Those Weird Dreams You Keep Having Might Be Trying to Tell You Something

Dreams are one of those things people usually brush off until one feels a little too specific to ignore. On an episode of Khloé in Wonder Land, host Khloé Kardashian talks with dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg about why certain dreams keep coming back, what common ones can actually mean, and why they may be more connected to real life than most people think. They get into everything from dreams about exes and cheating to nightmares and lucid dreaming, with the bigger point being that dreams often reflect what’s going on under the surface. 

It’s an interesting listen, especially if you’ve ever woken up thinking, ‘what the hell was that supposed to mean?’

Dreaming is a thinking process

“Your dreams are your thoughts,” Loewenberg explains. They’re not random scenes your brain throws together—they’re the same thoughts you have all day, just showing up in a different format.

When you’re awake, your thoughts are clear and linear. When you’re asleep, that same stream of thinking switches into symbols, emotions, and metaphors. So instead of working through something step by step, your brain turns it into images and situations that can feel strange or overly intense.

That’s why dreams often pull from real life. Conversations, stress, or even small moments from your day can resurface, just in a way that’s less obvious. It might not look like your reality on the surface, but the connection is usually there.

She suggests looking at dreams as a way your mind works things out in the background. It’s still you thinking, just without the filter of logic or structure.

You are dreaming every single night whether you remember it or not

If you feel like you never dream, that’s not actually the case. “You are dreaming every single night whether you remember it or not,” Loewenberg says. The issue isn’t dreaming, it’s recalling those dreams.

She notes that we cycle through dreams about every 90 minutes, but they’re easy to lose the second you wake up. Small things like grabbing your phone or even rolling over can disconnect you from whatever you were just experiencing. 

Her fix for remembering is simple and kind of surprising: don’t move. Stay in the exact position you woke up in and give yourself a few quiet minutes. That stillness helps your brain reconnect to the dream so you can actually remember it.

The more you make space for it, the easier it gets to recall what was already happening every night.

Sex dreams are about connection

This is where people tend to jump to conclusions, but Loewenberg clears it up fast. “It’s rarely about a physical union you want.” Instead, sex dreams usually point to something deeper going on psychologically.

She explains that these dreams are more about merging qualities than acting on attraction. If someone random (or even someone you’d never look twice at in real life) shows up in that way, it doesn’t mean you secretly want them. It means there’s something about them that stands out to you.

It could be confidence, independence, a certain lifestyle, or even just a moment you shared that stuck with you. Your brain is basically saying, “pay attention to this, there’s something here you might want to bring into your own life.” It’s more about what that person represents.

Your emotions are the weather of the mind

When it comes to those intense, almost cinematic dreams (like that recurring tornado dream you’ve had three times this week) there’s usually something emotional behind it. “Your emotions are the weather of the mind,” Loewenberg says.

So instead of taking the dream literally, it helps to look at how it felt. A tornado, for example, isn’t really about the storm itself. It’s more about anxiety that’s building, spinning, and starting to feel out of control. The same way weather can shift quickly, your emotions can too, and your dreams reflect that.

It also explains why these kinds of dreams tend to repeat. If the underlying stress or worry is still there, your brain keeps bringing it back in a way that’s hard to ignore.

Don’t be afraid of the bad dreams

Loewenberg’s point here is surprisingly comforting: bad dreams usually aren’t there to punish you. They’re showing you that something feels unresolved, upsetting, or too heavy to ignore.

She argues that “they’re good for you.” That doesn’t make a nightmare feel any less awful at 3 a.m., but her reasoning does make sense. If something difficult is showing up in a dream, it’s often because your mind is still trying to work through it. Stress, old wounds, fear, and situations that still have a grip on you can all come back this way.

She also explains that once you figure out what’s triggering the dream and start dealing with it in real life, the dream often loses its power. Even taking a small step can help. So don’t panic every time you wake up shaken. Ask what in your life feels unresolved enough to keep following you into sleep.

To hear the full conversation on dreams and what they mean, listen to Khloé in Wonder Land wherever you get your podcasts.

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