Interpreting Your Dreams

When I deliver training courses no other topic generates as much fascination amongst participants as the subject of interpreting dreams. It seems each person is curious to unravel some of the mystery of their nocturnal visions and gain access to the insights and wisdom they believe are locked in those images.

A good place to start is an understanding of where our dreams come from. For this we must look at the mind and it’s useful to apply the analogy of an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg visible above the water can be likened to our conscious mind; all that we are aware of in the present moment. The conscious mind can deal with about 5 to 7 tasks or pieces of information at any one time and is responsible for linear, analytical thinking involving factual information and numbers.

The 90 percent or so of the iceberg which is under the water and can’t be seen is similar to our unconscious or ‘sub’conscious mind. It takes care of all the thousands of processes going on in the body which keep us alive. The unconscious mind governs feelings, intuition and creativity. It also serves as a huge store house for our life memories and the skills we’ve already learnt. Sometimes also called the right brain the unconscious mind communicates in a language of images, symbols, metaphors and stories and of course dreams.

I believe while we are asleep at night the unconscious mind isn’t just repairing and healing our bodies, it’s also working through the emotional issues we face in our waking lives and attempting to resolve and heal them too.

Dreams can provide us with guidance and reassurance. They can deliver important messages and warnings, shedding light on areas of concern we are perhaps overlooking. Highlighting our fears as well as our deepest desires. So how can you know what your dreams mean?

There are four basic steps. The first is to record your dream. This is best done in a journal. I find spiral bound hard back notebooks are best, since they are the easiest to write in. You can get up to 70 percent more information from a dream by writing it down than simply reflecting on it in your mind. This is because the process of writing gets the dream out of your head and in front of you allowing for much greater clarity. So imagine your dream is like a film you’ve just watched and write it down like a story; ‘I was in such and such a place when this happened and then I …’ don’t worry if you can’t remember all of it, even a snippet can be quite revealing. To improve recall try to wake up naturally; relax for a few moments and gently focus on your dream, this will help to bring it into conscious awareness.

Once you’ve described the ‘story’ of the dream you can begin to break it down by making a list of all the dream symbols. These are the naming words or nouns; the places, people, animals and objects contained in the dream.

Now you’re ready to start your interpretation. Take each dream symbol in turn and ask yourself ‘What does this person represent to me in my life?’, ‘What does this animal/object remind me of?’ or ‘What does this place represent to me?’ and write your answer next to each symbol.

The meanings of symbols are always unique to each individual. A lost handbag in one woman’s dream may represent concerns about losing something she places a lot of importance on such as a job or relationship, because in waking life the handbag normally contains her valuables; money, keys, phone etc. The same dream symbol for another woman could indicate worry about her self image or appearance because the handbag usually has her make-up items in it.

Many people find when they have been interpreting their dreams for sometime; they begin to build up a personal dream dictionary, made up of re-occurring symbols which are unique to them. For example, my car is a common symbol representing my life. Recently I dreamt the car had been transformed into three tall refrigerators/freezers all made out of the same coloured metal as the car and were standing in its parking space. Later in the dream I’m using a microwave oven – a very quick way to ‘defrost’ things and cook them. So the dream speaks of the present in which some aspects of my life feel ‘frozen’ or stuck and advises that I will quickly overcome the challenges.

By the time you’ve taken each symbol and discovered it’s meaning for you, you’ll have most of the message the dream is communicating. The final step is about uncovering the feelings and emotions. These are very important clues as to which aspects of the dream you need to pay most attention to. The question to ask here is; ‘Which scene contains the most energy?’ or ‘Which part of the dream really stands out?’

The unconscious mind produces different types of dreams. It has the capacity to jump forwards in time resulting in prophetic dreams, foretelling events that have yet to take place in real life. It can go backwards too, giving us glimpses into our past lives. The unconscious mind can also pick up and communicate to us information from thousands of miles away. Here is a personal example:

When my father was visiting India once I had a very strong dream in which I saw him lying in a hospital bed and on a drip. The overwhelming emotion was a deep sense of loss that I might never see him again. This was very disturbing, for as far as we knew he was well and really enjoying his holiday. I had only finished relating the dream when the phone rang and my uncle who had arrived back from India that morning said he was on his way over and needed to speak to us urgently. He described how he had gone to meet my father and discovered he had been taken seriously ill and was in hospital. His concern was that my father’s health was deteriorating rapidly because he wasn’t getting the medical treatment he needed and that if we didn’t go and bring him back ‘he might not make it’.

There are various kinds of spiritual dreams too. One type is where the karma of the dreamer is reduced by experiencing the event which would have happened in waking life through the medium of a dream.

From helping us to find solutions to our everyday problems through to settling our karmic debts, dreams play an important role in our lives. Learning how to interpret them can open the doorway to a hidden treasure.

Spring

Since yesterday it seems spring has finally arrived. The sunshine has been glorious. The winter bugs are still harassing people and a couple of friends are down with viruses. This year has been the best ever for me on the bug front, not one sore throat or cough, much less any flu. Two reasons perhaps. Following a vegan diet automatically pushes me towards more fruit and veg because I can’t default to dairy products. More importantly though, I’ve been staying clear of sugar, completely, which I find very liberating. It’s something I simply don’t have to think about. I’m always reminded of an interesting chat I once had with my G.P. He told me how eating refined sugar lowers immune system functioning by 50% for up to 5 hours. That’s staggering!

I think we’ve become conditioned to associate treats with sugary snacks. I still have treats but not ones which will work against my body. A real treat is something my body will appreciate too, not just my mind.

Finding sugar at my place always brings amusement to my friends, as I stand on tiptoes, poking about on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet with a wooden spoon to find the abandoned sugar pot, so they can enjoy a cup of tea!

Transforming Problems

I’m very fond of this particular Sikh teaching; suffering and happiness are the two sets of clothes worn alternately by every human being as they travel on life’s journey. It can help us to understand that problems are a part of life, no matter what we may do to protect ourselves; we will encounter them along the way.

The problem was actually a solution at one time. Like in the story of the man who needed to get across a river. Having built his boat he made it safely over to the other side, but then continued on his way carrying the boat on his back for the rest of his life. What is a problem today was the perfect thing to do yesterday given who we were then and our circumstances. We can respect our problems for the good they have done us in the past and know that we have evolved now. Problems are a natural by-product of our creative and growth processes. When we want to go in a different direction that’s more in line with who we are in the present, the old way of doing things becomes problematic.

Our problems are opportunities in disguise. They enable us to change ways of behaving and thinking which are no longer productive for us. A good analogy here is of iron ore, which is first placed into the furnace and made red hot, then taken out and given a good beating by the blacksmith as he hammers it into a new shape. The process we go through with our problems is similar. The intense heat and pressure we experience are necessary to help us get rid of our impurities – those beliefs and ways of acting or relating which need to be updated.

Like the blacksmith, individuals whom we perceive as difficult for the ‘hard time’ they give us, are actually very important to our development, they tell us ‘hey, this is where you need to look’. Hence the saying ‘our worst enemies are our greatest teachers’, because they expose vulnerabilities in us, which we can then strengthen. Viewed in this light, problems can be seen as positive challenges through which we can improve our lives.

Acceptance as paradoxical as it may sound is the first step to changing any problem. This can be hard, but it need only be momentary. Let’s take an example. Imagine I want to visit Paris. I could wish forever and it will remain totally impossible, unless I first acknowledge where I currently am. The moment I accept I’m in London the way to get to Paris is instantly mapped out and within a short space of time I could be there. My accepting I’m in London isn’t the same as liking or wanting to be in London, I may not want to be here for a single minute, however in order for me to get to my destination I must accept that’s where I am today. And so it is for our problems, acceptance of the present situation as it is, no matter how much you dislike it or wish it wasn’t the case, is key.

The solution is always present in the problem. The trick is knowing how to find it. Once you have accepted there is a problem, ask yourself; ‘What do I want instead of this …?’ These are the magic words which will transform your problem into a goal, something you feel attracted towards. It’s far easier to move in the direction of a goal than it is to focus attention on a problem. This is because when we think of problems we usually recall events that have already taken place (the past), causing us to feel stuck, helpless and demotivated. The going round and round in circles kind of thinking. Changing the problem into a goal will steer your thinking towards the future, by getting you to focus on how you would like things to be. It’s energising, creating a positive attitude with which to overcome the difficulty.

The ups and downs of life are the continuously changing externals, the ‘clothes’ we wear on the outside. True happiness, the kind which is constant because it’s not dependent upon any circumstance, relationship or possession is to be found on the inside, within us. That’s the place of real stability and security.