How to Analyze Your Dreams

Dreams remain somewhat of a mystery. People study them. Some interpret them. Others fear them. Some seem to mean something while others appear to be an incomplete puzzle. At the very least, dreams intrigue us. At the most, they enlighten us. But how do we tell the difference? Analyzing dreams can be difficult and uncertain. Yet we still feel compelled to do exactly that. Hopefully this article will give you some important steps that will help you analyze your dreams.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Detailed information about the dreams you want to analyze;
• A computer with Internet connection;
• Paper; and
• Pencils or pens.

How to Analyze Your Dreams

1. The first step is to understand the type of dream or dreams that you typically have. There are several standard types of dreams which include, but are not limited to the following:
   
   Astral dreams, where we are visited by those loved ones that have passed on. Generally, they simply want to check in on us or let us know that they are okay. For that reason, it may seem as though they are rejecting us or letting us go. In reality, however, they are just trying to communicate that they are happy where they are and no longer feel a need to be connected to us. These dreams don't often happen sequentially and may jump around all over the place.
   
   Déjà vu and/or prophetic dreams, unlike some other dreams, happen in sequential order and tend to make sense where some other dreams do not. Déjà vu dreams are often trying to deliver a message or a warning from a passed on loved one by planting something in our mind to make certain that we remember it. It can be a key word, an event, or even a person that acts as the trigger. These dreams may play over and over again or happen just once but linger on in the mind.
   
   Problem-solving dreams are just what they sound like. They help us solve issues or problem while we sleep, allowing us to wake up with a clearer understanding of the answer to whatever is bothering us.
   
   Release dreams help us to let go of those things that trouble us when we are awake but that we can’t let go of at that time for some reason. The sub-conscious mind works to deal with issues that the conscious mind cannot.
   
   Wish dreams are also exactly what they sound like. They are dreams that put us into situations that we desperately long for. Wish dreams are often jumbled because we have many wishes. You might begin the dream in one place but end it in another.
2. The next step is to understand some of the most common dream themes. These include, but aren’t limited to:
   
   Falling in a dream can represent a fall from grace in your personal, work, or spiritual life.
   
   Flying in a dream could mean your are having an astral dream. It can also indicate that you are experiencing your own out-of-body experience. Most likely, however, it means that you are finally releasing something from your life and obtaining a feeling of freedom.
   
   Learning dreams indicate a need for deeper knowledge. It might also represent a need to better understand yourself. It could mean you want to do your job better or that you have a deep need for more spiritual awakening.
   
   Nudity in a dream indicates that you have a need for something to be revealed. It could relate to your fears, your inhibitions, or something else.
   
   Lost personal items like a purse, wallet, or keys often indicate of fear of losing something that it personally important to you.
   
   Finding money may signify that you have a real need to gain power, personal influence, or other symbol of wealth.
   
   Traveling themes can be exactly what you think they are; an innermost desire to get away, take a vacation, or escape the daily grind of life.
3. The next step is to understand some of the most common symbols seen in dreams. These include, but aren’t limited to:
   
   Winning an award in a dream symbolizes a need for recognition. The dream is a way for the subconscious mind to tell your conscious mind to push for a promotion or for recognition.
   
   If you are bathing in your dream, chances are there is something about which you feel guilty. Butterflies represent peace and tranquility and even happiness.
   
   Dreams that take place in a cafeteria represent the need for more social interaction. Clowns represent fear, especially the fear of the dark. If you are crying in your dream, chances are that you are repressing something that needs to be released.
   
   Dancing through the daisies indicates that you recognize the possibility of love while dancing alone expresses joy and happiness that you believe is on the horizon. Driving in your dream means that you are headed on the right track to achieve a goal or objective.
   
   If eagles are prominent in your dream, they may symbolize that you are on a quest; most likely a spiritual one. Eating in a dream represents a craving for something in your life. It could be a craving for love, power, peace, or satisfaction.
   
   If you dream that you are fat, you may be experiencing some concern about your health; although it need not be diet based.
   
   Dreaming of grass symbolizes that good things are just beyond the horizon.
   
   If a horse is prominent in your dream, it likely symbolizes your feeling of power, strength, and endurance. Hospitals in a dream indicate that you have a concern about the health of someone with whom you’re close.
   
   Insects in a dream can mean exactly what you might anticipate; that something is bugging you.
   
   Jumping in a dream could mean you are about the make a mistake (or jump to conclusions, so to speak).
   
   A key may symbolize something that you have locked away, which needs resolving.
4. Continue to seek to understand dream symbols:
   
   A lake symbolizes a set of undisclosed or unresolved emotions.
   
   If you are riding a merry-go-round in your dream, it could mean that your life is going in circles.
   
   Nurses or physicians in your dream suggest that you are on the way to be healed either physically or emotionally.
   
   Dreaming of the police can be a warning not to break the law or a rule that you are thinking about ignoring.
   
   Rain in a dream symbolizes that you are washing away bad things within your life. Running in a dream can mean that you are trying to run away or toward something within your life.
   
   Dreaming of a school or educational situation in a dream can indicate your innermost desire to gain deeper knowledge and understanding. Buying shoes in your dream? They symbolize your want and need to move forward with your life. Snow can suggest that you are freezing something within yourself. If, however, the snow is melting, it may indicate that you are allowing it to melt away.
   
   A telephone in your dream can indicate that you have a need to talk with your subconscious mind. A tree symbolizes a foundation. It may represent your own inner strength or that of someone on whom you can depend.
   
   An umbrella represents protection against the bad things of life.
   
   Water relates to the ebb and flow of life.
   
   If you experience other themes or symbols in your dream, check online sources for dream interpretation.
5. In order to analyze your dreams, you must first remember them. That can be more difficult that you think, since dreams tend to fade as the day goes on. The best way to hold on to dreams is to record them the minute you wake up. Keep a pad and paper, or better yet a dream diary, by your bed so that you have it ready to record your dreams right away.
   
   Another way to remember dreams is through regular meditation and/or self-hypnosis. The practice can help you tap into memories that might otherwise be forever lost.
6. To detail your dream further, ask yourself questions aimed at rounding out your dream memories. Some examples of the types of questions to ask yourself include, but are not limited to:
   
   How did the dream make you “feel”?
   
   To detail your nightmares further, ask yourself questions aimed at rounding out your dream memories. Some examples of the types of questions to ask yourself include, but are not limited to:
   
   What feeling did the nightmare illicit?
   
   Feelings of fear could relate directly to what happened in the dream. However, if that is the case, they will generally dissipate quickly after waking up. It the fear remains constant, then it relates to something else that is going on in your life and you will have to get to the bottom of that issue.
   
   Feelings of dread could indicate that you are being asked to do something in your life that you don't want to do. It could be work related or have something to do with your personal life, like having surgery, deciding whether or not to have children, moving, or something else. Until you get to the root of the problem, the dread will continue.
   
   Feelings of panic could indicate that you have uncertainty in your life, have to make a decision you don't want to make, or take a step you don't want to take.
   
   Feelings of happiness, contentment, or joy probably indicates that your life is going the way you want it to.
   
   Uneasiness may indicate that you think something is going on that you don't know about or that you have someone in your life that you don't trust.
   
   Feelings of any kind that linger long after the dream is over mean something so you have to get "at" the problem itself.
7. Determine if there are things in your dream that you are trying to gloss over or ignore. These could provide a valuable insight into your life in general.
8. What do you think the central theme of the dream represents?
   
   If the central theme of your dream is clear, then determine what it might mean to your life. For example, if you know that your central theme dealt with flying, then determine who was likely visiting you in the dream. Was a family member or friend? Did they have a message or seem to be trying to communicate something to you? Discover the purpose behind the astral visit and you are well on the way to analyzing your dream.
9. What do you think the symbols in your dreams mean to you personally?
   
   If the symbols in your dreams are clear, then determine how they relate to your life. For example, if you are receiving an award in your dream, then you need to determine what you want recognition for in your life. Is it work related or personal? Once you understand what you don't think you are being recognized for you can give voice to those particular wants and needs.
10. Determine if there are symbols or themes that constantly recur in your dream?
    
    Anything that continues to recur in your dreams, definitely means something that is important to your life. It cannot and should not be ignored.
11. Where did the dream take place and does that location have any significant meaning for you?
    
    If the place your dream occurs is obvious or memorable, there is reason behind it. For example, if your dream happens in a place that makes you uncomfortable, that says one thing. If, on the other hand, it occurs in a place where you feel safe means something altogether different. Therefore, the place could have major significance to analyze the dream.
12. Determine if colors were prominent in the nightmare and if so, what they were.
    
    Nightmares that take place in dark colors could indicate fear or uncertainty. The darker the color, the deeper the problem.
13. Determine if smells played an important part in the dream? If so, what were they and what to they mean to you personally? They provide yet another important clue.
14. If after working your way through all of the steps above, you are still lost with regard to your dreams, you may have to make a decision. If the dreams aren't disturbing you or keeping your awake, perhaps you can will choose to ignore them. On the other hand, if they are interrupting your sleep or bothering you in some way, then you may choose to deal with them. Seek the assistance of someone with expertise in the area of dream interpretation.

Tips & Warnings

• Write down anything you can remember about the dream you want to analyze. Better yet, keep a dream diary. The true meaning of dreams may become apparent over a period of time as opposed to a single dream.
• Be careful not to gloss over anything in your dream or try to ignore something that particularly disturbs you.
• You can't dreams literally, as they are rarely meant that way.