I dreamt I was naked at work. What your dreams are trying to tell you

This video is part of a National Post series by health reporter Sharon Kirkey on what is keeping us up at night. In the series, Kirkey talks to sleep scientists and brain researchers to explore our obsession with sleep, the seeming lack of it and how we can rest easier.

Why do we dream? Do our dreams and nightmares hold any meaning or function? Do they help us make sense of the world and our lives while we sleep?

Renowned University of Montreal psychologist and sleep scientist Antonio Zadra explores the sleeping brain to help us better understand how and why we dream, from common dreams about crumbling teeth or being chased to lucid dreaming, where people know they’re dreaming while they’re still in the dream, and can even control how the dream unfolds.

There can be many reasons why we have highly unpleasant dreams, Zadra says. “Stress can be one of them, but we also understand that dreams tend to embody our current concerns and preoccupations and much of what is on our minds is often negatively toned.” Worries about the presentation we have to make at work, our financial situation or the health of a loved one — “these things get replayed in our dreams in metaphorical and disjointed ways, and the emotions underlying them get amplified,” he says.

Zadra describes dreams as works of art. “They’re our own works of art and they can hold multiple meanings depending on what’s going on in our lives and what resonates most with us.”