Why Analysing Your Dreams is Essential for Cultivating a Healthy Spiritual Life

People have been interested in dreams throughout history, finding mystery and meaning in them. For ancient shamans and today’s spiritual leaders, dreams reveal messages from the spirit world that inform us about the nature of who we are and the deeper meaning of life. Dream analysis is an imperative practice for anyone wishing to elevate their own spirituality. Exploring the meanings of our dreams allows us to understand our subconscious minds and reach new levels of spiritual development.

The Influence of Dreams on Spiritual Life

In ancient societies, dreams were considered divine revelations, a link between the material world and the supernatural. The nations that forged our modern world, such as the Egyptians and the Greeks, subscribed to the notion that dreams were doors and gates to higher realms. Across monotheistic traditions, dreams were means of revelation from the divine that offered guidance and even prophecies. The biblical text is full of dream stories and prophetic dream interventions, such as those of Joseph and Daniel, which caused changes in their lives and the lives of others. In Hinduism, dreams are considered to be the path towards the realisation of the illusory nature of the Self.

The Unconscious and Spiritual Life

The unconscious mind is a vast space that lies within our souls. It is the space where all feelings, desires, and emotions originate. Anyone that seeks to attain spiritual awakening needs to shed light on their subconscious inner workings.

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, the pioneers of psychoanalysis, described dreams as little doors that open into the realm of our unconscious mind. Freud and Jung popularized the concept of dream analysis. Dream analysis consists of interpreting the reason behind the appearance and the subconscious meaning of the symbols and narratives of our dreams. When you analyze your dreams, you try to see connections between the symbol, yourself, your waking life, and the universe. To do so, you can ask yourself key questions: “Why does this symbol appear in this form?”, “How could this symbol relate to my waking life?”, “What element of my culture or the universe could this symbol represent?”.

By familiarising ourselves with the dynamics of our unconscious, we start to better understand it. This enhanced understanding of our unconscious leads to understanding our minds and the emancipation of our spiritual nature.

Cultivating a Dream Analysis Practice

If you want to leverage the potential of dreams and enhance your spiritual life, it is imperative to develop a proper and regular dream interpretation routine.

Setting Intentions

For starters, make sure you set clear intentions and goals before going to sleep. You need to clearly indicate to your mind your willingness to remember and understand dreams. Before falling asleep, repeat in your head the phrase: “I remember my dream.” Prepare a notebook and a pen next to your bed.

Creating a Sacred Space for Dream Analysis

To properly analyse your dreams, create a serene environment where you can write them down and analyse them in your dream journal. The room should be unobtrusive and contain only items that add a calm and reflective atmosphere, such as candles, crystals, or religious symbols. To enter into your subconscious peacefully, you should consider meditating before writing down and analysing your dream.

Talk to Someone About Your Dream

For me, I find that the best way to understand my dreams is to share them with others! When you share your dream with others, you get insightful feedback and a new perspective on its potential meaning. The opinions of others are a source of inspiration, and when you look at things through other people’s eyes, you notice patterns and symbols that have been overlooked. In addition, other people’s stories and ways of interpreting dreams can expand your own dream analysis expertise. Learning is sharing! Sharing is learning!

Utilising Resources and Tools

Educate yourself on dream analysis. There are many books written on the subject of dream interpretation and many online resources are available. If you’re looking to learn about the theory and the symbolic nature of dreams, I recommend the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. If you need help in analysing the symbols of your dream, you can use online dream interpreter tools or look for an online dream dictionary.

Committing to Consistency

For optimal results, you must apply discipline and consistency in your journey of dream analysis. Learn to write down your dream as soon as you wake up in the morning, even if you only remember fragments. As time goes on, you will notice recurring themes and feelings surface and learn more about your true and eternal self.