PRACTICAL DREAMWORK

I use the following methods to help understand dreams.
1. ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM. Try to look for ways in which your dream associates with real life. Also look for possible symbolic meanings.
2. GUESSWORK. Try to guess what issues and emotions could have triggered a dream.
3. ANALYSIS. Try to link your dream to reality and point to an exact thought or feeling that the dream may correspond to.

The examples given here feature just one issue identified in "GUESSWORK". In reality you may identify more than one issue. You need to go through each issue and see which fits best. Generally speaking you will not get more than two issues. Dreams are in the here and now and your mind will generally be focused on just one or two things. So try to spot which way your mind is pointing. Are you concentrating your thoughts on the previous day or are you focused on the day to come. Are you thinking about yourself and life in general? These are vital clues which should not be ignored. The meaning of any dream should be on the tip of your tongue. Its meaning would generally be the kind of thing you would tell a close friend or write in a diary.

Here are some practical examples of dreamwork


PRACTICAL DREAMWORK EXAMPLE

THE DREAM - I was on a bus going up a very huge hill - on the road to Whitby at Robin Hood's Bay. It's a very steep hill. It's the steepest hill I know. It's scary going up the hill in a slow bus. I always fear it will suddenly stop and go in reverse crashing down the hill. In the dream the bus suddenly stopped and started to go in reverse.

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM
1. The bus loses control. The dreamer thought of ways in which he was losing control. In real life he felt things were going too fast and he could lose control.
2. Hills in dreams can correspond to challenges. In real life the dreamer felt he was having to do some things that he found daunting.

GUESSWORK
The dreamer read the dream questionnaire (CLICK HERE )and answered yes to the following question : PERSONALITY DREAM : Have you been coping better or worse than you thought you would?

He had been mixing with influential people and was worried that he did not have the ability to handle this.

ANALYSIS
The dream does seem to link to the issue the dreamer sighted in GUESSWORK. There are two links.
They cover the following themes
- Things could slide back and go in reverse.
- The dreamer is facing something very difficult and challenging.

If you piece together these two themes the dream captures this thought - "I have been doing things which I am not confident enough to do. It's too much of a challenge and I worry that I may slide backwards and come crashing back to reality"


PRACTICAL DREAMWORK EXAMPLE

THE DREAM - I was driving down a side street next to a 2 lane highway where there was construction and due to the rain it was very cold and icy. A car ahead of me was speeding and as it tried to merge a bus clipped it, sending it spinning where it ended up sinking in a pond next to the highway. I jumped out of my car and ran to assist. There were four people in the car, and as it was sinking I was only able to save the girl and guy in the back seat. I woke up with tears in my eyes.

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM
1. Drowning. This can be symbolic of any moment when you or others were overwhelmed.
2. The dreamer felt a complete sense of sadness waking up in tears. The day before he felt a similar sense of sadness brought on by an argument.
3. All the people in the car could not be saved despite the dreamers attempts. He was really trying hard to save them. In real life he was also trying really hard to get a job but failing.
4. Front seat and back seat. If you are in the back-seat you lack control.
5. Desperation. The dream featured a desperate struggle and in real life the dreamer was increasingly desperate because of his lack of work.

GUESSWORK
The dreamer read the dream questionnaire (CLICK HERE) and answered yes to the following question : BIG INCIDENT FROM YESTERDAY - Did you get into a big argument? He argued with his wife about his lack of work. She threatened to leave him when his savings ran out.

ANALYSIS
The dream does seem consistent with the real life issues mentioned in guesswork.

The dream seems to deal with the following real life themes
- "I tried my best but couldn't do it."
- "It's a complete disaster."

If you weave together these two symbolic meanings you find that they form the following thought - "I really want to get a job. I have tried my hardest but I cannot succeed"

It's really more of an emotional dream. Some dreams are about the best thing to do but this dream simply records a big emotion from the day before.


PRACTICAL DREAMWORK EXAMPLE

THE DREAM - I have a recurring dream that I am in my French oral exam. I am back at school being tested by my tutor.

GUESSWORK This is a recurring dream so it's meanings needs to link into a continuous theme within the dreamers life. It probably has some connection to a personality trait or a continuous pressure in the dreamers life.

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM
1. Tests obviously could represent testing situations which challenge the dreamer. We constantly have to meet challenges in life and 'make the grade'.
2. Oral tests could represent the spoken word and with that the ability to talk fluently. The dreamer was a Radio DJ and TV presenter. He was constantly tested on his ability to talk fluently.

ANALYSIS
All dreams must have a meaning which can be reduced to a short quote. Dreams capture key thoughts and feelings.

This dream deals with the following themes
- The dreamer needs to constantly pass a test (make the grade) as a radio DJ.
- The dreamers ability to speak fluently.
- The day before work was heavily on the dreamers mind.

So it's possible to analyse the dream in the following way. It could capture this thought - "I felt a real pressure to meet the grade yesterday. The show did not go exactly right. I am right at the top of my profession as a Radio One DJ and need to constantly remain interesting"


PRACTICAL DREAMWORK EXAMPLE

THE DREAM - There was a boy from school who I knew - called John Raper. He was involved in time travel in some way. He was trying to sell me or show me a picture. It was a transparent picture.

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM
1. The name 'Raper' is quite evocative. The dreamer thought of sexist male like behaviour. He thought of his own callous behaviour towards a woman. He had been thinking about her the night before.
2. Time travel can be associated with a different time period. Just weeks before the dreamer had acted in a cold callous way towards the woman mentioned earlier.
3. Pictures in dreams can link to the following - a picture in your mind - an idea you are imagining etc.

GUESSWORK
The dreamer read the dream questionnaire (CLICK HERE) and answered yes to the following : BIG INCIDENT FROM YESTERDAY - Were you thinking about just one thing yesterday?

He had been thinking about a woman he wanted to get back on good terms with. He was worried that his callous behaviour from two weeks before would come back to haunt him. He had said something hateful about her and felt sure that the comments would be passed on to her.

ANALYSIS
The dream does seem to be consistent with the incident from the day before. The dream seems to deal with the following themes

- The dreamer is aware that what he has done was callous and angry. The use of the word Raper as a symbol shows how ashamed he felt about this.
- The dreamer was picturing how things could be.
- The dreamer was aware of what had just occurred just two weeks before. He was desperate to find out exactly what had happened. The woman he made comments about may not even have heard these. But if she did then that would be it.

The dream perhaps captures this real life thought - "I want to get back on good terms with her. I know how badly I behaved just two weeks ago but I really do not know how she took it. She may not even heard of what I said. But I fear that she could have taken it really badly and if she did then that is it!"


PRACTICAL DREAMWORK EXAMPLE

THE DREAM - I am on some huge ramp like thing. It's a cross between a hill and a skyscraper type thing. I am clawing my way to the top. It's a huge effort. There is a guide rail which I can attach myself to which makes it easier to ascend to the top. Yet for one section it's missing. But I am climbing up nevertheless. It's like climbing a mountain though. Then I am suddenly going down the stairs at great speed uncontrollably sliding down.

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM
1. Skyscrapers can symbolize an increase in status or trying to do the best that you can.
2. Steep hills can symbolize tasks which are huge and difficult
3. Descending a mountain at speed can be symbolic of things going into reverse as plans come crashing down
4. The dream involves a huge effort. In real life the dreamer was trying to improve his health but was finding this difficult.

GUESSWORK
The dreamer read through the questionnaire (CLICK HERE) and answered yes to the following - PERSONALITY DREAM. Could you have done something better yesterday?

The dreamer had been trying to improve his health. He had painstakingly tried to be good. Yet on the morning of the dream he had just lounged in bed. He realised that he had failed and had just wasted away a day. He believed that getting up was vital to improving his health. He had to stay highly disciplined in order to control his chronic hay fever.

ANALYSIS
The dream does seem to be consistent with the incident the dreamer mentions regarding his health.

The dream seems to deal with the following themes
- Making slow progress.
- Quickly losing all the progress made.

So if we weave together the various symbolic meanings we find that the dream captures these feelings about the dreamers illness - "I have been making real attempts to improve my health. But it's really slow progress. Today I really let myself down by not getting out of bed. I wasted all the progress I made"

So it's possible to see how very complex inner thoughts can be spotted within dream symbolism. It's just a matter of knowing how to analyse the dream. Dreams do relate very much to the here and now. Once you know that you can really spot how dreams work.


PRACTICAL DREAMWORK EXAMPLE

THE DREAM - I am in a place which appears to be full of women. There seems to be a magical place in the centre were people can go the toilet. They will be peeing in public. I think about doing this then realise it will look very coarse and embarrassing.

GUESSWORK: The dreamer read the dream questionnaire (CLICK HERE) and answered yes to the following question. Did something significant happen yesterday? At work he had won over a group of women who had previously been quite negative towards him. He felt he had now become their golden boy whilst previously they had felt him cold and callous. Yet in order to do this he felt he had revealed too much. Some of the things he admitted were highly embarrassing and more people knew these secrets than intended.

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLISM
1. The dream features a lot of women and the situation the day before was about a group of women.
2. In the dream the dreamer was very embarrassed. This reminded him of his own feelings of embarrassment.
3. In the dream there was a sense of magic. In real life the dreamer felt a real sense of happiness and contentment because of peoples changes in attitudes.

ANALYSIS
The dream features three strong links to the real life situation. The dream was about women and the situation the day before was about women. The dream featured embarrassment and so did the real life situation. Then the dream featured a strong sense of contentment which linked to a similar real life sense of contentment.

All dreams should be translated into a short quote which hints at the dreams meaning. Looking at the associations we have three themes
- The dream is in some way about women.
- The dream deals with embarrassing feelings.
- The dream deals with the dreamers sense of contentment.

So by looking at real life we can see how the dream captures the following thought process - "I sorted things out with the women at work. I felt a real sense of contentment. I have talked things through with them and helped get some bad feelings out of the way. But I worry that I have revealed too much".

The dream captures this crucial change at his work environment. Therefore it seems that this dream is about the big situation from the previous day. It seems likely that this dream interpretation is very accurate.


PRACTICAL DREAMWORK

Dream interpreting and dreamwork are practical activities. Its not so easy to teach these in theory. It is much easier to show many practical examples to allow people to grasp how its done. Here are some real examples of how dreamwork should be done.

THE DREAM I had a dream with lots of violence and fighting in.

SYMBOLIC MEANINGS AND ASSOCIATIONS
1. Fighting in dreams can represent issues where we are having to struggle so look for any issue involving hardship or hard work. They can also represent resentments.

GUESSWORK The dreamer got this dream after a particularly busy day at work. He had had to meet a very tough work schedule.

ANALYSIS The dream could easily represent the dreamers particularly hard day at work.

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CONTACT : Please feel free to contact me with your dreams - Please include as many details as possible and especially describe any strong emotions that link to the day before or any characters in the dream. Also if you have any dreams that you feel as if you already know the meaning of then I would be delighted to place them within my own dream studies.

E-MAIL : hairybobby@hotmail.com

DREAMWORK
• Dreamwork in theory
• Dreamwork in practice

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?

• Understand last nights dream
• Read about dream theories
• See examples of real dreams which have been understood
• look at dreams which feature a particular dream symbol
• Why should you believe the information on this site

This website features hundreds of well researched and understood dreams. Below you can see examples of these dreams which feature particular dream symbols.

A-Z DREAM SYMBOLS
A : B : C : D : E : F : G : H : I : J : K : L : M : N : O : P : Q : R : S : T : U : V : W : X : Y : Z



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