Discovering the Heart Via Dreams

All humans dream.

It is a mysterious and fascinating experience as we sleep. We process our day, our experiences, our relationships, our decisions…well, we can process just about everything in our dreams. Some we remember and many we do not.

What is your relationship with dreams?

I have spend a good portion of the last 15 years of my life, listening, learning, interpreting, testing, and reevaluating my dreams. At first, I took all dreams to be divine directives. This lead to alot of poor decisions and messy outcomes. Soon, I realized that many of my dreams were revealing to me my own ways of being (when my mind wasn’t so busy trying to tell myself what I should be thinking or feeling). Dreams offered even more authenticity than I was often willing to admit or even notice during the day. 

Dream metaphors were exposing my fears, my cravings, my voids, my judgments and at times I got a touch or taste of something beyond myself in a dream, a divine intervention. Yet, I learned that dreams were often an invitation to learn more about myself and the way I moved through the world. Dreams were not just dictates. Dreams were great conversation starters not the final word. I became less dependent on dreams to make my decisions, yet more interested in letting dreams invite me to discover more about myself, this world, and the One who created us both.

Dreams are powerful and useful tools in many of the Art of the Heart sessions. Dreams announce the desires and priorities of the heart. Dreams can also be requests for fresh resolutions for past trauma, pain, or loss. Dreams can request a shift in relationship. Dreams can ask for courage. Dreams should not be neglected as they communicate beneficial information from the heart – information we are most likely too neglect during the day when distractions abound.

Dreams are personal

I also understand how personal dreams can be – we each have a unique set of memories, metaphors, and ways of processing our experiences. Because of the personal touch of dreams, they can feel vulnerable to share. Yet, sharing our dreams can open us up to reflections and insights we would not have captured without sharing them. I encourage people to share their dreams with me. There is an art to dream interpretation that comes with time, practice, testing, and committed interest. Because of my investment in the understanding of how dreams are packaged and puzzled, I can often unravel a dream in minutes which could have confused someone for years.

On Two Amigo Tuesday, I had the joy of doing some live dream interpretation. Check out the fun and insights into the dreams of the heart here:

Awkward dreams

We may even feel ashamed of how a symbol or story line in our dream shows up. Interestingly, there are a few common dream experiences that are almost always metaphorical and are no need for concern. I am going to list a few of the common ones here:

1. Being naked – These dreams are relating to our sense of vulnerability and exposure. We may be in public, in a restroom (which often indicates some time of cleansing or release), or in our own home. The location and surrounding characters will give you insight into how you are relating to the exposure or release.
2. Embracing an old romance/crush – These dreams are relating to a desire to feel the way we felt in the best moments of the relationship. They do not necessarily indicate that we want to return to the ex-lover.
3. Wearing clothes of the opposite sex – These dreams indicate a longing to resolve how we present the male or female aspects of our personality in the world.
4. Losing a wallet or purse stolen – These dreams relate to a sense of identity and valuables being lost or stolen. We then are in process of reclaiming and securing aspects of ourselves.
5. Driving a car – These dreams are in reference to how we feel we are moving forward in the world, often in our careers or purpose. If someone else is driving or we are in the back seat, we can feel like we don’t have as much ownership as needed to steer our course. Also, we could be driving someone else’s car, indicating we are not putting enough energy in our own purpose. The car could crash, go backwards, not have brakes, and exhibit a number of various issues that bring to our attention our relationship with our purpose.
6. Large wave or flooding – These dreams relate to a sense of feeling overwhelmed and a loss of control. This could be considered a good or bad thing depending on the context of the dream.
7. Childhood experiences – These dreams can express a longing to reclaim something valuable in childhood or resolve difficult childhood experiences. One can be in a current waking situation that reminds them of similar experiences in the past.
8. Snakes, Lions, Bears, Oh my! – These dreams relate to fears and possible personality characteristics in people around you that are truly there and worth acknowledging or a projection of your own fear.
9. Slam dunks, Touchdowns, & Superstar status – These dreams could indicate a desire to shine more in daily life. One may feel unnoticed or overlooked and imagine that these metaphorical situations would give him/her the attention and approval he/she is seeking.

This is just the beginning of what dreams could be revealing to you about your very own heart! I encourage you to write them down and notice the emotional themes of the dreams. If you are experiencing something repetitively in your dream life, it is really calling for your attention.

Consider receiving an Art of the Heart session to become more intimately aware of what your dream is attempting to communicate. Dreams are a way of accessing awareness when our waking lives are full and often distracted. Your heart is speaking, so dream on and discover what it has to say!

Much love from my heart to yours,