What is your recurring dream trying to tell your subconscious?
Have you ever dreamed of breathlessly running down a long hallway, but you never found the door? Or, perhaps you are back in school and can’t find your classroom, and you have an overwhelming fear of being late. Psychology Today reports that 60 to 75% of adults have recurring dreams.
“A recurring dream probably merits close attention. Something wants you to pay attention.” Amy Hardie
What Messages Your Dreams Might Be Sending
Interpreting dreams has been an essential part of human history. Dream Moods explains that clay tablets depicting visions have been discovered, dating as far back as 4,000 B.C. In every phase of history, dreams contained vital information concerning the dreamers or the world around them.
Our modern psychologists believe that dreams may help people process daily experiences, particularly those that are threatening. NCBI published the results of a study on the effects of the subconscious on dreaming.
The study concluded that a person’s level of frustration or satisfaction influenced dreams and the emotional interpretation of those dreams. Those who experienced recurring dreams had more psychological defeat daily. They concluded that dreams might help people process feelings and daily experiences. The messages dreams are sending may be interpreted negatively or positively depending on a person’s state of mind.
Ten Messages Psychologists Tell You Never to Ignore
When specific dreams become more prevalent, it may be that your mind is pointing toward essential facts about your daily life. Your mind may be trying to solve a problem during sleep that you haven’t been able to resolve while you are awake.
Our dreams provide insight into our daily lives. Do not ignore these ten recurring dream themes.
1. Dreams about falling.
Psychologist Ian Wallace believes falling is a feeling of losing control over aspects of your life. You may be feeling like the responsibility is weighing heavily on you, and you have no escape. If you keep dreaming about falling, it may be time to destress.
2. Injuries, death, or losing teeth.
These themes may indicate a lack of self-esteem. Death can mean change is ahead, and you are leaving the past behind and moving forward to new things. Dream expert Patricia Garfield suggests teeth falling out may be linked to suppressed anger. When we grind our teeth or clench our jaw, this can cause us to lose teeth in a dream.
3. An embarrassing public performance or failing a test.
Many people dream bout failing an exam or embarrassing themselves in public. This type of dream indicates you are stressing out about something before you fall asleep. They man mean you can’t follow through with something meaningful. The bottom line is that you are most likely feeling anxious and worried during the day.
4. Wearing little or no clothing.
This dream is about feeling embarrassed or ashamed. Ian Wallace states that this theme may mean you are feeling vulnerable in a new relationship or at a new job. You may be fearful that people will learn about your weaknesses. If you dream about wearing pajamas to an important event, it may be a sign of insecurity about an upcoming event in your life.
5. Dreams about being chased.
Lauri Loewenberg, a dream expert, believes that recurring dreams about being chased are people’s way of trying to avoid conflict. What’s chasing you in real life may be debt, trying to work out a problem, or unfulfilled dreams that are chasing you because you haven’t worked toward achieving your goal.
6. Apocalyptic and natural disaster dreams.
If you suffer from these dreams, you are not alone. This imagery is a common theme and may mean you feel you have lost control over a personal problem. Perhaps you feel threatened about something in your life. These feelings can make you feel vulnerable when you are awake, so they should be addressed.
7. Crashing a car or technical difficulties.
Patricia Garfield explains that dreaming about your computer or phone breaking may mean you have a problem connecting emotionally to someone, or you may have relationship issues. You may be feeling unsupported in real life, and you may require some help working out your feelings.
8. Dreams about being pregnant.
Men and women can dream of being pregnant. David Bedrick, a dream psychologist, says that this may indicate that you are giving birth to new creations and ideas. If you are in the middle of an important project, and you have this dream, set goals, and work hard to bring your visions to reality.
9. Dreams about being late.
Michael Olsen, a dream expert, suggests that dreaming about being late may be an instant fear of missing out. If you are stressed out and feeling that you don’t have time for what’s essential in your life, this dream may be telling you it’s time to slow down. Set time out for the things and people in your life that you love.
10. Unfamiliar houses or rooms.
Psychotherapist, Eddie Traversa, tells us the rooms represented in our dreams represent internal conflict. These dreams may also represent internal changes. If you dream about a bathroom, you may need to declutter or clean up your emotions. Bedrooms can symbolize worries about romance.
11. Dreams About Your Partner Leaving You
Many people have experienced the scary dream about your partner leaving. Dreams are not usually literal but are a representation of thoughts and feelings. Fear of having a loved one walkout is not unusual and may represent itself in the course of our dreams.
If your partner leaving you is turning into a common theme in your dreams, you may be insecure about your relationship. There may be problems with your relationship that you need to address. Talking about those fears with your partner is a healthy way to resolve your issues.
When these types of dreams continue to be a concern and cause nightmares, this may lead to insomnia. It may be time to seek help to ensure that your mental and physical health is not being negatively affected.
Can Dreams Impact Your Health?
Dream research indicates that dreams may reveal signs about health. While some people believe dreams are just random thoughts swirling about in our sleep, research shows that dreams may be an indicator of physical and mental health.
Some of the research has indicated that recurring dreams may be important indicators of your health.
Dreams may be indications that you have heart disease or sleep apnea and are being generated as a nightmare as a warning sign.
- If you wake up from recurring dreams in the early morning, this may arise from a mood disorder like anxiety or depression, which is preventing you from a healthy REM cycle during the night.
- Vivid and bizarre dreams don’t mean anything is wrong, but they may indicate a problem with alcohol, medications, or Parkinson’s disease.
- Consistently having bad dreams may be an issue of poor diet or a vitamin deficiency or maybe a sensory trigger from movies, music, or events you witnessed during the day.
Dreams are essential for several reasons. They mean you are sleeping deeply and experiencing REM. This level of sleep is necessary for our bodies and brains to function well. Dreams also bring to life the emotions that we feel during the day but often don’t address. They bring those emotions to light in a new way and often help heal emotional wounds.
Dreams are essentially stripping the emotion out of negative experiences by creating a new memory. This experience is healthy for us because it helps process our feelings. If we can’t handle emotions, we will be more prone to anxiety and worry. Dreams are good for our mental health.
For those who have experienced emotional trauma, or PTSD, dreams can be therapeutic. The University of California conducted a sleep study that concluded people who have experienced psychological trauma have stress hormones released. The brain can work through that event during dreams and divorce the mind from the associated emotions.
Final Thoughts on Using Recurring Dreams for Positive Change
Powerofpositivity.com explains how you can use dreams to make positive changes. Consider using your dreams to make reasonable changes in your life. Your dreams may be giving you clues to subconscious problems you are not addressing. They may be giving you advice about insecurities you are not able to face when you are awake.
Don’t ignore or discarding recurring dreams. Try writing down your dreams as soon as you wake up, when they are fresh in your mind. If you don’t write them down, they will be as elusive as ascending smoke from a fire. And so, they will disappear into thin air.
Look up the themes of your dreams, especially if you have recurring dreams. If you have concerns, you can talk to a dream therapist who can help you find answers to the clues your mind is telling you when you are asleep. Dreams can be the answers to mental and physical issues if you learn to interpret and understand what they are trying to say to you.
