Here is something else I can do in my dreams..it started when I was thirteen or so I had a dream where I was standing beside a pond and I was looking in the water, then a person swam up out of the water and said that I should come to the other side and see their world..they assured me that things would be ok and so I dove in but came back up to catch my breath I then went underwater and the person said to me just breathe the water..and to trust them..so I went under and I'll tell you taking in that first breath was so unatural and weird that i'll never forget how my body reacted..but I was breathing under water it felt so cool and this warm sensation filled my body..any way now when I am dreaming I just have to remind myself that it is ok and to just take that first breathe..can anyone else do this?

May I ask whether the person was the same sex as you, or the opposite sex from you? Any other attributes that the person shared with you, or was opposite to you, would be interesting, too.

When I was a kid, I dreamed that there was a hole in the bottom of a pool, and that I swam down to it and went through some little cave and there was this cartoon-like Atlantis world down there, with little mermaids and everything. In my dream, I was told that once I went through the hole, I didn't have to hold my breath and I was able to breathe normally.

Not sure if it meant anything, as I was probably around 7 or 8 and had probably just watched something like that on TV.

Yep, I have had this dream sensation as well. I was lying underwater in a small river, trapped on the bottom of it. Scary at first but then I discovered I could breathe underwater and it all became a really fascinating dream.
As well as being able to fly. Jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Kinda scared at first but then i just flew off and managed to land without trouble. It was a really cool dream.
These dreams were a long time ago though. Nowadays I have more real-life like dreams but still a bit odd at times. (that it the parts I can remember when waking up)

yes, I have experienced it too, maybe one or two times. Very very nice feeling. In fact, I can't even swim in real life.

I have done this in my dreams too. Wonder what it means?

I've dreamt this many times. I love it. One I remember quite clearly was dreaming that I was swimming through a shallow sea with coral reefs. Everything was so brilliantly colored and there were literally thousands of fish. Since I could breathe underwater, I didn't need to surface for air and I remained under with the sea life for what seemed hours. I was so upset when my alarm went off and woke me up.

I can't believe I've finally found people who have experienced the same thing! I have had breathing underwater dreams for years now. I have had many different dreams with different story lines but the one things the same whenever I enter the water I can breath its great I 'm intriqued at what the possible psychology behind these dreams are or whether they are the result of some chemical activity in the brain during sleep we should all try and research this!

I dont like the feeling when im holding my breath underwater when im dreaming, It feels like im not just holding my breath in my dream but for real. And somehow I know that i wont drown so I start breathing carefully but I usually dont get enough even then so I take a nice big breath and continue breathing normally after that.

Maybe your dream breathing Synchronizes with the real one when you become aware of the breathing in your dream. Like when you kick someone in your dream and then you awake because you kicked the wall, ouch!

I think you may be onto something here I think that possiblly something happens to our breathing patterns which are interpreted by the brain as like being underwater any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated

I've done this since as long as I can remember. It usually goes like this for me: I find myself swimming below the surface of the water and at some point it occurs to me to try breathing. First a shallow breath and then full on breathing. For some reason it is usually in a pool.

There was a Twilight Zone episode that was similar except the other side was an old lady that took care of a whole bunch of kids that were there.

I used to dream that I could breathe underwater too... very cool feeling... almost as cool as the flying dreams that I have.

While we are waiting for the OP to get back...

Disclaimer: Nobody can interpret someone else's dream reliably. There are certain motifs, however, that people have often dreamt, and it is possible to discuss what the motif has meant to many of them. Then the dreamer can decide whether the motif, or pattern of related symbols, means the same to him or her.

The motif that all of the dream posters have mentioned is being underwater, and moving around down there. The breathing, I think, is simply one solution to an inevitable part of the situation. Another is to find in the dream someplace underwater with breathable air (like SunDogDayze did, for instance).

Pools, oceans, lakes, rivers, and ponds - any water you might find yourself immersed in - have often been the dream image of exploring the source of dreams itself (the unconscious, subconscious, ..., objective self, ..., dreamland).

People who dream of going underwater and moving around are dreaming of exploring another part of themselves, or at so it has been for many who have dreamt this motif.

The very popular dream motifs show up frequently in art, literature, and religion. The source of dreams is also the source of these other imaginative human endeavors.

Two of the posters so far think they saw this one on TV. It's also Jonah in the bible, and Moby Dick in classic fiction. In film, may favorite is The Abyss.

In the old religions, bodies of water are often believed to be the boundary between the visible world and the spiritual world, where the pious go to make contact, pray, leave a sacrifice, etc. In Europe, you very often find old Christian churches located near natural water features, and there is solid evidence that these were sacred sites before there were any churches.

Water dreams are not necessarily pleasant (consider poor Captain Ahab), but we seem to have a happy group here at UM. The motif is a natural candidate for recurrence or repetition with variation (who ever finishes the job of exploring themselves?). Nobody complains, however, about a pleasant recurring dream.

Who, if anyone, is frolicking around with you underwater can be interesting. Sean and one other poster also reported a nice clear transition between an "ordinary" experience with water, and the extraordinary experience with the same water that fills the dream.

when you mentioned it, I just remembered that in both dreams of mine the room was filled with water. I mean, it was not pool, pond or some natural waters. One time it was in my apartment, another time, I think, in some school or other public building.

That's interesting. The places I mentioned were examples, and all of them were natural because I am unimaginative.

i have had my room filled up with water dreams a couple times. it is wierd to be floating there with all your stuff. I have not dreamt of breathing underwater.

Thanks for the interpretation. Yes, these dreams are always pleasant ones and I always wake up from them with a very positive attitude, feeling good physically and emotionally. I am always alone in this sort of dream, however there have been instances where I have left someone on a boat or shoreline to go for my "swim". Not surprising to me if water is symbolic of the subconscious. I meditate frequently, so that makes complete sense. My journeys into the subconscious are always alone.

i have done this actually when i was younger ( AWAKE NOT A DREAM) around 7 years old. It was my first time swimming and i thought that everything was going to be okay because it looked easy on movies. But when i jumped in the pool i sank to the bottom and stayed there for about 10 minutes just looking up at the surface of children playing. Then i walked to try to reach the ladder that was sticking inside the pool and could not reach. But during all of this it felt so natural as if i was breathing normally. Then i froggy swam with all my might to the top until i got to the top and sank right back down. BUT SOMETHING WAS STRANFGE WHEN I CAME UPI MY BODY GASPED FOR AIR. Then i did it again and i grabbed some girl who came down there and grabbed me from the bottom. It was the strangest thing, from what i remember not to sound crazy i didn't know that you really had to breathe and come up for air when you are swimming......I don't know whati was thinking, but whatever it was it saved my life and i didn't drown or even feel like i needed to come up for air.........Could anyone explai or has anyone had a similiar experience.

I have also had dreams of the same thing many of times dreaming and lucid dreaming. What do they mean???????

DhA...OraCle
-R.J.W

Sank to the bottom? And walked on the bottom? People normally dont do that unless your made of stone, I'm sorry but that story dosent sound very relastic.

Unsere, I loved just reading your version of the dream. I envy you for having actually experienced it.

Last night, I was thinking some more about justejust and ravergirl's variations of the immersion-in-water theme.

Related motifs can easily be overlaid to make a single dream, and being inside a familiar dwelling place is a popular motif in its own right. With the usual disclaimers, it often represents the mind (as a whole, both conscious and unconscious), or one's own life, or both (your life as your whole mind lives it, so to speak).

So, exploring your life or mind would fit right in with exploring the source of dreams.

And ravergirl, what a compelling image: being in the place of exploration, yet remaining on the surface, surrounded by your personal things. You might want to meditate on that, in any case, you have dreamt a work of art. Also, if that motif does recur, you might want to think about taking a dive next time, just to see what happens.

People who are interested in this thread may also be interested in

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...howtopic=115001

where both the darker side of this same complex of imagery has apparently been reported, along with a truly marvelous tale of overcoming the adverse affects of that possibility.

I can breathe underwater too. In normal dreams and lucid dreams. Sometimes I dont, but I think thats only because I'm trying to get out of the water. I think the first time I did it was when I was about 17 or 18, I went lucid and then jumped into a small puddle/stream.. and I shapeshifted into a very tiny fish.. like a tadpole. I swam through murky water and then to some other places until I could hear the caribbean music playing. And I found myself in a nice reef but being hunted by a spear fisherman. lol. Which woke me up.. although I think I tried to stand up out of the water to re go to human, but I woke up as I was doing it.

Then I remember a few dreams not long after that where I was swimming with crocodiles underwater in large pipes. So there was no way out and the water filled the pipes fully. And I was just swimming through and with all these crocodiles. And I remember knowing I could breathe underwater which made me go lucid. I cant remember anymore of the dream though because it was ages ago and someone destroyed my dream journal. I wrote out a final copy of it and got rid of all my old copies.. then lent it to a 'friend' who later destroyed it when they got angry at me for something small. Over ten years work! Anyway..

My coolest swimming underwater dream was when I dreamt I was a crocodile just swimming slowly in a river, but then I shifted into a great white shark because I wanted the teeth to eat quicker with. Anyway the cool thing was was that after I had the head of the shark I could feel the water going in through my mouth and coming out the gills, which was really strange.. It almost tickled and felt nice because the water ran through. And yeah.. breathing like that was just a first for me and it spun me out as I was doing it.

Generally though.. I'm usually trying to get out of the ocean.. because of the sharks.. but I can breathe underwater when I do. Like the last swimming dream I had a few weeks ago, I swam inbetween a shark and a dolphin to get to land.. and I was breathing underwater knowingly. I felt like a merman.

I've been having these dreams since I was a child. Now whenever I see water in my dreams I just naturally dive in because I know its gonna be cool.

Are They Dreams or Nightmares???

Because i thought that you dont remember your dreams....you remember your nightmares????

Welcome aboard and Happy New Year.


Why do you say that? Did you mean Dante's Inferno specifically, you yourself, or people in general?

If the last, then as with every skill, people differ. Some people remember dreams routinely, others hardly any. Even with nightmares, some people forget them, recalling at most that they had a disturbing dream but without any details.

Many, many people have increased their dream recall by keeping a journal or log of all the dreams they remember, making notes promptly upon awakening.

I'm pretty sure thats an episode of futurama.

You are very imaginative !

the person was the opposite sex as me it was weird cause she was telling me to come over to the other side. almost like another dimension (at least thats what I got from it) I guess it makes me wonder how much of this world and life we don't really know about.

Thanks for getting back, Sean.

I ought also to have asked how old she was, compared to you. Sorry I didn't get that across in the first post. I should have been more specific than "any other attributes shared with or opposite to you."

So, compared to you, how old was she?

Actually, any thoughts, impressions, reactions, etc. you have about this character would be helpful and appreciated. Including, did you trust her? (She asked you to, but you had no real choice but to try to breathe, as she had asked you to do.)