For as long as man has walked this earth, man has also conjured up dreams. In Webster's dictionary, a dream is defined as "a sequence of sensations, images, thoughts, etc., passing through a sleeping person's mind". When a human being dreams, we are able to have a sort of "out-of-body" experience; there are no limits to the places we can travel to, what we can do or what we might find in any given dream sequence. They can even be repressed thoughts, visions and ideas—even indigestion has been blamed as a catalyst for dreaming.

There are many aspects of dreaming that man has examined throughout history. In fact, dream interpreting dates back to as old as 4000 BC, where they had been recorded using clay tablets. During that time, societies viewed the dream sequence as indistinguishable from the world of the conscious mind, viewing as an extension of reality but harbouring more power than the waking world. The Greeks and Romans also had their own way of viewing dreams, which were seen as signs or messages from the gods or from deceased loved ones. The dream was a very powerful tool during this time particularly, due to the fact that they were used to influence major decisions in their society, which extended even to political figureheads and military leaders. Even the bible has more than seven hundred references to dreams.

Several different types of dreams have been identified and classified by modern science, ranging from daydreams, lucid dreams, healing dreams, recurring dreams, nightmares, and so on. It is also said that what you think of can attract positive or negative energy to yourself via repetition. Have you ever avoided spending time with someone because you felt they were "such a downer" or "so negative all the time"? The principle works the same way. When one is able to see and envision what they really want in their lives, the brain can attract positive energy to the individual and influence their environment, ultimately bringing success over time; and this is just one aspect of how powerful the mind actually is.

Research has also been conducted on the importance of the dream state, or REM sleep in one's daily life. In one dream study, it was shown that people who wake before entering REM, even if they sleep for a normal and healthy amount of time, generally show signs of depression, irritability and disorientation. Over time, this can also become severe sensitivity, lack of concentration and even memory loss.

Whether you believe dreaming has some higher significance or is simply the product of watching far too much TV before bed, the importance of REM in overall health and well-being is that it restores the mind and revitalizes the body, and can even help to tackle day-to-day stress. Are you getting a good night's sleep?