"Daydreaming is a short-term detachment from one's immediate surroundings, during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake".
There are many types of daydreams, and there is no consistent definition amongst psychologists, however the characteristic that is common to all forms of daydreaming meets the criteria for mild dissociation.
Daydreaming is a powerful tool in aligning the Universe to bring your desires into your life. And, it's so incredibly simple. The trick to daydreaming successfully is two-fold.
Power of DayDreaming
⦁ Bring your imagination to work
The pace of change in the work world is increasing exponentially at a dramatic rate. A report highlights a startling prediction "that we will face the equivalent of all the milestones of the 20th century--world wars, creation of the automobile, sequencing of DNA, rise of the Internet, etc. in a single week in the year 2025."
⦁ Tuning into Daydreams for Career Direction
If you want to work at something you love, don't ignore the spontaneous thoughts and images that come to you when you imagine yourself at work. Okay, you might not be a rock star, but you could work in event promotion. You might not be an actress, but you might be happy in advertising.
⦁ Mind Wandering Enhances Creative Problem Solving
Lately I've been accused of "obsessing" about a pesky financial problem. Not a gigantic problem, but a source of ongoing irritation and minor conflict. At any rate, this financial quandry got into my mind, and I found myself waking up thinking about it, thinking about it while auto-piloting through my morning get-ready-for-work routine, and defaulting to it during random periods of mind wandering. It's common to default to thoughts that carry the most emotional punch, and this one was pulling anger triggers.
⦁ Are Your Daydreams Stuck in a Rut?
Daydreaming and fantasizing are great ways to explore options, escape the routines of daily life, and find outlets for intense emotion. But sometimes even your daydreams can get stuck in a rut. Check out seven ways to jump-start your imagination.Most of us have heard the saying “An idle mind is the workshop of the devil”. And as stated above we often tell daydreaming employees and children to stop wasting time. That it is not a waste of time. In fact it may be the biggest spark of creativity and highly related to your intelligence.
“Instead of being shackled to our immediate surroundings and sensations, the daydreaming mind is free to engage in abstract thought and imaginative ramblings and interesting counterfactuals. As a result, we’re able to envision things that don’t actually exist.” Pretty powerful stuff. “It turns out that cultivating an active idle mind, or teaching yourself how to daydream effectively, might actually encourage the sort of long-range neural connections that make us smart.”
Daydreams help us to:
understand feelings, hopes and desires
problem solve and achieve goals
reduce stress
increase creativity
Until fairly recently, daydreaming was maligned. Freud associated it with neurotic behavior and infantile urges. Parents and teachers scolded us for having our “head in the clouds.”
But if you feel guilty for daydreaming, don’t. Experts say that approximately 95 percent of us daydream daily, and that we spend 30 percent of our waking time lost in such reveries. More importantly, these wanderings of the mind play a critical role in helping us to understand our feelings, hopes and desires. They can even provide a map to help us achieve our goals and become the person we want to be.
Waking dreams
Daydreams are loosely defined as moments when our conscious awareness is separated from the immediate task at hand or situation. Such waking dreams may be reality-based—planning for a party or rehearsing a request for a raise—or they may be fantasies, dramatic dreams of power, revenge, love or escape.
Some daydreams come to us unbidden—when we’re bored with a routine task such as commuting to work or loading the dishwasher. Still other daydreams can be conjured at will to create a desired response, such as sexual fantasies.
Their function
Either way, the consensus is that daydreams serve a major human function by helping us:
find comfort in times of stress
release pent-up frustrations in nonthreatening ways
problem solve
define plans and aspirations
entertain ourselves when bored
stimulate arousal
cope with overwhelming emotions and experiences
build self-esteem
reduce depression
tap into creativity
Is daydreaming ever a problem?
People prone to worry and depression need to consciously avoid daydreaming about catastrophes or ruminating on depressing scenarios, real or imagined. Excessive daydreaming may be a sign of frustration in achieving life’s goals, in which case, the problem is not with the daydreams , but the underlying life issues.
Daydreaming will determine the standard you want to uphold in your life. If you allow yourself to daydream of a wonderful relationship, you won't settle for lesser ones, because you know how the good one feels and you will recognize it when it comes.
If you daydream of a life of ease and grace, you will begin to see where you choose or create unnecessary struggle. If you daydream of a meaningful career, you open up to receiving inspiration and new business ideas from the heavens as you release yourself from the censorship of old limitations
Daydreaming is productive time when it is used as a new standard and measure for your actions, choices, words, thoughts, and how you spend your resources. Daydreaming is visiting the future so you will know how to act in the present. Daydreaming is a gift from God.
Humans are a daydreaming species. According to a recent study led by the Harvard psychologists Daniel Gilbert and Matthew A. Killingsworth, people let their minds wander forty-seven per cent of the time they are awake. (The scientists demonstrated this by developing an iPhone app that contacted twenty-two hundred and fifty volunteers at random intervals during the day.) In fact, the only activity during which we report that our minds are not constantly wandering is “love making.” We’re able to focus for that.
Analyzing Your Daydreams
1. Find out what is behind the daydream: There is usually a link between your daydream and the emotions are experiencing in real life. Try to pinpoint what aspect of your life or situation that may be triggering the daydream.
2. How do you feel in your daydream? Just as in your night time dreams, the feelings you experience in your daydreams are an indicator of what you are really feeling in real life.
3. Look out for recurring themes: Daydreaming about the same thing repeatedly is a good indication that you need to deal and confront the situation.
Daydream Themes
What you daydream about is indicative of what you may be really feeling. It reveals your unconscious thinking. Below are some common themes:
Disaster: When you envision the worst-case scenario about a situation, you are experiencing a disaster daydream. Such daydreams reflect your worries and fears. Next time you start daydreaming about something terrible happening, imagine something positive instead. Eventually, you will train yourself not to worry so much about whatever fears you keep imagining.
Escape: Daydreaming about exotic getaways/adventures or faraway lands, suggests that you may be feeling stuck in the same old routine. You want to try something different or uncharacteristic of yourself. You may also be feeling overwhelmed, stressed out or are looking for some sort of escape. Take some time to for some relaxation.
Glory: Daydreams about heroic acts indicates that you are looking for attention and/or respect. Perhaps, you are feeling ignored or powerless in your real life. This daydream may serve to motivate you.
Revenge: Daydreams about revenge may serve as a safe outlet for you to relieve your anger toward someone. Having these daydreams on a regular basis may be a strong indication that you will act on your thoughts.
The benefits of daydreaming
Help to solve problems
When we daydream, brain areas linked to complex problem solving—once thought to be dormant during daydreaming—are actually more active than when we focus on a routine task.
Daydreams for better sleep
Understanding your daydreams can help you fall asleep at night.If you have problems falling asleep, it may be that when you’re trying to sleep, your daydreams are too structured—maybe you’re thinking about work, or planning something detailed, or trying to solve a problem. Instead, set aside time before you go to bed to think through these issues. When you want to fall asleep, let your daydreams become fanciful, free, strange and wild. Soon you’ll be swept out of conscious control and into the land of sleep.
Daydreaming for Improved Creativity
Cultivating your imagination can only be done with practice, and the result can often lead to a boost in your creative abilities. Daydreaming helps you to organize thoughts and think of new perspectives; no matter how crazy and outrageous your dream may be, there are some instances where you can actually apply the ideas in real life.
Daydreaming to Lower Blood Pressure
Daydreaming is a form of hypnosis according to the Anti-Stress Center; as a result, it can lower your stress levels and naturally decrease your blood pressure. If you're experiencing high levels of anxiety and finding yourself in a continuous panic mode, spending time daydreaming might help take down the stress factor.
Daydreaming to Boost Your Mood
Reducing stress and channeling your thoughts towards a positive visualization is a great way to boost your mood. Just close your eyes and conjure up some positive images or situations; this is one of the best ways to practice your imagination, and just might give you a boost in mood.
Daydreaming to Brainstorm New Ideas
Since daydreaming taps into your creative and imagination skills, it can also help you solve some tough problems or challenges. When you put yourself in brainstorming mode, you're opening your mind to dozens of possibilities; daydreaming can help you process each of these ideas to determine if the outcome might be positive or negative.
Daydreaming to Escape
Most people associate daydreaming as a form of escapism, and it can be when it's practiced for an extended period of time. Still, it's a fairly risk-free type of an escape; as long as you're not acting out your dream, the process can be harmless.
Daydreaming to Improve Your Memory
If you're trying to remember a person, place or thing, daydreaming can help you fill in the details of old memories you may not have given a second thought in the past. Spending most of your day in this state however, is not recommended.
Overall, daydreaming can be a valuable way to reduce stress and tap into your creativity. However, there are some negative 'side effects' of constant daydreaming that can interfere with healthy living; the best way to manage your daydreaming is to keep it under control, and use it as a stress-relieving process, not a daily state of mind.
BY
RATNA PRIYA
FROM 2ND EEE
