Working with dreams

Nimue Brown

June 2

(Nimue)

There is a lot more to dream work than looking them up in dictionaries. Rather than of trying to make sense of them one at a time, it can be far more useful to look at your dreams as a body information and being alert to any changes over time.

Dreams approached in this way can give insights into our mental states, our mental health and how we are fairing spiritually.

At the moment I'm very happy with my dreams – they are tending to be colourful, imaginative, rich on detail and comfortable in tone. I'm in a good place at the moment and my dreams are reflecting this. A few weeks ago I had a really rough patch with nightmares. As is often the way of it for me, the nightmares were me starting to work through some big issues and getting them to a point where I could think about them consciously.

How do you feel about your dreams? What, overall are they reflecting back to you about your life, and your inner life? Anxiety and stress can show up easily in dreams, as can the things we are missing. I had one period in my life when my dreaming narrowed to a small selection of repeating anxiety dreams. I had a period where the dominant feeling in my dreams was one of deep loneliness and not knowing where I belonged. These related to issues I was trying (and for a long time failing) to tackle in my waking life.

Do you dream of everyday life, or does your mind go somewhere else? How do you feel about that? Do some of your senses feature more than others? Can you control your own actions in your dreams? How does that relate to feelings about power and control in your life? Do your dreams show you things you are not dealing with or trying to ignore?

I think it helps to treat your dreams and nightmares alike as intrinsically helpful. This is your brain trying to have a conversation with itself. Often it seems to be the less conscious bits of the brain trying to communicate with the more conscious self.

Sometimes dreams can feel very different from that. Some dreams have a touch of magic to them, a sense of otherness, sacredness and wonder that needs taking seriously. I think the more attention we pay to dreams, the more room we make for that kind of experience.

If you're interested in these kinds of approaches to dreaming, I have a book… https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/authors/nimue-brown