Bizarre dreams: expanding and contracting?

Okay, this is something I've experienced since I was a child. I remember having dreams like this when I was very young, in fact one of my earliest memories is of these strange feelings I used to experience in my dreams.

They're not scary or anything, just odd, I did try to relate these experiences to friends and family but was very young and unable to articulate myself well enough, so I tended to just get odd looks and ignorant comments so decided to keep it to myself.

The earliest memory I have is of a non-visual dream which took the form of feelings which I can only explain as a feeling of contracting and expanding, feelings which change almost instantly, like one minute I'm tiny, compressed, dense and unimportant...the next I've expanded, huge and significant.

I know they're just dreams but I thought about it a lot as I grew up and it was quite regular when I was young. As I got older they became less frequent and took on a more visual form. I had two such dreams quite recently, perhaps 2 or 3 years ago and they reminded me of these experiences as a child.

In the more visual form they actually seemed to have some meaning, but I don't know what, exactly, so if anyone is any good at interpreting dreams I'd very much like your input.

The first one there was nothing but grey...no horizon, no sky...it was like being inside a huge sphere and I was laying down and rolling...i came to a step about an inch high and slowly rolled towards it, I rolled over the edge of this tiny step and everything slowed down. I went over the edge and time seemed to slow down, despite the small step being only an inch or so high I seemed to fall for a long time, very gently and slowly, when I landed it was like an earthquake, the entire universe rumbled and shook on impact and it woke me. There was nothing else really tangible, like I said, no horizon, nothing, just gray and this step...all the while those feelings of contracting and expanding...it's like going from one major extreme to the other - tiny..small, insignificant and light to expanded, huge, everywhere and immensely heavy...falling a short distance very slowly and causing an earthquake on a gentle impact, really odd.

The second dream was almost exact same, no discernable features in the landscape, just monotone...but there was a baloon, I was trying to stop it from falling and hitting the ground or floor beneath me, but I was moving real slow like I was moving through treacle. I managed to stop the baloon from falling for a bit, but each time I hit the baloon into the air it became further away, eventually I missed it and had no choice but to watch it fall, I knew I'd screwed up and had a sense of bracing myself for impact... the baloon fell slowly, gently...but caused a major quake on impact and again I wake up...still those strange feelings...expanding, contracting...big, small...significant, insignificant.

I have trouble understanding this even now and I'm in my 30's...what business has a child, dreaming of such things and where does it come from...does it even mean anything? Has anyone ever had a similar experience? Be nice to know that someone has, since most people I've told about this just seemed to think I was rather odd.

Sorry if it's long or makes no sense, I don't have much to post about on here if I'm honest but if I was forced to ask one question on here and one question only I think this would be it because they really affected me as a child and even though they weren't nightmares as such they did disturb me somewhat when I was a child and I've always wanted to know what they mean, if anything.

Thanks.

Thanks for sharing your dream.

I fully understand your dream as I too, had these type of dreams when I was young. They were my first and only nightmares that I ever remember. What I remember when I woke up from them, is everything felt like they had sharp edges and then I would wind up being sick all day.

So I always attributed these dreams to being sick, but I have had since had several of these again, not as scary since I understand them better, but didn't become sick, so I'm not too sure as to the meaning of them still.

Hope you find out more and come to peace with them.

Sirric

Comforting to know I'm not alone on this one, thanks!

I never felt ill, or perhaps I did and have forgotten that aspect, maybe I was ill after or during them but I never made that connection at the time so I guess it's a possibility.

But I did feel strange after them, sure. The feelings would persist after I'd woken and gradually fade away, but I'd find myself trying to hang on to them and make sense of it all...but it was and still is beyond my reach. They were much more powerful when I was younger. I always had the sense that they meant something to me but could never work out what.

Thanks for responding without being judgemental, like one or two of my... *ahem* ...friends when I told them...the baloon one especially got me some strange looks and negative comments.

Very interesting indeed. I have also experienced feelings of shrinking and expanding in dreams before too! Usually the dream begins in a dark or sometimes drab room then a random object materializes. As I look at the object I get these contradicting feelings while looking at it. Then I'll try to examine it better to shake off the contradicting thoughts about it. Then I start growing and shrinking uncontrollably to get a better look at it from different angles. It could be any object like a lid to a soda bottle or a yellow sticky note.
When I was younger I had dreams of growing and shrinking to fit the shape of different random geometric or angular "chambers" I guess you could call them. I hated those the worst and I'm still claustrophobic from stupid dreams

You are dreaming of being born! I have too, many times. I believe you will hear this from many more people here. My dreams are similar to yours, but I also remember my umbilical cord. I remember it feeling so big in my hands and kind of knotty. I remember (from my dreams that is) feeling that huge rumbling feeling and being terrified of what was happening. I was actually dreaming of being born and going through the birth canal! Next time you have the dream, think about what it would be like to be born and I believe you will agree it is what you're dreaming of.

reply to post by nobody you know


I bet that explains my "hallway" dream. Where I'm traveling whilst laying down going faster and slower fast and slower then I see yellow and white blur then I wake up.

I was kinda worried about posting this, but I'm glad I did.

The idea of an object materialisng and trying to focus on it from different perspectives makes a lot of sense to me too, I get the sense of growing and towering over something then shrinking and looking up at it, the baloon dream was along these lines as it did simply appear as if from nowhere.

Dreaming of being born is quite an interesting line of thought, I'd never thought of that before but it's certainly worth thinking about. I actually want to experience these dreams again but they're a rarity these days, sadly.

reply to post by samerulesapply


I have had the shrinking/expanding dream many times.

Dark black void. And a circle of light that stays visually the same circumference, but inside of that stable circle, it is violently expanding and contracting at the same time - like a perpetual engine. And it's beautiful.

I always like that dream. It's peaceful, not a nightmare at all.

reply to post by samerulesapply

I'm just glad I'm not the only one those dreams bugged me out. The only other people I've explained those dreams to and said they could relate were heavy '___' users, So glad I'm not the only one

reply to post by LongbottomLeaf


It certainly does sound like it! I actually just read the OP to my wife and mother sitting here and my mom was smiling and said the same thing I just wrote earlier. Those "birth dreams" can be very emotional. I was about 15-20 years old before I finally figured out what that dream was! Kind of an epiphany when it all came together.

Now what I'm worndering is this - how many of my friends and family that scoffed when I told them this knew exactly what I was talking about?

Perhaps all of them...I wouldn't be surprised. From the responses here it's certainly more common than I first thought...wonder what they're scared of?

Think I'll start asking some questions again, haven't spoken about this stuff in a long time - sincerely appreciate your responses, guys, given me a lot to think about...thanks.

reply to post by nobody you know


And a big thank you for making sense of it for me.

I believe that I have had the same type experiences... expanding and contracting.... As you said, it's more like a feeling than anything else. I, too used to have them a lot when I was younger, but as the years have gone on (I'm 53 now) I try not to think about it much.... it feels disturbing to me.... not scary, just disturbing. I picture a person (just a random person) being huge... almost like a big balloon and the same person then being small.... like a stick person. The person goes back and forth from big to small. I have always pictured these people in a room... an empty room. It happens when I'm getting ready to fall asleep, but it's not a dream... more like a feeling. I can picture it anytime (like I am right now), but prefer not to. It comes unconsciously normally.
I'm so glad I happened upon this. Never could really put into words what it was... so for you to refer to this as expanding and contracting hit the nail on the head for me.
Thank you so much for posting!

reply to post by samerulesapply

Oh yeah. I'm 65 now but remember these dreams from when I was young. I called them my pillow dreams. I did not change size but my surroundings did. I would find myself laying on or between two large(infinite?)pillows. I would sometimes lay safely upon one until it would shift or something and I would begin to slide, down in-between it and another only to find myself lifted by another which of course was also shifting and undulating. It was like being in a never ending field of bubbles of various sizes, all expanding and contracting and flowing into one another like a boiling pot of water.

I had this same dream often as a child and was always frightened by it. As yours it was as you say not so much visual as a feeling type thing. As I grew older I began to notice that these dreams often came during sickness.

As an adult I have only had them a few times but recall knowing in the dream that it was only a dream and then just went along for the slide. Though ours are not exactly the same, I understood that I had finally encountered someone who had had these similar experiences. Thanks for the post.

reply to post by samerulesapply


Oh, and here is an interesting side. I do not visit ATS so much any more but wanted to share with someone my dream from last night. When I went to the dream forum, before I could post my dreeam, I found yours and so am replying to you. Now I see that you only posted this today.

I have never forced myself from a dream before. But last night my nightmare was so bad that in my dream I had grab myself by the throat and squeeze and slap my face back and forth harder and harder screaming to myself " Terry , Terry , Terry, wake up wake up.

Well that's all I've got.

Hi All talking about weird dreams I had one lastnight where I think I saw my own future or maybe my other self from a different dimension? Anyway here what happened

" I was seeing myself with this cute guy who I never seen in my life, I have not watched tv for sometime so can't be that. We were going to protest in a march about food prices as they were getting so bad then he pulls me aside a takes to to a beautiful grassy area where he proposed to me. I sat down and felt the engagement ring under the picnic rug. Then it fast forwards to where I see my own wedding dress it was beautiful. Then I'm pulled into a place where I see this machine that emits light pulses into peoples minds by satellite. That's where I wake up but with one hell of a thumping headache."

Please don't flame me if I don't have any proof but maybe the worlds government are doing that messing with our dreams or messing with dimensions.

a reply to: samerulesapply

Did you ever find out what the meaning of your contracting and expanding dreams mean? I've had them all my life. They are not scary,just different. I'm intrigued by how some thing can feel as big as a mountain then at the same time turn into a grain of salt. And for me they are geometric shapes or spheres or other shapes

I've had this same experience as a kid, only I was awake, and would only happen when I was laying down.

I'd be watching tv or such and it would seem as it the room actually got bigger / further away and then came back in, like a weird rubberband sight, only I felt this and saw it.

This was before my drug experiences, didn't have them much as I got older, but they still happen sometimes.