Dream About Being Naked (Again)? What It Means, From A Dream Expert

From dreaming about snakes to dreaming about your ex, there's no shortage of strange dream themes out there. Arguably none are more embarrassing and uncomfortable, though, than dreaming that you're naked in public.

As dream tracker Lauri Loewenberg tells mbg, it's actually one of the most common dreams she hears about. Here are five interpretations for what your naked dreams could be telling you—plus how to manage them if you've had enough of the nudity.

Loewenberg notes that how you feel in a dream says a lot about how the dream should be interpreted. And more often than not, naked dreams make us feel embarrassed. "The most common reason for this dream," she says, "is you're in some kind of situation in waking life where you're concern with how others perceive you."

If you've had this dream, she says to ask yourself what's happening in real life that's making you want to hide and not be seen. Maybe you have an evaluation or presentation at work coming up, or you're having in-laws over for dinner, for example.

"Another interesting element from these dreams is that usually the dreamer is the one freaking out about their nudity—and the other people in the dream don't seem to notice or care," Loewenberg notes. If that's the case, this dream could be the subconscious trying to show you that whatever is causing you to feel vulnerable, exposed, embarrassed, or judged isn't a huge deal. "You're the only one giving it energy, and no one else is giving it a second thought," she adds.

Now, let's say in your dream you're actually enjoying being naked and feel free or calm. This can be a sign that it's time to open up in real life in some way, according to Loewenberg. "That dream's usually about openness and honesty and suggests you may have made a breakthrough in your waking life," she says, so consider "freeing yourself of something you had been holding in, covering up, or hiding."

As Loewenberg notes, specifics always matter in dreams. So if you were only partially naked in the dream, try to remember which body parts were exposed. "If you're in a dream where you don't have your top on, that would usually reflect that you've got something off your chest," she says, while being pantless may mean that you feel vulnerable and out of control. Conversely, it can also reflect that you've been "caught with your pants down," aka in a lie.

And lastly, if you're dreaming about someone else being naked, it's first important to note whether this person is someone close to you like a family member, best friend, or co-worker, Loewenberg says. "You may feel that person is in a vulnerable situation or they've opened up to you."

If it's someone you don't know, she says that strangers can often represent ourselves in dreams, so this one could tie back to themes of embarrassment and feeling personally judged.

If this dream is recurring and bothering you, Loewenberg says, you're likely dealing with the first or second interpretation. In this case, she says you want to pay attention to your emotional response in the dream.

"If you're mortified, what in real life keeps making you feel this way?" she says. "If it's been going on for a very long time, this is likely a recurring behavior pattern of yours where you care too much about how others perceive you."

If that resonates, the message to take from that dream, according to Loewenberg, is to find a way to feel more confident and self-assured. "You're probably too critical of yourself. These dreams could be letting you know you need to lighten up. If you can change the way you perceive yourself—or the way you think others perceive you—and find a way to have more confidence and let go of that unnecessary concern, the dreams will stop," she adds.

In most cases, nudity dreams reveal feelings of embarrassment or shame and can stop once you build more confidence in your waking life. (But, of course, if you're enjoying the freedom of dreaming in the nude, keep 'em coming!) Either way, this common dream can tell us a lot about what's going on underneath it all.