Do you have repeat dreams?
Science will tell you that you shouldn’t. A chemical that is naturally released during dreaming impedes the retention of the dream in memory. Nature has wired your brain to have dreams, but not store them in ever-living-color in your mind.
In therapy sessions with veterans, they often told me of nightmares that they couldn’t escape. They not only remembered them. They feared going to sleep because of them. And at times, in the dream, relived the same story or horrific life event.
When a dream repeats, I have an eerie sense of deja vu. It is as if I am walking into a place that I have been before. If it is a nightmare, I panic to see if I can remember my way out. Usually that is not possible. The antagonist in the dream remembers and blocks the old solution. The scene then continues as it did originally, or changes in a more obtuse and dreadful way.
The routine repeat dreams are more benign. They feel like I am watching a rerun on TV. One can almost predict the dialogue. When it ends, I still have to wonder about the meaning of the dream, and why it returned last night. I consider changes I have made in my conscious world and new pressures arising from the environs. I realize that a number of different circumstances could trigger the repeat.
To me, there are two intriguing challenges presented by repeat dreams. One is that I can recall having been in a particular scene and story while the science tells me that the dream should be long-forgotten. And two, the dream originates in me and demonstrates a lingering emotional content that hasn’t been integrated into my consciousness and accepted as part of myself.
If you want to explore your dreams further, you can use my technique of capturing the content and anchoring it in your conscious mind. The first task is to record your dream in some way. I recommend a tablet and pen by your bedside. When you wake from a dream, you can jot yourself some notes as an aid to your memory.
At breakfast, or later in the day, you can ask yourself the three questions that will enable you to draw out the meaning from the dream.
- What first comes to mind after I write down or draw an image from the dream?
- What feeling did I have in the dream?
- What was left unfinished at the end?
As you ask yourself these questions, remember that we addressing the phenomenon of sleep and waking. I don’t expect you to have concrete definitive answers to all of the questions. They merely permit you to elaborate the dream for your own inspection. As you follow this path, you will discover an ever deepening tour among your emotions, fantasies and desires. You’ll be surprised at the person you encounter.
Comments
2 Comments on Do you have repeat dreams?
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Min on
Fri, 12th Mar 2021 1:34 am
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Dr. Lewis on
Fri, 12th Mar 2021 5:05 pm
Hi Denny! I was just telling Kin that I keep having a recurring dream every so often about me at the airport and not knowing what time my flight was. And try as I might, I just can’t figure out my flight time. I had the thought to start writing some of my dreams down a while ago. Sometimes they are indeed insightful. I’ve always felt that dreams are leftover unresolved subconscious thoughts in my head. My brain’s trying to tell me something or help me resolve some emotional conflict that I was unable to figure out while awake. I think my most powerful one was when my father passed. I was grieving for many months and one night I dreamt my father telling me that, just as I would want him to be okay, he wants me to be okay too. When I woke up in tears and was able to process it a bit better all day, it was a turning point in my grief. I would still be in a deep hole of grief without my brain playing out that scene with my father and reminding me that I should still live my best life because he would have wanted that for me. Anyway, interesting stuff, I look forward to more on your blog!! 🙂
Min! Your story blows me away. Wow! You are describing what I hope others will realize: that your own dreams can help resolve emotional issues that are hanging on. Your sharing this touches my heart. Thank you.
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