Podcast Episode: Decoding Your Dreams
PODCAST EPISODE LISTEN HERE.
*Inside this episode, we’ll discuss the Anatomy of Dreams:
Our dream work practice
Various experts perspectives on dreamwork from Jung, Freud, Alice Ann Parker and David Fontana.
How to interpret their dreams’ meanings.
Teach you how to remember and recall details in dreams.
Teach people how to identify archetypes, themes and symbolism in dreams.
Various types of dream states and waking states.
The most popular dream symbolisms and archetypes.
*Show Highlights*
Benefits of dream work
“Dreams allow us to connect with the mysterious sides of ourselves. What’s happening on a subconscious or unconscious level. It can reveal deep seated emotions or teach us about things we need to heal in our waking life.”
“I’ve always felt that Some other aspect of yourself doing work in other dimensions. Another dimension of the self.”
Dreams Schools of Thought: Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
“Two of the biggest or most well known thinkers and students of dreams are psychologists Sigmund Freud and his friend and disciple Carl Jung. They did a lot of research on dreams with their patients and their own dreams. And I think they’d agree that dreams show another dimension of the self.”
“Freud believed that dreams- like everything- are subject to cause and effect- springing directly from some aspect of the unconscious mind. Both Freud and Jung agreed that dreams are expressions of our unconscious- that part of us that knows everything about us. It knows your blood pressure right now. It knows everything. That’s also the part we connect with in meditation. An important key to dream recall is wanting to remember.”
Remembering Dreams
“I know for me I wake up and record my dreams right away. I use to write them but now I use a voice recorder app on my phone. And I will just start talking into my phone even while I’m still half asleep or not fully awake.
I have a better chance of capturing the dream if I record it before I fully awaken. Because it does not help to use the waking rational memory functions when trying to remember dreams. When you are fully awake and try to recall a dream with waking memory it often escapes you entirely. Freud called it dream amnesia - because it is a defense mechanism of the ego to repress those details.”
“Meditation is one tool that’s excellent in helping you begin to remember your dreams. They are similar states of consciousness - dreaming and meditation. A lot of times people think meditation is an act (like sitting with your eyes closed) but it’s actually a state of consciousness that’s why there are so many forms of meditation. Many ways or tools to help you reach that state.”
Sleeping and Waking States
“There’s no exact moment of awaking to sleeping, it’s more of a drop, fade or falling asleep. That’s where waking thoughts and visualizations gradually assume a hallucinatory or visionary aspect. This drifting from waking to sleeping is called Hypnagogia.”
“Kind of like that moment right when you are waking but you are still kind of sleep - it’s a trance like state. You can also experience dreams here as well. These are called hypnopompic dreams.”
“It is an attempt to quiet the ego, drifting from wakefulness to sleep is an attempt of the ego to take control, it’s losing its grip. This is also part of attaining a meditative state - stilling or quieting the ego. It’s kind of balancing yourself between waking and sleeping. It’s quite powerful. That’s how so many wonderful revelations can happen during meditation and we have an enormous ability to heal and transform our lives during these meditative states.”
“In yoga, through an ancient text called the “Upanishad” describes the body as having layers or “koshas.” Each layer fits inside the other. So, the idea is that each person has multiple layers that make up their being.”
“I wanted to explain these koshas/layers because we’re more than our physical bodies, there are several cylinders firing up within and around each person, so the dream state perhaps plays out between the koshas and offers an opportunity to heal and work with not only the physical and mental layers but through the various subtle layers.”
“There’s also “yoga Nidra” which some people describe as a yoga nap, it’s a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. The body is relaxed but the mind is staying alert, a little bit different from Sivasana since the mind is awake.”
Dream Moods and Emotions
“Emotional dimensions in dreams are characterized by moods. The first dream app I ever used is called dream moods. You plug in the details of your dream and look up the symbolism. It’s a great start to decoding your dreams. And it fits cause each dream has a mood. The mood and subject matter don’t have to correlate.”
Dreams and Astrological Transits
“Sometimes depending on what astrological transits we’re experiencing, our dream state could be deeper or more intense. You definitely want to pay attention to when Neptune, the planet of inspiration, dreams, psychic receptivity and illusion (also the ruler of Pisces) is prominent in the sky because there could be messages of intuition or spiritual transformation present through your dreams and waking life.”
Dream Symbolism
“Symbolism is so important in dreams. Everything is a symbol or has a symbolic meaning even colors. I often dream of swimming.”
“But I learned it symbolizes my ability to cope with my emotions. So the quality will change in my ability to swim or the quality of the water or the location - I can swim from country to country in my dreams! But it really reflects my emotional state or my ability to cope and manage my emotion.”
Popular Dream Symbolism
“There are many popular symbols, but even the symbol depends on the nature of the dream. For instance, Flying (associated with freedom, breaking free, escaping), but were you flying in plane, flying unassisted-- those variances could impact the meaning.”
“Falling has been associated with feeling insecure, anxious, overwhelmed or out of control.
Teeth falling out -fear, fear of aging, fear of your voice not being heard.
Or, being back in school- some anxiousness about information, or being in a new social situation, or sometimes it might mean you’re remembering a time of feeling more secure in life. It depends again on the nature of the school and what else was happening.”
Lucid Dreams
“Lucid dreaming, taking control of your dreams. (can be therapeutic, can use it to answer deeper questions about emotions and desires). Lucid dreams occurs spontaneously when the dreamer notices an anomaly or something unusual happens (husband turns into a fish).”
“There are some cool dream apps out there with dictionaries and dream symbolism index, like iDream, Dream Dictionary and Dreamscope. Check out some of them and just do your best to get use to checking in with yourself and recording your dreams.”
Resources mentioned in the show:
*Youtube video: Higher Self Meditation
Articles:
*Your Brain Waves on Yoga Nidra
Apps:
Dream websites:
Movies: