Reccurring Dreams: What does it mean to have a dream over and over again?

Reoccurring dreams, whether they are pleasant dreams or nightmares, are very significant to the dreamer. Dreams reflect a dreamer's feelings, thoughts, unconscious drives, unfinished business, and allow a dreamer to gain further personal insight which allows them to further process and resolve issues from their waking life. Dreams and dream work can be a powerful tool for personal growth and goal achievement.

Dreams can reoccur for many reasons. The most likely reason is that the message and purpose of the dream was not received by the dreamer and the issue it highlights is not only unresolved but is not being addressed and is being ignored.

Reoccurring dreams often turn into nightmares when the dreamer continues to ignore something important in their waking lives. This issue will wait for the dreamer and will not go away despite the dreamer convincing him/herself that it does not exist. The nightmare is an extreme version of the dream content screaming for the dreamer's attention.

Understanding the meaning of a dream that is reoccurring for you can be tricky. After all, this dream is likely highlighting for you an issue you have not attended to and could even be repressing. If you are repressing or denying something within your life or within you, it is not going to be the first thing you think of when you begin to explore the meaning of this dream. So how do you figure out the meaning? You can start by asking yourself a few questions:

• What have you put off in your life? (Examples: education, a new job, having children, ending a relationship, confronting something or someone, the next step, etc.)
• What problem or life area have I not addressed? (Examples: spirituality, faith, emotions, my creativity, my childhood dreams, my goals as an adult, issues with my mom, issues with my dad, issues with another person, issues with my boss, follow up on health issues, etc)
• What do you feel you do not have control over in your life?
• Review a few suggested interpretations from a dream dictionary (or add a comment to this hub!) do any suggestions jump out at you? If you feel as though an interpretation is correct then it is.
• If you are still unable to find a suitable interpretation that gives you that AHA! moment, which possible interpretations did you dismiss and/or which appalled you, annoyed you, or evoked other similar unpleasant emotions? It is hard to confront what you are not confronting but allow yourself to entertain the idea, just for a few moments, that that particular meaning is correct. It is likely this is the meaning or it is beginning to point you towards the meaning you'd rather not face.

Always be honest with yourself and confront all issue in a timely manner.

Obviously that is easier said than done. If the steps above helped you identify a possible meaning to the dream, as you address the issue the dream is highlighting for you, the dream will change and you will begin to progress through the steps of resolving the issue. Your dreams will reflect your progress and you may be able to gauge how well you are doing based on your dreams following up the dream and your attempts to approach life in a different way.

If you have not found the meaning and are truly stuck, you may try to resolve the issue backwards by working out the dream within the dream. This sounds a bit strange but just as dreams help us understand and resolve things going on in our waking life, dreams can also help us make changes internally (emotionally, intellectually, etc.) so that we approach situations in our waking life a bit differently indirectly resolving the issue that created the reoccurring dream in the first place.

1. Encourage dreams by following the steps outlined in this related hub about how to remember dreams.
2. Once you are a bit more aware of your dreams, you can begin to words towards having a lucid dream. A lucid dream is a dream in which the dreamer is aware they are dreaming but continue to sleep and continue dream. It is within lucid dreams that the dreamer is able to make changes to the dreamscape and willfully affect and participate in their dreams.
3. If you are unable to lucid dream (this takes practice and dedication for most that many do not have the time for) you may also lay down in a quiet darkened room and remember your dream with your eyes closed. Walk yourself through the dream, visualizing each aspect of the dream you continue to have over and over. Slow the dream down and picture yourself making changes and doing the opposite in the dream. Attempt to resolve the dream by changing the story and changing the outcome. Example: If you are dreaming of being chased by something- turn around and face it, look at it, examine it, what it is? accept that it cannot hurt you, etc. These visualizations may help you affect your dream which may also help you affect how you are approaching life or situations that is creating issues for you now.

Lucid dreaming comes natural for some but takes practice and dedicate time and commitment for most. The first step is becoming more aware of your dreams and recalling more dream content. A review of the steps within a similar hub remembering dreams is the first step.

• Once you begin to remember dreams often and have vivid dreams, you are closer to having a lucid dream.
• For most people, when they become aware they are dreaming and realizing they are sleeping and the dream is not real, they instantly wake up from the dream.
• This takes practice but remind yourself before you sleep each night that you will realize you are dreaming and still remain in the dream. You may realize you are dreaming, get excited you are having a lucid dream and wake yourself up.
• The next step then is to remind yourself to stay calm, breathe slowly and slow down. As your heart rate increases, you will wake up.
• Allow yourself to understand you are dreaming, look around your landscape. Controlling where you can look and what you are doing could feel strange and will often slow down the dream and feel forced. Allow yourself at times to just flow with the dream. If you are in the reoccurring dream (congratulations, this is where we wanted to be) only control the dreams at part you need to change. These parts could include facing a monster, grabbing a hold of a steering wheel, telling someone to WAIT! etc. These changes may affect your reoccurring dream and help you resolve it.
• It is important to continue to identify the part of your life that is producing the dream as well. This should be an ongoing process.

Lucid dreaming often takes several months for many people who follow the steps and are committed to becoming more aware of their dreams. It may take you even longer to find yourself lucid within the reoccurring dream. This process is clearly not something to expect to complete overnight.

The best way to begin some sort of resolution to the dream is to begin the visualization exercises listed above. Allowing yourself too much time avoiding the meaning of the dream or resolving the issue is negatively re-inforcing the reoccurring dream.

It can be uncomfortable and difficult, but tricking yourself to change your approach and perspective on the dream and on situations you are experiencing in your waking life will allow you to begin to resolve the issues you are not confronting and are avoiding.