What did you dream about last night? Did your teeth fall out or did you fly? Maybe you died or someone you know did. Or maybe you were back in high school and realized suddenly that you were naked. These are among the most common dreams people report, said Ivy Norris, field director for the Oklahoma Schools of Metaphysics, and they all mean something.

    Many dream researchers, Norris included, think that understanding your dreams can lead to significant improvements in your waking life.

    "If people know what the symbols represent, then they know what part of themselves that they’re running from or that they need to face or need to embrace,” Norris said. For example, dreams of death represent changes in your daily life, as do babies in dreams. Cars in dreams represent the physical body and can indicate health problems. And animals represent habitual behaviors that can be detrimental and need changing.

    People in dreams represent aspects of the dreamer. People of the opposite sex represent subconscious aspects of the dreamer while people of the same sex represent aspects of your conscious mind with which you’re more familiar.

    Dreams are a universal connection, Norris said, because almost everyone dreams and a "symbolic universal language of mind” applies to anyone at anytime. Many dreams have very specific interpretations. Here are some of the most common dreams and their interpretations or symbolism.

    Dreams of flying. Dreams of flying represent feelings of freedom that may result from an instance when you overcame a limitation or obstacle. Usually, children have more flying dreams than adults, Norris said, because children are more open to their possibilities, and adults have often accepted limitations imposed by society.

    Teeth falling out. Food in a dream is symbolic of knowledge because food nourishes the physical body and knowledge nourishes the soul. Teeth are a means to break down food or knowledge. When your teeth fall out in a dream, it could signify that you feel ill-equipped to break down the knowledge that you have available, that the way you break things down has changed. That change can be either positive or negative.

    High school dreams. Either you’re woefully unprepared for a big test or you’re naked. High school is a place of learning from the past, Norris said, and dreaming of being unprepared for a high school test can indicate a struggle to access information you need to handle in your life.

    Being naked in a dream indicates open and honest expression. Clothes represent how we express ourselves and the face we show the public. If your dream nudity makes you feel embarrassed, this could mean that you need to work on being more open and honest in your daily life. If your nudity doesn’t bother you, you are more comfortable with your self expression.

    Recurring dreams and nightmares. Recurring dreams are your subconscious mind’s way of trying to get your attention. A recurring dream is a step down from a nightmare that is a louder, more insistent way your subconscious mind communicates. If you have a recurring dream, Norris recommends trying to stop in the dream and identify what the dream is trying to tell you. That could mean asking someone who is chasing you what he or she wants as in the case Norris recalls of a woman who dreamed for years that an old, haggard woman was chasing her around her Home. When she finally stopped in the dream and asked the old woman what she represented, the old woman suddenly turned into a beautiful young woman and replied, "I represent your question of ‘what if?’” 

    你昨夜夢到了什么？掉牙齒抑或在天上飛翔？夢見自己死了，或者認識的人死了。或者是夢見自己回到了大學且赤身裸體。俄克拉荷馬大學的學科領導人艾菲諾麗說，這些都是人們最經常敘述的夢境，而且都有特殊的含義。

    包括諾麗在內的許多夢境研究者，認為理解自己所做的夢，大大有助于改進清醒時的生活狀態。

    “如果人們知道夢境代表了什么，也許他們就更了解自己，諸如自己來自何方，需要面對或歡迎的事物。”諾麗說。例如，夢到死亡或者嬰兒，代表你的生活發生了變化。汽車代表了身體，夢境有有汽車表示健康可能出了問題。夢到了動物，表示日常生活中你養成了一些壞習慣。

    夢境中的人，也反映了做夢者的心態。夢到異性是做夢者下意識的結果，而夢到同性也表示對同性要更加熟悉些。

    諾麗說， 夢境具有普遍性。因為幾乎所有人都會做夢，而且夢境可作用一種符號語言來解讀。許多夢都有特定的解讀方法。這里談到了一些最普遍的夢境，以及他們的含義及特征。

    夢到自己在飛翔。夢到在飛翔，代表你在現實中受到了某種限制，或者遇到某種困難，渴望獲得自由。通常，兒童們會比大人更常夢到自己在飛。諾麗宣稱，因為大人通常已經接受了社會加諸在身上的限制，而兒童則仍保有天性。

    夢到掉牙。夢境中的食物，象征著衣食無憂且身心愉快。牙齒則是代表了食物或者知識的卻飯。當你夢到牙齒掉了時，意味著你深感自己的知識不夠用，而這個促使你感覺環境已經改變了。這種改變也許是消極的，也許是積極的。