Understanding Nightmares: Dream Interpretation

Nightmares are common and can be disturbing. They often have important psychic information for us, however, and coming to understand them may help soothe any fear or discomfort around the images and feelings of the meditation. Have a journal and pen ready if you'd like and spend some time working to understand the meaning of your nightmares.

Transcript

Welcome to this meditation for getting to know and understand your nightmares and how they may actually be trying to help you. You can do this meditation before you go to sleep at night or in the morning, Especially if there's a particular nightmare that may be staying with you. Be aware that we will be thinking actively to integrate and process our dreams, So it may not be the best meditation to fall asleep to. If you like journaling with your insights, Have a pen and paper handy. You're welcome to take any comfortable position for your meditation. Move around as you need to. Settle yourself. Check in with your breath. You're welcome to sigh or take a deep breath if that would feel good. Acknowledge the land that you're on right now and your relationship with this land. Notice the weather today, The season, The light in the room that you're in right now. Now, Let's attend to your experience of nightmares. They can be scary and often uncomfortable. And they can also be a reflection of something that we are feeling in our day-to-day life. Sometimes when we can figure out what that feeling is, We can understand the nightmare better and no longer fear the experience so much. Let's consider a nightmare that you had recently or anyone that you can remember. As you recall images, Narratives, Whatever it might be that's coming up, See if you can focus on the sensations that you feel in your body. What emotions arise when you think about this nightmare? And where do you feel those emotions in your body? Do these emotions remind you of anything? Are you feeling this way in your life in any way at the moment? Take a few moments to contemplate this and feel free to write down any thoughts or insights that may arise if you'd like to. And now we'll turn to the narrative of the dream. What happened in it that you remember? What characters, Objects, Or images were prominent in the dream. Write them down if you'd like. Dream language is generally metaphorical. Dreams about falling off a cliff or driving in a car where the brakes won't work could be metaphors for feeling out of control, Pushed into a reality that we didn't choose. Predators or monsters represent something that feels scary in our lives. Something chasing us down, Maybe from the depths of our unconscious, Like emotions that we're afraid to face. Try telling yourself the story of the dream in the simplest, Most direct way that you can think of. If this nightmare were a metaphor, What might it represent for you in your life right now? And now we'll consider another way of looking at the nightmare. One dream interpretation theory is that every element of the dream is an aspect of yourself. You are the hero, The monster, The inanimate objects, The weather, All those pieces that are part of the dream. One reason that we may have nightmares, According to this theory from the Gestalt perspective of psychotherapy, Is that parts of us have become alienated or exiled and are trying to find a way to express themselves to us. So consider the version of yourself that was in the dream. What did the self want or not want? And what about the feared object or character or situation? What did that self want or not want? How about the landscape, The car you were driving, The stage you were performing on, The labyrinth you couldn't find your way out of? What did that self want and not want? If these different parts could talk to each other, What would they say? What does the villain or the monster want the dreamer to understand? How does the weather want to be seen and felt? Take your time to contemplate this piece and write down any insights if you'd like to. When you're ready, Take a moment to notice how you feel now when you think about this nightmare. What did it have to teach you about how you're feeling, What's happening in your life, Maybe emotions or needs that you've been suppressing? Feel free to take a deep breath. Shake out your hands if you want to. Come back into the room that you're in. Acknowledge the land once again that you're on, The room that you're in now in waking life. Take a moment to thank your nightmares for trying to teach you something. Thank you for sharing your meditation with me.