Enlarge AP file photo Data on a man's breathing patterns and rapid eye movement are taken at a sleep clinic in Richmond, Va. The most vivid dreams occur during a person's deep REM stage. SYMBOLIC OF FEAR, POWER, INSECURITY SYMBOLIC OF FEAR, POWER, INSECURITY Water: Symbolic of spirituality, knowledge, healing and refreshment. Flying: Flying dreams and the ability to control your flight represent your own sense of power. Falling: An indication of insecurities, instabilities and anxieties. You are feeling overwhelmed and out of control in some situation in your life. Naked: Denotes the fear of being found out and judged. Chased: Stems from feelings of anxiety in your life. Source: Dreammoods.com CALLING THE ANALYST CALLING THE ANALYST An example of a dream analysis from one of psychologist Marcia Emery's classes: Background: Roz is questioning her wavering friendship with Nelly. Roz's dream: I was in a social setting and Nelly was being strong and intimidating. She pulled out a gun and shot someone. Then she pointed the gun at me and was going to shoot me. Then Nelly said she'll decide whether to spare me. I wasn't completely afraid. Then another woman came along who held a gun over Nelly. Interpretation: The pivotal symbol jumping out to Roz was the gun. She used the amplification technique, which is freely associating to the central symbol "gun." The associations she came up with were power, hunting, protection, fire, weapon. Then she said, "Calling the shots." She saw how controlling Nelly was in their relationship because she always "called the shots." Roz was uncomfortable with this one-sided relationship. Everybody dreams. But why? And what do the dreams mean? Answering those questions has consumed the waking hours of scientists, psychologists and garden-variety dreamers. Psychologist Marcia Emery, a professor at Holos University in Springfield, Mo., helps others learn how to use their dreams to make their lives better. "Dreams offer insight to things that are going on in our daily life," she says. She calls a dream an "inner physician" because it can communicate "illuminating insights" that show you how to remove personal blocks, foretell the future and even help with health problems. Many times dreams can literally help find answers to questions in the waking life, she says, but more often they come in the form of symbols that can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Dreaming of your teeth falling out, for example, could represent an anxiety about personal appearance or how others perceive you. Or, looking at teeth as being used to bite, chew or gnaw, the dream could represent a feeling of powerlessness or lack of self-confidence about something. Emery was among those attending the International Association for the Study of Dreams conference this summer. The non-profit, California-based organization gathered people from professions ranging from psychology to the performing arts. Robert Hoss, founding director of the DreamScience Foundation, explains that there are two types of dream studies: one that tries to explain the mechanisms in the brain that create dreams and another that explores the psychology of dreams. And there is a mystery to both, he says. What we do know is that the limbic system, the structures in the brain responsible for processing emotions, is used in dreaming, meaning that dreams are rooted in our feelings, Hoss says. Dreams, he says, are a representation of the brain "processing emotional business and trying to resolve problems and store the solution in memory." "They've been called the royal road to the subconscious," he says. "It's the easiest way that you can understand your subconscious" and what is going on emotionally. Heightened brain activity David Kahn, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, explains that dreams come from a combination of changing brain chemistry and a person's emotional reactions to events of the day. The overall metabolic activity of the brain slows during sleep, only to be selectively reactivated during the deep REM stage, when the most vivid dreams occur, Kahn explains in an e-mail. The limbic areas are among those that become as highly activated, or even more, than when the person is awake, he says. Kahn says the meaning behind a particular dream is based largely on the individual. "Symbols in dreams have the same meaning for many ... but it may not mean the same thing for everyone," because each person has had a different history, upbringing and culture, so we should expect to react differently. Wake up, smell the coffee Programming dreams to help get answers to questions in your waking life is something that Emery teaches at Energy Medicine University, based in Sausalito, Calif. Linda Armstrong of St. Petersburg, Fla., has taken three of Emery's classes and says she is "amazed at how illuminating my dreams were. A lot of times, my dreams were working through problems in my waking life." She says she usually describes her dreams in a journal with the intention of deciphering them. "I usually end up with a message that gives me a direction that I should take on a certain issue," she says. "One was about a relationship. I didn't know if I should end it or if I should continue with it, and by going through the dream process, I found that the only reason I didn't want to continue with it was because of fears I had, which was something that I didn't even know that I was aware of." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. 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