Dreamwork: The 5 Important Lessons of Dreams & How to Learn Them
by SixWise.com
Dr. Peter Reznik is a new SixWise.com contributing editor
whose insightful articles, like the one below, will appear routinely
in the free SixWise.com e-newsletter. Dr. Reznik is a staff member
of the Schachter Center for Complementary Medicine, and a faculty
member of the American Institute of Mental Imagery. A former director
of the Petrie Institute of Hypnosis, and consultant to the American
Health Foundation, he has practiced psychotherapy and conducted
wellness seminars for twenty-five years in the former USSR, Israel,
France and the United States. You can read more about Dr. Reznik
following his article below.
Dr. Reznik's highly recommended CD,
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recognized expertise in mind/body integrative therapy, behavior
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Part
1
Why do we have dreams? What do they mean? From where do those images
come? Why do some dreams reoccur? Why do we have nightmares? How
can we eliminate disturbing dreams?
Akin to imagination, night dreams are a universal human phenomenon
which unites all people across the barriers of age, sexual difference,
racial background, social and historical circumstance.
Understanding your dreams can help provide you answers to
dealing with your problems, as you will read below.
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Ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptians, Australian Aborigines and Hawaiians,
Hebrews and Christians, Arabs and Malaysians all regarded night dreams
as messages from the invisible reality to our conscious awareness
about our physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual
well-being.
Moses Maimonides said "Tell me what your dreams are, and I
will tell you not only what you are, but what you are to become."
A night dream comes with a purpose of aligning us with the present
moment and showing us to us. When looking into a dream we are looking
into a mirror. In our waking life when we look into a mirror we
see quantities of ourselves; that is; one nose, two eyes ... In
the dream life we look into qualities of ourselves represented by
characters in the dream.
Any person, place or event in the dream holds tremendous significance
for understanding ourselves. Nightmares are simply messages from
the deepest part of ourselves to our consciousness calling for change.
If unheeded, not only may we continue to suffer from the unpleasantness
of a "bad" dream, but we run the risk of perpetuating
negativity in our waking life.
By uncovering the language and symbolism of dreams we can learn
about:
- Our relationship with the world and ourselves around the time
of the dream.
- The "global" issues (physical and emotional challenges)
that we face in our lives.
- The condition of our body at the time of the dream.
- Our unconscious beliefs.
- How to solve our problems.
Part
2
First I will focus upon the subject of how "to work the dream"
in order to gain insight about our relationship with ourselves and
the world around us.
Here are some basic guidelines in "working the dream."
You, in a dream, are qualities of yourself that you identify with.
Other characters are the qualities that you consciously do not identify
with. If you remember a dream upon awakening, make time to work
on the dream, preferably right away. This is because the dream might
be informing you about something that needs to be addressed during
the coming day.
The first three questions you ask are:
-
How do I feel upon awakening from this dream? Determining
your feelings about the dream will give you a sense of whether
or not the issue brought up by the dream is resolved. For example,
if you feel puzzled, the dream may be informing you that there
are things in your life you are not aware of. If you feel happy
or relieved upon awakening, perhaps some issue in your life
was resolved and the dream reflects the change.
-
What was the setting? The setting speaks of where you
are in your inner life. If you were traveling, the dream may
speak about your journey in life. If you are in a hospital,
the dream may be telling you something about being ill, or possibly
recovering. If you are in the school, it may be about education,
learning lessons in life. If you are in a foreign country, you
are in a place that is foreign to you. Ask yourself how you
feel about this country, why this particular and not any other
country, what is the first thought that comes to you when you
think about this country? That will tell you how you feel about
being in this new place.
-
If this dream was a story, what title would I give it?
This will reveal the general theme permeating the dream.
Remember, the meaning that you attribute to different events, places,
or people in your dream is strictly individual, since each person
has a unique personal history, attitudes, appreciation, and dislikes.
Answering the questions above will immediately give you a sense
of the issues with which you are dealing. Work on small segments
of a dream first, identifying what qualities of yourself you
experienced and how they related to each other, then see if
there is any analogy (points of similarity) between the events of
the dream and your waking life.
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Here is an illustration of "working a dream" of L., a
36-year-old mother of an 11 month-old and 6-years-old sons. L. remembered
a dream in which she was visiting a prison. There, in a cell she
found B., an old friend from college whom she had not seen for ten
years. B. pleaded with L. to get her out of prison, but L. said,
"No, no, I can't, don't tell anyone you know me," and
ran out.
Upon awakening L. felt sad, guilty, and ashamed. The setting spoke
for itself. The title L. gave the dream was "Betraying a Friend."
(This was my conversation with her - I am "P.R." of course.)
P.R.: Within 1 to 72 hours around the dream have you felt
like a prisoner.
L.: Not really, I have so much fun with my little boy.
He is such a blessing...
P.R.: What is the first thing that comes to you when you
think about B., what kind of a person do you remember her to be?
L.: Oh, fearlessly independent and very creative.
P.R.: So, continue please, there is a fearlessly independent
and creative quality of yourself that is in prison ...
L.: This quality is pleading to me to get my spirit of
independence and creativity out of prison. I don't want anyone
to know that I have anything to do with this quality. Though I
feel guilty about it I can not help it to be free ...
At this point L. had the "aha" experience. Yes, she is
happy to have the second baby but she also has no time for herself
and for doing things that she likes. Often she feels lonely, trapped,
and unable to share with her husband about her feelings because
"he works so hard so I could stay with the children."
These realizations enabled L. to become aware of the issues she
was facing and to make changes in her life that would benefit her
and her family.
Read
the Second Half of This Article Now!
(you'll learn the meaning of numbers and of
dominant colors in your dreams!)
Dr. Peter Reznik Biography
Dr.
Peter Reznik is a new SixWise.com contributing editor whose insightful
articles, like the one below, will appear routinely in the free
SixWise.com e-newsletter. Dr. Reznik is a staff member of the Schachter
Center for Complementary Medicine, and a faculty member of the American
Institute of Mental Imagery. A former director of the Petrie Institute
of Hypnosis, and consultant to the American Health Foundation, he
has practiced psychotherapy and conducted wellness seminars for
twenty-five years in the former USSR, Israel, France and the United
States.
Dr. Reznik is a recognized specialist in the fields of mind/body
integrative therapy, behavior modification, mental imagery, dream
work, clinical hypnosis, and holistic counseling.
He holds Master degrees in linguistics and social work and a
Doctorate in health and human services. He received his post-graduate
training at the American Institute of Mental Imagery.
Dr. Reznik has conducted wellness programs for such corporations
as Conde Nast Publications, Lilco, Smith Barney, Citibank, Morgan
Stanley, Con Edison, Gray Advertising, and Estee Lauder. He has
been interviewed by such popular magazines as "New York",
"El", "Mirabella", "Sassy", "B.E.",
"Style", "Detail", "Organic Style",
and "Harper's Bazaar". Most recently, he appeared
as a guest on National Public Radio, on Fox Five News and BBC, and
on WBAI's "Natural Living with Gary Null."