The Dream Log Ezine

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Transform Those Troublesome Dreams


This month’s feature article is about transforming bad dreams into positive ones. It’s actually a great way to uplift your mood and gain a new perspective!

Have you ever awakened from a particularly troublesome dream and wondered what it meant and why you dreamt it?

We all have dreams like that from time to time and most of us just shrug it off and go on about our daily business.

Here's an example of the kind of dreams I’m talking about:

• Dreams of being chased
• Going up a hill with tremendous effort, never quite getting to the top
• Being locked up or can’t get out of a place
• Losing your way or being left behind
• Someone close to you has died, or is injured in some way
• Recurring nightmarish dreams

And so on. There are an infinite variety of dreams like this, but the key word is troublesome. Troublesome dreams are generally showing us our current fears and anxieties, or the weaker aspects of ourselves. They can also point to feelings that we are hanging onto.

These dreams are typically pretty vivid and you may even feel great relief when you wake up and realize it was only a dream.


So, let’s take these dreams and put them to good use!

This is an easy and very empowering technique to tell your subconscious a different story. Your subconscious wants to help you and will believe whatever you say, whether it is positive or negative. So, in that light it might as well be something positive…wouldn’t you agree?

The trick is to simply go back into the dream while you are awake and change it.

Does that sound too easy? Well, it is very easy and it feels really good. There are no dream police telling you that you can’t do this! You are allowed to change the dream events to unfold however you please.

Here’s an example from my own dream archives and then I’ll walk you through the process quickly so you can do it on your own:

I’m sitting in a small RV at the top of a hill and suddenly the RV is pulled backwards back down the hill. It’s going really, really fast and I’m terrified of the crash, but don’t know what to do.

I hear a voice from somewhere saying “DO SOMETHING!” I look down and see the brake (duh, of course) and slammed on the brakes to stop the momentum. It stopped just in time before crashing into a house at the bottom of the hill. I was so relieved and proud of myself for putting on the brakes.

Then as I opened the door, all these starving children came at me with their hands out and crying. This frightened me so I shut the door and listened in horror to them scratching and trying to get in.

I woke up feeling bad.


Okay, so that’s the dream. There are all kinds of symbols with meaning within the dream, but for our purposes it’s best to keep it as simple as possible.

The troublesome parts were flying down the hill backwards out of control, and having those children coming at me. Those were the parts that needed to be addressed.

No doubt this was representing something going on in my life at the time, but that doesn’t really matter either. What matters is getting those troublesome feelings turned around and thus giving my subconscious a different story.

I closed my eyes and went back into the dream...

...and started from the bottom of the hill. After all, I did manage to stop the crash so that part was alright. I opened the door and as the children were coming towards me, I told them to line up.

I pointed to the first child, “What’s your name?” The child replied “Illusion”. The next child was “Guilt” and the third was “No Confidence”. At that point, the rest of the children simply disappeared. Apparently, they were just sub-aspects built on the first three.

I sent them to ‘shower and change’ and then come back out. They did so, and were smiling as they stood in front of me. I simply changed them all into goddesses (hey…why not?) and renamed them “Clarity” “Love” and “Confidence”. Then I re-absorbed them back into myself and drove the RV back up the hill and enjoyed a grand view of the ocean.

I felt great after doing this exercise! It gave me the boost of self confidence that I really needed at the time.

Not all of these sessions will be as clear or as effective, but any small change here and there will add up, and the changes are permanent. These exercises make a lasting impression on your subconscious.

Are you ready to give it a try? Okay, here’s a quick and easy run down for your next troublesome dream, or even a recent one:

• Give yourself 10-15 minutes for this and make sure to write it down afterwards.



• Sit comfortably and close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing for a few minutes until you feel relaxed. Be prepared to let your intuition take over and let whatever empowering thoughts come into your mind be right…keep your logical mind out of it.



• Enter your dream where you instinctively feel is the right spot.



• Talk to dream characters and ask questions (the characters are simply aspects of yourself). Change whatever you need to change to make the dream a successful one. Be creative!

Come out of your session when you’re ready and write it all down for later reference. I promise you’ll feel wonderful!

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