Dream A Little Dream...
Have you ever wondered what your dreams really mean? Do you often find yourself waking up with a sense of urgency or significance, only to forget why?
Freud believed that whether we intend it or not, we're all poets. That's because on most nights, we dream. And dreams are lot like poetry, in that in both, there’s an expression of our internal life.
He concluded that our dreams allow us to be what we cannot be, and to say what we do not say, in our daily lives.
That sounds lovely, as I certainly would love to be considered a poet. But my logical brain is a skeptic. Afterall, aren't dreams really just the brain firing off images drawn from our conscious lives and memories? Lucky for me, I know that logic is sometimes the way I mask my fear of the unknown. And when I go beyond that fear, I am able to seek answers that don't lie on the surface.
Here are some interesting discoveries I've stumbled on during my research on dreaming:
Understanding
The practice of dream analysis assumes that dreams have a function: to balance what is unbalanced, and possibly assist in restoring ourselves to a comfortable homeostasis.
Dreams are not under our conscious control (unless of course you believe lucid dreaming is possible), and can’t be willed or anticipated, and so it makes sense that dreams are like any other autonomous bodily function (like our heart beating), and serve to promote health and growth.
Therefore, as a starting point, you should analyze your dreams with the perspective of - What is this dream trying to tell me? What in my waking life is this dream trying to expose? What is this dream trying to rebalance? What do I need to work through in my waking life?
Discovery
What have these dreams been whispering to you?
Analyzing our dreams may lead to discoveries. Discoveries that open our eyes to changes we need to make in our lives, lifestyle choices or it could be as simple as changing up our sleeping habits. Carl Jung, renowned psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, emphasizes the need to recognize neglected, ignored, or undeveloped aspects of ourselves through dream interpretation…to realize our full potential.
Some of these discoveries may propel you to dig deeper into your subconscious mind. I recently read more about lucid, active and conscious dreaming and it sparked my interest. A lucid dream is a dream during which the dreamer is aware of dreaming. During lucid dreaming, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over the dream characters, narrative, and environment. Seems like sci-fi right? Could be. But what if it’s not? What if we can expand our minds to be able to do such a magical thing as control our dreams? The power of the human mind is vast and miraculous and I don’t dare doubt what it is capable of.
Utilization
In what way will you utilize this new information to enhance your own wellbeing?
Take action – Dream journaling is the perfect first step to deciphering what exactly your dreams are trying to tell you. Even the smallest of details will be important to note, as you may start to discover patterns. Oh and drop the judgement about what occurred in the dream. Dreams have a habit of being socially unacceptable, which is probably one of the reasons why they are hard to recall in the first place.
Experiment – Do certain bedtime rituals make for a more positive dream experience? Trying new and different rituals to see if your dream experience is altered by changing up your routine.
Two things are for sure:
Dreams have the capability to help us in analyzing our own personalities – both our inward and outward personalities.
And ultimately, maybe it’s not all about the mind but the soul…and well the passions of the soul tend to work magic…
Would you like to know more about the power and beauty of your dreams? Join us this Wednesday for an intimate workshop with Reiki Master and Dream Whisperer, Joey Adams, as he guides us through the power of our dreams.
