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Author Topic: This might turn into a nightmare  (Read 5230 times)

Tony Crisp

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This might turn into a nightmare
« on: April 10, 2019, 11:20:41 AM »
annonymous

I had a dream during an afternoon nap that I was on a green field, someone walked past who offended me and my life, so I defended it by telling them about my personal achievements that make me great. Then I lay down on this green lawn and suddenly realised that I am dreaming and I am inside my mind then I thought very quickly of what to think of because I realised I could possibly have a nightmare within it, so I thought of being in water. I closed my eyes and I was inside water, thinking of nothing, but just listening to the sound of water which was slightly uncomfortable, but very refreshing and relaxing because the tiny discomfort kept me focused and controlling my mind. Then someone knocked on my door and I had to wake up, so I did.

what could that experience mean for me?
« Last Edit: April 12, 2019, 09:39:37 AM by Tony Crisp »

Tony Crisp

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Re: I could possibly have a nightmare
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2019, 11:24:53 AM »
Anonymous – The answers I give arise not out of me thinking up things to say, but from fifty years of exploring dreams in depth. So some of what I write may seem wild. This may be because dreams arise and are experienced by a level of your mind or awareness that very few people have any concept or experience of – usually called the unconscious. Life dreamt of its creatures millions of years before even humankind awoke and developed self awareness or language. So to understand dreams we need to leave our thinking minds behind and go into our feelings and reactions – a much older level of awareness.

But it would help you to understand your dreams, if you would read – http://dreamhawk.com/news/summing-up/ and also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/features-found-on-site/ which has so much information in.

Nothing can replace your own ability to understand your dream. With a little effort you can do this by practising what is described in – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson or http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/getting-at-your-dreams-meaning/

But you appear to be in the process of waking up to what dreams are and what their possibilities are. But you have only taken small steps and need more understanding.

“I realised I could possibly have a nightmare.” That was a misconception based on waking fears, 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. For all the things that scare you are simply your own fears projected onto the screen of your sleeping mind.

A little Kuwaiti boy survived the Iraqi invasion of his country and was living without his father, a prisoner of war. But a recurring nightmare, of Saddam Hussein stabbing his brother to death, was prolonging the trauma.

One night he had a different dream: This time he carried the knife, becoming a hero who kills his nemesis. The emotional weight he carried disappeared. Altering recurring nightmares may hold a key to recovery for many victims of trauma, says Dr. Deidre Barrett, a professor of behavioral medicine and hypnotherapy at Harvard Medical School. Barrett spent a month in Kuwait City after the Gulf War training other therapists to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. She says, “Just changing something in the dream gives people such a sense of mastery in controlling things.” See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/masters-of-nightmares/http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/

Because you were slightly aware it enabled you to change your dream to a non threatening situation. But because all the people, animals, places you see in your dreams, are simply your own feelings, fears, hopes and wonder projected onto the screen of your sleeping mind as images, it was silly to avoid facing your own fears, because facing them would transform your life.

Also controlling your mind is a sign that you are frightened of yourself. Perhaps see http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/lifes-little-secrets/http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/integration-meeting-oneself/

Tony
« Last Edit: April 22, 2019, 10:15:45 AM by Tony Crisp »

- anna -

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Re: This might turn into a nightmare
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2019, 03:37:22 PM »
Hello Anonymous  :)

You asked; "What could this experience mean for me?" Well, that is a question only you can answer. I can share with you though, how I see your dream.

The way I see it you start in a green field, which I see as a symbol for relaxing your brain; not paying attention to anything in particular.

What happens then is that your mind wanders off into the "inner critic mode"; someone walked past who offended me and my life.
Your more appreciative self defends your attacked self against your inner critic; so I defended it by telling them about my personal achievements that make me great.

Now that this inner conflict is solved, you can relax again; Then I lay down on this green lawn.

This time you very quickly chose for a different approach though; you do not let your mind wander off into an inner conflict again (is that an old pathway you used to take when you let your mind wander off and do you perceive this attack-defend cycle as a nightmare?), but you chose for becoming lucid in your dream and with this new found awareness you emptied your mind to achieve a focused state of awareness.
Did you start meditating recently or do you practice mindfulness?

Could it be that it was "slightly uncomfortable", because it was a new approach to learn to manage your mind?

Perhaps you feel like reading https://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/lucid-dreaming/?

Anna
« Last Edit: April 13, 2019, 03:57:06 PM by - anna - »

Tony Crisp

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Re: This might turn into a nightmare
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2019, 11:27:19 AM »
Anna - You are still very much on the ball.  :)

Tony
« Last Edit: April 24, 2019, 09:47:47 AM by Tony Crisp »