Dreams About Flying: Meaning, Psychology and Why It Happens
Flying is one of the most consistently pleasant dream experiences reported, and stands in an interesting near-opposite relationship to falling dreams - both involve defying gravity, but with very different emotional registers.
Common Forms of This Dream
- flying effortlessly, often with a strong sense of freedom;
- struggling to stay airborne, or flying only with great effort;
- flying specifically to escape danger or pursuit;
- suddenly losing the ability to fly partway through the dream.
Possible Psychological Interpretations
Flying is very commonly read as freedom, empowerment, or rising above a difficulty - one of the more consistently positive readings across different popular interpretation traditions. Struggling to stay airborne, or losing the ability to fly mid-dream, is sometimes read as a loss of control or confidence, closely paralleling how effortful or effortless the flying itself feels within the dream.
What Research Can and Cannot Tell Us
Flying dreams are commonly reported in dream content research and are notable for being one of the more reliably positive dream experiences, in contrast to most of the anxiety-linked themes covered elsewhere on this site. Flying dreams are also sometimes discussed in relation to lucid dreaming specifically, since the sense of impossible physical control can prompt a dreamer to realise they’re dreaming. See Lucid Dream vs False Awakening for more on recognising a dream while it’s happening.
Historical Interpretations
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Did the flying feel effortless, or did it take real effort to stay airborne?
- Were you flying toward something, or escaping from it?
- How did the dream leave you feeling on waking - energised, calm, or something else?
When the Dream Is Distressing
Flying dreams are usually a pleasant experience, though an anxious version - struggling to stay up, or flying to escape a threat - is also common and not a cause for concern.