Crash course: Dream reading

Ever wondered why you keep dreaming you’re flying or being chased? Read on to find out why, and how important that dream could be to your waking life

Sweet dreams

Every night as you sleep, hundred of images are played through your mind as you dream – but do you ever think about what they could be trying to tell you? ‘We have two meanings for the word dream in our language,’ says Ian Wallace, dream psychologist (www.ianwallacedreams.com) and author of The Top 100 Dreams: The Dreams That We All Have and What They Really Mean (Hay House, £9.99). ‘It can be our nightly adventure or an ambition we hope to achieve in waking life. They seem quite different, but we can actually use our nightly dreams to help us realise our waking ambitions in daily life.’ Dreaming is your unconscious mind’s way of sorting through difficulties in your life. ‘We are examining multiple perspectives in our life and trying to choose the most advantageous strategy to pursue,’ adds Wallace. ‘We use it as a way of consolidating memory and ascribing meaning.’

Define your dream

You have five sleep cycles a night and in each you have a dream episode. ‘To remember your dream, set an intention before you go to sleep,’ says Wallace. ‘When you wake up in the morning lie absolutely still and you’ll get more and more imagery coming back.’ to pursue,’ adds Wallace. ‘We use it as a way of consolidating memory and ascribing meaning.’

Ian Wallace reveals what the most common dreams mean:

Driving out of control ‘When we dream about a vehicle we’re usually dreaming about our own drives and ambitions in life so if it’s out of control you’re not following the path you want to.’

Losing teeth ‘We show our teeth when we’re smiling because we’re happy or when we’re snarling because we’re asserting our power. So if we dream we’re losing teeth there’s something that’s making us lose our confidence and sense of power. If it’s your molars you need to chew something over, or if it’s your incisors you need to be more decisive.’

Needing the loo ‘You spend your time looking after the needs of others rather than looking after your own. In the dream, there’s usually no walls or door around the toilet. You need to create some personal boundaries and that’s what the walls and door represent.’

By Gemma Haigh

*To find out more about what your dreams mean, read the September/October issue of the mag on sale 24th September – 4^th November in Holland & Barrett stores and selected newsagents nationwide…