How to Incubate Dreams
When we do "dream incubation," we request a dream on a particular topic. This is a valuable skill because the topic might be a problem or a dream-world activity which we want to experience. Incubation occurs naturally from our daytime experiences. The unconscious mind incorporates these topics into dreams because it wants to consider them further in the form of symbolic drama. To a degree, we can manage this process to make it more productive to program dreams which confront the issues which seem important to us. We have all had an incident in which we went to sleep thinking about a problem and then, when we awoke, we had the answer. Our unconscious mind deliberated on the topic throughout the night in dreams. The issue might be related to our career, health, personal relationships, or other decisions or conflicts.Dream Incubation Technique
1. Develop a phrase for your incubation. Follow these guidelines for an effective incubation:
- Make one simple sentence, using the fewest number of words to express your intention: "I will dream about my sister."
- Use positive terms: "What can I do to feel healthier?" rather than "Why do I feel sick?" The first incubation will probably give solutions; the second might create a nightmare which depicts the problem but no answer.
- Use either a question ("What should I do to experience more happiness?") or a statement ("I want a dream in which I learn how to be happier").
2. Associate the topic with an emotion. When you repeat the incubation phrase, feel the emotion which is related to it. Our dreams seem to be generated primarily by our emotional arousals rather than by our intellectual interests, so an incubation which has an emotional component is more likely to be pleased by the unconscious mind.
3. Visualize the desired dream. While awake, use your imagination to "see" yourself absorbed in the dream, doing the incubated action or receiving the desired information. Or picture yourself awakening in the morning with a memory of the incubated dream.
4. Use sensory aids. Visualization lets us "see" internally, but we can also use our external vision; use objects which correspond to the incubation. For example, if you want to dream about your father, look at his photograph, talk about him, or watch a home video or listen to a cassette recording in which he is present.
5. Repeat the incubation throughout the day. Say it many times, silently or aloud.
6. Be relaxed while doing the incubation. The incubation phrase can be repeated at any time, but it might most effective if we say it while we are doing a relaxation technique. Be certain that you want to know the answer. If we fear that the response to incubation will upset us, we might be less successful with the incubation.
7. Gather the related facts for problem-solving incubations. The unconscious mind needs data to process during its problem-solving purpose; it cannot operate in emptiness.
8. Repeat the incubation just prior to sleep. Review the factors and feelings involved in the incubation, with calm reassurance that the unconscious mind will provide a resolution.
9. Search for the solution in your dream interpretation. When you awaken, recall your dreams, and explore them for any feelings or symbolic images which might refer to the incubated topic. The correlation might not be apparent at first, but it might appear as you study the dreams further.
10. Be patient. Incubation might not occur until a few days after we request it. Perhaps this delay occurs because of "scheduling conflicts"; the unconscious mind has other matters to investigate during the limited time selected for dreams, and our topic is not a priority. Or maybe the incubation won't occur until we rephrase the query, or until we are psychologically "ready" to hear the answer, or until the unconscious mind has formulated its response, or until we have mastered one of the skills of incubation.
11. Be alert to dreams which tell you to back off from inappropriate incubations. Your unconscious mind may simply send you a message in form of “don't-waste-my-time" dreams.
posted by Spirita @ 8:34 PM
43 comments
43 Comments:
I once had this dream where I was out late at night in the city and I was shot in the neck. When I asked my mom to take me to the hospital she told me that she was bringing my brother there tomorrow for a check up and I could wait until then. Since the bullet only grazed my neck and was lodged in some skin I pulled it out myself and stitched it back up rather then wait.
in my dream i was talking to my cousins about something happening in school and then snakes came out of no where. green snakes and black snakes. they were just crawling and winding in the posts. they were not threatening to bite me, but i am so scared and one snake bit me in the leg. the green snake bit me in the leg. what does it mean? the snake was colored light green, just like the clor of the pane of the yahoo answers. yellow green? it bit me in my right leg. and i am not afraid of snakes in the real world i've touched snakes before, so i am not afraid.
How about this dream?
i dreamt that i was being chased by a very big, super big, louse up to my school. i was also scared, but it did not catch me. when i woke up i thought that maybe i have lice, but thankfully i don't have it. it was really funny but at the same time scary. i've read that lice symbolize secrets. when that dream happened my boyfriend said that we should be honest to each other so our relationship would work. is that dream related to that incident? the honest thing was good for me and i was not afraid to tell him everything, except for one.
Kat, your dream about lice may imply that something is irritating you or you are feeling something 'bugging' you. When you dream about lice it usually uncovers thoughts or sexual habits which are purely selfish or carry a health risk.
Anonymous, your dream uncovers a hurt, perhaps from the past. There are probably insubstantial feelings connected with the wound that might not be worth expressing. Also your dream signifies you are in some need of healing. The healing may be physical, psychological, emotional or spiritual.
Kat, regarding your dream about snakes, check out my post Animals in Dreams-Snakes at http://spirita.blogspot.com/2006/09/animals-in-dreams-snakes.html
Hello, I keep having dreams about going back to My High School and interacting with everyone I did while I was there 8 years ago. This keeps happening, I'm walking in the hallways, my mind is as mature as it is now so I'm not intimidated by any one (But I was very underconfident in high school). I see everyone's faces, I feel out of place because I know I don't need to be there but I can't leave becasue I feel like I have to prove something to all of them.
Then we always get ready to play a football game but in the last maybe 4 years of having this dream we never play. We just get dressed get ready then nothing. I played football in high school and college. Sometimes this dream happens at my first college wich was the last college I played football at before I transferred. I dream that I'm on the team but I never get to go out on the field and prove myself. It's so fustrating.
In the dream I feel accepted, and awesome, then I wake up and it's almost a let down, then I'm just really sad almost feel like a failure.
Hi there I keep having these reoccuring dreams involving this girl I work with its allways just me and her and the content varies. Anyone know what this means?
A year or two back I dreamt I had found a secret underground passage which lead back up into a city where I went into an office building, and either knew the person there, or he knew me. I was drawn away somehow and started running after something that was causing havoc on the streets. It was a werewolf who was smashing cars, mostly red ones. I don't recall much else, but it ended with a werewolf's face showing on a movie screen.
Anonymous, my apologies first. Your dream has been deleted by accident.
UNDERGROUND usually symbolizes inner feelings, unconscious direction and tendencies, things that influence you that act below the level of your everyday awareness. This could include childhood feelings or painful memories that are suppressed or instinctive or intuitive responses. Secret passageway refers to your effort to find an answer to a pressing problem. Discovering an underground passageway parallels with a discovering a way of making a change, or the difficulties you face in growing or changing; in other words, discovering the way of dealing with current problem and overcoming the negative emotions regarding it.
The city and the streets in your dream decodes your relationships with strangers, with life on the street, therefore your interaction with society and the many choices it confronts you with about direction, relationships, activities, your sense of community, along with the mental and emotional environment in which you live.
People usually have dreams about some type of havoc at a time of many changes in their lives. Most people have ambivalent feelings about change and some resist even positive changes. Therefore, quick shifts in life style or some type of crisis may bring about dreams of havocs and disasters.
Werewolf in your dream represents repressed sexuality or anger; emotions and drives you are frightened of. It may at times symbolize attitudes, hates, fears, that have become monstrous, and turned against you.
Neil C, to dream about coworkers, highlight aspects of your waking relationship with them, including difficulties or support. It signifies your ambition, struggles and competitive nature.
I had a dream?
i want to know what does it mean i had a dream i was late for the ariplane then when it started moving i got in it. then i was at home wearing white socks i picked a pair out off some socks. and i wear it with a medium heal shoes. i was trying to go to scchool and my dead sister was sitting on the couch at our home.
Anonymous, I don’t think you are a failure, as you said. In my opinion no one is failure because every person has purpose and mission in her/his life. We just need to discover what that purpose and mission are. Cheer up, maybe your purpose is to become a famous football player, who knows…
Regarding your dream it does not have a deeper meaning; it is just a reflection of your lower self confidence and inferior self-esteem.
Lady X, CHOKING in dream means you are not being able to “swallow” or accept something in form of an emerging emotion or memory. Your intuition in dream that something bad is going to happen represents information that rises to consciousness either from a summary of your complete memory or experience, even including past lives; or is an unconscious contact with the mind of another person, living or dead, or arises from a contact with the universal mind, or memory of nature. Clogged throat in your dream represents your lack of ability to speak or express your own needs and opinions. The dream uncovers your feeling of being unable to express easily or say what you really feel. Some relationship situations leave people feeling that life is being choked out of them. If you have a physical sensation in your throat upon awakening, it points the severe degree of your anxiety due above mentioned reasons.
Kdad, dreaming about being late uncovers the feeling you have left something too late or you have missed out on something. Or perhaps you realize you have not acted quickly enough to avert a situation or take advantage of it. It can also mean an avoidance of responsibility. Caching a plane can mean a jump into the unknown, getting away from your ordinary life, a business endeavor or opportunity. Sometimes it even suggests a search for or moves to romance. Socks are often used in dreams to represent the personal quality, cleanness or untidiness of the person. They therefore depict some sort of judgment about what sort of person you are, or how you see someone. Socks can also be associated with warmth or protection from a difficult situation. Shoes in your dream link with your standing in life, your role, or situation. They might particularly point to the life skills you use to deal with the rough places of life.
At times we dream about deceased relatives or friends simply because we miss them. These dreams may be disturbing but most likely are a form of wish-fulfillment or are based on memory through which we relive old experiences.
Hi, Could you interpret this dream for me? I dream of dirty, clogged toilets. And lately of driving and hitting and killing someone on the way (I don't know to drive!)
Anonymous, dreaming about dirt, as in something dirty, could represent your state of mind or a situation from your daily life. It could symbolize a relationship, a business risk, school, or any other part of your life where you or someone else has been less than honest and honorable. Dirt in your dreams could also represent your unwholesome attitudes and a devious state of mind. This dream may be encouraging you to clean up "your act" inside and out. Your dream about dirty toilets possibly includes the need for cleaning up your sexual attitudes or general attitude to others and self.
The part of your dream with careless driving uncovers lack of responsibility socially or sexually and need for more awareness. Also it could mean you may be feeling guilty about your way of life or social behavior; not daring to test out your quality against social standards, therefore you may be hiding a sense of inadequacy.
Hi, could you decipher this dream for me? I dreamt that I was sleeping and someone whom is quite close to me ( opposite sex)was watching me sleep. In my dream I kept sleeping, as it I sleep and then fell into another sleep, and he watched me over and over again. He watched me tenderly and nothing else. Thanks.
Anonymous, to dream of being asleep means you are unaware of something. It is literally saying there is something you are asleep to, something you are not aware of. It could also mean a lack of attention to everyday relationships. Other than above mentioned, your dream doesn’t have deeper connotation.
I watched High School Musical Pop-Up Edition. I didn't even like Corbin Bleu at all. (I mean in a boyfriend type way.)
On Sunday,I had a dream. F or some reason,my bed was outside,and I had just woken up. I saw robbers coming out of my apartment with windows probably 9 or 10 times the regular size. I was screaming "Help,Help!".
Then,it instantly changed. I was outside a restaraunt looking for Corbin. He saw me from across the street,and while running over,yelled "Blue!!". Apparently,we were dating. (I am only 11) We were walking down the street,and my arms were around him.
Hi, I had this dream recently that I went to this beautiful resort with my husband. It had a lovely bedroom and french doors opening to a lovely front garden and a personal swimming pool. I have never been to or seen such a lovely place ever. We were both very happy and feeling a lot of love for each other. Then I decided to have a swim in the pool. I started swimming and was quite enjoying it, when I suddenly remembered that I do not know to swim (in real life) and as soon as that thought occured, I started drowning. I woke up all sweaty and my heart was ponding. What does this dream mean?
Anonymous, meeting a CELEBRITY in your dream may show that you desire to be noticed and acclaimed. Or the famous person may be your own potential, often unacknowledged, and projected onto dream character.
If you are feeling celebrity character has power over you, dream may be showing how you relate to a parent.
Anonymous, the beautiful RESORT in your dream generally represent your psychological, emotional, or spiritual condition. The dream may reflect a current reality, issue, or dilemma and attempt to bring you into greater self-awareness. Because a hotel is a transitory residence, it suggests a time away from one's responsibilities or routine. As a dream symbol it could reflect your need for rest and reflection. Since the hotel in your dream is luxurious it suggests prosperity and positive decision-making. Whether the hotel in your dream represented a retreat or escapism is for you to conclude by examining your current daily reality. Finally, a resort in your dream may refer to a temporary stage in life or be a form of compensation that help you easy the anxiety and stress experienced during the day.
If you are swimming in your dream you are most likely swimming through the ocean of your unconscious and through the “sea “of your emotions. The ease with which you are doing this activity will give you clues as to how well you are navigating through those very complex parts of yourself. Drowning shows you are feeling very anxious about something. It usually links with strong and difficult emotions, that you feel you do not know how to find a way through. Nevertheless, it has positive significance. This dream suggests that you may be overwhelmed by unresolved emotions, old issues, or a current crisis. It suggests that a release of the old is required in order to emerge and begin anew. This dream serves to stimulate you to embrace and to successfully cope with problems and negativity in your life.
have a recurring dream which has several different settings. the dreams started when I was 11 and I am now 25
firstly in the dream I am a warrior(I am female) who fights with 2 swords and there are 2 men in the dream who fight with 1 sword each. 1 is dark haired the other a red brown.
the red/brown guy is always a rescuer/ally/rescuee.
the dark hair guy is a sometimes a ally and sometimes a enemy.
1 setting is a great big budokan with tall windows which let in all this wonderfull sunlight, there is a wooden floor and weapons on the wall. in this setting I am dualing with the men as a practise sparring, sometimes I am teaching them, or showing them a new skill. sometimes I am looking in at this from the window and sometimes I am in the dream from my own view point. Out side the budokan is a great endless forest which is the setting for some of my other dreams. it is this amazingly wonderfull green and there is dark and light in perfect balance.
sometimes I dream I am following the red haired guy on horse back through this forest sometimes he leads me to a still body of water where there is a red japenese bridge over it. it is unusual because it is seem in the dream like a deep calm river, but it is also like a lake in that its a stil body of water thats spills out.
sometimes in this dream i just follow him on a some unending journey. In this dream everything is golden light and leafy green and the red of his hair and the red brown of earth. it is very peaceful.
other times I am moving through the forest on my own and it is dark brown earth and black bark, dark green leaves and sunlight and there are wolves following me sometimes I stop and tackle the wolves myself. sometimes i am running away from the wolves and find shelter in this great big barn. when i am in the barn i close the doors but the wolves still get in. when that happens the red haired man jumps down from a higher level and helps me kill the wolves.
there are times when I dream it is night and the moon is shining and I am standing on the japanese bridge with the dark haired man. we do nothing he stands still beside me. sometimes the dream starts out that I am following the red haired man to the body of water during the day and then he leaves me there and it is night and the dark haired man is suddenly standing there.
most times though i walk out from the forest at night and come to the lake and onto the bridge and when i cross it there he is.
sometimes i stop on the bridge and strip myself naked of all my clothes and drop them into the water. sometimes they sink and sometimes they float away. In these dreams I am always lucid of the fact it is a dream, and there is moonlight but the moon is always in the corner of my eye never directly no matter where I turn.
lastly in one of the dreams i come out of the edge the forest at night and there is wolves and warriors chasing me. i come to this ocean shore i run accross the sand to this rocky part of the shoreline and then i run into the water. the dark haired man is killing the red haired man. he is holding him under the water with a chain wrapped arround his neck I reach them to late and i fight him but I end up being held under the water and being choked with a chain myself with the red haired guys dead eyes staring at me while I struggle to break free , i wake up before i die or break free.
the thing is in the last 2 years I started martial arts and i met a dark haired guy who is very deep and very moody who is very like the guy in this dream. When he is there I am at peace and feel very at one with myself and when he is not there we are at total opposition.
in the last 2 months i met a red haired guy who is always there and who is very affectionate and always there but not so deep.
I have dreamt of people before i met in other dreams but I feel this dream is more significant as I feel at a crux between the two. i have realised I haven't had the dream since I met the 2.
There is this girl I am in love with and am convinced that if we don't end up together I won't be with anyone else. I had this dream about her last night that I saw her and she had a little bump on her stomach. She told me she was pregnant. I asked her how and she said something which I cannot remember right now. I was in shock. I felt like I wanted to die. I know it wasn't with another guy. I think it had something to do with obtaining the "male reproducing stuff" from somewhere but I can't remember. I just was so upset when I woke up. Does this mean anything? I am 20 and she is 18 1/2 or19. She is 1 and a half years younger than me. I don't think that it is that I am afraid of pregnancy. I love kids.
Amir R., your dream uncovers great anxiety regarding your emotional feelings, attachment to the girl in your dream. It also signifies difficulties, struggles with feelings and sexuality felt in connection with her. Your dream is also your insights into her behavior, how you perceive her behavior toward other males.
To feel shock and upset in a dream means that you have not yet developed abilities to cope with what is symbolized as causing the emotions (in this case the cause of your bad feeling is girl you like so much). One of the wonderful things about dreams if you work with them, is that they gradually show you how to deal with the parts of your nature that need to grow or to be healed. They show how to meet the parts of yourself that need release, or to be understood or healed. If it takes courage to meet these buried or painful parts of yourself, then your dreams will gradually take you on a journey that helps you to unfold your resources of courage. You will be enabled to face your fears, and in fact gain power and instruction from them.
had a dream, it was a party... at my new house.....
my best friend named Katie was there [ but she moved to georgia in real life so. ok...] my brother, his friend Clayton who i have a BIG crush on.... and me..
we were each in the same pool, katie, me, clayton, then my brother...
on each side of the pool was a fire.. like a camping fire.. so al of a sudden i get a phone call, i answer my cell and its my bf.. he broke up with me, next thing i know im in my room crying... and claytons there sitting infront of my dresser.. ok. we didnt say anything...and like next thing i know were at a table at the party, me clayton and some how his girl friend o.O ends up being there.. Clayton starts sumforting me. he asks me whats wrong and says ill be okay.. and his girlfriend is agreeing with him..
things were really awkward between us..
so yeah then i woke up... xD
Sarah, dreaming about a party signifies the light heartedness, celebration and social relationship and how you deal with it; it might also symbolize sexual or business opportunity. Your dream uncovers your desire for recognition or warmth. Being in a pool represents the inner world of your mind and imagination. Particularly links with looking into yourself and becoming aware of what you are feeling or daydreaming.
Talking on the phone signifies communication or contact with self or others. The call you received in your dream symbolizes a desperate attempt to be heard; a cry for help in a difficult situation or feelings state. Crying in dreams mean the release of sorrow, grief, misery, that has been held back, knowingly or unknowingly, during the day. Or else they may be crocodile tears in an attempt to convince ourselves that we feel badly over an attitude, desire or action.
Hanahh
Dear, Spirita...
I had a dream...me and my roomate recieved a blue box from a guy ( that in a real life he was threatening us in a way). That box was full of birds. We let some of those out...but the birds started to fly arround the room and were making some bad noises...and yet annoying noises.And the other birds we didn't get them from the blue box. And all birds were gray. I would appreciate if you interpret this dream.... thank you
Hanahh, the box represents things you store inside you, such as memories or emotions. A box could also represent the things you hide from the view of others or even yourself, memories, or treasured experiences. Color blue relates to the mind, religious feelings, and intuition. It deals with the experience of expansion, as when we feel new ideas and views opening to us.
Birds in the box signify the feelings of being restricted or trapped. But to dream of birds may also mean a sense of freedom from material ties. In ancient myths, birds denoted the soul, spiritual knowledge, or experience. But more usually the bird represents the mind, imagination, flights of fancy. They also often refer us to the aspect of our mind that can travel far away, if only in imagination and dreams.
From the Freud’s point of view the bird represents the male phallus, and flying means the sexual act.
hi thr... im amy... i had a dream last night abt my ex boyfriend whom i have been avoiding. The things is he dislike most of my friends as they are guys n that they are protective of me since my relationship with him was pretty bad. But now i chose my friends over him despite all the feelings that i still have for him n due to once incident he kinda mock at my friends. So in the dream, i was with him in an open space... he was talking... saying all kinds of sweet thgs to me. saying that he missed me so much. but i was feeling really lost. like asking myself why was i there with him. There was also anger in me. He kept on talkinh but i just looked at him blankly.. Then he touched my hand, i was shocked and i woke up, feeling dazed n lost n confused. No idea what it means... Thx.
Amy, anger toward your EX-BOYFRIEND in your dream signifies your fundamental response to threat. The more threatening our environment becomes or appears to us, the more dreams of anger and aggression we will experience.
Your dream also may be a carry-over from your daily life.
Hi. You can call me Slycat.
I sometimes have Deja vu feelings when I'm dreaming. I feel like I had this dream before, even though I probably didn't. What's up with that?
Then there is this recurring dream I have. I keep dreaming that my best friend-who moved to Michegan- is somehow with me at school. I keep having it. I kind of wish I didn't because when I wake up I feel sad that I'm still not with her.
What should I do?
Slycat, you dream about your friend just because you miss her.
Regarding Déjà vu in dreams, the most commonly offered explanation for this experience is the precognitive dream. But it also could be a connection between your unconscious fantasies and recent or distant dreams.
I Often have the same dream where im young ( i can tell because im short in the dream ) and standing in my house, hiding behind a wall, peeping out at a very tall man dressed in a back suit walking up our street. I feel very affraid of this man in the dream and duck back behind the wall as he passes our house, then I continue to watch him walk out of sight.I am a tall person myself if thats any help.
Anonymous, you may be HIDING from feeling, or avoiding awareness of something you don't want to see. It might be some unpleasant memory from your childhood you forgot about and it’s coming out in your dream now. You should also consider those things in your life that propose a threat to you. They could be internal forces or environmental conditions. Generally, your dream portrays an attempt to hide from own negativity and mistakes. This dream may call for an honest reflection on personal characteristics and an evaluation of how much fear influences your life and decision-making.
Dreamt I was at the wedding of a couple i know but the bride, her mother and her mother-in-law were wearing black! The bride is a distant friend of mine and the groom is what you can call "the man I'll never have" in my waking reality these people actually exist and they are a couple but they're not married yet since we're all still in college(I'm 18 years old and they're both 20) . I used to be MADLY in love with the "groom" but since they hooked up I've backed off and have been working on getting over him and moving on. I've had dreams about him before but never so disturbing! So what am I doing at their wedding? And why are they wearing black? Is it a sign of some kind or just my subconcious expressing its sorrow (something my consious waking mind refuses to aknowledge) ?
Anonymous, it seems you already know the answer. In this dream you’re subconsciously expressing a sorrow, sadness and regret.
BLACK WEDDING in you dream shows your feelings about the couple you dreamed about. Dream can clarify your feelings, difficulties, unconscious attitudes.
Your dream is not a bad sign; try to learn from the dream to sort out what is troubling you. Don't use them to trouble yourself.
Do you know how most of the time you wake up in the morning and can barely remember the dream from the night before? Is it true that if you remember one, crystal clear, every moment, event, and word said...that this is something to be noticed?
For example we all have a spicy food nightmare and can barely remember it the next morning. But if you have a dream that seems so real, you can't tell if your awake in the morning or still dreaming, is this a truly important dream to be focused on as perhaps an answer to the incubation technique?
My friend is constantlly having gruesome nightmares.It scares her half to death, but she doesn't know how to make these nightmares stop.
Once she had a dream of me shooting myself in the head and another time she had a dream that her twin brother (that died while being born) has his mouth sewn together. He opens his mouth to speak but blood, perisites and a lot of discusting things pour out of his mouth.
Any suggestions??
I had a dream where I was walking down a road with my best friend and then the friends of this girl started distracting him and then dragged him away. Then the girl took me behind a tree and started making out with me. I never really thought about it before but I may like her. She is 2 years younger than me so I guess that's why I never thought about it.
Calvin, your dream was wishful. No other significant meaning.
OMG Spirita, you have such a great blog! Good job! and thank you for all your hard work on it!
My name is Sophie, and i just have a question. I had this one dream that I really really like, and I want to dream it again, so i know the end of it. Is there any way i can resume or repeat this dream? Thanks!
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