Anyone who's taken a psychology 101 class in the last seventy years or spent more than an hour watching the Lifetime or SciFi channels has heard the term "lucid dreaming" at least a dozen times in their lives, and most with even a modicum of curiosity are interested, at least a little, in the ability to do so. For those of you who are unaware (and have somehow either never watched the Sci-Fi Channel or taken a Psych 101 class) of the concept of lucid dreaming, a basic definition goes as follows: a lucid dream is one in which the dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming. It's not quite the same as dream control-- in which you can learn to manipulate the concept of your dreams-- but it is the first step in doing so. Here are a few lucid dreaming techniques to get you started along the path of being a more active member of your dream life:

1. Dream Recall is a fairly self-explanatory and simple lucid dreaming technique and one that can aid tremendously in your quest to master your over-all awareness of them. If you're able to remember your dreams after they occur, it will be far easier to be aware of the dreams that you're having in the present. This technique is used very often in the creative and fine arts fields-- acting, writing, directing, etc.-- for inspiration and story sources. Many people bolster their dream recall abilities by keeping dream journals, which are simply written logs of the dreams a person has every night. It's usually best when keeping a dream journal to have something near where you sleep, so that you can record them soon after you wake up.

2. Reality Testing is slightly more esoteric but still a relatively simple lucid dreaming technique to acquire. In both awake and sleeping hours, ask yourself over the course of the day and night whether you are dreaming at all. The simple self-aware question trains your brain towards a heightened awareness. Awareness is the essence of lucidity.

3. Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreaming, or the MILD technique, is a method by which you remind yourself to remember the dreams you will have before you go to sleep.

These three lucid dreaming techniques are only the beginning towards learning how to take control of your dream life, but a fundamental beginning nonetheless. The more aware you are that you are dreaming in the first place, the better chance you have of taking control of them in the future. Sweet Dreams!

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Dream interpretation is a topic that's been plumbed for eons. It's been studied by the great shamans and druids, the Christian clergy, the New Agists and every student of psychoanalysis since its inception. There are tons upon tons of charts, symbolist theories, and various and sundry opinions about the meanings of every type of dream one could have.

So if you were to ask any of these web hosts what your dreams mean in any direct sense, the best answer would probably be "I don't know what YOUR dreams mean, but here are a few methods to find out.?"

Here are a few methods to interpret dreams that are far, far more reliable than I would be directly:

The Web: There are tons of websites that address the symbols common in dreams. Many of which get their information from any number of the aforementioned sources (psychology, mythology, etc.)

These sites operate under the assumption, of course, that dreams do have intrinsic meanings and, therefore, a lot of the information therein should be taken with a grain of salt.

Modern Psychology/ Astrology: if you have access to any psychologists or astrologists, they would easily be able to point you in the direction of resources to be able to determine what your dreams mean.

Depending on whether you trust the stars or the advent of modern psychology, you should be able to find some great materials from tapping those sources.

Common Sense: and of course there are some people who feel that your dreams are simple fantasy and, as such, need not be examined at all.

There are people in the world who are so focussed on the need for empirical evidence that dream meanings are deemed beneath them and, as such, these people would tell you that dreams are just dreams, no more; for those people, your dream of falling down a flight of stairs (which is among the most common dream themes) is simply a reflection of your being afraid of heights or something equally as sensible.

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Any reasonable understanding of workplace bullying carries with it the idea of continuance. Bullying is ongoing and violent, and can be physical, psychological or verbal. Bullying is something that is personalised, and the associated behaviour exercises power over another individual who is powerless to make any kind of effective defense. It also results in feelings of isolation and robs the victims of their self-confidence, not to overlook being made to feel inferior. Bullying makes people ill.

The concept of "psychological terrorisation" is understood as "mental torture," and is suitable as a model for understanding bullying. Here the victim experiences trauma which causes stress disorder which may lead eventually to chronic illness, manifesting itself as depression and/or obsession.

Understanding bullying as "the willful, conscious desire to hurt another and put him/her under stress," introduces the notion of the bully's motivation, that is, why he engages in such behavioural expression. While some bullies will admit to intending to hurt and harm their victims, short of this honest admission, this motivation is very difficult to prove. Do bullies engage in this kind of behaviour deliberately? Certainly, there is a hard core of people who know exactly what they are doing, and why, and get a 'buzz' out of inflicting hurt on others. Many people get involved in bullying behaviour as part of the 'in group,' and, because of a lack of personal security, feel they have to 'go with the crowd.' This is as true in the adult world, as it is in the world of children. Some members of this group are unaware that they are causing intense suffering to their victims. However, this point of view must be balanced by acknowledging that there is usually a ring-leader who is the real bully, the godfather behind the aggression, "who orchestrates the behaviour and who has the power to get others to join in." Identifying the real bully is difficult when a group is involved; but the group members know who is "calling the shots."

The numerous victims of bullying to whom I have spoken have never had any difficulty in identifying the 'ring leader,' or the actual bully. Their descriptions of what these bullies did to them were classical and extremely well documented. But not only did the victim know who the real bully was, so also did those who were under the bully's control.

Bullying behaviour is intentional and violent, and never accidental; it is "extraordinarily pervasive," and can occur to anyone at any time, usually from the top down, but can also occur from the bottom up, though this is much less frequent. No one is immune from this workplace evil, and no work situation may be regarded as a safe haven from this anti-social behaviour.

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Some people believe dreams are foretelling of the future while other say its just events through out your day captured by the subconscious mind. To understand the meaning of your dreams you will first have to understand how we dream.

Dreams occur during the rapid eye movement sleep phase. During this phase our eyelids are closed but the eye itself is making rapid movements with brain activity peaking causing temporary paralysis. Dreams are influenced by thoughts and emotions, more specifically imminent worries in our lives. Any suppressed feelings through the day will surface in the form of a dream at night. Philosophers like Aristotle believed that there is a connection between dreams, experiences while being awake and emotional needs thus our subconscious desires are awaken during our sleep. This is especially true in terms of dream recurrences. These dreams indicate that there are unresolved or unconfronted issues haunting your subconscious. The anxiety and stress caused by the issues will have a impact on your sleep as well as dream patterns.

Religious explanations also exist for the occurrence of dreams. In the Christian faith, dreams are referred to as being prophesy's.

Dreams should be interpreted by the dreamer as he or she has their own believe system why dreams occur as well as inside information as to the detailed content of the dream. Each individual is unique and so is the dreams they dream. Guidance can be obtained from books, internet or mediums in terms of pattern or dream themes for example dreaming of animals is a referral to your own sexual desires and primitive desires.However blank spaces will have to be filled by the dreamer. Discuss your dreams with other people and compare, you may just stumble across possible meanings of your dreams in their dreams and find your own meanings by interpreting the dreams of others

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