Drowning – Many Replies

-Serena2015-12-11 2:44:38

I often have basically this same dream and don’t know why. I’m always in a car with some of my closest family or friends (usually family). For some reason we always get in a crash and end up in this lake that’s about 30 minutes from my old house. In every dream I do everything I can to help save one of them, usually the youngest first. Then one of two things happen- I either get above water safely with the person I helped first but when I try to get someone to help me get the others it’s like I can’t talk or I’m just not there. If that doesn’t happen then while I’m trying to help someone in the car their seatbelt is locked and I can’t do anything to help them get out of it. I have these dreams at least once a month and they started around the end of last year. I don’t know why I have them or what they mean so I was wondering if you could help me understand?

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-17 10:34:43

Dear Serena – I can imagine how you must feel in dreams like these and yet you do not mention any of your feelings once. Are you aware of that? Are you aware of the way you habitually respond to certain situations in your waking life?http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/ If we take away the images and events occurring in a dream and simply look to see what feelings or emotions are evident, the dream is often more understandable than if we try to interpret the symbols. Feelings in dreams are nearly always undistorted. We therefore do not need to interpret them, simply to recognise them and see if we can recognise where they occur in waking life. You wrote; “For some reason we always get in a crash.” Are other people involved in the crash; do you crash with another car? Who is driving the car that you are in? Where do you sit in the car? http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/driving/and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/car/#Crashing and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/sub-personalities/ I trust that the information provided will give you a start with exploring your own dream; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/not-enough-information/ What will be very helpful as well is to explore the useful questions in this entry. Do know that the answers are inside you and help is always available; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-incubation/ Let me know if you have any questions. Anna  Reply

 

 

-SusieQ2015-12-12 8:41:21

I had one dream where I sunk to the bottom of a body of water and when I tried to push myself off from the bottom, I couldn’t. I was very very heavy and couldn’t move. The thought crossed my mind that I was going to drown and then I woke up. The next dream I had was that I was walking with some people in a resort. The pools and ponds were frozen. I had a Yorkshire terrier and he disappears. I turned around to look for him and found him sunk to the bottom of a frozen pond. I jumped in to rescue him and felt panicked that I was too slow and wouldn’t be able to rescue him. Then I woke up. Can you give me some ideas about these dreams please? Thanks!

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-18 14:43:26

Dear SusieQ – Yes, I can give you some ideas about these dreams and please explore them yourself too; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-yoga/ Your first dream shows that you are confronted with “heavy”, difficult feelings like for instance “the weight of responsibility”, which can cause a feeling of stress too and you are afraid you will ‘drown’ in them. In the next dream you have found a “solution” in order to feel relaxed – the resort – by freezing your emotions. You become aware that when you freeze your emotions, that the Yorkshire terrier that is part of your inner world will disappear and sink to the bottom too. A dog can be a symbol of the parts of self we usually keep out of sight, but which may express spontaneously; so it can be a sign of enthusiasm, care and warmth. Your fear about being too slow might also be caused by you mixing up your waking life with your dream life. In your dream life and so in your inner world you can bring the missing parts of you back to life, even if they have been at the bottom of a frozen pond for years; http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/the-lifestream/ and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/integration-meeting-oneself/ So push on and please be patient with yourself and your inner process. Another way to reconnect with your inner dog could be to use “Being the dog” – both when it is still with you in the dream and when it is at the bottom of the frozen pond – and feel the difference between the two;http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson Questioning your beliefs is another way; beliefs like “and couldn’t move” and “that I was too slow and wouldn’t be able to rescue him”; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/beliefs/ Using Power Dreaming might be helpful to move beyond these beliefs;http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/ Let me know if you have any questions SusieQ. Anna

 

-Asmi2015-12-19 5:42:16

I have had a fair few dreams where I am either trying to cross what looks like a shallow pond, or I am chilling with one or two friends by a lake at night, and I drown. There is always me holding someone’s hand (someone familiar) and they are with me being all ‘I will show you how’ and then I leave their hand momentarily and the waves (!?) Or speed at which we are moving cause me to float/sink ahead. They say ‘hold on to something’ but by the time I outstretch my arm, I am drowning. I can’t swim in real life but I am not scared of water, even in my dreams. But I never seem to make it across the pond/lake. And it’s all so fast.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-23 10:32:37

Dear Asmi – What I see in your dream – and please explore it yourself as wellhttp://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-yoga/ – is that you are practicing moving through change (like happens in puberty or when you move from adolescence into adulthood) Dreams often stand in place of actual experience. So through dreams we may experiment with new experience or practice things we have not yet done externally. For instance many young women dream in detail of giving birth. This function of what might be called ‘imagination’ is tremendously undervalued, but is a foundation upon which human survival is built. Seehttp://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/imagination-and-dreaming-2/ You perceive these changes as that you cannot hold onto something familiar anymore when the waves of change appear, and in a way you are right about that. Important transitions (like changing from child to adult) are often perceived as an emotional rollercoaster – a loss of control – and it takes some practice to learn to move through this stage of your life without fear. Looked at your dream from another perspective, it is also about understanding and accepting that you are developing your own identity as an individual rather than as a part of the family or your friends. This “crossing” – growing into “the unknown you” – is a process and it will take many dreams and time in your waking life to move to “the other side”. So please be kind and patient with yourself and know that most of us are scared of diving into the unknown, of uncertainty, of unfamiliarity, of not knowing what’s going to happen. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/individuation/ and perhaps also (you did not mention how old you are) http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/teenage-girl%E2%80%99s-love-dreams/ Let me know if you have any questions Asmi. Anna

 

-Joanna2015-12-19 6:24:27

I dreamt that my mother evicted me & my daughter from the house that we rent off her. We decided to move into a house boat at the side of a river near where some horses were grazing. My daughter decided to walk across the top of the river boat & I was chastising her for being foolish, next thing a submarine was passing by at the bottom of the river & my daughter was sucked into the depth of the water & imp screaming, terrified, trying to jump in the water but something is holding my foot & I can’t reach her. I awoke with a jolt & the image haunting my thoughts. Any ideas of a meaning??

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-24 7:04:04

Dear Joanna – Unfortunately you did not share what you think might have triggered the dream or links with it in some way; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/not-enough-information/ nor how old your daughter in waking life is. What I see in your dream – and please explore it for yourself as wellhttp://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-yoga/ – is that your dream starts with expressing the difficult process that was part of you “leaving home” and so becoming (emotionally) independent from your mother. Your natural feeling reaction to this (undigested? http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/digest/ ) stage of your life is that you want to avoid your daughter having to go through the same difficulties. The part where your daughter walks on top of the house boat expresses her attempts (her first steps) to become emotional independent from you. See alsohttp://dreamhawk.com/pregnancy-childbirth/example-emma/ I believe that your undigested memories make that you can only respond to her efforts with fear and so you criticize her. The submarine is a way to explore your own inner content; it is your ability to meet the depths of feelings and experiences of your inner “child” when she had to go through this process. Meeting these feelings and dealing with them, will give you the freedom to choose with awareness and wisdom how you want to approach your daughter’s individuation process. The end of the dream shows your difficulties in letting go of your child, because you project your own unresolved, difficult feelings on your daughter; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/projection/ and you becoming aware that you cannot hold on to her. Let me know if you have any questions Joanna. Anna

 

-Eli2015-12-21 14:18:18

I just had a dream that I was in a pool with my friends and the boy I have unrequited feelings for is holding my hand me and he pulls me under water. I struggle and fight to show him that I need to surface to breathe, but he doesn’t let go. His grip is like steel, and it feels as if he had already drowned. My body begins to weaken and I stop struggling. We sink further down, and I recall being very aware of the feeling of his hand in mine. My eyes start drooping and I think “am I drowning? Is this is it?” And before anything else happened, the dream shifted completely.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-24 7:18:09

Dear Eli –I wonder which dream follows after you ask yourself the questions “am I drowning? Is this it?” Because our unconscious mind responds to our communicating with it, the answer to your question might be in the next dream; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-incubation/ See also http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/lucid-dreaming/ QUOTE: Throughout history there have been individuals who have described a different meeting with sleep. They wake up in what is usually a dark, unconscious world. Or, in the midst of a dream, they become aware of the situation and relate to their dream in a new and dynamic way. This condition, usually called ‘lucid dreaming’, holds within it enormous possibilities that are generally unavailable in waking time, sleep or dreaming. To understand these possibilities and also something of what takes place during lucidity, it is helpful to appreciate that during sleep your five senses are largely switched off, and while you are dreaming your voluntary muscles are paralyzed. Usually you enter this sightless, soundless, immobilized world of sleep without awareness. However, traveling consciously beyond sensory input into the substrata of your mind and body is an incredible experience: you then enter sleep with all your critical faculties, with active curiosity and with the ability to explore whatever you find. When you become lucid in sleep you carry the bright torch of personal awareness into the depths of your body and mind. Anna

 

-Kelly2015-12-22 18:42:07

I had a dream that my 10 month old daughter was drowning in the tub but I pulled her out and she lived what does this mean. It’s really been bothering me and I don’t know why I dreamt about this. Please help

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-24 8:22:06

Dear Kelly – I do not have enough information to explore your dream; what do you think might have triggered a dream like this or links with it in some way? See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/not-enough-information/ In general seeing a child drown may mean that you perceive that a child is struggling and/or having difficulties to overcome life’s obstacles so an inability to cope with whatever is confronting her. Dreams have many functions however – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/function-of-dreaming/ – and often one dream may cover several of these. I feel it serves a purpose to do some inner work and see which functions you can recognize, by exploring your dream. To give you some examples: Function 2: “A dream can be a link between the sleeping mind and what is occurring externally.” Was your daughter crying the moment you had this dream? If so then you could have become aware of your daughter “drowning in sorrow” and in your dream you instinctively respond to her needing your help. Function 6: “Dreams can be a means of compensating for failure or deprivation in everyday life, and as a means of expressing the otherwise unacknowledged aspects of oneself. Such dreams are a move toward wholeness.” Perhaps you have felt the day before that you did not respond in an adequate way to your daughter needing your help? Perhaps you have recently started a new project and you believe/feel you are not doing a good job? Perhaps you feel very vulnerable in your role as a mother? See also http://dreamhawk.com/pregnancy-childbirth/the-baby-in-your-dream/ Function 8: “Dreams often stand in place of actual experience. So through dreams we may experiment with new experience or practice things we have not yet done externally.” Perhaps you are practicing helping your inner child and with helping her heal, you can respond with less fear and with more inner wisdom to your daughter’s struggles in waking life. Function 12: “Dreams may be a presentation in symbols of past traumatic experience. If these feeling can be met this can lead to deep psychological healing. Such dreams are therefore an attempt on the part of our spontaneous inner processes to bring about healing change.” Perhaps you remember in your dream how you have felt as a 10 month old baby and you become aware how you can be a mother to your INNER child and help her heal that way; http://dreamhawk.com/health-and-healing/inner-baby-and-child/ and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson I trust this will give you a start and please let me know if you have any questions Kelly. Anna

 

-Oliver2015-11-20 0:06:05

My boyfriend has been having this dream lately where he looks into the sea and then falls in, he sinks and sees a little girl at the bottom and tries to reach for her. People jump in to save the girl but never see him and so he drowns. He told me he doesn’t know who the little girl is. Could you tell me what this dream means?

–Tony Crisp2015-11-20 9:45:43

Oliver – It sounds like your boyfriend is trying to explore himself, because going under the surface of the sea – in dreams – represents becoming aware of what was his subconscious, the world experienced after death, so discovering a new world. The little girl he reached for leads me to wonder whether any of his family died young – a little girl for instance. Or it could be someone he felt love for when he was young, because love links us all in mysterious ways. But of course it could simply be his female self, and only he can find what it is by ‘being the young girl’. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-animus-jungs-view-of-the-male-in-the-female/ Death in dreams is nothing like it is seen in many people’s thoughts and feelings. In our inner world of dreams death is simply an end of something we have outgrown and the beginning of a new life. Think of the times you have died in that way – the death of the baby you as you developed into youth; the death of youth in you as you became a teenager; the death of the teenage you as development took place and you moved into adulthood. His death says he has changed in some way and is ready to emerge with new views or realisations. Tell him to explore being dead by imagining himself – while awake – and watch what happens. Tony

 

–Meg2015-11-22 11:24:09

My boyfriend told me he had a dream that I was drowning him whilst he was trying to swim but after a while I let him back up. Could this mean that I’m holding him back from something?

–Tony Crisp2015-11-22 13:28:07

Meg – Not necessarily – it’s his dream not yours, and so deals with his feelings and fears. I am guessing he is learning to ‘swim’ in the relationship. Many males feel inadequate in today’s world, and so have a trouble feeling proud of their masculinity – many men shave all their hair of trying to make themselves more like a female. But that might not apply to you boyfriend, but he felt he wasn’t doing too well, but has now come up again. Also he wasn’t dreaming about you, the figure in the dream is one he made up from all his memoires and feelings about you he has collected. Nearly always when people dream about someone they know or a strange new person or situation they automatically believe the dream is about that person, situation or animal. But when we think of our friend or partner our thoughts are not them – just our thoughts and feelings about them. See http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/questions-2/#Summing Tony

 

-Laura2015-11-30 4:23:42

I had a dream of me and my mom being next to a pond and an animal started chasing us and my mom panicked and jumped in the pond and was drowning and I jumped in to help her but the animal was still after me and kept biting me and I couldn’t get to her.. Then a couple weeks later I had one of me and her again in the beach and a tsunami started to happen and I held her hand and ran but we got split up and I couldn’t find her after that.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-03 14:20:23

Dear Laura – When we grow up we absorb a lot from our mother, who then, becomes our inner mother in our inner world. Many people do not realise that they have an inner mother equally as powerful as an external mother. You have taken in millions of bit of memory, lessons learnt, life experiences along with all the feelings or problems met by loving and living with your mother, and they are what makes you the person you are. The memories and experience we gather unconsciously change us and are not lost. It is part of you and is symbolised in dreams as a person or event. Such an inner mother can appear in dreams because you are still deeply influenced by what you hold within you. You become aware what you share with your inner mother; the fear of the animal inside you and the fear of entering your own deeps, beyond your conscious mind, which makes that you are more likely to “drown in it.” See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/animals-as-dream-figures/ Anything moving toward you in a dream usually signifies that you are becoming more aware of it, feeling it more intensely. So being chased in a dream usually denotes that you are feeling something you fear more intensely and are trying to avoid confronting it. This is not usually a good policy, as you can never get away from yourself. You can learn to become friends with unconscious feelings (what kind of animal was it?) that “chase you” by using http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/ and/or http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/the-lifestream/ In the last dream that you describe, you are exploring what it feels like to go through inner change and growth and let go of your (inner) mother. So what did that feel like? http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/growth-of-something/ Anna

 

–Leanne Lewis2015-11-30 8:51:48

I just dreamt that I was walking with a friend down the beach and suddenly from nowhere a coach full of mostly children and some adults came rushing through the sea and turned upside down with everyone inside it and started to sink. My friend without hesitation jumped tight in to begin saving people. I stood for longer than I wanted screaming and crying mainly at myself as to what to do as I am terrified of water although I can swim but not confidently. I wanted to help so badly but I couldn’t. I didn’t even try as I was so scared. Children were drowning while I stood there not helping. I was crying so hard telling myself aloud how I failed myself how innocent people were dying and I did nothing….I was a complete failure. Then my friend and others were pulling people out of the coach and just as they were on the edge of the sand I ran to grab each child and put them as far away from the water as possible. So even though I was in bits crying I tried to help drag children from the sand even if I couldn’t get in the water. It didn’t feel like anyone really survived though as the dream switched suddenly to me and my friend high in water and me holding on to something as we waited to be rescued. This dream has really upset me.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-04 11:40:46

Dear Leanne – What I see in your dream is that you become aware of habits/beliefs that were previously unknown to you. The children and a few adults are all aspects of you (your past) and they still influence the way you approach yourself and situations in your (inner) life. Being paralysed by fear and guilt makes that you decide to not get near those parts of yourself that perceive a situation as overwhelming. To make matters worse, you then decide to feel a victim of your decisionhttp://dreamhawk.com/news/avoiding-being-my-own-victim/ and you are about to drown into the inner drama you have created in which you are dragging your (inner) male with you. To move beyond this approach, it might help to become an honest observer of yourself and the way you approach your (inner) world and to take responsibility for it; http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/inner-world/#MakesInner This will also assist you to not judge yourself for the path you have chosen and to not identify (too much) with what you are feeling, which are two components that will aid you to move beyond being stuck in your inner drama towards change and transformation; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/personal-growth/ Observing your own ebb and flow of thoughts and feelings, your own habits and responses to things, is one of the most powerful of tools to use in transforming your life. This also leads to a fuller connection with your intuitive connection with your core. If one uses observation you may at time realise that you are cycling through feelings or moods. So it can imply that one is experiencing a cycle which you may be trapped in. The way to get out of this cycle is to step back from it using observation; this is like stepping back and not be lost in your emotions or moods. Please continue reading at; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/ Let me know if you have any questions. Anna

 

-nancy leigh2015-12-01 14:55:13

I had a dream I looked in dirty water and I fell in and I was drowning then when I was trying to get back up everything went pitch black I couldn’t talk or see anything I was trying to awake from my dream I was suffering for half an hour then finally I woke up then I was alone… Please tell me what it means.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-07 12:29:26

Dear Nancy – What I see in your dream – but please explore it for yourself as wellhttp://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-yoga/ – is that you make an effort to look at your inner world. Dirty water suggests that your emotions are in need of some cleaning up and/or that you perceive your emotions as “dirty”. With the right approach, you can use your looking in dirty water as a means of moving towards inner healing and growth; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/dirt/ It takes practice to learn to look at your feelings without identifying with what you see. When you choose to believe that you are your emotions, then you are more likely to drown into them and you will lose any sense of being able to clarify what was “dirty” before; what was meant as exploring then easily turns into suffering. There are several approaches that you might want to explore which could assist you in unlearning to identify with your feelings. Self-observation is a way of observing your inner world without judging what you see and/or with identifying with what you see. This can produce awareness and an inner transformation; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/ Becoming aware that you are not your thoughts, not your body, not your feelings, but “Something Unknown” that is far beyond any change, can also help you approaching your inner world in a different way; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/life-beyond-change-and-pain/ Practice makes perfect! Let me know if you have any questions Nancy. Anna

 

– .. 2015-12-08 10:49:44

My 4 year old daughter keeps dreaming that she’s drowning. Why?

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-12-14 16:13:16

Dear .. – You will have to do some exploring and investigating to understand why your daughter is having this recurring dream; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/not-enough-information/ You could ask your daughter if there are other people involved in her recurring dream; like her parents, brothers and/or sisters, other adults, children from kindergarten etc. I ask because a dream like that could mean that your daughter is struggling to keep her head above water in some aspects of her life – family life, life in kindergarten etc. – because she perceives (some of ) the demands as too much to deal with. A way to change this “threat” is to question where the demands might be too much indeed and help her learn to cope with demands that are appropriate for a child her age. Even at age 4, your child is very much her own person. She has distinct likes and dislikes, and her personality is developing more every day. It could be that your daughter feels that her likes and dislikes are not honoured and that she is struggling to survive as a person, so it applies to her identity as she is dealing with relationships with other people. Perhaps she needs to learn to express herself (better) and experience that others are listening to her; see her as a unique individual with individual needs? Perhaps you daughter is a so called highly sensitive child that is easily overwhelmed by high levels of stimulation, sudden changes, and the emotional distress of others; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Highly-Sensitive-Child-Children-Overwhelms/dp/0007163932/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450159104&sr=1-1&keywords=the+highly+sensitive+child I hope this gives you a start. Anna

 

-Marie2015-09-26 13:31:04

I had a dream that I was in a really deep pool with my family. Some sea creatures could get in the pool as well. One of my sisters sank to the bottom and we all tried to get her, if we could bring her back up then she would be alive even if she was down there for long. Once she was down there I also saw my friend’s cat in less deep water that was screaming, I went and saved the cat. This is not the first time I have dreamed about something like this. I have also dreamed about all three of my dogs drowning and I saved them all.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-10-12 8:29:50

Dear Marie – Being in a pool or with other people around or in it suggests you are sharing a common awareness in some degree. It indicates an opening up of uncharted territories in the unconscious. The depth of the water and the ability of the person(s) are all factors reflecting one’s feelings concerning the unconscious. See http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/the-unconscious-2/ Sea creatures can depict something arising from within you that you perceive as threatening. You might allow feelings from within to emerge that had been held back in you and your family, perhaps for generations. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-conjuring-trick/ Actively helping to save “others” that are drowning suggests an action to deal with feelings that might otherwise engulf you or someone else. In this case it is showing what strengths or techniques you use to deal with difficulties and challenges. Questions you could ask yourself to get a better understanding of your inner world could be; what powerful emotions or changes am I dealing with? Am I feeling overwhelmed by something? Can I define the strengths and ways I use to deal with threatening feelings? Do I feel as if I am ‘drowning’ in a situation or relationship? Is this someone else drowning – if so what facet of me do they represent? See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/ Anna

 

-Iris2015-10-31 10:27:54

I had a dream that my boys drown in a crowded shallow pool of children, i walked in and was searching for them and saw their lifeless bodies on the bottom. I picked both of them up, and tried CPR. I couldn’t save them, in the dream they had been in there for hours. What does this mean??

–Tony Crisp2015-11-01 14:44:05

Iris – I have received many, many dreams like this and not one of them was predicting the death of their children. Dreaming that your child dies can have several meanings. In some dreams a parent, much to their horror dreams of killing their child; or as one dreamer said, “I saw him jump off a bridge to his death.” This occurred at a time when her young son was making his first moves toward independence, and it was a difficult thing for the mother to face – the loss of her son. So it can easily be shown as the death of one’s child in a dream. But anxiety is a normal part of life, except as humans we do not deal with it well. Your baby can trigger your mothering instincts with a vengeance. Being female and a mother holds with it an enormously increased anxiety about the baby. They see all manner of things that might be a threat, and I believe that is what such dreams shows. Your imagination for such dangers is enormously increased. This is natural in all female mammals, but is greatly magnified in humans. I hope this helps. Tony

 

–Taylor C2015-11-14 7:22:06

I had a dream where in the dream I was madly in love with a man. I have no idea who he was when I woke up from the dream so I was really confused. But anyways, this man and I had taken a trip to what seemed like a tropical island. While we were there, we had gone scuba diving. We had dove into the water and spent a long time under water looking at I don’t remember what. When we came back to the surface, I had taken all of my equipment to help me breathe under water off. Then as soon as all of it was off, the man I was with forcefully shoved me under water. He took me pretty far under the water and I was scared and confused. I thought I was going to die and then all of a sudden he was just gone and I was able to swim back to the top. I really don’t understand this.. Help?

–Tony Crisp2015-11-15 11:28:28

Taylor – Unfortunately, like most of us you confuse the dream world with the world of your body. It is also important to realise that every image, every scary or terrifying thing, is taken place inside you, in your mind, as you sleep. This means that every awful animal, every scary thing or person, is created out of your own fears and must not be seen as outside you as happens in waking awareness. The problem is that we are often scared of or frightened of actually experiencing our emotions and so they confront us in our dreams. Avoiding them or controlling them is like running away from oneself – there is no escape – unless you meet them by not running away in fear. But your dream is a wonderful teaching dream – the man you love is your guide, your future self. A modern view of the personality says that our mind is made up of many modules which are quite distinct. Some drives or areas of self act or express despite what we would want. These are named autonomous complexes. Recent research into brain activity shows that in fact the brain has different layers or strata of activity. These strata often act independently of each other or of conscious will. Sensing them, as one might in a dream, might feel like meeting an opposing will. So you met a part of you that opposed you in some degree. But the you that you see yourself as – your personality – is just a tiny part of you. It is like living all your life in one room when you have a massive and splendid mansion with many rooms. The loved man was a representation of a part that lives in the mansion, and is trying to show you what a potential you have – so is your future self. He took you under the surface of your mind, taking beyond the small room you live in, with its fears and preoccupation with the world of the body. It was an initiation to the wonder you are. See http://dreamhawk.com/news/there-is-a-huge-change-happening/ You perhaps couldn’t remember what you saw because it is a strange world and you were still seeing it through your old stereotypes. Seehttp://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-paradigm/ He took you mask and underwater gear off to show to try to show you that you are also a native of a different world or dimension, where you do not need anything to breathe underwater – in your inner world. But he was just giving you a taster. For the fuller experience you need to try being him – see http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson It is just a start if you can take it. Tony

 

-Demi2015-07-11 10:22:56

Hi, I keep on dreaming that my 2 year old son is drowning and I get him out of the water but he is not breathing. I wake up with sweat all over and crying. Then I also dream that my deceased mother is killing herself. Like the last dream was where she tried to drown herself. I also then wake up with sweat all over and very upset.
Can someone please help me to what this means because I’m tired of this horrible dreams.
Thank you in advance.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-07-12 16:12:42

Dear Demi – In general dreams recur because there are ways the dreamer habitually responds to their internal or external world. Because their attitude or response is unchanging, the dream that reflects it remains the same. It is noticeable in those who explore their dreams using such techniques as described under processing dreams, that recurring themes disappear or change because the attitudes or habitual anxieties that gave rise to them have been met or transformed.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/processing-dreams/
I believe the dream in which your mother tries to drown herself sheds some light on these recurring dreams. So explore what it is that you are doing to your mother role; ask yourself if you lack pleasure in your role as a mother, if you are too anxious in your mother role and if you imagine too many situations that make you anxious.
Also explore how your own mother dealt with her emotions/fears and with your emotions/fears and how much of her approach you absorbed.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/mother-mum-ma/#InnerMother
The dream about your son drowning could reflect that you project your own difficulties as far as dealing with your emotions and fears is concerned onto your son.
This probably also means that the moment you “own it” or stop repressing it and accept that it is something you have to work on, your dreams about your drowning son will change or disappear.
The other good thing is that while you learn to deal with your emotions/your fears you will pass it on to your son, because children learn from what we do – or not do – and not from what we say.
Another helpful tool toward more awareness is self-observation. Observing your own ebb and flow of thoughts and feelings, your own habits and responses to things, is one of the most powerful of tools to use in transforming your life. This also leads to a fuller connection with your intuitive connection with your core.
If you use observation you may at time realise that you are cycling through feelings or moods. So it can imply that you are experiencing a cycle which you may be trapped in. The way to get out of this cycle is to step back from it using observation; this is like stepping back and not be lost in the emotions or moods.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/
Good Luck!
Anna

 

-Mo2015-07-19 8:14:20

Hello. For a few years now I’ve been having horrifying nightmares that rip me from my sleep. One of them is being held under water by someone. Almost always it’s just a shadowy figure, but sometimes it has the face of an old ex or even current lover. They hold me by my neck and force me to stay under the water until I jolt awake.
I don’t know what to do.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-07-25 13:37:09

Dear Mo – A shadowy figure in a dream is a symbol for an aspect of yourself that you have rejected.
Many of the characters or elements of our dreams act quite contrary to what we consciously wish. This is why we often find it so difficult to believe all aspects of a dream are part of our own psyche. Some drives or areas of our self will act or express despite what we would want. These are named autonomous complexes.
This complex may express as something evil, which can be very frightening because you believe that “something outside” is forcing you, rather than a repressed part of you, or the results of a traumatic experience showing itself in frightening images.
See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-archetype-of-the-shadow/
The way out of this recurring nightmare – and probably other horrible dreams as well – could be Power Dreaming.
Your dreams are a unique area of self-expression. They are a safe area to experiment and experience things in any way you wish. Often we introvert, or take into our dream life, rules and fears that have no place there. For example, while dreaming, you may fall into the sea and be terrified you will drown. But that is impossible because you are only experiencing images of your feelings and thoughts. All you can do is to feel fear. You can easily breathe under water in a dream, or fly, or die and be re-born. So remove such limitations from your inner life by visualising such changes into your dreams when awake. Imagine yourself being what you can in your dreams. Even passive people who couldn’t stand up for themselves can change as they do this.
Please continue reading at http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
Good Luck!
Anna

 

–Ashley2015-07-27 12:41:40

Hi, I had this very real dream woken by my 2 year old daughter coughing during the night which actually made me cry as it was that real. It started with a group of my friends and me out and my mum looking after my daughter, when we arrived home I asked her how she was. Mum was tired on the couch nearly asleep and she replied she’s good. This time of night she would be in bed. Next thing I hear my daughter call my mum. To my surprise it came from the bathroom, I rush in and she is hunched over face first in the bath drowning. I pull her out a
She is limp and unresponsive par a cough. I’m screaming and not knowing what to do yelling for someone to call an ambulance. My mums reaction being very calm and said I’ll just call the doctor with me saying no the ambulance. Then I heard my daughter cough through the baby monitor and I woke up. I get on well with my mum and trust her with my kids is what I cannot get.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-07-29 9:34:52

Dear Ashley – What creates some confusion is that you fail to recognise the difference between your inner dream life and your waking life and so the way I see it is that this dream does not reflect that your mother in waking life cannot be trusted with your daughter or other children.
Dreams can have many functions and one of them is that a dream is a link between the sleeping mind and what is occurring externally. For instance, a person may be falling out of bed and dream of flying or falling and so your dream could be caused by hearing your daughter coughing while you were still sleeping.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/function-of-dreaming/
I believe that part of you – symbolised by the mother in your dream – is aware that your daughter is only coughing and so perhaps all she needs is a doctor – or you, because mothers often fulfil that helpful, healing role in life as well – to give her something to drink or some medicine that will relieve/heal her cough.
The dream figure in your dream is probably too worried about your daughter’s health and so sees her drowning.
I feel it will be helpful to explore your dream for yourself too, for your dream could also express that feelings of guilt are part of your inner world, as far as enjoying yourself in another role than your mother role is concerned.
For that purpose you can use “Being the person” or “Talking as the person” for all “actors” in your dream, but especially for your own dream figure as she appears in your dream.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson
and
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/practical-techniques-for-understanding-your-dreams/#TalkingAs
Anna

 

-apurva2015-07-28 5:16:05

I mostly dream of drowning but not dying and being attacked by snake, even bitten. But I don’t die. Why??

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-07-29 10:12:54

Dear Apurva – I feel a better way to put your question is “Why didn’t I die YET”?
And then I would answer that you probably need to be patient with yourself until your fear dissolves and that it might help if you get a better understanding of the meaning of death in the context of your dreams.
Being bitten by a snake and dying because of that is clearly described in the entry snake.
QUOTE:
The snake can bite you, and its venom may flow throughout your being and kill you. Most of us are very frightened of this. The reason is that the venom will take away your personal sense of self – it faces you with the death of yourself. It melts the boundary of egoic self-interest, and personal connections with family and children, with choices in action. It replaces the personal interests and fears with a self that is part of the one great life. So the fear of the snake is not because its venom is deadly, but because it transforms. It turns you into a being who is part of the whole. It robs one of the artificial walls placed between self and the collective pool of life consciousness. The snake depicts this force, purpose or energy behind that power of growth and unfolding. It is the force of life, the latent energy or potential within us. It leads us both to growth and death, along with the passionate emotions and urges that drive us so powerfully”.
See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-archetype-of-rebirth-or-resurrection/
Does that answer your question?
Anna

 

-Riley M.2015-08-08 5:04:32

I had a dream, just now, where my (now) ex-boyfriend (who lives with me) and I were driving in Colorado (where I’m moving too, which is a reason why I broke up with him) and there was an icey patch on a shore thing, that led to almost like an arctic ocean. He was driving, & went to turn around, and spun out of control and we went into the water.
I could feel myself drowning, but I saved him and ended not making it out in time..
I’m not sure what that means.. does it mean I feel guilty for leaving?

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-08-14 11:57:25

Dear Riley – Your dream expresses that “something” – which might be guilt and/or fear – is driving your decision making at the moment and your dream shows that it is not a helpful approach.
Because with the change of the situation between you, you probably do not feel in control of things anymore and instead of daring to express your feeling vulnerable with the whole situation, it seems you have frozen your feelings.
I believe that this “freezing approach” is more likely to lead to feelings of drowning than when you would express how you feel honestly and openly; if only to yourself (at first).
Try to not feel guilty about leaving him and trust that each one of you is capable of dealing with this process using your own inner recourses; he is not a child you have to “save”.
See also http://dreamhawk.com/relationship-sex/ages-of-love-2/
Anna

 

-Sagelynn2582015-08-14 16:49:34

I had 2 dreams last night. The first one was my mother dragging me under the water trying to drown me in the ocean. I woke up gasping for air. The second was that I was on boat that went down in the ocean and everyone was saved but me. A wave hit me and pulled me away before I was about to get rescued.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-08-27 12:39:29

Dear Sagelynn258 – I wonder if you are a very sensitive person, who easily picks up emotions and moods from other people after which you are not able to connect with your own inner world of feelings anymore.
Your last dream does suggest that dealing with a relation-ship with other people makes it difficult “to save” or to uphold what is part of your identity.
Often we are not aware of how we are actually “tuned in” to receive “the waves of emotions” that are sent by people with whom we have a connection and so the first step to learn to deal with your empathic ability is to become aware of it, and to learn to distinguish between your own emotions and those of other people.
A way to do that could be to learn to tune into your own inner world ONLY for some time, while using “the observer mode”.
This approach will also give you the opportunity later to learn to observe the emotions and moods of other people without identifying with them and so without “making them yours” and so feeling overwhelmed/drowned by them.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/
Does that give you a start?
Anna

 

-Carina2015-08-14 18:09:02

I keep dreaming my daughter is drowning and the more I struggle to reach her .we’re in clear water and try to swim closer but the farther she becomes. I wake up crying feeling like I failed as a parent to help n protect her.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-08-27 13:19:23

Dear Carina – It is difficult to see if this dream is about your feeling/belief that you are not good enough as a mother for your inner daughter/child, for your daughter in your waking life or for both.
Because this is a recurring dream, what IS clear is that you have to explore a different approach to deal with this situation in your (inner) life.
I feel that it could be helpful to approach these dreams as if it is about your inner child drowning and to stop struggling and become aware that you and your mother were not able to save her at that time.
With that point of view in mind, entering the process of acceptance could be a helpful means to change your dream and to start the inner work on healing your inner child.
Please also read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/mother-mum-ma/#InnerMother
and
http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/your-inner-child/
and
http://dreamhawk.com/health-and-healing/inner-baby-and-child/
Does that give you a start?
Anna

 

-Sy2015-08-15 22:17:37

I had a dream the other night that I was at the beach holding my 21month old daughter on my hip and I was standing in very low water below my knee, when all of a sudden, the water kept pulling us in further. I cannot swim so I was very scared that we were going to drown. All of a sudden my husband appeared in front of us and stopped us from drifting out further. Just as that happened, my husband woke me cause he said I was crying in my sleep.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-08-27 16:24:52

Dear Sy – Not knowing anything about your waking life, I will approach this dream from a more general point of view.
Because dreams have many levels and the core of the dream can be approached from many angles, it would be wise to also explore this dream for yourself; you could explore for instance if you tend to identify (mainly) with your mother role and if you dare to let go of that role for a while.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/practical-techniques-for-understanding-your-dreams/
and
http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/water-wonderland/
The way I see your dream is that you are on the edge of surrendering your ego or conscious self which can be seen as being at the border between everyday life and your unconscious sources of motivation, energy and life.
You perceived the pull from the sea as a threat, probably because you mixed up your waking life – in which you cannot swim – with your dream life and/or because you are afraid of “The Unknown Huge that you are”.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/what-we-need-to-remember-about-us-3/#Reaction
It could be that you dreamed of your husband stopping you and your inner daughter from drifting out further, because he started waking you up.
One of the functions of dream is that they can serve as a link between the sleeping mind and what is occurring externally. For instance, a person may be falling out of bed and dream of flying or falling.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/function-of-dreaming/
Does that give you a start?
Anna

 

-Bella2015-08-27 10:57:52

Hi, the last week almost every night I have dreamt about drowning. It’s my worst fear, but it’s not just drowning. It’s my dad, my mum or my close friends that are dragging me under the ice and then letting me go and swimming away. I then can’t find the hole to the surface, and I stay down there until I ‘drown’. These dreams often start happy, but they’re all on ice. Sometimes I’m out ice-skating, others I’m in a pool having fun and then the pool turns to ice and the nightmare begin. These dreams are terrifying and only one time this week has gone without one of these nightmares. It started last week when I started school again.
Please help; I want it to stop and to understand.
Thanks in beforehand!
(Ps. I’m 14 yrs old)

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-08-31 19:00:18

Dear Bella – First of all it is good to understand that these dreams are sent to help you. Being a teen is a lot like being a chick inside an eggshell. You’re pushing out against the wall of the shell, trying to find your identity, struggling to break away, yet sometimes not quite ready yet to survive on your own.
The way I see your dreams is that you are testing your skills which is symbolised by ice skating and being in the pool with other people.
Especially ice skating is about keeping your balance in challenging circumstances.
Being a teenager IS a challenging and often stressful part of your life – even more when school is part of your everyday experience again – and I trust that with some more understanding you can learn to deal with the situations you find yourself in.
Going from having fun to turning into ice I see partly as a symbol of your mood swings – which are normal by the way – and it is good to know that it is not necessarily what happens in your life that is the cause of you having mood swings; it’s how you react to what’s happening in your life.
It could be that you are more sensitive when people who are close to you – your mum, dad and close friends – do not support or agree with the way you are learning to manage your life (skills).
But finding your own way to approach Life – sometimes with and sometimes without the support of people close to you – is part of becoming a self-aware and independent human being.
A way to change these dreams about drowning is to use a tool which is called Power Dreaming.
So while awake and relaxed imagine yourself back in the dream and continue it as fantasy or a daydream. You could for instance imagine your parents and your close friends criticising you while you are ice skating and you could explore different ways of responding to that.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
Let me know how it goes.
Anna

-Alana2015-08-31 12:07:04

Hi , I was dreaming that I was in my bedroom and this little girl that I didn’t know came knocking on my door , in felt in my dream as if she was annoying me and I was about to lash out on her but then she was gone and I was outside of the room where it look like I was standing on a small piece of a beach only enough sand for me to stand on where my I stood but as I looked behind me the beach stretched out there where houses and people as if a beach was just put in the middle of a busy street to my sides and in front of me I could see that the water was shallow ,the sun was shining bright ,blue sky ,and suddenly I saw two nephews of mine in a small boat in front of me and they said let’s take the boat out , I said to them ;this just is just plain stupid as the water is shallow and the motor will get stuck in the sand and they said no , as they were adamant to go on the water with the boat I got in to protect them it felt we were on the water now for a few minutes when the boat was struck by something and I fell overboard , I could see them getting out of the water and I felt like have to sit up than I will be ok as the water I had seen before we went on it was shallow but I could not reach the surface , I started swimming around to look for a way out of the water , as I was seeing the surface , feeling the sun on my skin , the water was clear I could not believe it that I was not reaching the surface as my heart was starting to feel like it was about to blow in my chest ,I knew if I did not get out I would drown ,I frantically looked around and saw stairs I swam towards it and was feeling that this is my last chance to get to the surface I started climbing them the steps were covered with barnacles and they cut into my feet but I continued when I was almost at the last step to be on the boardwalk I saw that the whole city above was under water , I knew that was it , I took the last step and accepted the fact that I was about to drown and I could not fight anymore ,suddenly I saw 4 or 5 little children around me I put my arms around them and took a last gasp for air and my mouth was filling with the seawater I could taste the salt ,feel the sun warm and I was not afraid anymore , I looked down on the children and saw that they had white almost translucent angel wings ,I looked up again and saw a explosion of bright light and then I woke up . Can someone tell me what this was about , I am usually not curious about my dreams but one of the nephews I got in the boat with he once attacked me and I have forgiven him but I am also not as close to him as we were before. Thank you in advance.

-Anna – Tony’s Assistant2015-09-07 9:38:36

Dear Alana – Thank you for sharing such an amazing dream with us.
Your dream starts with you feeling annoyed by your decision to completely repress from your awareness what we could call your child self; this is probably better described as your vulnerability, your eager youthful feelings that wanted recognition and warmth but were angrily denied.
This attitude is depicted in your dream as one which also denies you anything except a very small view of the beauty around you, that is until you look behind you and see the expanse of the beach.
In other words; it shows your lack of relationship with Life itself, for life arose in the sea.
See http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/lifes-little-secrets/
Other symbols that could refer to repressing Life are shown in the depth of the water; this might be because you prefer to feel safe in “the shallows of life”.
Your relation-ship with your nephew(s) got stuck and you were thrown into the water that you thought was shallow, but is in fact like you; much deeper than you expect.
So the dream has gradually moved you from your early feelings into the ocean within you.
You scramble to get out of this ocean within you and you hurt yourself that way; “I started climbing them; the steps were covered with barnacles and they cut into my feet.”
It is good to realise that you cannot die in dreams, BUT dying can be a symbol of letting go of your old views and beliefs about yourself and the (inner) world, which you did in the dream and then you were able to see that “the whole city above was under water, I knew THAT WAS IT.”
Yes that IS IT, because now the whole city is “bathed in a new awareness”.
So fortunately the dream shows you that “dying” is a symbol of becoming aware that there is a different view of life; you can see that children are all wonderful winged creatures who are not trapped in the view of life given us when we live only above water, the world of our inadequate senses.
It will be helpful to recognise the feeling of not being able to breath and the enormous fight to survive and ask yourself “survive what; my view and beliefs about myself and my inner world?”
Please also explore this dream for yourself, because it is an important one –http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/practical-techniques-for-understanding-your-dreams/
You can also explore your “inner ocean” while awake by using this approachhttp://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/water-wonderland/
Anna