| Monday, November 08, 2004 |
| LOOKING INTO YOUR NIGHT LIFE |
(by Stacey Colino from RENEWAL/Rejuvination/Stress Mgt)
WHAT YOUR DREAMS MAY BE TELLING YOU -- AND HOW TO GET IT IN WRITING
WHISTLING babies, flying executives, missed college exams, passionate love trysts, being chased by a bear or your high school teacher.
WHAT do you dream about?, better yet,WHY DO YOU DREAM?
NO ONE knows exactly why our brains put on these bizarre nighttime movies, but dreams are more than entertainment. Most experts agree that they are reflections of what is going on in our psyche and daily life. "Dreams and sleep can help us digest information from our waking state and asimilate it into our brains". explains psychologist Marc Schoen, PhD, an assistant clinical Professort at the UCLA School of Medicine.
DREAMS can also be tools you use to identify the issues in your life and your true feelings abou them. "Dreams can serve a problem-solving function," asserts Schoen. "If you can't find a solution to a problem in your waking life, at times you can ding solutions in your dreams life."
ULTIMATELY, making an effort to decode the meaning behind your dreams can enhance your perspective and suggest solutions for everyday problem, says Schoen.
TO EXACT maximum value from your dreams, though, you have to remember them in the morning. You may also have to probe and prod a bit to reveal their true meaning.
REMEMBER THE NIGHT
The best thing for putting your dreams to work is a dream journal, which can be as simple as a notepad next to your bed. "A dream journal improves dream recall", explains San Francisco dream analyst Gayle Delaney, PhD, founding father of the Association for the Study of Dreams.
Here's how to start keeping and using a journal.
111. SET THE STAGE.
Keep a pen and journal or line paper by your bedside. Before you turn in for the night, Delaney recommends that you write the date in your journal, follwoed by three or four lines about the highlights of your day, namely, what you did and felt that was significant.
222. RECORD WAKING IMAGES.
When you wake up the next morning, immediately jot down your descrioption of the majot images that are in your mind. Do you remember people, places, actions, moods?Even if you remember fragments of images, write those down. Unable to remember the any actual dream footage? "write down the last thing that was on your mind before you woke uo or the first thing that was on your mind after waking", says Delaney. be specific about details, as if you were describibg them to someone else.
333. REMEMBER FEELINGS
Be sure to write down your feelings upon awakening. If you had a dream you can't recall, are there any residual feelings or emotions? "It's how you feel in your dream that you the personal interpretation of the dream's symbology", says Schoen.
444. ADD A TITLE.
Even the words you use to tiel your dream can be useful later, when you're looking for commonalities between dreams.
555. MAKE CONNECTIONS.
Finally, take a few minutes that day to look for parallels between your dream and your daily life. Ask yourself: Based on my description of my dream, is there anything similar going on inmy life? Is there any part of myself that's like the qualities or characters in my dream?
Bridging the dram to real life is essential if you want your self- induced images to ehlp you understand your waking hours, explains Delaney. |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 2:22 PM |
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| About Me |
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Name: infraternam meam
Home: Chicago, United States
About Me: I am now at the prime of my life
and have been married for the past 25 years.
Sickly at times, but wants to see the elixir vita,
so that I will be able to see my grandchildren from my two boys.
See my complete profile
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