Dreams reveal hidden emotions
A glimpse into the hidden “self” normally masked by our conscious control.
How did you react to this weird dream scenario?
In our daily lives, we watch ourselves and may not allow “the darker side” to play out. Our fears, unwanted habits, and biases remain latent… and influence us “behind the scenes.”
But thanks to dreams we get a backdoor into the unconscious. If you remember the situation and your response – you can process it (reframe the causes as for any other emotional episode). Defuse the errors and unwanted responses so they can no longer be triggered even by weird dreams. Freeing our real lives from their impact too.
Infer the hidden “self”
Dreams reflect our subconscious inclinations — the potential for destructive or non-violent reactions. A form of the situations we dream of is often exaggerated, but our reactions to them are authentic. If we have frozen with fear when facing a dangerous situation, that does indicate untackled fears and their causes. The kind of internal issues that are better be dealt with until they get triggered by a real-life situation.
Dream stories differ from real ones by offering a genuine response, not suppressed by conscious control, shame, morals, etc. A direct voice of subconsciousness, an indicator of what is really going on inside ourselves.
Working with emotions
People are rarely able to control what is happening in a dream. The situation unfolds based on established proclivities and habitual reactions. But we can attend to issues highlighted post-factum. Change our reactions, reframe them, update the views that caused them. This would affect both upcoming dream stories and real-life situations. Our reactions would follow new habits and change the scenarios of our stories. E.g. Instead of freezing with fear followed by fight or flight response, we would keep our cool, react with both reason and compassion.
Remembering a dream
It is not always easy to remember a dream in the morning. Details vanish, the scenario is fragmented, reactions are blurred. Especially, if we have experienced multiple stories and have not had much of a reaction to either of them. The good thing is that important dreams with scenarios that trigger strong emotional responses are normally easy to remember. Especially, if we do it first thing after waking up.
Tackling reactions
Next step is trying to identify the emotions, states of mind, violent reactions. E.g. anger, fear, lust, jealousy, offense, etc. Work with them as with common real-life issues. Until we are able to pass through the dream scenario consciously without agitation, maintaining peace of mind. In a perfect world, get it done before noon, or at least the evening of the same day.
