Body Dreams

Body dreams, or dreams of particular body parts falls into the ‘Common Dream’ category...one of the most common.

The body is a working system in the physical sense, but it is also directly embedded in our mental, emotional and spiritual systems...and everyone’s is different. So, when deciphering your body dream, keep in mind that the meanings behind them are uniquely yours based on what is happening in your life.

I will go into some of the various types of body dreams and then I’ll follow with a basic body part dictionary.


Physical: These dreams tend to be diagnostic and would be your dreams of body pain and disease possibilities whether it’s the whole body in general or a particular part. Here is one dream from my own archives:

I’m in a hospital with some other people and this woman that I admire in waking life was my nurse.

She led me over to a counter with a giant blender and proceeded to put all kinds of healthy stuff in it including herbs and vitamins and made a green colored smoothie. I thought it looked gross and didn’t want to drink it, but she produced another blender and told me to take over.

This dream is wonderful in it’s clarity! Too bad all our dreams aren’t as clear. It doesn’t take much to realize the meaning of ‘change your diet’ in this dream and indeed, I had been loading up on junk food at the time and feeling constantly tired and depressed.

Determining if your dream is a physical one or not can be tricky, but if you work with your dreams on a regular basis, you’ll have a better idea of how to tell the difference.

Mental/Emotional/Spiritual: I bundled these together because really, these are all connected and it would be difficult to separate one from the other in a dream.

Here is a dream from a reader that clearly shows the emotional turmoil he was experiencing in waking life:

I had this sticky black goop all over my arms and hands and it was picking up more dirt and pieces of garbage as I moved. I tried to wash it off over and over, but it wouldn’t wash off and I was beginning to panic when I woke up.

This reader was involved in an ugly divorce and was feeling a variety of emotions including guilt and remorse. The dream is releasing some of these pent up feelings and a desire to ‘wash his hands’ of the situation.

Hopefully, the dream was helpful in bringing some of these emotions to light.

• Abdomen: Gut feeling or inner prompting, a wish to ‘get rid’ of something, unable to ‘digest’ a situation (non-acceptance)



• Ankle: A symbol of support, needing support, supporting life’s burdens



• Arm: Personal efforts, a need for protection (arming yourself), expression of an emotion



• Bones: Foundations of beliefs, inner strength, secrets



• Brain: Thought process, ‘mind of one’s own’, intellectual ability



• Breast: Nurturing, Mother’s love, emotional exposure, female sexuality



• Chest: Confidence, emotional protection, ‘getting it off one’s chest’



• Ear: Ability to listen, pay attention, rumors, ‘An ear for music’



• Elbow: Personal space, flexibility



• Eye: Personal perception, awareness (or lack of), looking at one’s self



• Face: Self expression, facing an obstacle in life



• Finger: Meddling, pointing out a behavior, mental or physical dexterity



• Foot / Feet: Progression—getting somewhere, stability, foundation



• Genitals: Sexual desire or sexual anxiety, productiveness



• Hand: One’s deeds, service, expression, ‘underhanded’, ‘my hands are tied’



• Head: One’s views, rationality, problem solving, ‘over one’s head, ‘use your head’



• Heart: Emotional health, love, romance



• Leg: Support (strong or weak), mobility, ability to ‘stand on one’s own’



• Muscles: Strength, energy, effort (strong or weak)



• Nose: Nosy, curiosity, instinct, 'following my nose'



• Pelvis: Center of self, possible sexuality issues



• Vein: Something essential is needed, life force