Reccuring Dreams

Recurring Dreams

Recurring dreams can be extremely informative and important to decipher. Your subconscious mind has gone to a great deal of trouble to send the same "dream telegram" several times, and it will generally continue to do so until you recognize the insight being offered, or outgrow the issue being addressed. Often these dreams recur for a discrete period of time, such as during childhood, adolescence, college years, or during a specific relationship or period of employment. If you outgrow or move away from a certain lifestyle you may stop having the recurring dream, unless something in your current situation strikes a similar emotional chord from your past; then the dream may resurface, like an emotional "home movie" of certain feelings and moods. 

Recurring dreams often come about for one of two reasons: 

First, the dreamer has a recurring pattern in waking life that has not been consciously recognized. These dreams replay an objectively honest, though highly dramatized picture of some behavior or tendency that has an ongoing impact on current circumstances. A woman who chronically gave too much of herself dreamed repeatedly that she was a caterer, although she had never worked in the hospitality field. A man with an uncontrolled temper dreamed he carried a sword with which he beheaded anyone who crossed him. A woman who married into a rigid, old-fashioned family and tried to accommodate their restrictions had a series of dreams set in Nazi concentration camps. Like many recurring themes, these dreams reflected current conditions waking life, and illustrated the ways in which these people contributed to the very things that troubled them. 

A second common connection with recurring dreams is a cyclical area of unresolved feelings or concern for the dreamer. People who have suffered abuse, trauma, injury or loss will frequently have recurring dreams about their painful experience which lessen in frequency and intensity over time. Any type of personal grief, loss, or anxiety can have a ripple effect that makes us feel vulnerable, and unable to adequately control the elements of life. When faced with any experience similar to the area of loss or threat from the past, we may dream again of the lover who left us at the alter, the teacher who ridiculed our speech, or the childhood friend we haven't seen in years. 

Recurring Dreams Try to Problem-Solve: In many recurring dreams we are attempting to resolve a problem; these attempts may help slightly, be laughably ineffectual, or make matters worse. These attempted solutions often reflect the manner in which we are trying to go about matters in waking life. It is important to identify the part of your life that is being reviewed in the dreams, but it is also important to examine the way you respond during the dream action. You may notice that you are waiting in a line where you will never be served, or that you are zealously trying to chop wood with a butter knife. Recurring dreams shed light on things we're missing while we are awake; sometimes we can see we are barking up the wrong tree, and other times we are given clues toward a more workable solution. 

You Are the Authority on Your Dreams: Whatever your recurring dream, you can assume it is reflecting something in your current life situation, even if the dream takes you back in time. Presuppose there is something useful and constructive within your recurring dreams, and examine the action and setting from a metaphorical perspective. These dreams can reflect the pieces of your life in a more meaningful whole, so sort through their action carefully. Examine the common dream themes to stimulate your personal associations to dream imagery, but remember, these descriptions are strong probabilities, not rules. You are the best judge of what your dreams reveal. The following are general themes offered to get you started with your own dream explorations: 

Flying

Being Chased

Unprepared for the exam

Not Enoug Credits to Graduate

You Lost Your Car

Your Teeth Fell Out

Climbing Uphill

Naked In Public

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Flying

You are flying high above cities, crowds, or landscapes with intense pleasure and the ability to steer and navigate by various means. You may steer with your hands outstretched like Superman, or keep hands on your hips or behind your back and steer by leaning head and shoulders. Some of us keep arms outstretched like wings, and soar by a riding the wind and flapping. What most of these flying dreams have in common is the intense freedom, exhilaration and autonomy of the dreamer. You may go through a moment of excited recollection when you think: "Oh yes, I remember now, I can fly." 

Most Common Meaning: These flying dreams are hallmarked by a sense of freedom, exhilaration and mastery. They are most common to the person who does something well, and feels transported by their ability to perform a task. They may also be experienced by anyone who achieves a tremendous sense of exhilaration because of a recent experience. Public speakers, professional communicators, and people in the media are very prone to these flying dreams. Some people have these wonderful flying dreams after a particularly moving or fulfilling sexual encounter. The thing these dreams tend to have in common is a recent experience of exhilaration, pleasure and freedom. 

Useful Questions: 

Is there some activity you enjoy that gives you a high, or a sense of liberation? 

Do you get to perform in front of an audience? 

If there is an obstacle or problem in the dream, what might be restricting your expression in waking life and how can you respond to that obstacle more effectively? 

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Being Chased

They’re after you again. You may be stalked with agonizing suspense; or you may race for your life in breathless panic. The things after you may be monsters, wild animals, or a serial killer. Many people are chased by blobs. There is an escalation of threat, a sense of losing ground to increasing danger throughout the dream. Many people feel such panic that they awaken spontaneously, while others gain some temporary security, but wonder if the monster will come back later. 

Most Common Meaning: Recurring chase dreams seem to arise in response to periods of pressure and anxiety in waking life. When a particular situation strikes a familiar cord or vulnerability with the dreamer he may have a recurrence of the chase scenario. For many, dreams of being chased originated in childhood and continue into adulthood; generally decreasing in frequency with maturity. One of the most common metaphors for the sensation of threat in the dreamer's life in the dream of being chased. The subconscious mind tends to scan for threat or any condition that makes us feel unsafe, and to link that sensation to early times in life when we may have felt unsafe. Thus these dreams often contain scenes, characters, or settings from early childhood that seem incongruous to current life contexts. Many of us had elements in childhood, such as abuse, intimidation, or simply unpleasantness from which we felt the need to escape. Keep in mind that the subjective experience of threat is all that is necessary for a child to develop these nightmares. The actual catalyst for such dreams need not be the stuff of high drama. Children are entirely vulnerable to the situation in which they find themselves, so their feelings of helplessness can be quite strong despite fairly "normal" conditions. Many people who have suffered a loss, trauma, or frightening near-miss may find lesser events of a vaguely similar nature bring residual fears to the surface. Consciously acknowledging fears may sometimes diffuse the bottled-up tension that becomes channeled into chase dreams. Writing and sharing these dreams with trusted friends can be a great help in reducing their recurrence. 

Useful Questions: 

Question whether you are keeping yourself in a relationship, a job, a group or a location that is inappropriate for you. 

Sometimes we hold ourselves in the line of fire unnecessarily. Consider whether the pressure you place on yourself is part of the "Monster" that won't get off your back. It is easy to internalize the expectations of others and then to torture ourselves with them.

Unprepared for the Exam

You come into the testing area and sit down. It is only when you open the examination that it hits you. You never attended this class. You remember now that you did register, but somehow there was a mistake and you just forgot to attend the class. There is no way to pass the test, and no way to explain this ridiculous mistake. You sit there and sweat. 

Most Common Meaning: Interestingly, the person who has this dream is almost always someone who would never let themselves attend a test unprepared. That is why it can be so puzzling: you are the last person who would forget to do your homework. This dream recurs for people who have a tendency to take on too much and then judge themselves quite harshly for not measuring up to a pretty tough standard. It is most common to people with a strong track record of achievements who drive themselves somewhat hard. The dream surfaces during periods of high stress, transition into new responsibilities, and periods when the dreamer is stepping up to bat yet again. 

Useful Question: 

Do you "grade" yourself on material in life that has not yet been covered - which you could not realistically be expected to know? Although the tendency to achieve and measure performance is healthy, there is a point at which internal "audits" of performance can be counter-productive. Consider whether you hold yourself accountable for too many things at once; or for things over which you have no control.

Not Enough Credits to Graduate

You are in an important part of your life right now, and you don’t need this. Somehow your high school has discovered that you never took algebra, even though it was required. Your high school diploma is being recalled, which in turn makes your college diploma void. This turn of events disqualifies you for the job you’ve been holding for years. You have to immediately go back to high school and attend algebra class or you life will grind to a halt. 

Most Common Meaning: This dream often accompanies a rite-of-passage in waking life. The person who gets a promotion, takes on greater responsibility or begins to gain peer recognition for achievements or contributions is quite prone to this theme. Many of us are assailed with a sense of fraudulence when others begin to acknowledge our efforts, regardless of how deserving we may be. This dream seems to exaggerate and make ridiculous the subjective sense many have of being "unqualified" to "take credit" for our accomplishments. 

Useful Questions: 

Have you recently stepped into an arena of greater visibility? 

Are people beginning to acknowledge you or your work in a new way? 

Do you experience a mixture of pleasure and concern that you may be "discovered" to be flawed or inadequately credentialed? Considered in a more objective light, you may find these concerns are somewhat absurd - like being forced to return to take high school algebra.

You Lost Your Car

Everything begins normally in this story. You have gone to work or on an errand and parked your car. But when you come back to get in your car it is not where you put it. It doesn't seem to have been stolen, but it isn't in the right parking place. Everyone else seems to know where their cars are, but you wander around feeling silly and bewildered and frustrated. Where could it have gone? 

Most Common Meaning: Cars in dreams often relate to the dreamer's career, or predominant identity in waking life. Your car is your "vehicle," the way you move through life, and it may be grand or shabby depending on your view of things on any given day. Losing track of your car is a theme that occurs when you have done what was expected of you, made the best choice you could under the circumstances, but you still don't feel your talents and abilities are being fully used. Your "vehicle" in those terms is not in its right place. This doesn't suggest you need to quit your job, rather the dream is reflecting a sense of being out-of-place, and of feeling that things didn't turn out according to plan. This theme usually recurs during periods of deep frustration; so don't be alarmed if the dreams themselves are highly annoying and disquieting. 

Useful Questions: 

In what way are you feeling out-of-place regarding your talents, abilities and inclinations? 

Have things turned out differently than you expected? 

Does the dream action suggest any possibilities to you about what you would really love to do? Your Teeth Fell Out

You feel something funny in your mouth. Putting your tongue against your teeth you have a terrible moment when you notice they’re all loose. You taste a little blood. Pushing a little harder with your tongue you groan as the teeth come out. You spit a few teeth into your hand, and to your horror they all start falling out. You run to the mirror and look at yourself. This can’t be happening. 

Most Common Meaning: Teeth appear strangely related to our subjective sense of power; including the ability to take in and manage new experiences, as well as the ability to speak out and communicate our needs and support our own decisions and preferences. Some researchers believe the loss-of-teeth scenes may deal with fear of aging, or concern about loss of attractiveness, and these are reasonable possibilities. In my own work most dreamers indicate a stronger feeling-association with not supporting their own decisions and preferences, or holding back something they had to say. These dreams recur during periods of increased stress, particularly when the dreamer is caught in the middle of a bind and must try to satisfy opposing points of view. 

Useful Questions: 

Are you feeling boxed-in by a certain situation? 

Have you recently given up on a decision you made previously? 

Do you feel you must force yourself to make the best of a bad bargain right now? Discretion is indeed wise in many situations, so don't feel you are making a mistake; you are likely taking the best course of action right now. Consider how you can keep the peace with others while still honoring your own principles, and supporting your long-range hopes for the future.

Climbing Uphill

You may be climbing on foot through rough and treacherous terrain, or driving up an incredibly steep mountain road unable to remember if you have enough gas to make the climb. Some people actually climb up a sheer rock face without the right equipment, finding hand and footholds wherever they can. There is usually some awkwardness about the equipment, the shoes you wear, the vehicle you're driving, and the territory is outrageously difficult to navigate. 

Most Common Meaning: Anything that feels like "an uphill battle" may cause this type of dream scene. People completing college, going through intensive professional training, or tackling greater challenges are prone to various climbing dreams. Implied in these dreams is the fact that the progress we make will be advantageous or beneficial, there is usually some kind of accomplishment or improvement being sought. Generally when we try to do something of magnitude we must also manage our reactions very carefully by day. You can't wet your pants during the board meeting, or sob your way through the bar exam. As determined as your presentation may be by day, exaggerations of the enormity of the project or challenge are likely to be depicted by night. Author William Styron once said that writing a novel is like deciding to crawl from New York to Poland on your knees. It's an incredible task. Any new area of challenge or a new chapter in life can seem like a mountain we have to climb, especially when we can't avoid this mountain, we have to climb it. 

Useful Questions: 

You probably can identify the mountain in your own life by asking what are your concerns in the dream? 

Are they representing real-life concerns about energy reserves, making the right choices, or how you appear to others as you make the climb? The worries in these dreams often reflect thought-patterns that weigh us down during waking life. By consciously recognizing the underlying fears that bother us, we can limit the impact they have on performance and ultimate achievement.

Naked In Public

At the office, in a mall, at a friend's party or on a crowded street, you suddenly realize you're stark naked or only partially dressed. Through some snafu you left the house without getting dressed today, or you simply came to work wearing only your underwear. Now here you are at the West Mall, or in the board meeting incredibly daunted by your predicament. This is terrible, what will people think? How in the world could you have forgotten to get dressed? You do what you can, ducking behind a lamppost or holding a calculator in front of you. Strangely though, everyone goes about their business, working or shopping as usual and although you continue to be mortified, no one actually notices you aren't dressed. 

Most Common Meaning: This dream usually dramatizes a feeling of vulnerability and exposure in waking life. It is particularly common to people who have accepted a promotion, gone off to a new school, or who are coming into public view for some reason. A new relationship can cause these dreams as well, because when feelings and needs are exposed to another person we feel vulnerable or emotionally naked. Even people who deal very effectively with the real-life exposure seem to experience these dreams from time to time. Despite the sensation that people can see everything about you, no one is really looking! This can be important to consider. After all, people are not worried about your problems, they are worried about their problems. 

Useful Questions: 

Is there an area of life where you have taken on a new role - one you haven't become used to yet? 

Are you feeling emotionally naked in your personal life, or exposed in a personal way? Consider the way everyone goes about their business in this dream, despite your concerns. We usually feel far more vulnerable than we truly are. Try to remember other times in life when you entered a new arena and felt green and raw. Keep in mind that it takes time to grow into a new role, and that taking risks means feeling vulnerable sometimes.