Dreams Allow us to Experience and Release Emotions that We May be Blocking During our Waking Hours

Date:   8/15/2005 2:08:35 PM ( 19 y ago)

A short time ago, I was talking with someone regarding one of their dreams which they had found very disturbing. The dream had many violent images and was full of anger. We talked about the dream, the images that were presented and the feelings or emotions that the dream brought up. Through talking about this dream, we both realized that these were all emotions that this person was trying not to express or feel in their life. In essence, an emotional block was being created. The amazing part is that the block that was being created by the conscious mind was being released by the unconscious mind during the dream state. The body wanted to be free of this emotional block before it brought any harm to the physical body. As many of us know, emotional blocks or pain can eventually become physical pain or dis-ease. So in this instance, the dream became the expression of the anger that this person was not willing to express. And through this dream the anger could be felt and then released. While the actual release is an important step, we must go further. The next logical step is to figure out why this block was created in the first place. This answer is so important as it will help to ensure that this now released block will not be re-created. The amazing thing is that this dream was instrumental in showing this person that there was an emotional block that needed to be released and that false judgments, fears or beliefs created this block. This presents a whole new way of looking at dreams and how important they are not just for our creative expressions but also for our emotional expressions and the maintenance of our mental, spiritual and physical well being.

I have not thought about dreams in this context again until recently. Several days ago, I had two dreams that upon reflection served as emotional releases for me. While it is always fascinating to learn from another’s experiences, it always takes on greater meaning when you experience it for yourself. The first dream I had was all about my great-grandmother’s death. It was full of people who were grieving and shedding tears as they reminisced about her life. I was in the dream, but more as an outside observer than a participant. However, even from that vantage point I was overwhelmed by these people’s emotions. I could feel all the sadness and grief that they were experiencing. So for me it was a release of all of these emotions. Now some may ask why this particular event was the focus of this dream, which is also a question I at first asked myself. I then realized that my great-grandmother’s death was the firs time as a child, I was only 5 or 6 years old, that I experienced profound sadness and was able to express it freely. Even now, I can remember the day my mother told me she had died. I remember going outside, sitting down next to a tree and crying.

Now I know that this dream allowed me to release and express feelings of sadness, but it also pointed out that these are emotions that I have not been expressing in my life. This revelation is the important next step I mentioned above. So in that regard, I understand that it is important for me to be able to express feelings of sadness freely. Just as I did when I was that child finding out his great-grandmother had passed away. Since that early experience, I have spent more time denying such feelings and blocking them than I did expressing them. I also realize that I made the choice to block these emotions out of a need not to feel weak. This is the false judgment that sadness or tears equate to weakness. So many young boys through their fathers and society in general are told that to show emotions is to show weakness. Men are always to be strong and keep a tough upper lip. That is a part of the warped bill of goods that every boy is sold as they go from childhood to adulthood. And of course this is why so many men are unable to express themselves emotionally. They have an ever present fear of feeling or being weak. So in an effort to feel in control of our power, we must be in control of our emotions and never allow them to get the better of us.

I am glad to see more and more nowadays that this is changing. I would dare to say that men are now more likely to express themselves emotionally than they ever have in our culture. While many of us are still going through the process of letting go of these old beliefs, I am confident that the end results will be amazing not just for each individual man but for all the other people that man comes into contact with and has a relationship with. The other important aspect of this is the amazing changes that can take place in the health of that man. Think about how many illness or diseases that men face every day have been created by these emotional blocks. Heart disease alone could be seen as the blocking of the heart and the emotions that originate there. Hopefully, many of us can release these blocks before they take on a physical dimension in our bodies.

I had the second dream the same night as the first. In this dream, I was attending a seminar which I was led to believe was for informational purposes and would be truly enlightening. However, not long after sitting there and listening did I realize that this was all one big sales pitch. The speaker was not interested in teaching anyone in the audience. Instead, he saw each and ever one of us as a potential customer. This angered me and I decided to confront him. I went up to the man and expressed to him how all of us were misled. He of course became defensive. We then spent the next several minutes of the dream going back and forth at one another verbally. When our conversation was done, I felt that I had stood up for myself and was able to communicate my disdain for his behavior. Upon reflection, I was able to see that this dream allowed me to release feelings of anger and fears of confrontation.

While this acted as a release, it also tells me or reinforces for me the fact that I am not comfortable with expressing anger or experiencing confrontation. I believe this is the case because I associate both anger and confrontation with violence. It’s interesting because I was just having a conversation with two friends about this very subject. So often we define anger and confrontation by its worst aspects. The violent aspects. Yet, anger and confrontation do have their place and advantages. Anger itself can be a great motivator. Think about how many times people become angry about an injustice in life and decide to take positive action to change it. This happens in government and politics every day. The anger that they felt and the expression of that anger became the motivator and passion behind their desire to change the injustice that angered them. In the same regard, confrontation is equally important. Many times the person who cannot confront others or stand up for themselves are the ones who continually get walked all over. Confrontation is not always about attacking. Actually, there are times when it is a necessity in defending oneself. As one friend pointed out, confrontation could also be defined in terms of asserting oneself or one’s position.

I now realize that I have always seen anger and confrontation as the precursors to violence. Again, this is the false belief or judgment that created the block. At its basics, I believed that when someone becomes angry or confronts another the end result will always be a physical expression of that anger or a physical confrontation. This dream has helped me to realize that this is not the case. By holding on to this belief, I was denying my ability to express anger and I prevented me from asserting myself in situations that called for it. Each of these were emotional blocks that this dream helped me to release. The dream showed me that my anger could be used in a constructive non-violent manner and that by confronting this person I was in essence asserting myself and letting him know that this type of behavior was unacceptable.

As you can tell, these dreams were tremendously important. They helped me realize that there were emotional blocks, fears, judgments and old beliefs that I needed to release. In this regard, these dreams were a vital part of my overall healing process and were essential in my moving forward spiritually. So it is important for all of us to recognize that our dreams are so much more than just expressions of our creative subconscious minds. Our dreams provide us with important messages that assist us in our spiritual growth and help us to maintain our physical and mental health. So the interesting question becomes, what are you trying to release in your dreams??

 

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