What Does It Mean When You Dream You Are Falling?

Most falling dreams occur just as we drift off to sleep. We may dream we slip on a banana, trip on some stairs, or even fall a long way from a bridge or mountain, only to awaken with a startle just as we are about to hit the ground. Curiously, falling dreams are not considered to be very meaningful psychologically - unless they are recurring and emotional. (See Out of Control) Research shows that the reason we have falling dreams is because, as we fall asleep, our sense of balance switches from being oriented to the real world to being oriented to the dream world. Even though we are laying down in our beds, in our dreams we are "up and about"- running, flying, leaping, walking, and talking. We have a different sense of balance in dreams. When we dream we are falling, especially just as we are falling asleep, we likely are tumbling into our new sense of balance.