3 Harmful Ways Children Are Taught to Ignore Their Intuition
Dreams are one of the most mysterious and fascinating aspects of human experience. We spend roughly a third of our lives asleep, and during that time, the unconscious mind speaks to us through the symbolic language of dreams. Learning to understand this language can give us access to a profound source of inner wisdom.
In the Higher Self Yoga teachings, dreams are understood as communications from the deeper self – messages from the unconscious mind and, potentially, from the Higher Self. By learning to work with our dreams, we can deepen our self-understanding and our spiritual development.
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Why Pay Attention to Dreams?
Dreams can reveal what the conscious mind cannot see. They show us our hidden fears and desires, our unresolved conflicts, our deepest longings. They often point to aspects of ourselves that we have suppressed or denied. And they can bring us guidance, creativity, and even healing.
Many great thinkers, artists, and spiritual teachers throughout history have attributed significant insights to their dreams. The chemist August Kekulé famously discovered the ring structure of benzene after dreaming of a snake eating its own tail. The psychologist Carl Jung, who spent much of his career studying dreams, described them as “the royal road to the unconscious.”
How to Work With Your Dreams
The first step in working with dreams is simply to pay attention to them. Here are some practices to help:
- Keep a dream journal. Keep a notebook by your bed and write down your dreams as soon as you wake up, before the memories fade. Include as many details as you can: images, emotions, colors, characters, settings.
- Look for patterns. Over time, you may notice recurring themes, symbols, or characters in your dreams. These patterns often point to significant aspects of your inner life.
- Reflect on the emotional tone. The emotions in a dream are often more significant than the specific events. What were you feeling? Fear, joy, sadness, confusion? These feelings are clues to what the dream is communicating.
- Ask your Higher Self. Before going to sleep, ask your Higher Self to communicate with you through your dreams. Upon waking, ask your Higher Self to help you understand the messages you received.
Dreams are one of the many ways the inner life speaks to us. By developing the habit of paying attention to our dreams and working with them, we open a powerful channel of inner guidance and self-understanding.
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