by the subconscious. It accumulates all the information about a person’s life, imprinting emotions and experiences. What people do not remember is stored securely in their subconscious and can appear at certain moments.

The connection between consciousness and subconscious

Based on the definitions of consciousness and subconscious, one might think that these are completely opposite concepts and in no way related to each other. However, this is not at all true, and they cannot exist without each other. With the help of consciousness, people control and comprehend all their actions and actions. The subconscious is processes, on the contrary, that cannot be controlled by humans. Only by working together do they perform all the necessary functions of our psyche.

Our Everything that a person thinks about, in other words, everything that we are conscious of, is deposited on a subconscious level. In this way, we kind of give ourselves instructions for further actions. If a person says that he will never get a prestigious job, then our subconscious will do everything to prevent this from actually happening. It turns out that a person’s consciousness controls the subconscious, which, in turn, sends signals to our brain and encourages us to commit uncontrollable and unexplainable actions and actions.

Features of the subconscious

Our subconscious is a huge database that stores everything that happened to a person throughout his life. Every minute and second of our past is captured here, not just the events that took place, but also the thoughts, emotions, and sensations that we experienced at that moment. The subconscious is well aware of the roots and causes of our problems, the cause-and-effect relationships of everything that happened in a person’s life.

Another feature of the subconscious is that it works around the clock, without any breaks. It is constantly processing information, regardless of whether a person is sleeping or awake.

The subconscious shapes a person’s character, his habits, attitudes, and outlook on life. People perceive the same events that happen to them differently precisely due to the characteristics of the subconscious. Therefore, to become a happy person, you first need to change your inner world.

The role of the subconscious in human life

Some people believe that all actions they perform are under the control of the mind. However, in fact, the human subconscious is what completely controls our lives. Moreover, his goals may be radically different from our own. For example, if a person constantly thinks about what he is afraid of, these thoughts are deposited on a subconscious level. As a result, fears can materialize, although we, on the contrary, would not want this to happen. Thus, most of our illnesses and failures occur due to incorrect attitudes at the subconscious level. To become a happy person, you need to learn to think correctly.

The subconscious is huge and contains all the information we have accumulated throughout our lives. Even events from early childhood can be reproduced with maximum accuracy in a state of hypnosis. The ability to remember absolutely everything and retain it for an unlimited time is one of the main functions of the subconscious.

The huge role of the subconscious in maintaining our mental balance. A person, as a rule, begins to experience unpleasant sensations when leaving his comfort zone. In this way, our subconscious tries to protect us from the unpleasant consequences of rash and risky actions.

Dream and subconscious

Some people claim that they rarely dream about anything. Actually this is not true. Every person dreams every night. However, not everyone can remember, reproduce and understand them correctly.

Is it true that sleep is the human subconscious? Most likely, this is one of the ways to connect with people. Through sleep, our subconscious sends certain signals that, if interpreted correctly, help us cope with many problems and avoid serious mistakes.

Very often you can hear stories about how a person did not board a plane because he dreamed that it would crash, and thereby saved his life. Or, having had a disturbing dream, someone refused to change his job, and as a result, the company he wanted to work for went bankrupt after a couple of months. Almost every person can give examples of how, by listening to his inner voice, he avoided serious problems.

Dreams help people understand themselves. They show through hidden symbols where we are right and where we need to change our strategy and tactics. Often the cause of nightmares that torment people can be real anxieties and doubts. After a person deals with them in reality, such dreams stop tormenting people. The main thing is to be able to understand correctly and in time what exactly the subconscious wants to convey to us.

person?

Various techniques for controlling people’s subconscious are used in all possible areas of our lives. This includes advertising, network marketing, news and much more.

The subconscious in psychology can be influenced by various methods. The most common is repetition. It is most often used in advertising. At the same time, having watched a video with a particular product several times, having come to the store, a person believes that he consciously made his choice. In fact, information about what needs to be bought is stored at the subconscious level.

Network marketing influences a person's subconscious by making a great impression. So, for example, people who dream of traveling are told about such an opportunity in their company. Having produced a powerful effect on the subconscious, a person can then be encouraged to take other actions, for example, to buy things he doesn’t need for a large amount.

There are other ways to influence a person’s subconscious. This is the so-called method, in which information is unobtrusively presented to people, and all sorts of techniques for “turning off consciousness.”

Methods of influence

To change your life for the better, first of all you need to start working with the subconscious. Thoughts influence our inner world. That is why, in order for as much positive as possible to be deposited on the subconscious level, you need to try to give yourself positive attitudes.

Don't dwell on failures and constantly think about the bad. There are so-called “positive thinking” techniques, in which it is necessary to look for something good in every event that occurs. All thoughts influence a person’s subconscious, which is why self-hypnosis can radically change our inner world.

It is very important to clearly understand your goals and objectives. It is important to try to avoid the particle “not” in your formulations, since thoughts constructed with its help are perceived by the subconscious in the opposite order.

Writing your desires on a piece of paper and constantly repeating them, for example before going to bed, helps a lot. In this way, the necessary information is fixed in our subconscious, and it will strive with all its might to help us realize our dream.