Drowning
This is such a common dream and has been answered hundreds of times, we first ask you to look through the many answers given in Drowning – Many Replies Hopefully you will find an answer to your own drowning dream
Because of the water, drowning depicts fear of being overwhelmed by difficult emotions or anxieties, so it often points to struggles – conflicts – or fighting for survival you may have in your life. But this might apply not to dangerous emotions or urges, but to natural urges such as eating, loving or sex, that some people have enormous conflicts with. Drowning in a dream is also about struggling to survive as a person, so it applies to your identity as it is dealing with relationship with other people, but also with your own internal world of instincts, body activities and needs.
But the feelings of being overwhelmed can be caused by fear or anxiety. But if we can, we can meet and dissolve these. For whenever we dream its images are not like real life, because a dream is nothing like outer life where things could hurt you, but is an image like on a cinema screen that even if a gun is pointed at you and fired it can do no damage – except if you run in fear. So all the things that scare you are simply your own fears projected onto the screen of your sleeping mind.
So in dreams you cannot drown, but fear takes away your confidence, so then you go through the agonised emotions of drowning.
This is about being or feeling overwhelmed by something. One can ‘drown’ in sorrow for instance. So you need to look at your waking life to see what you are feeling threatened or burdened by and see if there are ways you can deal with it. If someone else actually drowns in the dream it may mean some of your feelings, your creativity and responsiveness are no longer ‘alive’. But they can be brought back to life if you care for that side of yourself. Sometimes it is simply anxiety we drown in, and much of anxiety is about situations we imagine. Separating what is imagined from what is real can help this. See Characters and People in Dreams
But such fear can be caused because if un-dealt with traumas from childhood are not faced, or by being exposed to awful film images that you believe are real. Read and Martial Art of the Mind
If you feel you are struggling to you ‘keep your head above water’ in a dream, do not give in for it is only emotions you are facing, not reality.
Water and drowning often indicates you are facing the unknown changes and so are afraid. But in dreams we can never die or even be hurt, for we wake without real hurt except for our feelings.
Going under water in a dream depicts you are going deeper into your awareness, so you are beginning to explore your unconscious. That is a major step in your development and is an evolutionary advance. It can lead to many major new abilities such as a wider awareness of life around you. A person describes one of the possible changes, “Unexpectedly everything changed and my fundamental self was something that existed throughout all time. It didn’t have a beginning or end. There was no goal to achieve. I am.”
Dreamt about someone else: May occasionally show Your apprehension about their health or well being, having the suggestion of death or breakdown.
Example: ‘I fell into a pond. My brother was frightened to be by himself so he jumped in. We were both drowning in the water and we shouted out for Mum. My brother drowned.’ Poppy S.
Poppy dreamt this while feeling insecure and anxious due to her father being seriously ill.
Example: I had been dreaming about sitting on a sofa with my friends – well watching horror movies, when suddenly everything comes to live. I was afraid of the ghost that had been drowning with her husband in the movie, and it comes to haunt me. I asked the ghost’s sister to help and she passes me a necklace with can protect me. And suddenly the ghost appears and tells my friend she was pretty. What does this means?
It means that you need to understand how your mind works. It means that you have nothing to fear about ghosts. As the ghost that appeared showed you, there was no harm in it. Dream images are like images on cinema screens – harmless unless you are haunted by your own fears. But the dream also shows you that whatever you believe in becomes a fact and alive in our dreams. It mean that the necklace gave you confidence, and in fact the necklace is only a crutch for your confidence. But we need such things until we can deal with our own emotions. See Facing Fear
Idioms: drown your sorrow; if you’re born to hang, you won’t drown.
Useful questions:
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?
What is it I am feeling overwhelmed by recently?
Is this someone else drowning – if so what facet of me do they represent?
What resource or person could help me survive in this situation?
Another person or animal drowning still suggests it is an aspect of your own personality you need to care for.
Whoever or whatever it is, imagine yourself back in the dream and save them. If necessary imagine rescue services coming to your aid. In doing this you are using imagery to shift your feelings and anxieties.
All water in some way signifies your own inner world of feelings, but the sea often suggests meeting urges and wisdom lying beyond the boundary of your conscious mind. What is it you feel in the sea or river? Try putting it into words.
See Associations Working With; Techniques for Exploring your Dreams; Avoid Being Victims; Secrets of Power Dreaming
Comments
My daddy passed in November of 2014 I have had a recurring dream of him drowing and I can’t reach him I wake up screaming and crying everytime please help me
Dear Sandy – What I see in your dream is that you are working your way through the stages of mourning and grief. You are aware in your dream that your father is going to die – you see him drowning – and you try to do something to prevent it from happening, but you cannot reach him.
It is like “bargaining with something” and it is often accompanied with thoughts like “If only”; if only I could have reached him, then…………..
In your dream you have to accept that you are helpless and that there is nothing you can do to save/reach him and at that moment you are able to release some of the immense pain you feel because of having lost his physical presence in your life.
It does take time to move towards acceptance and perhaps it will help you to see your inner journey also as going through a period of change from relating to your father as an external reality, to meeting and accepting him in your memories and inner life?
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/father-dad/#InnerFather – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/near-death-experiences/
and
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-animus-jungs-view-of-the-male-in-the-female/
Anna 🙂
Hi I had a dream last night that I was stood in a bath and my two sisters were in a bath opposite me. They were stood up and had a shower hose in their hand and kept spraying it at me. The water was coming thick and fast out of it into my face and I kept slipping and choking I felt as though I was going to drown and when I kept pleading them to stop they kept laughing manically. I fought back at one point and stopped the water flow for a second but then my sister jumped on me to bring me back down and they carried on spraying me. I was really distressed when I woke up what does this mean?
I had a dream the night before last that I was with my best friend in a lake. We had been swept in so that the water was 7 ft high or so and for some reason or another she was onconcious and I felt like I had to save her. But I was so tired that I started sinking when I could have easily just swam up. I didn’t feel like I was drowning even though I knew that I defiently was, but I tried to breath for air and I inhaled water instead but it didn’t hurt my chest or anything. I remember in the dream finally closing my eyes under water and when I woke back up in the dream my friend had saved my life and we were both back on shore. They had asked what had happened and I had just said that I couldn’t swim back up.
What does this dream mean? I’m always so afraid that I’ll have a drowning dream because I’ll be so scared and I won’t be able to reach the top, but why wasn’t I panicked in the dream?
Dear Anon – Your dream starts with an aspect of you drowning (in fear or emotions) – your best friend – and the dream figure in your dream does not feel capable yet to deal with the (inner) situation.
See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-anima-jungs-view-of-the-female-in-the-male/
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.
Your dream does show that you are learning to let go of your fear for the fear, which is the reason why you did not feel panicked anymore in your dream.
That is a wonderful step you took!
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/
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 – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
Anna 🙂
Hi. I dreamed that I waa drowning in the but my feet can reach in the deep and I don’t understand because it feels like someone is holding my feet down and I’m drowning and I always scream my boyfriends name until O drowned.
I had a dream last night that my 2 year old jumped in a pool and sank to the bottom. I jumped in to save him, but when I did the water got foggy and I was having a hard time finding him. I did eventually find him and then I didn’t know what to do so someone else gave him cpr and I was crying. He was breathing but not terribly responsive when I woke up.
What’s weird is that my husband had a dream last night that we were on vacation at the beach. He went to the beach alone while we were left at the house napping. He was standing on a 100 foot cliff that suddenly fell and came back up and he knew there would be a tsunami. He ran back to the house to warn us but he got there just in time for a giant wave to meet him s he yelled he lived us and woke up
I keep having dreams of not paying attention and going off a clift . my windows are up and my car starts to fill with water . Im by myself in this one specific dream other times I have my little boy in the car with me .
Well the water is almost over my head and I shout “God I dont want to die I dont want to die .
Hi, my dad has cancer and i suffered a lot of trauma in the summer this year. He is now home & on chemotherapy. Coping ok.
Strangely, I had a dream last night that woke me up at 5am. I was on a large ship with my family. There was some panic from my mom. She said dad was bleeding. I saw some brown blood and i panicked only to find it was nothing serious.
The next thing im on the deck and i look out to see the body of a youngish male in a brightly coloured orange/pink shiny tracksuit. Face down. I gasped and looked away, when i looked back the position of the arms had changed but it looked more shocking. I looked away to avoid it and I remember feeling slightly shocked at how little I was affected. What does this all mean for me and my relationships?
Hi
I dream all the time my husband cheats on me or that he doesn’t love me anymore. The other night I dreamt we were on a ship the ship broke up and there was my husband (who by the way always has my ex husbands face) myself and youngest daughter in the distance there was a dam wall and waves were crashing against it . My husband looked at me and then daughter and he let me drown and saved my daughter . Prior to this is In The dream my husband told me he didn’t love or want to be with me anymore and I tried to get him back throughout. I believe my ed husband always shows up as my now husband as I truelly love my now husband and fear so much that he will cheat , fall out of love or leave me . He is always him in my dreams yet has exes face . Can u shed any light on my dreams , I’ve had different ones all week but this one stood out .
Dear Racheal – The way I see your dream is that you are exploring/becoming aware in the dream “that stood out” where thoughts like “and I fear so much that he will cheat, fall out of love or leave me ”will take you.
So you are able to see that you are attracting (again?) with these thoughts/feelings what you are trying to avoid.
Do try to bring this awareness into your waking life.
In the dream your relationship breaks up and you are unwilling to use this experience to help you grow; “there was a dam wall and waves were crashing against it”.
I feel it will be helpful to explore if you were afraid of your first husband leaving you as well;
and if you have once again confused love with dependency; “I truly love my now husband and fear so much that he will cheat, fall out of love or leave me.”
See http://dreamhawk.com/relationship-sex/ages-of-love-2/
Your husband saving your daughter I see as his willingness to try to save the relationship, for a child is the fruit of your relationship; it is what you have created together.
He is aware in the dream that the only way to save the relationship is to let “you” die; the fearful, dependent part of you that is destroying your relationship with him.
Perhaps you need some help to move beyond the fear and the misery inside you; the first step however is to acknowledge that you are the source of your unhappiness; not your ex-husband or your current husband.
The source of your unhappiness is not “out there”. It is “in here” in your own thoughts and feelings. And it is not just the thoughts and feelings themselves. It is the fact that you live inside your thoughts, inside your images, inside your beliefs and you do not see yet that you do.
See http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/inner-world/#MakesInner
Anna 🙂
Hi,
last night, I dreamt that I was struggling to keep my head over the water. I was close to a dock, I think, because I could reach it, but never climb up on it because the water kept getting into my eyes and mouth. I panicked, worried that I would drown. I finally woke up when I was about to give up. No one else was there in the dream.
What could this mean? Or did I dream it after hearing on the news so often about how many unfortunate people that tries to cross the Mediterranean sea, and fails and drowns?
It would be interesting to read your thoughts about my dream!
(I had a weird dream once, years ago, that I was a security camera that happened to record a murder in a restaurant kitchen… but that’s another story!)
Hi..
I have been having dreams about drwowing since i was 16. Its mostly dark water, green water. I drown with no one one around usually. I suffocate and i almost feel the water on my skin when i wake up. I drown and i realise while drowning that this is the end.
Sometimes, someone give me hand to hold me but my hands get slipped and i flow away with the water and i drown.
Recently, i saw a huge lake, its lake Vembanad in Kerala, India. It was night and i was on a speed boat, there was somebody with me. The boat hit on the banks and i drowned, i suffocated and knew that this was the end. Water was dark. In my dream i realised it was a dream and if i wake up things would br fine but i coudnt wake up and i was tryibg to call someone but i was not able to.
Dear Vidya – I believe that this is the most important message of all your dreams about drowning; “In my dream I realised it was a dream and if I wake up things would be fine.”
Waking up is also a symbol of becoming aware of what you are doing to yourself; becoming aware that your “dreams about drowning” can be changed.
See also http://dreamhawk.com/news/avoiding-being-my-own-victim/
It takes willingness and some inner work to change these old thinking/feeling patterns, but it is certainly worth the effort.
For instance if you choose to learn self-observation, you will become aware that you are cycling through the same thoughts and feelings over and over again. It is like a (fear) cycle you believe you are trapped in. That is a belief only though. http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/beliefs/
A 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.
Not being lost means that you are aware that you are not your thoughts, or emotions or moods, but that you are the creator of them.
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/
Other approaches that can be helpful are http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
and
http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/lucid-dreaming/
Anna 🙂
My 7 year old son was at the edge of a deck on a cruise ship the water was very choppy and he fell over board my sister and myself jumped in after him but my sister caught him before he drowned what does this mean
I’ve had the same recurring dream of falling into a deep pool and sinking to the bottom. I was just holding my breath, looking up at all the people who either didn’t notice me, or did, laughed, and kept swimming around. I started to panic for a bit, then stopped, smiled, and took a deep breath, and everything started fading before I woke up. What does that mean? I’ve had that since I was 3.
Dear Anon – Because you did not mention it, I trust that you did not have an experience of almost drowning in water when you were 3.
Did you read the entry about recurring dreams yet?
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/recurring-dreams/
QUOTE:
“Some recurring dreams can be ‘stopped’ by simply receiving information about them. One woman dreamt the same dream from childhood. She was walking past railings in the town she lived in as a child. She always woke in dread and perspiration from this dream. At forty she told her sister about it. The response was, ‘Oh, that’s simple. Don’t you remember that when you were about four we were walking past those railings and we were set on by a bunch of boys? Then I said to them, ‘Don’t hurt us our mother’s dead!’ They left us alone, but you should have seen the look on your face.’ After realising the dread was connected with the loss of her mother, the dream never recurred”.
Your dream does suggest that there were other people present, so perhaps you know one or some of the people you see in your recurring dreams and you could share your dream and ask if they can link your dream with something that occurred in your waking life when you were 3 years old?
What I can do for you is share what I see in your dream.
I believe your dream shows how you feel insecure for a moment, how you are “looking up” to other people – what else can a 3 year old do? – and you feel anxious and overwhelmed by their presence and/or the emotions/energies you are picking up from them and so you hold your breath. A big person in a dream can depict feelings you had about parents who, in your childhood, were giants physically and emotionally.
The last part I see as showing you the way out of this feeling; smile and take a deep breath, because there is no need to be afraid of these people – “who either didn’t notice me, or did, laughed, and kept swimming around” – and the overwhelming feeling will fade.
Anna 🙂
I keep having re-occurring dreams of.. Well, When I was little, Possibly 5 years old, this happened: My mom tells me, “I’ll be right back to talk to my friends. Do not jump into the pool!” She said that because before, I had been jumping into the pool when she caught me. Then, when she was over there, I jumped in. I was drowning… Nothing I could do to save myself. I didn’t know better, and I couldn’t swim. My mom must have heard the splash, and she swam over full speed and saved me, as she used to be a life guard. ..I keep having re-occurring dreams of this happening..over and over again, every week. It reminds me how I almost died, if my mom weren’t there, I would have actually died… It scares me so bad, thinking about how I could be dead right now! What does this mean?!
Dear Anonymous – What it could mean is that you have not processed/digested this moment in your waking life and your dream shows how you are actually still drowning in fear thoughts: “It scares me so bad, thinking about how I could be dead right now!”
Could you describe one of your dreams and let me know how old you are now?
Anna 🙂
I Had A dream I was In a pool and my eyes were closed and I could see I was by the wall but I couldn’t pull my self up to get out. Every time I would get out , I would get back it trying to prove that I could get out on my own. But I had to be helped everytime. What does this mean ?
Dear Cianne – It could mean that your dream is showing you that in your waking life you are repeating an upsetting experience over and over again with the intention to learn to master the experience.
Because this experience is part of the inner world you have created – “my eyes were closed and I could see” – you could experiment with an approach, which we call Power Dreaming.
See also http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/inner-world/#MakesInner
So while awake and relaxed imagine yourself back in the dream and continue it as fantasy or a daydream and move it toward satisfaction. Alter the dream in any way; experiment with it; play with it, until you find a way to get out of the pool yourself.
Feelings of resistance could possibly arise – “I could see I was by the wall” – because of the belief you might have created that you cannot get out of the pool yourself.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/beliefs/
It is good to realise that a belief is what it is; a belief and not a fact and because you are the creator of your beliefs you can decide to create another belief; I CAN get out of the pool myself.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
Anna 🙂
Hi! I had a dream just now that my 8 months old baby girl was drowning in the pool, the dream was like- we are in the swimming pool and my husband was holding her and all of a sudden she slipped and fell and drowned in the pool, I gave her a mouth mouth to wake her up- in my dream I was crying. What does it mean?
Dear Cee casss – Like any baby, a baby in your dream can be a symbol of something new and vulnerable that has come to your life, so it will be helpful to explore what your baby girl in your dream is symbolising.
See http://dreamhawk.com/pregnancy-childbirth/the-baby-in-your-dream/
The way I understand your dream is that you perceive that a vulnerable, new-born part of you – or your relationship – is not safe in your husband’s hands.
You were crying in your dream and feelings in dreams are nearly always undistorted. You could therefore try to see if you can recognise where these feelings occur in your waking life.
Does that give you a start?
Anna 🙂