Dreams are like the white blood cells of our immune system
they protect us from foreign bodies and carry the healing
potions for health and well-being. Every single night we dream.
Whether we recall and interpret these dreams or not they work
on improving our psychological adaptive system just as the
white blood cells work on improving our biological adaptive
system. So, what is the advantage of dream recall and interpretation?
CONSCIOUSNESS!
To
recall and interpret dreams we work to make that which is
unconscious conscious. In so doing we begin to rise above
our fellow primates separating ourselves by our magnificent
human capacity for consciousness. Left alone our biological
and psychological immune systems focus on survival. By bringing
our dreams to consciousness we can work towards self actualization,
the pinnacle of our unique purpose and fulfillment.
5 KEYS TO DREAM RECALL
1. Keep your dream journal
by your bed.
2. Write down three or four lines regarding
your day’s events, thoughts, feelings, conflicts etc.
before going to sleep.
3. Begin to think backwards as soon as you
wake up. What was just going through your mind?
4. Write down everything you can recall even
if it does not make sense.
5. Try not to allow your ego to edit the
dream recall. It is best to let the dream flow through you
as you write it down.
THE FOUR STEPS TO INTERPRETING
YOUR DREAMS
1. Making associations.
Go back through the dream identifying each image, symbol and/or
dynamic and its associations in your life. For instance, let’s
say you dreamed about playing tennis with your father in Florida.
Associate your thoughts and feelings about playing tennis
(dynamic), your father (image) and Florida (image). If by
chance you played with a particular tennis racket in the dream
this may be the critical symbol in your dream. Pay particular
attention to the symbols for they hold the transformational
power.
2. Connecting dream images to inner
dynamics.
Inner dynamics are the internal processes that go on in your
head and body. It is your energy system, your attitude, your
emotions, your moods, your pattern of thinking and relating
to others. Go back through your work in the first step and
identify the connections between your associations and your
inner processes. For instance, let’s say the action
in the dream has your father lobbing a high ball to you and
you swing and completely miss it. Where in your life are you
looking up to hit? And have you already swung and missed or
are you about to? What does the HEAD FLEXPOINT RADICAL RACQUET
symbolize?
3. Interpreting.
By this point you may already have an idea of what this dream
means. At In this step you should tie together all the work
in step one and two, looking for a central theme. Dreams always
reveal something you do not know. Now let’s say with
the above dream your dear friend (reminds you of your father)
gave you a lead for a job interview in Florida that you think
is way above your head. You fear you will swing and miss thereby
disappointing your friend. Now the particular tennis racquet
the transformational symbol in the dream makes great sense.
It suggests you should use your head, be flexible and dare
to be radical on this job interview.
4. Walking around with your dream.
To really know if this interpretation makes sense you must
live with it. Hold it in the back of your mind as you go through
the day to see what occurs during the day to support or add
to your interpretation.
Now if this dream went unanalyzed it is very
possible you would swing and miss falling into your childhood
pattern of missing lobs from your father. However, by bringing
the dream to light you can consciously interrupt this pattern
by using your head, being flexible, staying focused on the
ball and strategically planning your radical shot leading
to game, set, match.
TRUST YOUR DREAMS AND ANIMATE
YOUR SOUL!
Notes:
1. Adapted from Gayle Delaney’s Living Your Dreams.
2. Adapted from Robert Johnson’s Inner Work: Using Dreams
& Active Imagination for Personal Growth.
For
more information please contact:
Bren Hudson, M.S., Ph.D-C (ABD)
You
can reach her office directly at 805-456-9250
or by email.
© 2007 Bren Hudson, all rights reserved.
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