For every eight hours of sleep, we spend almost two hours dreaming.  Where are those dreams hidden while we are awake and what do they really mean?  Read on for expert advice from Hawaii Pacific University "Psychology of Dreams" instructor Dalybeth Reasoner.

Dreams 101- Goodnight, Sweet Dreams

By Dalybeth Reasoner MSCP

Illustration by Andrew Catanzariti                                                                   

All of us dream, even those of us who do not remember them.  It is estimated that on an average night (eight hours of sleep), we spend about 100 minutes dreaming.  Throughout history, dreams have played an important role in society.  Primal tribes used dreams to contact dead ancestors, give cures for illnesses, travel out of their bodies, predict the future and reveal their life mission.  Egyptians used incubation temples (Book of the Dead) with fasting, potions and prayer to direct their dreams to answer questions.  Dreams have been God’s tool to speak to its people in religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

What role do dreams play in today’s world?  According to Freud, if you dream about a mountain, tree, sword, gun, hose, snake, rocket etc., it is a symbol for a phallus. If you dream about a cave, doors, shells, etc., it is a symbol for female genitalia.  If you dream about dancing, riding, climbing, etc., it is a symbol for sex.  I think you get the picture.  Freud thought we all had repressed sexual and aggressive wishes that we would only feel safe admitting in our dreams.  He had patients lie down on a couch (No, not what you think!) and say whatever came to their minds about objects in their dreams to get to the unconscious root.

Most psychologists agree that dreams are more than repressed sexual feelings. The current view is that dreams connect current emotional issues to past memories to make sense of it all. They allow us to explore possibilities more than our waking mind.  That is why many artists, scientists and musicians say they woke up from a dream with an answer, a painting or a song- Billy Joel said all the music he composed came from a dream, Mozart claimed some of his pieces came from dreams, Salvador Dali based some of his works on dreams.

Dreams are always trying to tell you something new about yourself that you are not aware of and that can improve your quality of life.  SO how can we know what they are trying to tell us?  First of all, to be able to do “Dream Work” you must remember your dreams.  Gayle Delaney is co-director of Delaney and Flowers Dream and Consultation Center in San Francisco and has worked with thousands of clients and their dreams.  She recommends:

• Keeping a dream journal and pen next to your bed.
• Get enough sleep (eight hours) and wake up naturally without an alarm.
• Before sleep, write down in you dream journal four lines about what you did and felt that day.
• Write dreams right away when you wake up (any pieces you remember).  If you can’t remember a dream, write your thoughts and feelings immediately upon awakening.

Now that you have a dream, how do you know what it means?  Do NOT be tempted to buy that Dream Dictionary you saw at Borders.  YOU are the producer, Director and Actor of your dream, who better to ask but YOU?  It takes a little time and patience but if you believe that your dreams are trying to tell you something you should know, it’s worth it!  Delaney has an interview method that will help you see what your dreams mean to you.

1. Take each part of your dream (place, person, animal, object and feeling) and describe it like you were telling someone of another planet.  Example: Apple, it is round, red, sweet, juicy, etc.
2. Then, ask yourself if it reminds you (Bridge) of ANYONE ANYTHING or ANY part of yourself in your waking life. EXAMPLE: Yes, it reminds me of my 10-month-old daughter (How so?) she is round and sweet and has red cheeks.  Then move onto the next item in the dream.
3. After you have done this with all the items in your dream, you will be able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and “see” what your dream is showing you.

If you can’t remember your dream, bridge your feelings or first thoughts to your waking life.  For example, if I wake up and all I remember is feeling terrified in my dream, I ask myself where in my life I am feeling that way.  It will show me an area where I might not have realized how terrified I really was of the situation.

INCUBATING DREAMS:  If you are trying to make a decision but are confused on what to do (Buy the white or black Range Rover?  London or Paris for the summer?  Marry Sean or Phillip? Atkins or the Zone? etc.), you an incubate your dreams to direct them to give you an answer to your specific problem:

• Pick the right night: eight hours of sleep, no alcohol or drugs, time before bed to write issue.
• Write four lines and thoughts and feelings of the day.
• Write out pros and cons of each choice.
• Write one line question of issue.  Example: Should I quit my job? (Dream specialist Alice Parker suggests placing written question in inside pillow case.)
• Repeat question over and over to yourself as you fall asleep (Try to only think of question and block any other thoughts.)
• Write dreams, thoughts, feelings, memories, movies, songs and anything that comes to mind right when you wake up.

Interview yourself using above method to find the answer your dream has given you.  Example: Wake up thinking of Grease after asked my question should I break up with Johnny?  Describe movie: two people in love but from different backgrounds that end up becoming more like what the other wants and drive off in a yellow Bug to the sky “Together.”  Answer: stay together!  (I think you get the idea.)

MY DREAM is that our society REMEMBERS the power we have in Dreams to become Active Creators of our Lives.  Sweet Dreams!

Recommended Dream Books:

“All About Dreams” By Gayle Delaney, “The Art of Dreaming” by Mellick, “Dream People” by Alice Parker and children’s book “Dream” by Susan Bosak

Recommended Dream Movies:

The Science of Sleep, Waking Life

Workshops:

I will be starting a “Dream Group” on the North Shore of Oahu.  Email me at dalybeth@aol.com if you are interested in joining.

Dalybeth Reasoner MSCP teaches Psychology of Dreams at HPU.  She also runs C.L.O.U.D.S. (Consciously Loving Our Unique and Divine Self) Holistic Psychotherapy, specializing in Dream Work, Nutrition and Lifestyle Counseling, Relationship and Emotional Guidance, and Creative Visualization.  (258-9482 or visit www.cloudstherapy.com)

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