Muscle
Your strength, and ability to do things, therefore confidence and sense of adequacy. Muscles can indicate feelings of being outwardly forceful, or masculinity in its physical aspect. Also may refer to your physical muscle, and therefore how good you feel about yourself and your abilities physically.
Muscles of particular parts of the body would refer to the strength or weakness of what that area suggests. So an injured bicep of your right arm – if you are right handed – would suggest a feeling of weakness of inadequacy in your outer activities, or something to do with being able to produce an effect outwardly. It might therefore indicate a lack of confidence. So look at the limb or body part in which the muscle is to define it.
Example: I dreamt P T was in my father’s shop in London. Someone had shot him in the bicep and I was trying to help him. I had a small box on the counter and there was fluid or blood in it, and I put the hurt muscle in it hoping to heal it. When the gunshot flesh was in the blood the blood bubbled and effervesced, becoming hot. I felt the flesh would not be of any use now, but wasn’t sure. In the end though I was considering cleaning away the injured flesh from the arm (left I think). All I could see were the sinews with a small amount of flesh on them – no muscle in between. But I began to feel that gradually new cells might grow and develop into a new muscle – granulate.
In exploring my dream I found that the injury was due to my feelings that my father had never given me any confidence but always words of criticism. This was the injury to my left arm, the strength/muscle that supports action.
Muscles of particular parts of the body would refer to the strength or weakness of what that area suggests. So an injured bicep of your right arm – if you are right handed – would suggest a feeling of weakness of inadequacy in your outer activities, or something to do with being able to produce an effect outwardly. It might therefore indicate a lack of confidence. So look at the limb or body part in which the muscle is to define it. See Context and also The Two Powers
Useful Questions and Hints:
If this is about injury or sickness, in what way do I feel lacking in power or confidence?
What specifically is my dream presenting about my muscle(s)?
If this is about health or development of muscle(s) what can I observe about my increasing ability to express in the world?
What am I confronting in life about my confidence and self image?
I stress again the need to look at the The Two Powers if you suffer waking up to paralysis while asleep.
See Use the body to discover dream power – Your Core Self – Martial Art of the Mind
Comments
Common theme throughout many of my own nightmares (which are fairly often). Whenever I try to defend meself, I find I cannot lift my arms or move my legs, as the feeling of fatigue has set in so much, I can’t seem to do anything but panic. Same for running away from something.. I find myself unable to walk, unable to move. There are a plethora of personal examples I have, just not off the top of my memory… I’ve been searching for a meaning, still quite skeptical about it…
Hi, I dreamed of having extremely weak muscles in my neck & abs. The dream centered on the fact my neck muscles had become so weak that when tusseling with my sister, then my mother then with a female friend – I no longer possessed enough strength to even lift my head from the mat, let alone defend myself when my opponent was on me.
My head seemed to weigh so much, when given the chance, I couldn’t even use my own hands to lift it.
The dream continued, showing much more capable even very physically fit, ripped & flexible friends I admired. At one point tho me & the fit friend were lying on mats during rest period at a pool. When it was time to get up & return to the water, neither of us could; we were so weak & feeble (from inactivity) we didn’t even posses the muscle strength to even ‘roll’ to our sides, off our mats – our stomach muscles seemed to be all fat & mush. This was very troublesome bec we were stuck like glue & everyone else flooded around us, making there way to the pool.
I reflected in the dream, [ this is why I’ve never been a strong swimmer – weak core muscles; this is what happens when you go from very fit to complete inactivity (exercise wise)]. I eventually kept flexing enough, I mustard up enough muscle strength in my tummy (by physically AND mentally ‘feeling’ these muscles contract) enough to eventually ‘lift’ my upper torso off my DEATH mat & get up. Yet my mind also kept envisioning me being dusted (out speeded) whole swimming laps … I was super slow due to very weak core muscles.
2 things going on recently in my waking life
1) I felt a bit outta place/awkward yesterday while walking around (to find the library to study at) on a college campus with all the young slender 20 yr olds – I’m 50 & have a very noticeable ‘belly’ along with other ‘middle-age spread’ fat.
2) I’m brushing up (by studying at the university medical library) on topics I took when I was earning my Biology degree back 30 yrs ago!, all in order to land a job I must qualify for by passing their exam. And I feel a little nervous about getting this job & if I really want to chance working for a company instead of starting my own ‘something’ business. Please interpret this first-time-ever type dream & advise. Thx
D. In Cleveland OH
Dear Del – Thank you for sharing so much about your waking life; it makes that I can see more clearly which levels are expressed in your dream.
I feel that no matter how your inner conflict(s) will be resolved – like change working for a company or starting your own ‘something’ business – the steps you are taking are helping you to grow.
Tussling with your sister, your mother and your female friend may reflect that you do not feel capable YET to deal with inner conflict(s) in a way that is helpful.
I believe that “My head seemed to weigh so much” means that you approach your inner conflict with your thinking mind only and not by becoming aware what you are feeling about the different possibilities or about what is going on in your inner world.
Studying AND too much thinking may have led to “being too much in your head” and this is so tiring that you perceive (perception is not a fact) that you do not have any energy left to enter your inner world of feelings or get some physical exercise.
I am much of a thinker too and when I become aware that I am too much in my head, I go to a park nearby – even when I feel tired – and while walking I focus on my feet; this is like sending the energy down again.
Another approach that helps me enter my body and my feelings is http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/water-wonderland/ and http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/
Weak core muscles I see as a symbol for not knowing from deep within where you want to go which is understandable when your focus is in your head.
If you are more centred – more aware of your core strength – you are more likely to be able to perceive that you too are “capable (of finding your own direction), even very physically fit (moving into the direction you have chosen), ripped & flexible (to deal with things you meet on your path)”; these friends in your dream reflect this potential in you.
In order to be able to express it, you have to take care of yourself on all levels.
I believe that your imagination can serve as a tool too, the way it did in your dream; “(by physically AND mentally ‘feeling’ these muscles contract”.
By “feeling into your body” – with or without contracting and releasing your muscles – you can learn to divide your energy (body) better and this will make you feel more alive and in touch with Life.
“Yet my mind also kept envisioning me being dusted (out speeded) whole swimming laps … I was super slow due to very weak core muscles” is not a very helpful way to use your imagination and so why not imagine that you can swim laps – live your life – at your own pace?
See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-wonder-of-imagination/
I wish you all the best of luck with wherever Life takes you and please let me know if you have any questions.
Anna 🙂