Dream Visions

Tips on Remembering Your Dreams, Part 1

Cli.gs

To help remember their dreams, many people keep a notebook, a dream journal, next to the bed for capturing dreams with a pen or pencil. Keeping a dream journal helps so much that many experts consider it essential for accurately remembering dreams.

Many dreamers recommend using a lighted pen, so as not to disturb anyone else sleeping in the same room. Using a lighted pen keeps you from having to turn on the light, which allows you to stay closer to the drowsy dream state. That also helps in dream recall.

The moment you awaken, before getting out of bed, is the ideal time to write down your dream, even if you only have time to record the date, name the dream, and jot a few notes. Studies show that moving around tends to awaken you fully and usually hinders dream recall.

Not everyone remembers their dreams on first waking. And some have to dash off to work with no spare minutes to stop and write. But that’s OK. Just write down as much as you can remember about your dream as soon as you can.

Dream expert Robert Moss says people often remember dreams in bits and pieces, so by naming your dream and jotting a few notes, you start the process, and you can add details about the dream later, as you recall them.

Write down everything you remember, without interpreting it, even if it does not seem to make sense. Often, the odd details or parts that do not seem to fit in or make sense contain the most valuable information.

Even the tiniest detail in your dream may be important and should be considered when analyzing your dreams. Look closely at all the people, animals, objects, places, emotions, and even the colors and numbers in your dreams.

Ask yourself, “What does this remind me of?” Write down the first thing that comes to your mind. A real situation in your life may be symbolized in the dream. If you recognize a real-life situation in a dream, ask yourself, “How did situation make me feel?”

Often when there is more than one scene or story line in your dream, there are several issues your subconscious is trying to tell you about. But it can also mean that your inner self is trying several different ways to convey the same information with different symbolism.

Dreams often have multiple, layered meanings. The same dream can be telling you several things, or showing you similarities between seemingly unrelated situations in your life. Taking time to understand your dreams can be extremely enlightening.

For more tips, see Remembering Your Dreams, Part 2. (Watch for it on September 11.)

Why Do We Dream?

Cli.gs

Why Do We Dream? There are many theories.

Scientists say that the brain receives stimuli from many different sources all day long. There are far too many stimuli for it to process, so the mind prioritizes the stimuli and makes you aware of those that need immediate attention (the crying baby, the out-of-control car, your boss’s request), so that you can react appropriately. The stimuli that you are not consciously aware of are alos noted by the brain, but are stored in the brain at a subconscious level (the drip of a water faucet, the remark by a coworker at the coffee machine while you were on the telephone.)

Meanwhile, you feel emotions all day. Some you acknowledge and act on (as when you automatically say thank you and smile when you are complimented). Some you repress or do not allow yourself to act on. For example, you don’t punch your boss in the nose when he tells you the report you worked on for a week is no longer needed.)

Some traumatic experiences may be so emotionally painful that you refuse to experience them at the time. Instead you send them deep into your subconscious (repression.)

In addition to processing all these emotions and stimuli the brain every day, your brain also keeps your body functioning. It remembers names and faces. It enables you to talk and walk and chew gum (sometimes all at the same time). And it controls or enables many other activities that you take for granted. You must admit — that’s a lot to do. 

At night, when your body must rest, your mind continues working.  When it is no longer being used to type letters and do the grocery shopping, the brain processes all of those subconscious stimuli and emotions (while still maintaining body temperature and breathing, and so on). Scientists say that is why we dream. 

Only you are not awake to receive the signals at a conscious level. You cannot hear or see or touch (at a conscious level) while you are sleeping. The brain must resort to other means to get the signals through to your conscious mind. Supposedly that is why we dream the way we do.

The mind uses everything at its disposal (which is everything it has ever been exposed to) to get the message across. Dreaming is the minds way of processing all of the stimuli and emotions it has received during the day or repressed over time, so that you can act on them.

All in all, it’s a pretty neat system. But unless you are remembering and making sense of your dreams, you are missing countless opportunities to learn about yourself and experience life to its fullest.

Even though we’ve mentioned it before, it is important enough to repeat: Why should you try and remember your dreams? Because they contain important messages from your won subconscious mind to yourself. Dreams can tell you important things that your waking mind may have overlooked.

Respect your dreams as the tremendous resource for knowledge that they are. And pay attention. You may learn something incredibly valuable from your own dreams.

What Are Your Car Dreams Trying to Tell You?

Cli.gs

Image by mliu92 via Flickr

Car dreams can be scary. And they can have a lot of meanings. For example, if you are obsessed with getting a new car, you may dream about them at night. That much is obvious.

But some automobile dreams are puzzling. What caused them is not clear, and you may start thinking that they are premonitions of disaster. But their meaning may not be so simple.

Some people dream of car crashes. Those could be warnings. But if there has been a rash of spectacular wrecks on TV news, we may write off the whole idea. Still it is good to be extra careful when driving anytime.

Dreaming of a malfunctioning car, though, may have very different meanings: metaphor for the body, business or relationships; automobile malfunctions not yet consciously noticed, or…? Continue reading What Are Your Car Dreams Trying to Tell You?…

Edgar Cayce on Dreams

Image via Wikipedia

Edgar Cayce, a world-famous prophetic dreamer in the early 20th century, was able to obtain virtually an unlimited amount of knowledge on an unlimited number of subjects. One of these subjects was dreams and dream interpretation.

Cayce astounded people by interpreting their dreams and giving them insight into their psyche, lives and even past lives. From his own experience, and from the feedback he received from others, Cayce believed that dreams are actually journeys into the spirit world.

Edgar Cayce once said,“Dreams, visions, impressions, to the entity in the normal sleeping state are the presentations of the experiences necessary for the development, if the entity would apply them in the physical life. These may be taken as warnings, as advice, as conditions to be met, conditions to be viewed in a way and manner as lessons, as truths, as they are presented in the various ways and manners.”

Cayce believed that our dreams serve several functions. Somatic dreams—dreams referring to the body—are extremely important to pay attention to. Very often dreams will offer solutions to health problems.

For example, one man was plagued with food allergies for many years, but was unable to find the source of his discomfort. Then one night he went to bed and he dreamed of a can of coffee. He quit drinking coffee and his symptoms disappeared.

Like many of us, Cayce also believed that deceased friends and family members sometimes visit us in dreams. Such dreams may be communications from our loved ones. Or they may allow us to resolve our feelings about their deaths. Any person who appears in a dream may also represent some aspect of themselves or some part of us that is like them in some way.

Continue reading Edgar Cayce on Dreams…

Robert Moss’s On-Line Radio Show on Dreams | BYBS

Robert Moss, the dream researcher, teacher and author that I keep talking about, has a radio show on dreams! You can listen over the Internet on the second Tuesday of each month, from 11 am to noon Central Time.

Here is the link: http://www.healthylife.net/RadioShow/archiveWD.htm

There is even an 800 number so that you can call in with questions during the show as he interviews other dreamworkers and dream researchers. 

What a blessing for all of us!

Dreaming with the Departed | BYBS

The Dreamer's Book of the Dead

Dream expert Robert Moss has written yet another ground-breaking book, The Dreamer’s Book of the Dead: A Soul Traveler’s Guide to Death, Dying, and the Other Side. It’s a big book, and I just started reading it. So you can be sure I will be writing more about it later. Meanwhile, just in case you have some holiday gift cash burning a hole in your pocket, I wanted to tell you about it. 

If you have read any of the Robert Moss books on dreams (or if you have been reading this blog), you know that he uses innovated techniques and is breaking new ground (in our culture) in the practical and spiritual uses of dreaming.

Some Native Americans, Tibetans, Indonesians, and others have been masters of dreamwork for centuries. But Europeans and Americans have for the most part considered dreams to be meaningless, if not downright scary. Robert Moss and others are changing that as they teach us amazing and effective ancient ways of working with dreams.

The point of this book is that our departed loved ones, friends, and spiritual teachers often appear to us in dreams with important messages, but we don’t always pay attention. Moss teaches us to heed such messages. He also teaches us to take the initiative to contact the departed in dreams.

One of the main reasons to contact departed loved ones, friends, even enemies, is closure. Sometimes we need to apologize or receive apologies to heal old wounds. Sometimes we just need the reassurance that they are still in existence, even though no longer living.

Moss says that sometimes people who have died cannot rest easy until they deliver information or make peace with the living. It may be practical, like the whereabouts of missing papers or valuables, or it may simply be guidance on handling business, family or spiritual problems.

If all this sounds morbid, it really isn’t. You can also contact spiritual teachers and others who have gone before. You can ask them for advice or find out valuable information about the past or the present. 

There is a lot of information in this book on various dream practices. As always there are wonderful stories of real people and experiences, as only Robert Moss can tell them. The book covers a wealth of information on dreams and dreamwork.

So you might want to take a look at The Dreamer’s Book of the Dead: A Soul Traveler’s Guide to Death, Dying, and the Other Sided by Robert Moss. You will find it on Amazon. I know, because that’s where I got it.

My family (on both sides) has always been blessed with dreams that contain messages from departed relatives. We have stories of dramatic dreams conveying important information going back over 100 years that I know of. Probably there were others that we no longer remember. Such dreams can be helpful in a practical way, but mainly they are comforting. 

Dreams that bring help and knowledge from departed family members are a blessing that I like to remember, especially at this family-intensive time of year. How about you?

Types of Dreams | BYBS

Dreams Poster  24 in. x 36 in.  
Buy at AllPosters.com

People talk a lot about dreams. Usually they don’t specify clearly what types of dreams they are talking about. There isn’t just one kind, or even two (good or bad. There are many kinds of dreams, and to be able to make sense when discussing dreams, we ought to define them.

Processing Dreams

Many people have been convinced that all dreams are just the body’s way of processing memories and experiences. In fact, that is a large category of dreams.

Sorting out our thoughts, experiences and ideas does seem to be one important purpose of dreaming.

Anxiety Dreams

Anxiety dreams are not exactly nightmares (usually), but they are unpleasant. They express our worries about things that may or may not ever happen. In some cases, anxiety dreams may be a way of preparing to deal with difficult situations. In others, they may be a symptom that we need to learn how to handle stress better—and maybe drink less caffeine?

Prophetic Dreams

People who consistently keep dream journals find that they often have prophetic dreams. Sometimes the dreams are quite trivial. Other times they prepare us for events we cannot prevent or prepare us for tragedies that we can avert by being ready.

Because of a prophetic dream (also called a precognitive dream), we have had a chance to think of what we would do, the shock has worn off, and when the event happens, we are calm enough to take action that can save lives or prevent serious injury. 

Clairvoyant Dreams

People over the centuries have witnessed events happening elsewhere, even thousands of miles away, in their dreams. There are records of people dreaming of plane crashes and natural disasters, recording the dreams, sometimes putting the dreams into official records, and then receiving verification via the news media. 

Dream, Explore, Discover  Art Print by Svensson, Torleif

36 in. x 24 in. Buy at AllPosters.com

Communication Dreams

People all over the world have experienced dreams of communication from a loved in times of crisis. Sometimes the loved one has been dead for many years. Other times the loved one appears at the moment of death to say goodbye. Sometimes the loved one appears with a message of warning or other important information, or even with reassurance that the loved one is safe.

Message Dreams

Sometimes dreamers receive messages that are actually intended to be given to others. Often the message dream is for a relative, friend, coworker or neighbor and can be given right away.

But sometimes it is for an acquaintance one has yet to meet. Then, when the recipient appears, the message is given, and the dream is fulfilled.

Astral Dreams

Astral dreams are said to occur on the inner planes of existence, in the spirit world. They tend to be symbolic, like a bare black stage set with only the most essential props and actors spotlighted. Some people may never have astral dreams. More likely most people simply do not recognize or remember them.

When you have an astral dream, it may be the mind’s way of dramatizing things that you subconsciously know but have been ignoring. Or they may be an indication that someone else is trying to communicate with you in your dreams.

Nightmares

Nightmares can occur in any of the dream forms. Most likely they are a dramatization of your fears, but they can also be the result of actual memories. Such memories may require therapy to make the dreams go away.

Nightmares caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be crippling in their realistic sensations and intensity, and they definitely require professional treatment by a therapist who specializes in PTSD. Dreams can seem very real. They can be horrifying.

The fear of having PTSD dreams can cause people to avoid sleeping (which is dangerous) or to self-medicate with prescription (or nonprescription) drugs or alcohol. Doing that can also be dangerous.

Dreams Poster 62 in. x 24 in. Buy at AllPosters.com

Diagnostic Dreams

The body always knows when we are ill or hurt, but we may consciously ignore it, especially if there is no pain. Many people have dreams that tell them of serious undiagnosed problems such as cancer. Those who pay attention to their dreams and know how to interpret the images from their subconscious are warned.

Many a dream has caused someone to get a checkup that saved their life by resulting in early treatment of what could have been a fatal disease or condition.   

Healing Dreams

Occasionally people who are very ill have dreams that seem to bring healing. Is the dream healing in and of itself? Or is the dream announcing the healing? No one knows for sure.

Problem-Solving Dreams

As we have discussed before, problem-solving dreams can occur at any point in sleep or just before or after it. The solution can be literal and complete, or it can be symbolic, or just a hint.

Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreams are rare. They are dreams in which the dreamer becomes aware that he or she is dreaming and takes control of the dream. That last part is the most important. Dreams in which one simply becomes aware of being in a dream and wakes up or goes into a different dream are called prelucid dreams.

Many people have prelucid dreams. Few learn to gain control of them and turn them into lucid dreams. 

Lucid dreaming is a form of meditation for adepts of some spiritual belief systems. In those spiritual systems, people may study and practice for years to achieve it.

Yet in some cultures people have been trained from babyhood to take control of their dreams, and in those cultures virtually everyone can do it. 

Shaman Dreams

In some cultures shamans, or those with the potential to become shamans, are identified by the special dreams they have, dreams that contain specific imagery that only shamans see.

Shamans in many cultures do much of their work, including finding out information or finding cures for diseases or injuries, in lucid dreams or active dreaming.  

Mixed Dreams

Most dreams seem to be a mixture. Parts of a dream may be processing the day’s events, while other parts contain messages. Dreaming is complex. Dreams can and often do have several layers of meaning. 

Other Types of Dreams

Probably there are other kinds of dreams, but these definitions should be enough for discussion purposes and to help identify dreams for yourself and others. Talking about your dreams and working with others on their dreams is worthwhile. It can also be fun. And to me the ability to get and share information from dreams is a blessing.

Dream Clouds Plaque Photographic Print by Katano, Nicole

24 in. x 8 in.
Buy at AllPosters.com

Problem-Solving in Dreams | BYB

More and more, I find that I wake up with solutions to problems. However, it is not like the dramatic stories you read about solutions to problems coming to people in dreams.

It feels more as though I worked on the problem all night instead of really sleeping. Have you ever waked up in the morning and felt as though you had been working all night in your sleep? It feels as though you have merely dozed lightly, while your mind worked on the problem.

I suspect that a lot of the problem-solving actually goes on in that dreamlike stage between waking and sleeping. Whatever it is, it works, and to me it is a blessing.

How about you?

More on Dreaming Phantom Bells | Blog Your Blessings

In the original post on being awakened by phantom doorbell sounds, I mentioned that I have also experienced being awakened by the sound of a telephone ringing, but not for some years. I was surprised to hear from comments on this blog that lots of you have had the same phantom doorbell experience.

I think there are at least a couple of reasons why people are not awakened by phantom telephone ringing these days. One is that in the past 20 years or so we have become used to answering machines and voice mail, so we are not the slaves to the telephone that we used to be. Instead, we rush to answer the door.

Also, with the prevalence of ringtone options on mobile phones, the sound of a ringing phone is no longer distinctive. The sound a mobile phone makes can be anything from a baby’s giggle to a hiphop hit. Phones no longer literally ring. In fact, some make no sound at all to announce a call; they just vibrate.

Recently, in a book called Magical Uses of Thought Forms, by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and J.H. Brennan, I ran across the statement that people often hear a bell or ringing sound that is their own inner self trying to get their attention. It is a call to listen to their own inner voice and to pay more attention to spiritual messages.

Wow! Just like our dreams, which are our inner self trying to communicate with us through sensations, stories, images, and sounds. The phantom doorbell may be spiritual wake-up call, a message from the inner us (our spirit) to the outer us (our conscious mind) to wake up to our own inner life.

In other words a helpful message from us to ourselves, a dream that calls attention to what is really important: our spiritual life, “waking up”. I would call that a blessing. How about you?

PR: wait… I: wait… none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”> L: wait… #f0f0f0 none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”> LD: wait… #f0f0f0 #f0f0f0 none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”> none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”> none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”> I: wait… #f0f0f0 none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”> none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”>wait… C: wait… #f0f0f0 none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: darkgreen; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap;”> SD: wait…

Creative Dreaming | Blog Your Blessings

When I started working with dreams, years ago, Patricia Garfield was one of the two best authors on dreamwork that I found. She is a clinical psychologist who also works with her own dreams.

Currently I’m reading the second edition of her book, Creative Dreaming, and I highly recommend it.

Garfield’s books are different from those of Robert Moss (Conscious Dreaming, Dreamgates, and Dreaming True). She spends a bit more time explaining the research that has been done on dreams and the methods that she recommends for getting/shaping the dreams you want.

She writes very clearly and simply, so her books are fun to read and easy to understand. I also think that she is a bit more detailed in explaining how to work with dreams. So it seems easier to understand her methods and put them into practice.

Garfield gives great practical advice on transforming nightmares into pleasant dreams. She also has a lot of interesting information on how to use dreams to get answers. And she devotes a whole chapter to Native American beliefs about dreams and visions, and what we can learn from their methods.

This is a great book, and I’ll probably write more about it later. Meanwhile, give it a try, and let me know how it works for you.

Creative Dreaming was published several years ago, so you should be able to find it in the library. You can definitely find it on Amazon, where I got mine.

Sorry I haven’t blogged for awhile. I got a new job—but with a long commute. Then I got sick. I’ll get back on schedule with blogging as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, I feel really blessed to have a great job, working with fun people.