Do your dreams have meaning? Tips to decipher dreams for spiritual growth.

I woke in a state of apprehension. I felt unsettled. In my dream, I was with a family member and I felt a sudden wave of blinding rage. Ack! Suddenly the emotion disappeared and I turned into a statue, frozen. I fell over to the ground, still frozen. Luckily I didn’t crack, LOL! Then I awoke.

Why is a crazy dream like this disturbing my sleep? And does it mean I will turn into a statue?!

In my practice, I routinely help people decipher dreams and their meanings. I do believe many dreams are meaningful gifts. In my own experience, dreams are not usually prophetic but rather healing exercises and messages. Let’s jump into how I classify four types of dreams and use them for growth.

Digesting Dreams

These are the least meaningful. They are usually fragmented, odd images and situations. You may feel you barely slept a wink after a night full of these dreams (rightly so). Odd, bizarre, weird are words you may use to describe this series of images that seem to make no sense. There is typically no storyline or emotion, just a seemingly bunch of random images put together.

In my experience, these dreams appear when something is agitating your energy. Perhaps you had a large meal right before sleeping. Or maybe you had an extremely busy day and didn’t have proper time to wind down before bed. An agitated mind, frequently caused by digestion, stress or anxiety, creates these agitated dreams. The truth of the matter: your nervous system is not able to get into a deep rest and digest mode to get deep sleep because it is churning.

Healing Dreams

These dreams are typically emotional in nature. Perhaps you wake feeling afraid, angry or apprehensive. The conscious, waking mind is adept at keeping your life in control. If you have trauma or big emotions from your past that are too scary to touch, your mind will contain and lock away this energy to “keep you safe.” The problem comes when it is time to be free of these restrictions: the emotion must go.

If the mind cannot release its grip, your higher self (or other energy that is supporting you, in line with your belief systems) may send a dream with that emotion as a focal point. Perhaps it is fear of a child getting sick, fear of being left behind, anger, shame, or any other emotional thread you may have experienced in the past but not been equipped at the time to fully process. The dream is giving you a moment to connect to this emotional energy so you are aware of it. This awareness allows it to heal/be released.

These dreams really do heal energy within you! You may feel residual emotion that needs to be processed or you may feel it’s ‘all done’ once you awake. Either way, these healing dreams are sent to you for a specific, timely purpose.

Message Dreams

These are the most fun! Although sometimes the message may be hard to tease out, I often receive messages from my higher self through dreams. These are the dreams that leave you wondering, “why did I have this dream?”

A recent message dream from my own life revolved around helping people who didn’t perhaps want to be helped. I was offering my services to a couple of friends who maybe felt obligated to say yes. This was the universe telling me to back off. The dream was representative of this message, it was not explicit. It can often be helpful to have other perspectives as you interpret these dreams.

Animals are great messengers of energy. If an animal appears in your dream, google “spiritual meaning of ______” to connect with possible messages. By the way, the same is true of animals in your waking life. If you have a bird or frog in your fireplace for example (this happens to us!), see blue herons flying overhead for multiple days straight, have an owl visit your yard, look up these animal meanings! They are gifting you with energy that can be used to move forward in your life. Anything that catches your attention is likely an energetic gift for healing or deeper understanding.

If a deceased family member or friend appears in your dream (or even a prior pet), this is likely a visitation, with their soul gifting you the energy of healing and support. They are comforting you, letting you know they are well, and likely helping you move through something difficult in your life. These dreams are a blessing, for they can bring tremendous comfort and peace of mind. Most people receiving these dreams feel it is their mind playing tricks on them. But your mind is out of the picture while you are asleep! These dreams are no accident.

Dream Interpretation Questions

The trick to interpreting dreams is to sit back and evaluate. Ask yourself these questions:

• Did my dream seem like jibberish? Ignore it.
• Did my dream have a significant emotional thread? If so, how might I be experiencing or blocking this emotion in my waking life, either past or present?
• Did my dream have a story-line? If so, what type of message might this story be trying to tell me? Remember the story itself is not the focus, but the message the story might be conveying.

Recurring Dreams

Recurring dreams are different than the dreams listed above. These dreams are the same, with very minor changes, each and every time. I believe these dreams are trauma based, typically soul-level trauma. Many clients have had disturbing recurring dreams completely disappear after a session with me. Yes, these dreams can be healed.

Can’t Remember My Dreams

Don’t worry! Your mind may not be ready to receive information through this avenue. If you really want to encourage this channel of communication, your best bet is to calm your mind during your day. Meditate, pray, practice mindfulness, or receive energy healing. A quiet mind lets the intuition come into more strength, to allow you to receive messages in different ways.

Dreams can be a special glimpse into your subconscious and higher self. If you learn to listen and allow the meaning to come to you, dreams can be a deep source of spiritual wisdom and healing. And if you experience recurring or upsetting dreams, energy medicine is a great way to heal the root of the issue and bring peace of mind (and sleep). If this is you, let’s connect. Happy dreaming!

Sarah Lascano is a Master Biofield Therapist, energy medicine practitioner, spiritual healer and best-selling author. It is her passion to help people all over the world recover their health and reclaim their lives, even when nothing else is working. Learn more here.