It’s spring! Time for baby lambs, plants and trees blooming around us and, uh, the weirdest dreams happening almost every night?!
I thought it was just me but according to Martin Seeley, sleep expert and CEO of MattressNextDay, this is actually very common.
Seeley said: “A study found that we experience the most disruption to our sleep in the spring season. This is because our wake times are earlier – due to the longer daylight hours – and, therefore, our sleep duration decreases.
“It’s also been recorded that our time asleep is shorter when there are longer days.”
This same study also found that during spring, our time asleep is reduced by 25 minutes, even if we go to bed two minutes earlier than in winter.
Seeley explained: “This could be attributed to melatonin production, which is a hormone that helps you sleep.
“Melatonin is regulated by light and darkness; when there is more light (such as in spring and summer), you don’t produce as much melatonin. With less light, you produce more.”
The most common dreams to occur in spring, according to Google searches
MattressNextDay analysed 279,750 dream-related Google searches and teamed up with dream expert Inbal Honigman to decipher what the UK’s top 10 dreams actually mean.
What dreams about teeth falling out mean
Honigman explained: “Teeth are a sign of life’s ages and stages. We are born with none, go through two sets in childhood and adulthood, and start to lose them again in old age.
“Therefore, dreaming about losing teeth symbolises loss, like leaving a relationship behind or even moving house.”
What dreams about pregnancy mean
As a childless person in my 30s, I have found myself dreaming about pregnancy a LOT more in recent years. Sometimes I’m panicked, sometimes I’m at peace but either way, I wake up very out of sorts.
However, according to Honigman, pregnancy dreams are often predictive dreams. People will dream of pregnancy before seeing a positive test and many even predict the sex or date of birth accurately.
However, Honigman added: “Beyond fertility, pregnancy in a dream can represent the wanting of a new job or creative project, like a ’new lease of life.”
What dreams about spiders mean
Whether you are ambivalent about these 8-legged critters or you’re actually scared of spiders, dreaming of them is often really quite disturbing.
Honigman said: “Dreaming of spiders often represents a need to confront your fears and insecurities head-on.
“Just like spiders face the challenge of creating and maintaining their webs with precision, you are being prompted to tackle your life challenges with resilience and determination”
Listen, fair enough, but I feel like Paul Rudd could tell me to get it together in a dream and I’d 100% follow his guidance, y’know? Maybe we don’t need to use spiders?
What dreams about falling mean
This is an incredibly common dream but the jolt awake after it is not easy to get used to.
Seeley explained: “When you dream of falling, this is actually a physiological reaction to the body going to sleep.
“As the nervous systems begin to calm, and your heart rate and blood pressure drop, this can trigger a falling dream, otherwise known as a ‘hypnic jerk’.”
The movements can be minor but sometimes, they’re violent enough to wake you up. These sudden movements typically last only a second or two, but they can be quite startling if you’re not expecting them.
What dreams about hair falling out mean
I have to say, I have never been in a good mental place when I’ve dreamt of clumps of hair falling out.
This is because losing hair in a dream can symbolise concerns about ageing, stress or feeling out of control.
Yikes.
What dreams about fire mean
Honigman said: “To dream of fire can mean many things. It can symbolise passion, light, destruction, anger and more. The trick to working out what your fire dream means is to look at the rest of the dream.
“If you were unafraid of the fire, then it could be a reference to your own internal fire. Your views and opinions could be changing, bringing forth a renewal of self. If you are burned by fire, it indicates that your temper is raging, and you are ‘burning up inside’.”
What dreams about being cheated on mean
It’s one thing to dream about your partner or ex but dreams about being cheated on can be particularly painful and I know for myself, the feelings experienced during the dream tend to linger throughout the next day.
According to the experts, if you dream of an ex-partner cheating, you might be trying to make sense of the split. You could be worried that their loyalty was never for you, and you may be suspicious that they were cheating in real life too.
However, if you dream of your current partner cheating on you, this dream shows your own insecurities rather than any unfaithful thoughts about your partner.
What dreams about drowning mean
There is no pleasant way to experience drowning so dreaming about it is often not a good sign.
Seeley said: “Drowning in a dream is often a fear of losing yourself in some way. Whether this is from being overwhelmed by work, a relationship issue, or stress, there’s the fear of ‘drowning’ under the weight of emotions and being unable to handle or process them.
“Even if you’re not in turmoil, simply dealing with life’s daily struggles and trying to survive as a well-functioning human being in today’s society is enough to induce these dreams.”
What dreams about being lost mean
According to the experts, dreams about being lost often say a lot about your everyday life.
They said: “If you have a situation in your waking life where you are anxious that you may not find your way, these dreams can help you find direction.
“It can also be a dream for those grieving, a way to process the loss of a person, or part of yourself that is missing”