Most of us dream, and those dreams can range from simple reflections of your day to the more bizarre and abstract and even the downright terrifying.
But do those sometimes vivid pictures really have any meaning?
Dream analyst Jane Teresa Anderson says that our dreaming brain and mind processes the last couple of days’ worth of conscious and unconscious experiences to try to make sense of them.
“We update our experiences to form new memories, process our feelings, and build (and tear apart and rebuild) our beliefs,” she explains. “Dreaming builds our unique mindset, and when we know how to understand our dreams we have the opportunity to look into our mindset, identify our unconscious beliefs and feelings, and understand why we experience life in the way that we do. ”
We asked Starts at 60 readers about their dreams, and compiled them into common themes, so Anderson could give us some possible interpretations (within the limits of the information provided about the dream). We’ll be bringing you her insights in a series of articles. Here’s the first.
“I have a dream of being chased by someone or something, but I fall and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get back up.”
This dreamer may feel she’s trying to stay ahead of something (it could be anything: a deadline, a fear, a health issue, debt), but feels she’s falling behind. She may be getting exhausted from all the trying, finding it harder to get back up and on with life each time. This situation may be playing out for her, or her dream may be showing her unconscious fear of not being able to get back on her feet (in whichever area she feels stressed), in which case she may be running all the harder and – on the surface of things – performing well. This kind of situation can’t endure. It’s best to turn around and face the sense of pressure (symbolised by what’s chasing her in the dream), and deal with it, rather than keep running.
“I often have very lucid dreams of being chased by huge spiders. I can’t get away from them because they can jump, climb, and swim.”
As with the previous dream, this dreamer may feel there’s something she can’t get away from, can’t distance herself from, and every time she feels that way, she has the dream. Dream symbols are unique and personal: you can’t look them up in a dream dictionary. What does the dreamer see as the personality of these huge spiders? Her answer helps decode the symbol. For example, if she says the spiders are menacing, she may feel she’s trying to get away from a feeling of menace, and it might be her own deep, dark, menacing thoughts. If she sees the spiders as agile and powerful, she may feel she’s trying to get away from a powerful force, or memories of being agile and powerful, or her own wonderful, powerful mental agility ,which has been hiding in the dark for far too long.
Dreams of being chased may indicate trying to escape a fear, feeling, thought, belief, or situation.
Jane Teresa Anderson is a Brisbane-based dream analyst, dream therapist, author, and frequent guest on radio and television, who helps dreamers resolve issues by gaining insightful perspective into their dreams.