let me give a quick run through a few series of event that has happened in my life. While growing up, there was a night I was somewhat awake and asleep at the same time. It looked more like a dream and also very vivid that I could see the entire room. I saw dark images and someone pressing me on my chest towards the bed. It looked like he was suffocating me and I was not going to give in to him.
I tried fighting my way out of the bed but it looked like I was tied to the bed and gravity was holding me with all its force. The dark images of people I saw around weren't moving, they were just there I was very scared. Overtime, I was able to fight my way out and by the time I was fully awake, everything in the house looked the same but there were no people in my room. I told my mum, and as a typical Nigerian mother, I was made to do compulsory fasting and a must-do night vigil, and I attended church programs more frequently.
Growing up and learning more about science, I realized all I had was just Sleep Paralysis. I felt really bad that I went through those periods of compulsory fasting and prayer over something I still felt to date, and about 80% of the world population would experience it at one point in time in their lives...
As a child, I was always having some kind of nightmares and I was always scared to death. Growing up, I started to have a series of dreams where I became aware in the dream that I was just in the dream world causing me to be able to stir the dream the way I wanted it. This became something I was able to do in so many cases, and it is referred to as Lucid dream. Do not get me wrong, there are cases where I would be so tired and I will not be able to control the dream, and in this case, I am really lost in REM sleep. At this point, I wake up and say it is a dream. This doesn't mean I don't believe in dreams (tell me a Nigerian that doesn't believe in dreams and I will show you 15 Nigerians who believe in dreams), so I usually do prayers even when I wake up and sometimes fast if it is a negative dream even with the scientific knowledge I have about dreams.
Do i believe in dreams?
This is one answer that is very complicated to answer, and if you read my above stories you would see that I could have reasons not to believe in dreams but as a Nigerian, it will be relatively impossible not to put an atom of significant to dreams, even when they are just a result of thoughts that my brain is flashing back on. The only one I have decided not to take serious is the dream view that comes with Sleep paralysis. Once I find out that I am having sleep paralysis, I just let go and allow myself to wake properly.
How often do i have dreams?
I will say I have dreams quite often, even though not all the time. Some times I usually have lucid dreams, and in cases when i cannot control the dream, I just wake up to reality after the dream ended. If I am very tired, I do not have dreams and I guess it is because I am very tired.
Do i remember easily what you dream about?
I remember my dream most times and somedays, I do not remember them. In days when I do not remember them, I justs let it go, and on days when I remember them I try to check how possible it can be a reality. I do not think there is a reason to dwell long on a dream I cannot remember and do not pay serious attention to dreams that I can remember. All I do is pray when the dream looks scary a little and continue with my daily activity.
