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Working With Dreams – A More Balanced Approach
How is your dream life?
Personally, I've been struggling with my dreams this past year or two, and getting rather frustrated in the process. I guess it shows that even if we have some knowledge about dream symbols and principles, we often receive dreams which just don't make sense!
I have studied Michael Sheridan and George Rhatigan's dream interpretation methods over several years, and reached a point where I thought I knew one end of a dream from the other.
However, during this time I have been very much 'in my head' (which was frequently pointed out in my dreams), and this led to a feeling that I was limiting myself (and others) in the process.
My background is in science and engineering, so solving problems and understanding the nuts-and-bolts of the world has been, and often continues to be, my default setting.
The result was that I ended up going round in circles, thinking that I could resolve this uncomfortable feeling by working harder to learn and understand more archetypal symbols and analysis techniques... going further into my head.
Of course, there are some important rational principles to remember when interpreting a dream, and we can find useful clues by applying this knowledge. For example, we can usually get a sense of whether the dream is focused on masculine or feminine energies, which can show us certain qualities and aspects that the dream is trying to help us with.
But now I've come to a point where I suspect that we don't need to understand our dreams fully, or even partially, in order to benefit from them. The FEELING of a dream is equally, if not more, important.
I suppose this is what is meant by being on the 'journey to the heart'. The mind is useful, but it needs to work with the heart for us to fully tap into our potential.
Dreams are SO personal. They offer us unique guidance and healing to help us grow and remember who we actually are as we experience and work through the messy material reality of our chosen lifetimes here on planet Earth.
Everyone is different, and crucially, dreams operate at the SUBCONSCIOUS level, which is the realm of feelings and symbols, not of rational thought.
When we remember a dream, our conscious mind gets a behind-the-scenes peek into the 'discussion' going on between our higher self and our subconscious mind. This gives us the opportunity to work with the dream if we choose.
So how do we work with dreams in a more balanced way? Here are some approaches that you might like to try:
1) Continue to write down your dreams in a journal. This tells the universe that you believe dreams are important and signals your intention to accelerate your spiritual growth. If you struggle to recall your dreams, each time you drift off to sleep repeat a phrase like, "I am grateful for my dreams. Tonight I remember my dreams".
2) Apply basic dream interpretation principles and symbols and see if you can find the basic theme of a dream, however vague that might be. Remember that symbols will often back each other up.
3) Replay the dream in your imagination and see if you can tap into the feeling that it brings up. Sit with that feeling for a few minutes without judgement - just let it be.
4) Identify any negative aspects that occur in the dream, and replay the sequence of events again in your imagination, but this time replace the negatives with creative positives.
I have decided to develop a habit of working with dreams in this way, using feeling as well as thought, and not worrying about whether I 'understand' the dream.
If it feels like this might work for you, I invite you to do the same!
How do you work with your dreams? Feel free to join the conversation!
