Chasing your DREAMS
With vivid dreams on the rise, Ella Dove finds out how we can harness our night-time visions to benefit our waking lives
Historically, I am one of those people who never remembers their dreams. I adopt a ‘get up and go’ mentality, my conscious mind switching on with my alarm clock, reminding me from the moment I wake up that I need to send an email, wash my hair before work or take some chicken out of the freezer. Lingering in bed was a rarity, reserved only for weekends. Then the lockdowns happened, and with them, a strange new development. Not only could I remember my dreams, I could recall them in vivid, multicolour detail. I was riding a tiger, watching a play at my secondary school, or at a theme park. Amid the daily grind, I found myself looking forward to going to sleep. It began to feel like an adventure.
What’s more, I’m not the only one. Research from Kings College London has shown that half (49%) of those who find coronavirus stressful report having had more vivid dreams than usual, while the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre has found a 35% increase in dream recall. Author and sleep expert Theresa Cheung explains that a lot of it is to do with our sleep patterns. ‘People have always had dreams, but the reason we’re remembering them more now is that our mornings have slowed right down. We’re now lying in bed without immediately jumping up, so we have the chance to stay in touch with that unconscious realm.’
I am fascinated to discover that remembering your dreams is not only a bit of fun, but can also lead to a new level of self-understanding. By harnessing the power of our dreaming mind, the theory is that we can effect positive and transformative change in our waking lives.
Theresa likens it to having our own internal therapist. ‘It’s having a conversation with yourself, which is what a therapist would also encourage you to do,’ she says. ‘Often, they will ask, “What do you think?” “How does
that make you feel?” Through our dreams, we’re doing that to ourselves, every night. When you start becoming practised in it, it’s very reassuring, because you know that there’s some part of you – your intuition or higher self – that is always on your side. That can be a tremendous confidence boost, because it teaches us to trust ourselves.’
Dreaming can also be a powerful tool for personal transformation and growth. ‘A lot of people think their personality is set and define themselves by that,’ says Cheung, ‘but dreams throw that all up in the air, and open windows into who you are that you might not even know.’ But how do we go about understanding our dreams in order to successfully decode them and apply them to our waking lives? The first thing, Cheung advises, is to simply write them down. Keep a dream journal next to you, and when you wake up, even if that’s at 3am, jot down what you recall, always ‘in the present tense, because that keeps it current.’
‘Don’t expect dreams to make sense – they are fleeting images, not a linear narrative,’ says Cheung. ‘Firstly, write down the overwhelming feeling. Was it fear? Was it joy? Was it boredom? Put that as your heading. Next, look at all the symbols. These are the things that you saw in the dream – a cliff, a fork, a pair of shoes. Write down these key words quickly, then focus on the atmosphere, setting and colours. A red-themed dream is passion, purple would be intuition connecting to your higher self, green is new beginnings, yellow tends to be intellect, black, hidden potential, orange is creativity and brown is about being more grounded.’
‘Every single symbol, even those you don’t think are important, has a little tale to tell you,’ says Cheung. ‘You become like a dream detective – you go into that dream and start decoding it. It’s brilliant when people do that, because they realise and understand that life’s so interesting; there’s so much inside them bursting to come out.’
There are many ways to programme yourself for dream recall. Words have power, so before going to sleep say a mantra out loud, such as, ‘Tonight I remember my dreams’ or ‘I’m going to have a great dream tonight,’ suggests Cheung. ‘It’s also important to have an ordered pre-sleep routine for better dreams. Lavender has been shown to boost dream recall, and one study has shown that vitamin B6 supplements taken before bed also help. Having a bath, a read and doing calming things before bed will increase the chances of sweet dreams rather than nightmares.’
On nightmares, ‘don’t worry’ is Cheung’s advice. ‘Instead, think of it as tough love. Your dreaming mind cares about you so much that it’s going to unsettle you a bit.’ Equally, nightmares are rarely premonitions. ‘Your dreaming mind is trying to take you to your worst fear,’ she says. ‘Because if you can live through it and be okay, you’ve dealt with it. There are ancient cultures in which children are encouraged to go back into their dreams if they’re frightening to deal with fears – so that if they encounter that occurrence in waking life, they’ve been there before and know what to do. Our dreams serve our best interests, so if you wake up panicking, take some deep breaths and remind yourself of this. For instance, death in a dream isn’t literal. It’s a symbol of change. It shows your relationship with that person is undergoing a shift.’
Rollercoasters keep cropping up in my dreams. The other night, I found myself on a white-knuckle ride so vivid that I woke up breathless. ‘As with every symbol, your dreaming mind is using the rollercoaster for a reason,’ says Cheung. ‘These dreams are telling you that life will always be an exciting ride, but sometimes before the highs and thrills you need to learn to navigate the inevitable lows and slow climbs. Rollercoasters can also reflect unpredictable situations that you have no control over. The solution is to control what you can and, with what you can’t control, simply detach, go with the flow and enjoy the ride.’
Like many people, I have found the lockdowns difficult, with two close family members having Covid badly, months of separation from my boyfriend and an unceasing feeling of being stuck, which inhibited both my concentration and creativity. Theresa tells me that dream decoding is about working out how each symbol you see chimes with you personally. ‘If an interpretation doesn’t fit with your situation, you will instantly know,’ she says. ‘So ask yourself what that symbol’s relevance could be – and trust in the answer. We are all far more intuitive than we realise or allow ourselves to be. In ancient times, our intuition was our superpower. It kept us alive, because it alerted us to danger. Our reliance on technology has meant that intuition
‘EVERY SINGLE SYMBOL HAS A LITTLE TALE TO TELL YOU’
often becomes lazy, but when you sleep, the conscious mind doesn’t have a chance because the unconscious reigns. By thinking more about your dreams, you are allowing that relationship between your unconscious and conscious mind to form – and you will get to know yourself better as a result, to reconnect with your intuition and trust your gut.’
In the case of my rollercoaster dreams, knowing my mind was sending me a message brought comfort. Rather than berating myself for not pushing ahead with writing a second book, I learned to see the slow climb as part of the journey. I now trust that this sense of being out of control will eventually end. And Cheung is right – it’s a powerful feeing. I can rely on myself to make the right decisions.
‘Once you allow intuition to take over, it’s peaceful, because you can let go of expectations of your external life, such as your relationships or career, to give you what you need,’ Cheung says. ‘Those things become like icing on the cake. If they work out, great. But if they don’t, you’re okay. You have this internal mechanism that will always look after you. You are never alone.’
The Dream Dictionary From A To Z (Harpercollins) by Theresa Cheung is out now.