It is believed that the subconscious mind is much, much more powerful than we realize and it can receive and process much more sensory inputs and signals than what is fed into our conscious. This may be a protective mechanism, to prevent a sensory overload, but it does prevent us from reaching our potential. On the other hand, during dreams the subconscious unloads all the information that it restrains during our waking hours, and tapping into our dreams can be a revelation.

It has been known since ancient times that dreams carry meaning. Dreams that are recurring especially carry important meanings, and often they signal that there is some unfinished business from the past that should be dealt with. Another important type of dreams are predictive dreams, which give an insight into the future. There is nothing magical or esoteric about this - it is simply a result of the subconscious picking up signals and information from our lives that we do not realize about, and with this information the subconscious can make an accurate prediction of the near future. For example, your partner may have started to display altered body language recently, and although this is picked up by your subconscious, you do not become conscious of it. However, this will be revealed in your dreams, and you will be shown a glimpse of what this will probably lead to, such as a breakup. Or it may be the other way round, maybe there is someone who really likes you but you do not realize this; yet, you may have a dream in which you are together.

A less pleasing kind of dreams are nightmares, and these are usually caused by a minor anxiety which you may not even be aware of. Or they may be due to a traumatic event in the past. Recurrent nightmares can be very problematic, as they can lead to insomnia.