Lauri’s Blog

Do you ever see your own reflection in a dream? Most people are unable to see themselves in a mirror when they dream… or when they do, they tend to look really strange! We rarely look like ourselves when we look into a dream mirror. The reason why is because our dreaming mind looks at our self psychologically, not physically. Below is a good example of how our dream reflections work. This is from my nationally syndicated column The Dream Zone…

Dear Lauri,
I dreamed I was choking on something I drank. When I looked in the mirror, I saw all these veins of blue all over my face. The veins were heavier on the left side than the right. I was freaked out by the veins so I woke myself up.   – Nikole 35, Memphis, TN

Lauri: Like a mirror, dreams are a reflection of what’s really going on in our life as well as what is going on within the self. Your dream seems to suggest that you may have recently choked on your words in some way. Is there something you need or want to say but can’t or didn’t? When a dream draws attention to the face, it usually means there is a reality you need to face, and your dream mirror is showing you that reality quite clearly. What you see in the mirror is not a commentary on your physical appearance but rather a reflection of your psychological state at the the time of the dream. That being said, the veins on your face are more likely a play on words and mean vain. Are you afraid that speaking up about a certain issue may have been “in vain?”

Nikole replies: This is too funny. There’s definitely a situation I could’ve handled differently. I could’ve spoken my mind but decided it would be in vain and not worth the trouble. Funny how I missed the literal translation because I was so focused on the color blue. I didn’t explicitly tell someone how I felt about their actions and I just let the friendship end quietly. It wasn’t worth the effort when I looked at it as a whole.

Lauri replies: That may be why the veins were heavier on the left side of your face. Through the dream you were probably “facing” the reality that this issue would be better “left” alone.

Nikole replies: That makes perfect sense. Thanks for making it all so clear.

Speaking of clear, being able to understand your dreams will bring  clarity to your life. You will develop a much deeper understanding of yourself, your behavior and of the world and the people around you.  Problems and difficulties can be solved with confidence and ease. That’s why when we have a tough issue to figure out we say, “let me sleep on it.” What we’re really saying is, “Let me Dream On It!”  Grab your copy of  Dream On It today and understand your dreams like never before!

“I love Dream On It! I have referred to it for a different reason every single day since I got it.  It’s been very eye-opening and all the girls in my office want to borrow it. I love how she writes and breaks everything down into simple terms.”   – Heather, Wichita, KS

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Most of us, in our waking lives, consider ourselves to be pretty decent human beings. We wake up, have our coffee and watch a bit of the news, kiss the kids as they head off to school, we trudge through work, come home, get dinner on the table, kiss the kids goodnight, wash the grime of the day off our body, jump into bed then… dream we’re an ax murderer!! Wha??? Where did that come from?

You’d be surprised how many times I hear from good, honest, hard-working individuals who report this dream to me. As brutal as this dream may be, there is a very good reason for it! Read on to find out why… (The following is from my nationally syndicated newspaper column The Dream Zone)

Dear Lauri,
In my dream a policeman knocks on my door and arrests me for murder. I know right away he thinks I killed some little girl I apparently know in the dream. I tell him I didn’t do it, that I love her so much. I realize I have to go to jail and I know I will be found guilty even though I didn’t do it. I‘m so frustrated that I wake up.
- Paulette 59, Santa Ana, CA

Lauri: The police will slap on the cuffs in our dreams when it’s time to put an end to or “arrest” something, in our waking life, such as a harmful behavior or a bad situation, etc. What’s going on in your life that needs to stop? You’re being accused of murder. What have you recently “killed off” in your life? Children in dreams – if they don’t belong to us in waking life – often symbolize our own “inner child,” our fun-loving, carefree, silly self. Have you not been allowing yourself to have some fun lately? Have you been working and stressing too much? Going to jail indicates that you are feeling confined and held back. What or who in your waking life is confining you? The frustration you felt in your dream is due to some frustrating and confining situation in your waking life… something from which you need to “free yourself!”

Paulette replies: Your response made me cry. It’s amazing how much our dreams can tell us, about ourselves. I have been extremely stressed on a new job and it has caused my wonderful happy self to be really crabby. Thank you for the enlightenment.

Your dreams are such a powerful part of who you are!  When you can understand your dreams, you can change your life!!  Just about everything you dream about can be found in my instant dream decoding dictionary. It’s like having an electronic version of me available to you anytime you want. You’ll NEVER have to wonder what your dreams mean EVER again!

“My mental health clients absolutely love when I log onto your website during a session to find meaning for their dreams.” – Scott R.W. Grefrath, LCSW-R   Rochester, NY

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Animals tend to inhabit our dreams just as much as people do. And just like the people that appear in our dreams, the animals have just as much to say to us about our current life and especially about our behavior.  Read on to find out how to figure out the animals in your dreams.  the following is from my nationally syndicated newspaper column The Dream Zone…

“The waking mind is thinking inside the box; the dreaming mind is thinking outside the box.” – Professor David Kahn

Dear Lauri,
I had a dream I was being chased by a giraffe. He never caught me though! What does that mean?   -  Betsy, 25, New Haven, IN

Lauri: We often have a menagerie of animals that inhabit our dreams. In waking life, each specific animal has their own specific behavior they are known for: dogs are loyal, cats are independent, elephants never forget. The characteristics that we project onto animals often appear in our dreams in the form of that animal in order to show us our own current actions and behavior, or to show us how the actions and behavior of someone else is directly affecting us. That being said, your dream animal is a giraffe. They are best known for the characteristic of a very long neck. Are you “putting your neck out for someone?” And are you avoiding having to do this? I ask because when we are chased in a dream it can always be connected to running away from an obligation or issue in waking life. The message is that you can’t run from this issue forever. It’s time to make a decision.

Betsy replies: Oh most definitely! I didn’t even think of anything like that! My fiancée and I share his car and it’s been down & needing a new engine. I’ve been the only one trying to make sure it is fixed, everything short of the financial part, which I’m constantly worried I will have to take care of also. Your interpretation was dead on! Thank you so much!

Want to know what the different animals in your dreams mean? Just about everything you dream about can be found in my instant dream decoding dictionary. It’s like having an electronic version of me available to you anytime you want. You’ll NEVER have to wonder what your dreams mean EVER again! When you can understand your dreams, you can change your life!!

“Last week I called into 92.5 in Toledo when you were on and told you my dream.  You determined I had a secret I was keeping and that my dream was trying to tell it was okay to tell the people I work with. Afterwords I really dwelled on what you said and I used your instant dream decoding dictionary to look up more of the symbols in the dream we didn’t touch upon on the radio and WOW….  I had no idea that dreams could tell us so much.  It’s so great to have this understanding and I wanted to thank you again!!”   – Patty

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A lot of people, when telling me their dream, make it a point to tell me that they dream in color. The truth is, we ALL dream in color. Often very vivid technicolor! We are designed to see in color, therefore we dream in color too. And sometimes, the color of an object in the dream can really stand out.  When that’s the case, pay attention! There is a reason. The following dream is a great example of that. This is from my nationally syndicated column The Dream Zone…

Dear Lauri,
Last night I dreamed that black goo was running down the walls of my shower and a black bear was trying to chew through the ceiling in my bedroom!!   – Nora, Atlanta, GA

Lauri: When colors stand out in a dream you need to pay attention to them because they are often connected to a waking life emotion. Black in a dream usually refers to negative emotions, something you have a bad feeling about. That being said, the black goo in your dream seems to be about some negative, perhaps sticky, situation you have not been able to cleanse yourself of, hence it being in the shower. The black bear suggests this is something that has been somewhat hard to “bear,” and it is not only eating away at you but is also something that has been “hanging over your head,” just as the bear was eating away at the ceiling. Do you know what it is? The bedroom means this is either connected to an intimate relationship (boyfriend, husband) or it is something that is keeping you up at night.

Nora replies: Well that makes TOTAL sense! I am aware that two friends/co-workers are having an affair and it is indeed a sticky situation. I also know both of their spouses. I left that job in December but the female half of this affair is always asking my insight. I keep trying to tell her it’s a bad idea. And to make matters worse, the cheating husband’s wife had a baby two days ago. Aaaaaaaah!!  Thanks Lauri, I really appreciate the insight.

Lauri replies: Oh my goodness! So both people are married to someone else? That is sticky. And it is sticking to you because she won’t leave you alone about it. Maybe you should tell her you will have nothing to with her so long as she’s sleeping around behind her husband’s back. Your dreams are likely to continue nagging you about this situation until you disengage yourself from it. Good luck.

Want to know what other colors in dreams mean? How about what different animals mean? Just about everything you dream about can be found in my instant dream decoding dictionary. It’s like having an electronic version of me available to you anytime you want. You’ll NEVER have to wonder what your dreams mean EVER again! When you can understand your dreams, you can change your life!!

“My mental health clients absolutely love when I log onto your website during a session to find meaning for their dreams.” – Scott R.W. Grefrath, LCSW-R   Rochester, NY

No matter where your dreaming mind places you, the setting of your dream not only sets the stage for the storyline, but is also a major clue as to what real life issue the dream is about.  You see, where you are in your dream is either directly connected to where you are in life, or it is directly connected to a certain area of your life.  In fact, the location or setting is one of the first symbols I look at when analyzing a dream because it pinpoints the area of concern for the dreamer.  After that, evaluating all the other components of the dream fills in the blanks and reveals the entire message.

The following dream is a perfect example of how important the setting of a dream is. This is from my nationally syndicated newspaper column The Dream Zone…

Dear Lauri,
I dreamt I was at a military boot camp with my parents and an ex boyfriend from years ago. I had to complete a course which was a strange non military like maze through buildings with lots of other people there I didn’t know. I was the first to finish and I fell and landed with my face in the mud.   – Jeanna 37, Auberndale, WI

Lauri: A boot camp is all about getting seriously disciplined and inline. In which area of your waking life do you need to – or have been – more disciplined and militant? Diet? Exercise? Finances? Anything like that? It seems that you are doing a pretty good job but despite that, you may be upset or depressed, hence falling into the mud.  Let’s talk about that ex. Was he your first love? If so, he represents the passion and excitement you want and need in your life right now.  We dream of our first loves when our current relationship gets a little too routine or when we are going through a dry spell.

Jeanna replies: I am working on the diet and exercise, and I am definitely depressed.  I have an unhappy marriage.  My husband isn’t home much and when he is I don’t get to exercise or follow my own schedule.  I turn into a b#@ch when he’s around because I don’t like it when he’s home. And yes, the ex in my dream was my first love.

Lauri: I believe your dream is showing you that you feel your life is difficult to maneuver through right now but yet you are still managing to do so even though you face many obstacles to your happiness. Stay disciplined. It seems to be working for you.

Jeanna replies: Thank you!! That all makes so much sense!!  When I woke up I was feeling really confused and thinking what in the world was that about? I am going to work on being more disciplined with my diet, exercise, chores, schooling, taking care of me.  As for the hubby, well I’m going to take care of me first and then I’ll deal with that!!

Got a dream you’re wondering about? You can find out what it means in just seconds from now! Get instant, immediate access to my HUGE online dream dictionary (over 5800 symbols), my interactive dream journal and tons of other powerful dream working tools. For a one time fee of only $9.95 you can have everything you need to easily figure out your dreams ANY TIME YOU WANT! You’ll never have to wonder what your dreams mean EVER again. Find Out What Your Dreams Mean Right Now

“I could not wait to tell you how much your online dictionary has helped me.  I have been having a series of scary dreams. Every morning I was able to peace them together with the dictionary and I now am CERTAIN that my dreams are telling me I have to get out of my relationship. It’s a scary thing to do, but having this clarity is so empowering! Thank you, thank you… THANK YOU!!!!!!!”   - Marcy, Huntsville, AL

As a parent, the most frightening dream you can have is that something terrible happens to your child. It shakes you to your very core! Naturally, you wonder if your dream is a foreshadowing, a warning, of something that is around the corner. Let me assure all you frantic parents out there that – if this were the case – none of our children would live to see adulthood! This dream is so common it’s not even funny. I think it’s safe to assume that every parent in the history of parenthood has had the dreadful something-bad-happened-to-my-child dream.

Then why, oh why, does our subconscious choose to torment our already fragile parental minds this way? Well, what you may view as torment, the subconscious views as helpful parental advice.  Read on to find out what I mean.  The following is from my nationally syndicated column The Dream Zone…

Dear Lauri,
Last night I dreamed that an unknown man was taking my 9 year old son away from me. We were in my house. He was carrying my son down the stairs from my second story. My son was crying. I was chasing after the man and shouting in anger. I can’t remember what I was saying to the man. The man did not have a face. I do recall feeling like I did not know the man.
– Ellen 41, Red Lion, PA

Lauri: Your son is growing faster than you would like and that man taking him away from you is life! Life kidnaps our children. Seemingly in the blink of an eye our pudgy, little munchkins are pulled away from us and there is nothing we can do about it. This is a common dream that was triggered by a milestone in your son’s life. I assume he just started 3rd or 4th grade? That could be the milestone, unless there is anything else that happened recently that made you realize how big he is getting and how much less he needs you? The purpose behind this heart-wrenching dream is the simple reminder that time is going really freaking fast and that you better make the most out of the time you do have with your son because, in the blink of an eye, you’ll be packing up his bags and sending him off to college.  Sigh. Where does the time go?

Ellen replies: Oh my! He just went into 3rd grade. His older sister just entered junior high so he is all on his own now in elementary school. No more older sister at school to guide him and show him the way. And he is soooo over me doting all over him all the time. It makes perfect sense. Thank you Lauri!

Got a dream you’re wondering about? You can find out what it means in just seconds from now! Get instant, immediate access to my HUGE online dream dictionary (over 5800 symbols), my interactive dream journal and tons of other powerful dream working tools. For a one time fee of only $9.95 you can have everything you need to easily figure out your dreams ANY TIME YOU WANT! You’ll never have to wonder what your dreams mean EVER again. Find Out What Your Dreams Mean Right Now

“My favorite part of the morning is jumping onto my computer and logging in to find out what my dreams that night mean. It is AMAZING how accurate your dictionary is. I love, love, LOVE it!!!!!!!!”   – Rebecca, Baltimore, MD

Ever dream about someone that seems so random or from left field that you are left scratching your head, seemingly, all day?  Happens to me all the time!  Last night I dreamed I was in a knock down drag out with Tom Cruise of all people! Had I not spent the past 15 years of my life researching the dreaming mind, I too would have been scratching my head all day over that one.  But since I’ve been doing this a while, I knew that Tom wasn’t playing himself and that I did not have a secret desire to give Mr. Cruise a beat down! Instead, I knew that he represented a part of myself that I am battling… but we’ll save that for another time.

Here’s what you need to know about what random people in your dream really mean. Everyone in your dream represents a part of you.  You play all the characters in your dream productions because your dreams are messages from you, to you and about you.  So when you, seemingly out of the blue, dream about the head cheerleader from high school, it’s not about her… it’s about you and how you took on that role the previous day or how you need to take on that role right now.  Maybe you were able to cheer someone up or encourage them, or your dream may be telling you that YOU need to cheer up, that things aren’t so bad. Do you see how it works?  Remember, every person in your dream, whether they actually exist or not, is a part of your personality and is there to show you how you are currently performing a particular role in your life.

Below is a great example of how this works.  This is from my nationally syndicated newspaper column The Dream Zone…

Dear Lauri,
I dreamed I was having dinner with President Bush and my parents.  I wanted a cup of coffee but my mom wanted me to wait until the president had his first.  The president got up and started doing the dishes.  Someone let his dogs in and I was playing and cuddling them and getting lots of dog kisses.  The dog I was cuddling was green! Then my alarm went off and I sat up in bed wondering who has a green dog? And why President Bush?   – Lori 53, Council Bluff, IA

Lauri: Bush is a president that is no longer in power so he may represent a part of yourself that is no longer in charge. Have you relinquished your authority or power over someone or something recently? Is there something you are no longer presiding over? Bush having the coffee first suggests that it is time to wake up this part of you so you can start presiding over your life again.  Bush is also doing the dishes. This is typically a mom activity so this may have to do with your own role as mom, if you are a mother. Or, it suggests you are doing some sort of mental cleansing, clearing away frustrations, something like that. The dogs may point to a relationship, someone you have loyalty and companionship with… but one is green! Most often green points to jealousy and less often points to growth. Since this dream seems positive and you are receiving lots of kisses, I’m betting this is about a relationship that is growing and rewarding you.

Lori replies: Wow! This is amazing. Several relationships in my life have been growing. My husband has been recovering from a painful addiction and is making amazing progress! We are closer than we have ever been. I was completely powerless over his addiction. I do feel like I have been woken up about my life in general. The mom issue… I have been reconnecting with my daughter after a long absence and it’s really nice.

Got a dream you’re wondering about? You can find out what it means in just seconds from now! Get instant, immediate access to my HUGE online dream dictionary (over 5800 symbols), my interactive dream journal and tons of other powerful dream working tools. For a one time fee of only $9.95 you can have everything you need to easily figure out your dreams ANY TIME YOU WANT! You’ll never have to wonder what your dreams mean EVER again. Find Out What Your Dreams Mean Right Now

“Using your site makes it beyond easy to figure out my dreams. And now that I am getting their messages I have been able to make big changes in my life with confidence because I now know what my inner mind is telling me to do. Thank you so much for this amazing resource! I don’t know how I got along without it!” – Christi F. Phoenix, AZ

One of the most common dreams I hear about is the one where you are trying to punch someone but it goes in slow motion, you can’t land the punch or if you do, it’s like hitting a sponge and has no effect whatsoever!  These dreams are so frustrating!  And that frustration you feel in the dream is directly related to waking life frustration you are experiencing over something that doesn’t seem to be working out because… YOU AREN’T GIVING IT YOUR BEST SHOT!  Find a figure of speech in your dream and you’ve found yourself the message.

But what if you dream you are the one getting punched, or you are witnessing someone else getting punched?  Read on and find out.  This is from my weekly newspaper column called The Dream Zone…

Dear Lauri,
I see a man lying in what looks to be a hospital bed.  He is being punched in the face over and over again, it is really violent. There was a heart monitor hooked up to him, it finally went flat. The man died off, and then the punching stopped. There was a peaceful moment, suddenly the heart monitor began to beep again, and the man was alive.   – Norma, Bedford, TX

Lauri: The man in the dream is most likely you! He is your male side, the part of you that needs to “man up” and handle your business.  All that punching suggests someone has been taking shots at you in some way, criticizing you or beating you down emotionally. The part of you that can stand up for yourself, the male part, is not at all active.  It seems that you’ve been taking someone’s #*! for so long that your ability to fight back is flat-lining… until recently! The man coming back to life is a good sign that you may finally be standing up for yourself. In what way have you “grown a pair” and did what needed to be done?

Norma replies: A co-worker has a way of sucking my positive energy from me and he makes me feel that I am incompetent in completing my work correctly. We had a falling out last week. I spoke with him over the phone at work and I apologized but he wasn’t accepting it, instead he was hateful. I then saw him yesterday and asked him if he was still angry at me and of course he was. I give up on him.  I am going to leave him alone but he will call my department from time to time and I know that I will have to deal with him again. I have decided I will stand confidant if I have to interact with him again. Lauri, many, many thanks!

When you can understand what your dreams are telling you, you can make huge positive changes in your life and you’ll wonder why you didn’t start listening to your dreams sooner! Grab yourself a copy of one of my books and you’ll never have to wonder what your dreams mean again!

“I bought your books for my daughter and she loved them so much she told me I had to get them! I’m so glad I did!!”   -  Yvette, Santa Maria, CA