Dreamwork Basics
by Linda Miller-Russo
and Peter Miller-Russo
These dreamwork basics include tips on remembering your dreams and a special
method for interpreting them. This information has been condensed from our study
of the dream worlds over the past twenty years.
Remembering Your Dreams
In order to work with our dream self we must first and foremost remember our
dreams. Often we may wake up in the morning believing that we have not had any
dreams. But it is more likely that we have not yet remembered the dreams we did
indeed have. Think of the many times you have gotten up and dressed and gone off
to work or school and then, out of the blue, recalled a dream experience. Such
recall comes suddenly and for no apparent reason. This is one way our dreams
come back to us.
Don't feel discouraged if you do not remember your dreams on awakening. Dream
recall can come at any time during your day, and you can do many things to
encourage better dream recall. We've put together a list of our favorite ten.
Key #1: Get Enough Restful Sleep
Most people need at least six to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep in order
to experience the highest level of dream recall. We need to go through the
ninety-minute sleep/dream cycle several times before we become rested enough to
have a conscious memory of our dreams.
With some exceptions, most people who only get four or five hours of sleep
each night short-circuit their natural dream cycle. Only you know exactly how
sleep much you need. You might want to experiment several nights in a row to
discover the optimum number of hours you need to obtain the clearest dream
recall.
Key #2: Sleep with Your Head to the North
Sleeping with your head pointing true north puts your body and its
corresponding chakra system in alignment with the polar magnetism of the earth.
Yogi masters, mystics, and psychics have long recommended this position for
healthful sleep. We have found that sleeping with our head to the north
strengthens our connection to the higher, intuitive self; promotes the health of
the body and the central nervous system; enhances restful sleep; and stimulates
the highest and most vivid level of dream recall.
A simple compass can assist you in determining true north in your bedroom.
Sleeping with your head to the other three compass directions will also affect
your sleep experiences. For example, sleeping with your head to the south
grounds you to the earth. This helps to reduce the occurrence of nightmares and
invasive dreams. However, the downside of the south position is that it tends to
dampen dream recall.
Key #3: Set Your Intentions with an Affirmation
We have discovered that what we pay attention to most often grows stronger
and bears fruit. And so it is with dreams. Giving conscious attention to dreams
will allow you to receive important messages of healing and wisdom that the
hidden parts of you (subconscious, emotional, higher, and soul selves) are
trying to bring to your attention every night.
It is especially helpful to use a simple, strongly worded affirmation of
intention before you fall asleep at night. Try something like, "I will remember
my dreams in the morning." Repeat this affirmation, or one similar to it,
several times as you fall asleep.
Key #4: Keep Dream Tools Handy
Acknowledge how serious you are about your dream worlds by keeping your dream
journal or a tape recorder close to your bedside. Then make an inner commitment
to use these tools each night. It also helps to have a small flashlight handy
when recording your dreams; oftentimes turning on a bright light will drive your
dream memories away. A bright light may also awaken you so much that you will
find it difficult to fall back to sleep.
Key #5: Give Yourself Extra Time in the Morning
An obvious but sometimes overlooked aid to remembering your dreams is to
simply set aside an extra fifteen minutes in the morning for remembering and
recording your dreams. Set the alarm fifteen minutes earlier than usual or train
yourself to wake earlier so that you don't have to jump out of bed in a rush to
get ready for work or school.
Key #6: Keep Your Eyes Closed
Another key to remembering your dreams is to keep your eyes closed when you
first awaken to reduce the amount of external stimuli that normally floods your
brain in the morning. It also provides a blank screen upon which your dream
symbols, memories, and images can form. Finally, it promotes a state of
relaxation that is beneficial when trying to access dream memories.
Keys #7 and 8. Relax and Be Still and
Re-Create Your Dream in Reverse Sequence
Remember to keep your body as still as possible as you wake up. Wiggling,
stretching, or sitting up can drive the memory of your dreams away just as
quickly as a bright light can. Sometimes you may remember only one image or
scene upon awakening. Don't worry! If you relax and lay still, you can often
trace this one image backward and reconstruct your dream, frame by frame, from
the last scene to the middle scenes and, eventually, to the beginning.
Key #9: Journal Your Feelings, Daydreams, Fantasies
Get into a daily habit of journaling your feelings, daydreams, and fantasies.
You might be thinking: I don't have time for this! And it's true, many of us
lead extremely busy lives and simply do not have a lot of extra time. But this
type of journaling does not require a lot of extra time. Don't feel as if you
need to record every event or thought of the day.
Simply jot down a paragraph or two (usually in the evening just before bed),
describing any feelings, fantasies, or interesting thoughts you experienced that
day. Even just a few words or key phrases will help trigger your memory of an
idea or feeling you may want to explore later on. You will be rewarded with deep
insights into your patterns and life processes when you connect your journal
information to the issues being brought up in your dreams.
Dreams are internal manifestations of our thoughts, hopes, fears, and
conflicts. They provide us with a stage upon which to examine our issues from
the various viewpoints of our self-segments, and, most important, they often
offer us creative solutions to dilemmas -- solutions that have eluded our
conscious mind.
Key #10. Create a Dream-Sharing Ritual
Create a morning dream ritual. Make it as simple or as complex as you choose.
For example, Linda's mother created a morning dream ritual for her family simply
by encouraging everyone to talk about his or her dreams during breakfast. Even
if you live alone and have no built-in dream partners, you can still create
meaningful rituals. One way is to bring your dreams to work and share them with
an interested co-worker. You could also call or email a friend. The feedback we
get from interested dream partners can provide valuable insights into our
relationships and our inner psyches.
Although all the keys we have discussed are simple, they do require you to
change. During your efforts to use these keys, don't become discouraged if you
find it difficult to change your old habits to make time for the new activities
outlined in the keys. Replacing old habits with new energy patterns is not easy.
In order to be successful in changing your habits and installing a new pattern,
your desire to work with your dream-self must be strong. The good news is that
once you do establish a new pattern, it will become easier and easier for that
pattern to take hold. Eventually it will become automatic, and you will gain all
the benefit without great effort.
Interpreting Your Dreams
As you interpret your dreams, you may find that they contain direct and
literal communications from the angels, your spirit guides, and deceased loved
ones. At other times the angels will influence your dream maker to provide you
with dreams that contain encoded messages from your self-segments (the parts of
your self, your component aspects, broken into parts for analysis and
understanding).
Dreams that come from your self-segments can be viewed as plays or movies,
complete with a cast of characters, props, settings, emotions, plots, action,
and important dialogue. To understand and properly interpret them, you need to
examine each of these elements.
We find the following seven-step process an efficient way of getting a
remarkably complete dream interpretation.
1. Make an inventory or list of each of the characters that appear in your
dream, both human and non-human.
2. Examine your feelings about the dream characters.
3. Examine your role in the dream and your relationships to the dream
characters.
4. Review the actions taking place in the dream.
5. Find out what aspect of yourself the dream characters represent by
engaging them in imaginary conversation.
6. Analyze the dream setting (location/time of day/environment).
7. Consider your current life situation.
Each of these steps is crucial to proper dream interpretation. Let's examine
each in turn.
1. Make an Inventory of Characters
Who are the villains and the saints in your dreams? Why have they appeared in
your dreams? What do they represent? Most likely they represent you. Or, more
accurately, they represent a part of you, usually a part that is hidden from
your conscious awareness, a part that wants to emerge and be recognized by you,
the conscious self.
Sometimes your dream characters encapsulate a hurt or traumatized part of
you, at other times they can represent a wisdom aspect of you such as your
higher self. That's why the first step in interpreting a dream is to make an
inventory of the characters that appear in it (both human and non-human).
Why are these different parts of you trying to emerge and gain your
attention? While the surface reason may vary, the ultimate reason never does.
The ultimate reason is simply this: to promote the healing and wholeness of your
psyche.
Most of us have had dreams in which at least some of the following characters
appeared: monster, sister, priest, brother, father, man with a knife, lover,
mother, daughter, teacher, vampire, baby kitten, spouse, employer, doctor,
soldier, actress, saint, witch, judge, angel, dog, friend, co-worker.
From the list above, pick three characters that have inhabited your
dreamscapes. If none of these characters have appeared in your dreams, choose
three others that have. Write them down in the spaces provided.
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3._____________________________
2. Examine Your Feelings
The next step in the dream interpretation process is to determine your
feelings toward the characters you uncovered in step one. With each character,
ask yourself the following question: What are my feelings toward this character
(fear, respect, a desire to nurture, anxiety, jealousy)?
Sometimes you may find it hard to identify exactly what or how you feel about
a particular dream character. In such cases you may find it helpful to view the
word not as a specific character from your dream but as a character in general.
For example, let's say you picked the character "mother." What feelings are
evoked when you read or hear that word? To further narrow it down, ask yourself
about your feelings about your own mother, and finally, if it applies -- how do
you feel about being (or becoming) a mother?
Once you have identified your general feelings about the character, you can
then look at the feeling that's evoked by the specific dream character. You can
see that there may be myriad feelings to sort out. The better we know ourselves
the easier it will be to discover the purpose and meaning of the characters that
appear in our dreams.
3. Examine Your Role and Relationships
Next, you'll want to examine how you relate to the characters in your dreams.
What was your role in the dream? What was your relationship to each character?
For example, using the sample characters from step one above, were you cast in
the dream as a student to the teacher character? Or as director to the actress?
Or as victim to the man with the knife? What role did you play? The role that we
play offers a significant key to interpreting the dream.
Sometimes our consciousness is not focused within any of the dream
characters. It may seem as if we are floating above the drama, watching it
unfold. That we are "watching life unfold" is in itself an important message to
pay attention to. Whatever issue the drama depicts is the one that we are being
"passive" about. This type of dream tells us that we need to examine this
passive attitude and perhaps take some positive action.
4. Review the Actions
Lights -- camera -- action! Next you'll want to review the actions taken by
the characters in your dream. These actions often reflect an issue you are
dealing with (or should be examining) in your waking fife. If someone was
chasing you, for example, examine your fife for an issue you are not facing. You
may be literally "running away" from that issue.
The action in your dream can also reflect a need that is not getting met in
your life. If you dream you are nursing a baby or caring for a tiny kitten, this
might indicate a deep need to nurture -- perhaps to nurture the innocent,
childlike part of yourself. Alternatively, "nursing a baby" could symbolize your
attitude toward a new project you've started and are trying to complete. In
short, when trying to understand the actions taken by the characters in your
dreams, always examine them in the context of your current issues and life
situation.
5. Converse with Your Characters
This next step involves creating an imaginary dialogue between yourself and
your dream characters. This process extends not only to the people and animals
in your dream but also to inanimate objects, such as containers, windows, trees,
tables, or utensils. In other words all the characters you've listed in step
one. For example, if you listed a brown leather book as a character from your
dream you might ask that book the following questions: Why have you appeared in
my dream? What is your title? How does it feel to be a book? Why are you made
out of brown leather? What can the pages inside you tell me about myself? Next,
answer the questions as if you were the book. The idea is to take the point of
view of as many of the characters in your dream as possible and have them
dialogue with you and each other in order to gain as much information from them
as you can.
The questions you ask your characters during this step should naturally lead
you to other questions. Use your imagination here and allow yourself to "hear"
the characters' responses to your questions. Follow-up questions will be likely
based on their earlier responses. You may find this process odd, but it is
possibly the most critical step in the dream interpretation process.
6. Analyze the Dream Setting
The sixth step is to define the dream setting and environment. For example,
is the dream set outdoors, at your grandmother's house, at school, at work? This
information tells you what time period in your life the dream issue is
reflecting. For example, if you have a dream that takes place in your
grandmother's home, you are likely being directed to examine a childhood issue.
The dream environment (weather, time of day, and so on) also contains
important details to help you interpret your dream. For example, darkness
signifies that you are not consciously aware of the core issue being brought up
by your dream. A cloudy dreamscape denotes inner doubt about the dream situation
or unresolved concerns or problems; a clear sky indicates a deep level of
clarity and understanding of the elements within your dream.
7. Consider Your Current Life Situation
Our dreams often reflect issues that we struggle with in our daily life,
therefore the seventh and final step requires that you consider your current
life situation. Your dreams could very easily be offering you a creative
solution to one or more problems as well as serving as a safe environment to
vent and explore your feelings about some issue. As you interpret your dreams,
reflect on any issues or problems you may have experienced over the past few
days or weeks.
Upon completing the seven steps, the message of your dream should become more
apparent to you. How do you know when you've reached the proper interpretation?
As with anything in life that you're sure of, you'll have a strong feeling
within you that you have properly received and understood the message. Also, the
more time you spend practicing these steps and learning your unique symbology,
the more you'll feel confident about your interpretation.
 This
article is excerpted from the book:
Dreaming with the Archangels: A Spiritual Guide to
Dream Journeying
by Linda Miller-Russo and Peter Miller-Russo.
©2002. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Red Wheel Weiser.
www.redwheelweiser.com
Info/Order this book.
About the Authors
Linda and Peter Miller-Russo co-founded The Circle of Enlightenment, where
they present the Archangels' Plan of Healing through books, tapes, Soul Name
Songs?, Angel study courses, Angel readings, and past life regressions. Together
they wrote Angelic Enlightenment.
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