New Research Links Lucid Dreams with Psychosis

Science is helping us understand dreams better, but what would we see if we examined our own lives in such close detail?

Not as scary as it first sounds!  This article explains how understanding the similarities between the unusual perception of reality that occurs in both psychosis and lucid dreams can potentially be a way to help treat the mentally unwell.  While working with patients’ dreams is not as common in psychiatry as it once was, this new research is shedding light as to how dreams can be helpful in understanding psychotic episodes.  As science continues to explore the dreaming mind, there are bound to be many new and interesting insights that come along, some that use dreams to help the mentally ill, some that tell us more about the dreaming mind and some that provide insights as to how the brain works.  All this knowledge is useful and helpful, but it does not replace the value gained by personal reflection and careful self examination.  We can all use dreams, and access them without the help of scientists and experts, to learn more about ourselves and make improvements to our own lives.

To read the full article go here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090728184831.htm

Different Kinds of Dreams

After paying attention to dreams for a while, it becomes apparent that not all dreams are the same.  Some dreams seem just a usual bundle of mixed up symbols, weird stories and strange goings on.  But other dreams stand out, they seem different.  They may still have some element of the bizarre to them, or they may seem perfectly normal, but for whatever reason, they seem to touch us or make more of an impact than the every-night, run of the mill dream.

Some different dreams we can look out for are:

Have you woken from a dream feeling deeply healed?

- Healing dreams. After periods of stress, trauma or loss, we can have a dream that touches us deeply.  It may include the appearance of a loved one, a wise elder, an innocent child or a gentle animal, or there may be no actual character, just a special place, a vision, or some words we hear.  But the result will be the same.  Some how this dream reaches into our hurt and makes it feel better.  Even when we wake, this feeling of healing can linger and help us cope with whatever problems have bothered us so far.

- Teaching dreams. These kinds of dreams can help us make sense of confusing times.  They may come as an epiphany (the “ah-ha! moment”), a sudden profound understanding or a sense of awakening.  They help us realise the lesson to be learned from difficult experiences, the value from a period of struggle or to see the truth when the world seems vague or confusing.

Is your dream trying to teach you a lesson, or showing you how to do something new?

- Guidance dreams. Similar to teaching dreams, theses dreams help us to see the truth, but guidance dreams are subtly different in that they help provide us with direction.  We will often wake from a guidance dream with a clear sense of purpose, knowing what actions we must take next.  Guidance dreams help provide clarity into how we should live our waking lives, and how we can improve our interactions with other people, often through moderating our own behaviours and beliefs.

- Warning dreams. Like an inversion of guidance dreams, these dreams are an insight as to what we should not do, rather than what we should do.  If we are engaged in a risky situation, if we have not realised consciously that we are being deceived, or if we are on a course of action that is leading towards an unpleasant, even dangerous outcome, these dreams will often provide a “wake-up call.”  We can usually recognise these dreams as we may wake from them shocked, even a little scared.  The important thing to realise is that if we heed the warnings of these dreams, we can create a better outcome.

- Problem solving/practical solution dreams. These kind of dreams are usually very specific, and deal with a problem we have already identified and have probably been wrestling with or fretting over for some time.  They can help provide a solution we have been seeking, or they can help us fix something.  Often these dreams are not strange symbols, but quite literal, as sudden flashes of insight.

- Creative Inspiration. Like problem solving dreams, creative inspiration dreams will often come after we have been seeking inspiration (either consciously or not) for some time.  These dreams are often vivid and highly charged with emotion or energy.  The dreamer may actually see the painting, sculpture or other piece of art in the dream, or hear music played, and then try to recapture that in waking hours.  Or the dream itself may be an inspiration of colour, imagery, sounds and patterns.

- Prodromic Dreams. These are dreams where we can diagnose an illness that is occurring within our body, and potentially also the cure we need.  These dreams are not about psychological or spiritual healing primarily, but about actual physical healing of an ailment, although this may be linked to a psychological feeling or condition, such as anger or grief.  (see post on Prodromic Dreams.)

- Lucid dreaming. These are the dreams where we become aware that we are dreaming.  It may be fleeting awareness, and then we fall back into the dream, it may be startling so that it wakes us up entirely, or we may maintain the lucidity long enough that we are actually able to control the outcome of our dreams. (see post on Lucid Dreams.)

Has your dream experience been so profound it feels like you have communed with the divine?

- Dreams of the divine. These dreams are immediately recognisable but utterly impossible to ever fully describe.  In these dreams we feel we have been touched by God, or communed with the Spirit of our Ancestors, or become at one with the power of the universe.  These dreams are extraordinary, and if we are lucky enough to have one or more, it will often be an experience that stays with us for our entire lives.  (see post on Big Dreams.)

These different kinds of dreams don’t have to exist in isolation, and one dream may have various features.  For example, a dream of the divine might also provide creative inspiration, a problem solving dream might also be a lucid dream, a teaching dream could also be very healing, and so on.  But when we do have these dreams, we know they are out of the ordinary, and that dreams have a very real contribution to make to our waking lives.

Can dreams predict the future?

Are you dreams trying to tell you something?

We have all heard stories of people who have dreamed of a series of numbers, and used those numbers to win the lottery, or of people who have dreamed of impending disaster, and then made choices that saved their lives like changing from a flight that crashed or staying home the day a bomb went off at work.  Indeed, there are many cases in history of predicting the future, from people in the bible to President Abraham Lincoln.  We call these dreams “precognitive dreams.”

Science cannot explain these experiences, but does that make them untrue?

Dreams of our own personal future may not be as dramatic or as extreme as those life changing examples, but nor may they be so rare.  Our subconscious mind has many more capabilities than we are usually aware of, or indeed, than we make use of.  One of the great skills of our subconscious mind is to seek meaning in things we don’t understand, and part of the way to do this is to look for patterns in our lives.  Our subconscious mind will often see the implications of our choices, the cause and effect going on in our lives, before we consciously realise.  Our dreams may indeed be visions of the future if we learn to understand them, our subconscious minds way of saying “if you do this, this is what may happen”.   Sometimes this may be a warning, at other times it can be a solution to a problem, or show the reward of our hard work, patience or perseverance.

Where are the signs in our dreams pointing towards?

Another way dreams can help us anticipate the future is by supporting our intuition.  in those moments when we just “get a hunch” or “have a feeling,” our intuition is at work.  Sometimes our intuition may stem from a half remembered dream, or it may be the conscious recognition of the patterns the dreams have been playing out in our minds for some ways.  As we improve our relationship with dreams, so too can we improve our intuition, and increase the likelihood of having those lucky hunches more often.

Sometimes though, it seems even this explanation is inadequate.  Sometimes a dream of the future may seem to be a specific message or intention sent to us from another place.  This seems to be particularly true when we dream of a loved one.  This may take the form of a deceased relative, who appears to warn or give advice, or maybe someone precious who is far away, and needs to share some important information.  What exactly is going on here?

There is actually a lot of scientific work going on to explore the connection between human minds.  (The links below are a good place to start exploring.)  Physics is starting to unravel some of the mysteries as to how space and time can be irrelevant when to seemingly separate things are actually part of the same thing.  Who knows if this is happening when are dream of those we love.  This can be perhaps more easilly accessed in our dreaming state, when our conscious mind is not in the way to tell us what is impossible!

How can your dreams help you live a brighter future?

But science still has a long way to go in explaining communication with the departed.  Perhaps this is one experience we have to interpret purely in our own personal way, and to make the best of what we learn.

Even without being visited by people, alive or no, in our sleeping hours, we can all learn to better cultivate our own self understanding through dreams, and in doing so become the best possible creators of our future.

http://www.monstrous.com/forum/index.php?topic=3032.0;wap2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlocality

It’s Official – Dreams ARE Important!

If dreams have meaning beyond wish fulfillment, what can we learn from them?

An interesting article in TIME Magazine cites new research that dreams and sleep are really important to our emotional well-being.  While this has been the long held view of this post, it is none the less refreshing to see the benefits of dreams being taken seriously beyond the role of “sorting out clutter” or even the Freudian approach of “wish fulfillment.”  Scientific research can validate and extrapolate out to far larger samples than what we individually know to be true through personal experience.  This kind of authority can elevate the whole conversation of dreaming, and help add weight to the processes that hopefully can contribute to the happiness and well-being of all humans.

So thank-you TIME for your article.

To move the conversation on a little further, let’s take a look at one the main take-outs of the research.  One key proposal in the article is that dreaming helps us take away the emotion from an experience so we can remember events and experiences with out their associated pain or anxiety.  This is referred to as an “emotional rind.”  It is as if an experience is the juicy part of an orange, and the emotional rind the bitter peel we must remove and throw away in order to live happy and well-balanced lives.

I believe this may in part be true, but to me instinctively this feels like an over simplification.  What happens to this “rind” after we throw it away?  Where does it go?  I think this interpretation places too little value on the emotions themselves.  Rather than become separate from our feeling and discard them, I believe our task is to understand them, and in doing so, integrate them and assimilate them into our entire being.  I do not believe dreams are a process to remove parts of ourselves and our lives, but rather to take things in, and to grow from them.  What we “lose” then is confusion and anxiety as we learn not to react simply instinctively, or out of learned but redundant patterns.  Dreams help us take the pain from a situation by revealing the hidden lesson beneath the complex experience.  This then, is the “rind” that is lost – the misconceptions that the only real or valuable perception of life is the superficial and conscious one.  The real “juice” inside is our subconscious, wanting to nourish and refresh us, if we can only to learn to taste what it has to offer.

One of the reasons we have recurring dreams is because we have not yet seen the value of the lesson contained within the experience at a conscious level.  Our conscious and subconscious are not yet communicating clearly – we have not “integrated” the lesson.  We are effectively trapped in cycle of repeating ourselves until we recognise what is really going on, and how to release ourselves from the restrictions and pain of the past.  This is often not easy, and not not achieved in a single “epiphany” or sudden breakthrough.  It can take weeks, months, even years to learn how to move on from a difficult situation, and to discover the strengths and gifts within.  But move on we can, and our dreams, as the language of our subconscious, is there to coach and guide us.

Let me know what you think!  Do you agree?  Are dreams more than simply a “nocturnal soothing balm?”  Or not?  To see the full article, please click below.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1904561,00.html

Sleep On It: Decision Making with Dreams

 

Feel confused or don't know the answer? Maybe you should sleep on it

 

What to do, what to do, what to do???  We’ve all had the experience, where some issue just doesn’t seem clear to us, some decision just seems impossible to make, some problem just seems too difficult to solve.  We may have wrestled with the issue in our our minds, maybe tried writing a list of pros and cons, perhaps spoken to friends, family or experts.  And yet some how the way forward still isn’t clear.  We may feel torn, anxious or just at a dead end.  So, what to do?

 

It may seem like a meaningless cliche, but the advice to “sleep on it” is not as useless as it may at first seem.  In our sleep our subconscious mind takes over.  It is the role of this part of our mind to make meaning, to make sense of things.  This part of mind, freed from the normal waking constraints of annoying things like logic, laws and social convention, can also be our most creative.   We know our minds in this state ignore all the usual rules and regulations, or else how else could we fly or breathe underwater, and why else would we turn up to class naked or become another person as we do in our dreams?  It is precisely this kind of free thinking that can solve problems for us.

But dreams aren’t simply random creative ideas, dreams are the way our subconscious attempts to resolve conflict.  If there is something in our lives that is not working, if we hate our job or don’t know how to confront our parents with our true feelings, dreams will try and work it out for us.  The trick is to recognise the answers when they come.

This can be difficult when we have not even admitted to ourselves or recognised exactly what our issue or concern is.  But it is much easier when we know what the problem is, but we just don’t know the answer.  We can actively look for our answers in our dreams.  There are some tricks and techniques we can use to help tis process be more effective:

• Get as much advice, or do as much research as you can while awake about whatever the particular question of concern is.  This is like feeding our minds.  It doesn’t matter if we don’t remember it all or process it consciously, the information still goes into our minds, and when are asleep our subconscious can take over, looking for connections we may have missed, drawing conclusions we couldn’t grasp while awake.
• Think about the problem or question just as you go to sleep.  Write it down, draw it or even say it out loud.  Stating the problem clearly makes it easier to understand the answer.  Give a message to your own subconscious, tell yourself what you need to know and repeat this silently in your mind as you fall asleep.  This can trigger the subconscious to start working on that problem straight away.  It knows where to focus and will take up where you left off when you were awake.
• Think about the question you had as soon as you wake up.  Write down any fragments or images or words that come into your mind, however fleeting and irrelevant they may seem.  Take time to try and remember you dreams clearly, and record it in as much detail as possible.
• Persist and persist!  If the answer does not come after one night, do not give up!  Give it time, let your subconscious grapple with all the complexity, let it also try to formulate an answer in a way that in your waking state will make sense to you.  This kind of thinking is a skill, like any other, that requires time and practice to master.

 

Our subconscious mind may find creative solutions our waking mind can't see

But the rewards are well worth it.  Scientific breakthroughs, ideas for great works of art and literature, mathematical equations – all have come to people who cultivated their dreams to help them understand and resolve waking life issues (see “Famous Dreams” post).  But more simple, and yet more profound breakthroughs can happen for all of us on a very personal level.  It might be whether to leave our job, whether this person is the right one to marry, or how to tell someone that significant secret we have been harbouring.  Whatever it is, if we feel lost, confused, and don’t know which way to turn, we can always find support and guidance by looking within, by listening to the voice inside of us, through the special language of our dreams.  We would all do well to heed the advice, and “sleep on it”

Dream Symbols: Weddings

 

Are you leaving a part of childhood behind, and accepting adult responsibilities?

 

Wedding dreams can vary greatly.  We may dream of a spectacular celebration; of a strange cast of characters, maybe dressed in surprising outfits; or we may dream of small intimate occasions in unlikely places.

 

Understanding all the different elements at play can give us insight into what our our personal wedding dream may mean.   It is not unusual to dream of weddings when we have been to one, are planning one, or intend to go to one.  Even if a friend or relative is getting married and we can’t attend, we may still dream of weddings.  But we dream of weddings even when none are physically occurring as well.

One of the reasons for this is our subconscious picks up this external symbol and uses it to communicate back to our conscious mind.  Weddings resonate with us at a very deep level as they are profound rites of passage in our lives.  No matter what culture we come from, a wedding plays a very significant role in a person’s life.  It marks a change from childhood or adolescence to true adulthood.  For some people this can translate to a loss of innocence.  It often indicates the acceptance of responsibility, the giving of commitment, the promise of fidelity.  A wedding of course also is a moment of unity, of joining – this can be when people commit to share property, wealth, burdens and joys, and of course the marital bed.  On a more profound level it may also be a sacred unity of love, of spiritual alignment and the twining together of souls.  We all react to the symbolism of weddings in waking life, so what does it mean when we dream of weddings?  Dreams of weddings may be about romance and love, but often they ask us to look at the relationship we have with ourselves, and to find the deep love and connection inside us.

 

Weddings are full of symbol and symbolic actions

One place to start to understand this dream is to recognise that we all have different “parts” to our selves.  At times different parts of our personality seem stronger than others (such as the part that decides to watch TV beating the part of us that wants to go to the gym, or the part that says we must stay and finish that report instead of the part that wants to go home and see the kids.)  At times like these it can seem like our different parts aren’t actually getting along very well.  We know this when our life feels unbalanced.  A wedding dream can be a way of understanding how to bring those different parts together in a happy balance – to create unity inside ourselves.  A happy wedding dream may even indicate that our male and female sides (the Jungian anima and animus) are in harmony, without one side dominating the other.  This is a great achievement, and should be enjoyed!

Weddings can ask us to reflect on all the things they symbolise, and to understand what is going on in our own lives.  Do we need look at how committed we are to something or someone in our life?  Would it be helpful to think about how responsible we are behaving, or are there things we are sharing that need a closer look?  Wedding dreams may also come when a new phase of life is beginning, and we are leaving behind an old one.  Sometimes a wedding dream may indicate we have recently met or started to know better someone with whom we just “click” – this does not have to be in the romantic sense, but can indicate a “marriage of minds.”

 

Wedding dreams, especially if they have strong religious symbols, may be a powerful indicator of our own spiritual nature.  These kind of dreams may typically occur when we have been focussing on prayer, meditation, compassionate deeds, maybe even dream work or some other form of self growth.  Such dreams may be intensely moving, or they may contain strange images that drive us to explore our nature and our relationship with the divine in greater detail.  To pursue these confusing symbols is often very rewarding!

To some, weddings are essential in order to have a family.  To dream of weddings in this context may ask us to look at what we need to “get in order”, to formalise, so that we may move on to a new creative stage in our life.

To look a bit deeper, we can look at the characters who appear, and consider what they may represent in our lives.  Carefully identifying important elemens such as colours, the weather and any plants or animals that appear may also provide more clues as to what this dream may be saying. (see other posts for more information.)

Sometimes wedding dreams are because we are actually getting married, or will be involved win a wedding.  This event is likely to cause us to think about all sorts of things we haven’t thought about previously, and to feel a range of often conflicting emotions – excitement and anticipation, mixed with apprehension, even fear; a sense of gaining something new as well as of giving up something important.  Dreams at times like these are ways to help us sort through these thoughts and emotions.  By understanding our dreams we can not only cope with the situation better, but we also have a wonderful opportunity to learn something new and helpful about ourselves.

Finally, it is worth remembering that weddings aren’t just about the two main parties of bride and groom.  Weddings are about families, long lost relatives, friends and friends of friends.  Maybe a wedding dream is asking us to look more closely at our relationships, both close and those further afield.  Weddings are, at the end of the day, usually a happy and celebratory affair.  Wedding dreams may sometimes come to celebrate a special event in our lives – either in the waking world, or maybe even, a special an significant event that has occurred in our own mind – in our subconscious.

Dream Symbols: Caves & Deep Dark Places

 

What is deep inside you, waiting to be discovered?

This is the dream of deep dark places.  We may experience this dream as a cave, or series of caves, a well, dark underground tunnels, or even a basement that seems to go further underground than normal.  Whatever the form this dark, unknown place appears as, when it does we can be  pretty sure we are entering the realm of the unknown, moving beneath the surface and exploring our subconscious.

 

It is not unusual to dream of caves or the deep underground when we are going through any sort of learning or growth phase.  The dark unknown can simply be a symbol of exploring something new, but it can often be a far more profound symbol of facing our “deeper” self.  In our day to day lives, we are often distracted by the business of living, of external and material things.  We worry about paying the bills, getting the kids to school, making sure we do our job well, what to wear, what to eat, where to go on vacation.  It is rare that we find the time to pause, to think about why we are doing all his, what it’s all for.  Dreams of caves and deep underground places can be a sign that we are turning our focus away from the outside and starting to think about what is really going on inside us.  This is an essential process if we are to come to know ourselves properly, to understand why we do what we do, why we react to things in the way that we do, and what is behind our feelings.

Dreaming of caves may cause a variety of feelings.  We may be surprised by what we thought was simply a door, well, or normal basement, only to discover unexpected depths.  This may be a sign that we are beginning to discover unexpected depths in ourselves.  We may be afraid, nervous or anxious at this great dark unknown.  This may reflect our own nervousness about exploring deep inside our own minds.  if we have lived a life so far where we haven’t stopped to ask those “deep” kind of questions like “who am I?” and “what is my purpose?” then this can seem a bit scary to begin with.  The same can happen when we first start dream work, if we have thought for our entire lives that dreams are inconsequential, just left over thoughts from a busy day with no real meaning, it can be a bit unnerving to realise that for years a part of us deep inside has been trying to send us messages!  And yet for other people, dreaming of caves can be exciting, even exhilarating.  It can come as great relief, even a revelation to realise there is so much deep inside us waiting to be explored and understood.   

Whatever our initial emotional reaction to the caverns in our dreams, it is usually worth facing them bravely.  It is often simply ourselves we face, and the great mystery of who we really are, and who we can ultimately be.  

Are you prepared to explore the deepest unknown places of your own mind?

 

Caves often have a feminine aspect – that is they can represent feelings, intuition and receptivity.  Caves can be compared with the womb, in being a place of creation and growth.  When caves appear in dreams, they can symbolise our own potential, the parts of ourselves that have not yet been “born” or come out of the dark (our subconscious) into the light (our conscious, waking self.)  If we dream of caves there is a good chance we are exploring our own potential, and may be ready to start a new phase of our own personal evolution.

Coming to know our subconscious better, connecting with a deeper sense of our self can be fulfilling and enriching on a personal level, but it can also be the start of something even more amazing, when we become aware of how all humanity shares this great dark deeper self, and through this place we are all connected.  And that is one of the most amazing realisations of all.

Dream Symbols: The Volcano

 

What is deep inside you waiting to come out?

 

 

 

 

 The first and most obvious association of volcanoes in dreams is an indication of “erupting” emotions, often of anger.   And while in some cases this may be true, it is more than likely only a small part of the story, and in other cases, may not have these kind of associations with anger at all.

 

It may be helpful to remember two interesting characteristics of volcanoes: one, that they are a channel for things from deep within the earth to be revealed at a surface level; and two, that the active component of volcanoes – being fire/magma/lava, all share the same qualities of being able to create as well as destroy.

Let\’s consider the first characteristic in relationship to dreams.  If volcanoes are a channel for things deep inside to come to the surface, how might this be a reflection of what is going on our lives?  While it may indicate deep emotions coming out after being suppressed, volcanoes might also indicate a powerful new knowledge that is becoming clear, an instinct we are becoming conscious of profound new depths of self knowledge.  To better understand how this might relate to our own particular dream, it can help to consider how close we are to the volcano, and how active it is.  Is it in the distance, something we are trying to get to?  This could be a quest for self understanding, a desire see what is deep inside us, but something we are only just beginning.  Or maybe we are standing right on top of the crater, looking into the red hot lava bubbling and ready to explode.  This may symbolise we are on the cusp of big revelation, a significant change could be about to occur.  

The second characteristic, that of fire or lava, can help us understand how change in our life means that some things are destroyed in order to make way for the new.  This can be scary and threatening when we don\’t understand it, but it is not necessarily a bad thing.  We have to \”destroy\” bad habits before we take up new ones, we have to let go of self limiting beliefs before we can embrace a new perspective of life.  However, volcano dreams can also appear when we are anxious or stressed, and indicate the mounting tensions we feel in life.  If we feel like the dream is full of fear and anxiety, this may be a reflection of feelings we are having in waking life.  When this is the case, we can look to other areas of the dream for signs and hints to help us manage or resolve the causes of this anxiety.

Fire and lava can be cleansing, so volcano dreams can be signs of spiritual or psychological growth.  Volcanoes as they erupt can help purge blockages, so volcano dreams may imply a release of tension, or a resolution of a problem.  Volcanoes when they have calmed down also change the face of the earth, they can leave islands in the sea where there once were none, they can create mountains and craters and fertile valleys.  So volcano dreams can also be symbols of creativity, sometimes in a frighteningly forceful way. But if we can be prepared for the awesome power that is potential within us, when it is unleashed we can be more aware and then be able to direct the power to our own goals, instead of wildly erupting and possibly damaging those around us.

 

Volcano dreams can be expressions of anxiety and a warning against extreme emotions, but they can also be a powerful symbol of potential and transformation, that if we heed the lessons of our dreams and act wisely, we can harness as an extraordinary creative opportunity.

 

When the smoke clears what new things will be revealed?

 

 

Feed Your Head

 

Dreams can take us to amazing new places in our imaginations

Want to improve the vividness, the colour, the interest and excitement of your dreams, and even make them lucid, so you know when you are dreaming?  With dreams, like so many other areas of life, it can be a case of what you get out depends very much on what you put in.  The subconscious responds well to all our senses, so by enriching our lives, we can expect to enrich our dreams equally.  We can effectively plant the seeds of what we want to dream of by focusing on the chosen thing through-out the day, and especially right before bed.  We can try to focus on a specific thing, or simply open our minds up and see how far and wide we can reach and to what lengths our imagination can go.

 

To create more vivid or colourful dreams, we can try looking at art, childrens’ books

How can you feed your imagination to help your dreams fly?

 with bright illustrations, watching films with inspiring cinematography, or even magazines with images that get our minds going. Fantasy books are particularly good, as are fashion, costumes,nature (try bizarre deep sea creatures, tropical birds or insects to get your mind going.)  Listening to music, focusing on the sounds of individual instruments, bells, wind chimes, the sounds of nature can all help us notice sounds in our dreams.  The same goes for the other senses – by touching things and focusing on their texture we can enhance our tactile dreams, although smell and taste can take a concerted effort to start noticing in dreams.  But it is well worth the effort when we start smelling beautiful flowers, or tasting delicious nighttime feasts without even waking up!

 

The key is to stimulate our imaginations.  Of course the best thing is always to go to new places, try new things and meet new people, but where we can’t do that, our minds can take us on trips to even more amazing places.  If we feed our minds with images, music and words, it is like fertiliser that can help our dreams sprout into fascinating new blooms, and surprise us with the capabilities of our own mind.  If we feed out heads, we can be rewarded with an imagination that grows wild and free.

Using Journalling to Aid Dream Understanding

 

Do you see the same words in your day-time journal as you do in your dream records?

Sometimes we need a breakthrough when working on dreams.  Sometimes it can seems as if we labour day and night to understand what our dreams are telling us, and though we may feel we can decipher the symbols, somehow the greater meaning, the real insight that makes go “yes!  I get it!” still manages to elude us.

 

At times like these, it can help to write a journal, or diary.  Keeping a record of daytime activities, thoughts, feelings and relationships can be an incredibly useful tool to understanding both our dreams, and consequently, our entire selves, much more clearly.  A day time record and reflection of life is a complement to our night time dream records and reflections.  The two work together, like night and day, dark and light, subconscious and conscious, providing balance and unity to our self exploration.

If you are unfamiliar or new to journaling, there a few things to keep in mind as you get started.  Firstly, keep it light.  This activity is not meant to feel like a chore, but should be something you enjoy.  Don’t worry how many pages you write or how often you do it.  Just do it when you feel inspired, or need to get something off your chest.  It shouldn’t weigh you down.  Secondly, write what you feel. That’s not to say you shouldn’t write about what events and relationships are happening in your life, as these can be really helpful in giving a context to what is going on.  But equally, a journal should not be like a shopping list. “Got up, went to work, traffic bad, filed report, came home, went to gym, ate dinner, went to bed” – this is not a particularly useful journal entry.  ”Can’t be bothered writing today, feel so tired and work is stressing me out.  But relieved I at least finished that report” would be a far more useful entry.  Journaling should include what we think and feel, as well as what we do.

Does reflecting on dreams make life look a little different?

 

 

Keeping a journal in this way, and reflecting back on what we have written from time to time can be a helpful tool in coming to understand ourselves better, just on its own.  But when we combine this activity with the practice of doing dream work, we can notice far more powerful and profound effects.  We may start to discover things about ourselves that are really surprising, we may reach real breakthroughs in understanding, things that change how we look at ourselves and the world, things that change what we believe and how we behave.

In order to do this, we can start by looking for connections.  Though this is the easiest and most obvious way to start, it can provide really interesting insights.  We may write a record of dream such as “dreamed of trying to call my mother, but the person on the other end of the phone says its my office, and  keeps putting me on hold and won’t connect me.  All I keep hearing is static.”  So for dream work we might analyse the symbols and think we aren’t able to communicate (the phone) with our wise caring self (mother).  But somehow this doesn’t really ring true enough.  Maybe it doesn’t feel wrong, but its like we are still missing something.

So we start journaling.  And one day we write “I just don’t feel satisfied at work anymore, I feel like my life is on hold and I wish I could just do something more creative.”  Suddenly the dream takes on a new meaning.  Being “on hold” we notice as words both in our dream record, and in our journal.  And now the “mother” is not simply our wise caring self, but the creative part of our personality that we are putting on hold by being in the office all day.  As this dream is resolved and understood, it makes way for new dreams to come, ones that don’t simply articulate the problem, but can even provide a solution.

Another way dream records and journaling can work to provide new insight is by identifying patterns.  This takes time and patience, and requires looking back over dreams and day time reflections to notice how certain dreams may correspond with certain feelings or actions.  Maybe we frequently dream of tidal waves when deadlines are approaching, or of a wild animal after a night with a lover.  These patterns can start to help us decode the symbols in our dreams, so when the symbol turns up again, we know what it is referring to.  As we become more skillful with this art, our dreams may even start to put the familiar symbols together in new ways to help reveal even deeper meaning.  Maybe we will dream of a wild animal facing a tidal wave, as we approach a deadline to marriage, for example.  Our dreams, confident we understand the animal and the tidal wave, help us to understand and cope with feelings in new situations.  This is one way dreams help us to grow and learn.