Weight loss dream pulls no punches

Our dreams are directly responsive to our waking thoughts and dilemmas.  We can “incubate” a dream on a particular issue using a formal set of procedures.  But often the incubation is taking place by virtue of our regular habits of thinking.  Today’s dreamer presents a case in point.

Dear Carolyn,

Every day I think about my weight problem.  The problem is that I am stuck and can’t seem to lose a single pound without regaining it.  I swear I watch what I eat and I walk a couple of times a week.  I’m not expecting miracles, but nothing happens in spite of what I do.  Last night I dreamed about it:

I am in a large restaurant.  Maybe there are 400 or 500 people seated at tables.  It is a raucous scene in that they are all waiting for their meals or eating their meals and talking loudly.  I enter and the restaurant is a few steps down so I have a clear view of the entire seating area.  I have to find my own place to sit and have a meal.  A waitress has directed me to do this.  I see a single seat here and there.  I approach a table with a family.  It has an empty seat and they invite to sit down and join them.  But I know I should not sit and eat. 

In another restaurant scene, again I am looking for a seat in a place that is full.  But ultimately the restaurant begins to thin out and I do find a seat and sit down to have my meal.  But before I can get started a nerdy young man sits down uninvited and says he wants to interview me as I am the expert.  This makes me laugh.  I say wait what am I an expert in?  He says “dieting.”

Signed,

Counting Calories

Dear Counting,

Agreed.  Your Dreaming Self is most likely responding to your regular and repeated waking thoughts about your weight and dieting.  And, the second part of the dream states plainly that you are an expert in dieting, indicating that you already know what you need to know to achieve your goals.  Then your dream presents a blunt self-assessment:

You find yourself overlooking a large, full restaurant.  Consider this a view of your own body.  It’s full, yet you are looking for a place fit in another meal.  Dear Dreamer, do you continue eating when you are already full or there is little space for more food?  The 400 or 500 people in the restaurant may be a reference to the number of calories appropriate to any meal.  Filling up every empty space works against you.

Finally, in your dream you say, “I know I should notsit and eat.”  Time for honesty with yourself Dear Dreamer.  Are you truly and consistently following the tried and true methods for weight loss, or are you more like the people in your dream – waiting for your next meal, eating a meal while talking loudly about dieting? 

Sweet Dreams to You!

Dream Interpretation - Sometimes sex in a dream is sex!

Medication can affect our dreams.  In the case of today’s dreamer, her new medication has changed her thinking about an important aspect of her life – her sexuality.  Her new state of mind shows up in her dreams.

Dear Carolyn,

Two things are going on with me that might have influenced my dream:  First, I feel that my semi-retirement is only semi-rewarding.  So I've been thinking about taking on some volunteer work with young people.  I think that's where the child rescue comes into the dream.

Also, I recently started taking estrogen and it's has brought my libido back – at age 70!  In the dream I had very strong sexual feelings regarding the actor Scott.  Although I do find Scott attractive and sexy I only know him from TV shows.  

Here’s the dream:  In my dream I didn't have or even want to have sex with Scott Bakula; he was kind of an unemployed bum living in a somewhat ratty hotel.  But I found out that he engaged in rampant promiscuity.  He slept with100 women in one day!  I saw a TV movie in which he portrayed a gay man.  It showed him in steamy gay love scenes.

An important part of my dream, though, is having saved the life of a young child.  Because he was wearing a strange costume he could not walk.  The 3-year-old was dressed to look like a toy game board piece (flat on the bottom).

I was outside a hotel when the tide came rapidly rushing within a couple feet of the front door.  The child didn't move and I grabbed him and got him safely inside.  

I'm looking forward to your interpretation of my peculiar dream.

Signed,

New Life at 70

Dear New Life,

You’re right – the waking life changes you're experiencing from your new prescription of estrogen are showing up in your dreams. 

The resurgence of your sexuality is portrayed in a couple of ways in your dream:  First in your attraction to Scott Bakula.  Your dreaming self has chosen him as an object for you to focus this new energy on – someone whom you find sexy and attractive in your waking life. 

Dreams of gay/lesbian love/sex may have to do with self-love.  And since Scott appears as poor and even homeless (living in a ratty hotel) your dream may be reflecting neglect in the arena of self-love contrasted with the new rush of interest ~ the large numbers of women he's having sex with, the promiscuity, and the flooding waters.

Secondly, the rescue of the child may well be tied to the volunteer work you're considering; and it may also speak to rescuing or saving a childlike playful part of yourself from the onslaught of emotions portrayed by the rising tides.  It will be for you to say, Dear Dreamer, if in the past your sex life was “flat on the bottom.”  Maybe you felt bound and unable to move, or controlled like a game piece.  Not any more!

Sweet Dreams to You!

Dream Interpretation - Plays on words reveal much in dreams

One way to get a handle on the meaning of your dreams is to look for puns or plays on words.  What better way to generate a shift in a dreamer’s thinking than to make a verbal shift?  Our dreams employ plays on words to turn our thinking upside down, to shake us up and force us to see things in new ways.  This is called for often when the dreamer is stuck in a self-defeating pattern of behavior and doesn’t see it – like today’s dreamer.

Dear Carolyn,

I’m in my late 20’s and have a pretty good job making decent money.  I do still live with my parents even though I could probably move out and make it on my own.  Both my brothers are college graduates and are my parents’ favorites.  Most of my friends are married already!  I’m not ready for that!

Anyway, I like things the way they are – my parents and I get along really well.  They can travel and not worry about the house or the dog, so to me, it seems like a win-win.

Anyway, I keep having this dream every couple of months.  Let me know what you think it might mean:  Every time I have this dream, it’s different.  Maybe it’s in a different place or with different people, but it always ends the same way.  In last night’s version, I was hanging out with some of my friends from high school.  We decide to go to another place, a party or a bar or something.  Next thing I know, they are way out ahead of me on the road and I’m just sort of standing there.  Then, a police officer comes up and puts me under arrest!  Hands on the car, being frisked, the whole nine yards.  Every time, I try to tell the officer I’m innocent.  I didn’t do anything.  But I wind up in jail, arrested for something I didn’t do.

Signed,

Frustrated

Dear Frustrated,

Your dream most likely is pointing something out to you through its use of a play on words.  In it you are arrested for something you didn’t do.  In waking life, this might be a situation of mistaken identity or false accusation.  But your dreaming self is not mistaken.

In your dream, your friends have left you behind.  Just as in your waking life, they are further down the road, finding mates, progressing to the next stage of life and the next.  You on the other hand are ‘arrested,’ stopped in place, unable to move forward because of something you have not done.

Maybe a first step would make the difference for you Dear Dreamer:  Move to your own place – you can still house-sit when your parents need you.  Or perhaps you want to further your education and your prospects.  Have you thought of starting your own business?  Whatever it is, you must take one step and then the next, or you will continue to be arrested for something you do not do.

Sweet Dreams to You!

Dream interpretation - Don't slay this dragon!

Many times our physical state will find its way into our dreams.  So, if on a freezing night, a dreamer’s foot works its way out from under the covers, he may well dream that his foot has turned to ice and shattered to pieces.  Today’s dreamer has a similar experience.

Dear Carolyn,

I dreamed I was burning up with fever (which was true; I was down with a bug that made me burn up a bit – 38.1C – or 100.6F!)

I was in the deepest part of my sleep when I was so hot that I could feel heat coming out my mouth!  Then I saw myself as a dragon breathing this hot air out.  This golden yellow white dragon became me until the fever broke.  From that point I still felt ill, but the fever was gone.

What do you think?  I've never had a dragon dream before.  And I love dragons.  I did feel protected.  Anyway I'll leave it with you. 

Thank you!

Signed,

St. George

Dear St. George,

Many times our physical state will influence our dreaming state.  Pregnant women, for example, report dreams of objects, animals as well as themselves changing shape and size, likely reflecting their consciousness and concern about their own changing shape and size. 

Similarly, our dreams can make us aware of problems within our bodies by depicting them before our waking selves are conscious of the issues.  Ernest Hartmann, M.D. writes in detail about these phenomena in his book Dreams and Nightmares.  He cites many examples including one of a man anticipating surgery who dreamed of a side of beef being sliced up in a butcher’s shop though he claimed to have no worries about the impending operation.  

In another case, a man dreamed of an engine with clogged and rusty pipes prior to being diagnosed with cholesterol hardened arteries.

Another noted dream researcher, Patricia Garfield,Ph.D., reported she injured her wrist and believed it to be a sprain and so did not seek medical attention until she dreamed of seeing a man draw a diagram of her own broken arm!  X-rays confirmed the break afterward.

Your dream seems tied to the fever you harbored ~ with one added element:  You say that you love dragons and felt protected in your dream.  That suggests that in addition to your high temperature, for which a fire-breathing dragon would be a metaphor, that same dragon protects you from any untoward impact of the fever.  Who better to usher you through fire than a creature of fire? 

Your dream suggests that even though you've been ill, you are safe from deeper damage from the illness.

Following the tradition of the Senoi tribe of Malaysia, look for dragons in future dreams!  Their appearance will offer that sense of safety, perhaps even serving as guides in your dream adventures.  The Senoi say to ask, or even demand, a gift from such a dream guide.  Once you have the gift, re-create it in your waking world for growth and expanded awareness.

Sweet Dreams to You!