Both dreams and nightmares tend to be intense in terms of their visual, auditory and emotional impact. Nightmares however tend to have the most impact. They feel in every way extremely real, and you tend to awaken from a nightmare with a real jolt, sometimes aware of your own screams or sweating profusely. Your average dream, in contrast, tends to be in your mind as you awaken but swiftly disappears from your mind; it seems to have far less "staying power" in terms of emotional impact.

But is this really the case? What in fact happens when we dream? Dreaming in fact possesses a very real and essential purpose. You may think that you do not dream but you will dream; you have to dream. When you dream your mind is carrying out the process of resolving unconscious conflicts. If you were not to dream you would become emotionally imbalanced and subsequently psychotic.

Sometimes these conflicts have more emotional impact than others and needless to say this will reflect the depth of the conflict which your subconscious mind is attempting to resolve. It may help to think about your brain in terms of a computer model. In an office you may have several different desktops each running their own separate programs, but at night each individual desktop's work may be integrated onto one main frame back up drive.

In contrast to a computer back up program however, your mind is not only processing logical thoughts, but assimilating the emotional attachment as well. Hence dreams tend to contain a lot of feelings. And whereas we may in our waking hours cover up or suppress our instinctive emotions, these come to the fore in our dreams. The subconscious mind attempts to process these emotions and to resolve any hidden and unconscious conflicts.

A lot can be learned by paying attention to your dreams, although the feelings experienced in your dreams have more importance than the "what is happening" part of your dreams. Identify the feeling in your dream and ask yourself why you are feeling this way, and you will likely gain insight into your subconscious conflicts. The visual images and the story of your dream tends to be more symbolic than real. The feeling, however, is what your mind is really attempting to process.

Our thoughts of course are a mixture of our perceptions, fears, worries and dreams. They are not just a mirror of logical reality. They involve our own distorted images of the world around us. Some of us "distort" reality in a positive way, whilst others filter things through a more negative lens. Our perceptions, whether they are positive or negative, in fact create our own reality.

We shape our own reality in many ways, not least in the sense that some of us just let life happen and react to whatever comes our way, whilst others actively direct ourselves towards particular experiences. The person who suggested the title to this short piece will readily acknowledge that she frequently lives her own self created nightmares, but does not take the necessary steps to direct her life in a more positive direction. She is not ready to take those steps, for whatever reason. Many of us can identify with this feeling, and sympathize with it as well. Some of us are in a similar "stuck" position, whilst others have learned to take those necessary steps which allow one to control and direct their life in a more positive manner.

It is ironic that when you feel stuck in this way, you just cannot seem to move on or make those changes, and yet when you do make that move you realize how easy it was to do so. It boils down to your own perception, and the intensity of your desires when compared to your fears. If you focus upon your fears you magnify them and give them more power and then you live your nightmares. If you focus upon your desires, you allow yourself to be inspired to follow and live your dreams.

Hypnosis creates a state of mind similar to that experienced when you dream; it is therefore ideal when wishing to resolve conflicts or refocus upon what you want to happen in your life.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads to inspire you.

P.S. Why not grab a free hypnosis download from my website and allow yourself to be inspired?