How to interpret your dreams

Ever see a green goose? In your dream, anything can happen. What do your dreams mean? We spend about a third of our life sleeping. Each night, experts tell us, we have many dreams. Even if you don’t remember yours or swear that you don’t dream, you probably do as they are a natural part of the four stage sleep cycle. What do they mean? You can learn to interpret your own dreams-- and that is a good idea if you are interested at all in dream phenomenon, because the truth is you should not allow anyone else to interpret your dream for you. Why? Because you are unique and your history is unique and what an umbrella meant to Freud is not necessarily what an umbrella in your dream signifies for you. Also, a particular item may have different meaning for you in a different dream context; it is not always the same necessarily

The “code” to your dreams does not come in any book; it comes in your skillful and intuitive interpretation of those messages, and that takes experimentation and practice . Gayle Delaney, founder of the Association for the Study of Dreams, says that dreams do not come to you with information you already know Dreams are messengers from our subconscious, from our superconscious minds, and, many belief, occasionally from spiritual beings or those who have passed on who want to tell us something. Not all dreams are of equal significance. There are just wish dreams, processing dreams, anxiety dreams that tend to recur, and Big Dreams that come in living color with such powerful imagery that you never forget them You may have heard of “lucid dreaming.” That’s when you actually wake up within your dream and continue dreaming with your conscious direction. It is possible to study one dream for many years, or even a lifetime. However, most of us do not have the patience! We would like to know right away what our dreams have to tell us.

The first thing you need to do in working with your dreams is make sure you remember at least one per night, and keep a dream journal by the side of your bed, with a pen or pencil handy. Here are some tips for analyzing your dreams:

1) Notice the atmosphere of your dream – what is the primary mood or feeling? What is the light like – is it day or night? What could this aspect be trying to tell you?

2) Who are the characters in your dream and what are the significant objects? Do some free association writing on the main characters or objects and see what comes up. Do not censor your impressions or thoughts; for instance, saying to yourself “ oh that can’t be right, it doesn’t make sense!” Dreams are not logical. They don’t have to follow “the rules.”

3) Next, become an element in your dream and write from that character or object’s point of view.

4) Once you have followed these procedures for a few elements in the dream, some
pattern or meaning is likely to appear. Take it from there and see what interpretation occurs to you. If you don’t get a big “aha!!” keep on going. Try working with other parts of the dream until something starts to make sense.

There are many writers and experts on the world of dreaming. Go to the library or a bookstore and see what titles appeal to you. Follow your intuition, which is the sister of dreaming. I’ve studied a number of dream interpretation processes, but the one resource I’d recommend to start with is the author I mentioned above, Gayle Delaney’s “Living Your Dreams.” See her website, www.gdelaney.com.

Appreciate and take care of your feet

How often are you aware of your feet? Not much, you’re probably thinking. Our
feet are amazing. Did you know that there are areas of your feet that relate to every part of you body? There is a healing massage that works just with the feet, called “reflexology.” Google that and see what you get! A foot massage is a great gift to give yourself, but it is so much nicer to get one from a professional masseuse….or from your lover! Foot massage is wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating.

Another exercise that is very good for your feet and your body is rolling your feet over a ball, or cylinder, or rolling your bare feet gently over a golf ball, stopping to press gently into the tender places until they release a bit (don’t overdo it!). Sit down and gently separate your toes with your fingers, tenderly pull each toe out from its base until you feel the tiniest of releases. Now stand up and see how they feel. Your feet will thank you for waking them up!

Our feet are out contact with the earth – and that works, if you create an intention for it, even through concrete sidewalks. When was the last time you went barefoot in the
grass, or really enjoyed walking barefoot on the beach?

We women create all kinds of problems for our feet with the shoes we wear. Back in the 70’s it seems like, with the advent of pants suits and women’s lib in the office, high heels might go away. No such chance! They are just too sexy and too much fun. They feel great to wear even though they often can throw your back out of alignment and make it pretty difficult to get around easily! Women’s shoe heels have gotten even higher these days!

There are all kinds of unpleasant things that can happen to your feet from wearing the wrong kinds of shoes.. Bunions can occur from wearing those pointy toed creations of a few years ago. Fortunately, those aren’t as common these days, and the round toes and open toes are a bit better. Hammertoes are sometimes the result of wearing shoes that are too short or too narrow. And how about plantar fasciitis?. No fun! That’s when the tissue at the bottoms of your heels get inflamed and it can be so painful you can’t even walk. If you are getting pain in your heels, nip it in the bud before it gets worse! See a doctor to diagnose the condition. He will probably recommend as part of your cure and as prevention that you stretch those Achilles tendons really well on a daily basis and wear supports in your shoes. You can get plantar fasciitis from walking barefoot with poorly developed feet, running, jumping, wearing shoes with inadequate support while walking on concrete and other hard surfaces. It’s not a condition to ignore!

According to www.podiatrychannel.com/anatomy, this is how our feet are made:

“ • 26 bones (One-quarter of the bones in the human body are in the feet.);
• 33 joints;
• more than 100 muscles, tendons (fibrous tissues that connect muscles to bones), and ligaments (fibrous tissues that connect bones to other bones); and
• a network of blood vessels, nerves, skin, and soft tissue”

What a wonderful thing it is to stand, to connect with the earth and feel her supportive energy rise through our bodies! Early peoples did not wear shoes. Just how much have we lost by covering up these marvels and keeping them from direct contact with our planet? Who knows how much of our stress comes just from wearing shoes!