Lauri’s Blog

Now that I’ve decided to get back to focusing on my art, namely recreating my dreams, my dreaming mind has decided to keep my momentum going.  Last night I dreamed I had an enormous fish living in our pool. It was so big that it practically took up the entirety of the pool.  And when it jumped into the air, it made a helluva splash when it landed back in the water!

Usually, water in dreams is all about your emotions. The state of the water in your dream will mimic your emotional state in waking life.  For example, if you’re dreaming of flooding water then you are likely in an emotional state that is getting increasingly worse in waking life.  If you dream of a pool then that is a good indication that you have contained and are now in control of your emotional state, just as a pool is contained and controlled water (with the ph and chlorine levels, etc.)  HOWEVER, sometimes the water in your dream can be more about your creative “juices” rather than your emotions… and I believe that is the case with me.

You see, fish are one of the more common symbols I dream about.  For many years I have dreamed about forgetting to feed fish that I had in an aquarium.  I would dream this pretty much on a weekly basis. I attributed it to creative ideas I had been neglecting as far as my website or promotion ideas I needed to feed in order to get more radio appearances.  While that could have been the case, on some level, I am now certain that the dying, starving fish in my dreams all these years were really gentle nudges from my wiser inner mind that my art was dying a slow painful death, languishing in my no longer fertile creative juices… sigh.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have started delving into my art again thanks to a dream I had that made it abundantly clear that it was my art talent, not web or promotional ideas that was dying.  So now that I am “diving” into my creative pool again, my dreaming mind is giving me even more guidance in the form of the giant fish. Just as the fish was confined in too small of a space, my art and desire to create is confined – for the moment – to only digital art because I don’t have the correct art supplies I need to paint or draw. My dream is telling me that I can really “make a splash” once I get the proper materials.

DREAM TIP: If you can find a pun or a figure of speech in your dream, you have found a good part of the message!

And so I will listen to my dream’s advice and I will go get the pencils, the paints and the canvases I need so I can make myself, and my dreaming mind happy.  Because, believe you me, when your dreaming mind is not happy with you it will nag you to death with those annoying, persistent recurring dreams. Who needs that when we already have our mothers to do so?

Your dreams are guiding and advising you too, every single night of your life!

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

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have started delving into my art again thanks to a dream I had recently that told me I had allowed this part of myself to be stripped away.  In particular, I am going to focus on recreating my own dreams and, lucky you, you will get to see them here on my blog as they are dreamed and then created. As you can see, I have posted the first of – what I hope – will be many to come.  This one I have named, “I’m back.”  This was done digitally because, since it has been so long since I’ve gotten my hands dirty with paint and pastels, etc. I don’t have the proper art supplies… yet!

Here is what all this crazy looking symbolism means and pertains to my life… and maybe you’ll get some insight into what some of these symbols may mean for you as well.  Obviously, that’s me down there in the corner looking at what is going on in the dream.

The wide open door looking out into the sky represents several opportunities that have “opened up” to me lately.  “The sky” is the limit, that is, if I play my cards right.  But due to some personal and emotional issues, what should be a wide open and welcoming opportunity has become “clouded” with uncertainty and even fear, hence the clouds.  I have allowed those clouds in due to my own weaknesses.

The hand that is reaching around the door frame was, in the dream, trying to turn on a light switch but couldn’t find it.  That represents my need to find certain things out, my need to “shed some light” on some physical unknowns I am currently dealing with.  It is a male hand rather than a female hand because it is my own male assertive energy that will take action on this unknown and get er dun.  The hand couldn’t find the switch because I still haven’t found out what’s going on yet.

That coiled up snake on the wall is a cool symbol! Usually, snakes in dreams are connected to a man in the dreamer’s waking life that is exhibiting low down behavior – hence their shape -  OR it can be connected to health issues, hence the caduceus, the symbol for physicians… you know, the two snakes wrapped around the winged staff.  I think my dream has two meanings, one is a common meaning and the other is my own personal meaning. It certainly is related to my health issues I am trying to figure out.  The second meaning is connected my latest book “Dream On It,” which is about to come out.  It has a cool snake on the cover.  Here in my dream, the snake is coiled and ready to strike because 1. my book is about to hit newsstands everywhere in March and 2. I think I am on the verge of finding out what the deal is with my health issues.

As you can see, all these different symbols in my dream have come together to create a big, and pretty cool, picture for me… a picture with a message.  I believe the message is, “Be patient. You are in the dark and uncertain about some things right now but keep looking up. You can handle it (hence the hand in the dream). There are endless opportunities ahead.”

Your dreams work the exact same way. What may seem like a jumbled mess of random objects and happenings are in fact very important and powerful messages carefully pieced together by your wise and knowing dreaming mind.  When you can learn to put the pieces of your dream puzzle together, you’ll see the big picture, the important message you are giving yourself through the dream.

Animals in dreams, sex dreams, death, weird things happening to your body PLUS way cool dream art… It’s ALL in there!  Grab your copy of So, What Did You Dream Last Night? and understand your dreams like never before!

“I have both of your books. I love them!!  It is so much fun to look up what my dreams mean in the morning.  I don’t know what I would do without them!” – Amy, Clearfield, UT

Ever dream of a house you used to live in?  I’ll bet you do! It’s very common to dream of your childhood home or even other homes you lived in at earlier points in your life. You also probably wake up wondering why your dreaming mind put you back there.  I’ll tell you!  It’s not about the house but about who you were when you lived in that house.  Let me share my recent dream with you so you can see what I mean.

In my dream, I was in the first home my husband and I bought together.  It was an old 1920′s bungalow that we totally refurbished.  I was walking around the house, exploring every room. It was neat to be back there. Everything looked pretty much the same… until I walked into my art room! It was stripped bare, all the way down to the dry wall. I stood there shocked and saddened… and then I woke up.  DREAM TIP: The point at which you wake up from a dream is usually where the main message is (that is, when you wake up naturally from a dream).

When I woke, I knew EXACTLY what that dream was telling me.  I had been neglecting my art for years and my dream was showing me that – in doing so – the artist part of me had been stripped down to nothingness… it was no longer a part of my identity.  This is why I felt saddened in the dream.  And so you see, the dream wasn’t really about that house but who I was when I lived there. I was painting or drawing everyday. In my current house, I don’t have an art room, and all my paint and brushes and canvases are in the basement. This picture is the last dream picture I ever did and this was probably 5 years ago, if not more. You can find it in my book So, What Did You Dream Last Night?

In fact, there’s a whole chapter on houses in dreams in this book and what all the different rooms in your house mean.

Because of this dream, I have decided to start painting and drawing again… especially painting and drawing my dreams. Art is a big part of who I am and I want to keep it alive and well in my identity so I can be my ultimate self. Stay tuned to my blog because I’ll be posting my art as it comes along. 

There’s an awful lot to who you are too, and your dreams have a pretty cool way of showing you all the different parts of yourself in the form of various symbols.  When you can understand the symbols in your dreams you can understand yourself and your life like never before… and knowledge is power!

Grab yourself a copy of one of my books and you’ll easily understand your dreams every morning and get a HUGE edge in life.

“Wow, what an amazing book so full of information! I will def be keeping this one on my nightstand and refer to it often!” – Kristi Roach, Angola, IN

This is a pretty funny video my brother forwarded to me about violent dreams. In the video the “In The Know” panelists discuss whether seeing images of dead babies and bludgeoned prostitutes in our sleep is desensitizing Americans to violence.

Go ahead and give it a watch, and then I’ll tell you what violent dreams are REALLY about. By the way, the F bomb is dropped in this video so be careful if you’re at work or around children…

The truth about violent dreams is this… the longer you ignore or mis-handle an issue that needs correcting, the more violent and hostile your dreams will become, until they reach nightmare status! You can go about your day denying there is a problem or simply ignoring it in hopes that it will go away, but at night when you sleep, your issue rises to the surface and your dreaming mind forces you to deal with it.

Let’s touch on the dreams in the video.

Dismembered limbs – Something or someone has been or needs to be severed from your life. The anxiety that causes this dream is from your pain over the separation. Either something or someone has left your life that you wanted to hold onto or you know a separation needs to happen but you are afraid to act on it.

Dead babies – A terrible image but an important one. A project, a relationship, something that you cared about that was just getting started has suddenly ended. Your dream is trying to show you this isn’t something you can revive so you are best moving on.

Murder - A need to forcibly put an end to something in your life such as a bad relationship, an addiction, a bad behavior, an issue that is not good for you OR a desire to change something about someone around you.  OJ Simpson had recurring dreams of murdering Nicole before he finally acted on it.  Unfortunately he took the dreams literally when his dreaming mind was probably only urging him to kill off his obsession with her.

Spiders – Bugs in dreams mean something is bugging you.  Spiders in particular often point to deceit, a web of lies! Is someone around you not being honest with you?  Or are you the one not telling the truth?

What can you do to reduce the level of violence in your dreams?
The dreaming mind is brutally honest and does not tolerate complacency! So the next time you get a dream full of blood, dismembered body parts or murderous rampages, you need to pinpoint what’s been troubling you lately and realize it is high time you be honest with yourself about the situation and do what you need to do to nip it in the bud so you don’t end up like the poor sleep deprived woman in the video above!

There are over 1000 dream symbols explained in my book Cracking The Dream Code.  No need to let those troublesome dreams bother you again!  When you can understand your dreams, you can change your life!

“Your books have made a huge difference in my life. Because of your books, I am more aware and open to my dreams and translating them is starting to seem effortless. Thank you!”   – Victoria, Las Vegas, NV

RETURN TO MAIN BLOG

…in his dreams he is! 

Tom Jones revealed a recurring nightmare he has on The View this week, that he has murdered somebody, hidden the body and the police have found it. 

Countless people have reported this very same dream to me.  This is indeed a guilt induced dream, but not over something as severe as murder!  Remember, emotions are exaggerated when dreaming.  Most often, these dreams are triggered by guilt over something we have put an end to, such as a relationship, a diet, a project, something that is causing us to second guess ourselves.  That is where the police come in.  They represent our ability to “police” our actions and behaviors, our ability to do the “just” thing. When we go against what we know is right, our “dream police” will show up to set us straight!

So what do you think ol’ Tom is feeling guilty about?

Nightmares are the most important dreams of all because they are alerting you to something in your life that needs correcting, something that needs your immediate attention.  Understanding your nightmares can save you from a lot of needless pain in waking life. Nightmares are fully covered in my book So What Did You Dream Last Night? Demons, murder, corpses, blood, it’s all in there!!

One of the most common dreams I am asked about when on the air is the one where you are in your bed and a dark, sinister presence enters the room.  It is so terrifying that you’re unable to move, speak out or scream.  Very often it is difficult to breathe because the creature is on you, suffocating you!  Some folks shake or feel like they are leaving their bodies.

People are horrified by this experience and , understandably, believe they have been haunted because it is very real and some swear they are awake.

The truth is, this is not a dream… nor is it a haunting.  It is actually a fascinating physiological experience called Sleep Paralysis, or The Old Hag Syndrome! And there is not a thing one should worry about when it happens.

Here’s the deal, when we sleep and enter the REM state, which is when dreaming takes place, our brain releases a chemical that literally paralyzes our skeletal muscles so that we don’t act out our dreams.  When we’ve had a fitful night of sleep or haven’t slept long enough, we will start to wakeup before our brain can re-activate our muscle control, which causes us to get “stuck” in that inbetween state of sleep and wakefulness.  This is called Hypnogogia.  Cool name, huh?  In this state you are asleep and awake at the same time, which is why you are aware that you are in your room and in your bed.  This is also why you can’t move, speak or scream… because you are still paralyzed!

Now, about that dark, frightening creature in the room.  That is still a mystery to many researchers but I have a theory.  We tend to have fitful nights of sleep because something is “weighing heavy” on us - hence the pressure on the chest.  There is some negative force in our life that is keeping us from sleeping peacefully.  It can be anything from debt, to relationship troubles.  And in Dream Psychology, negative elements in our life often show up in our dreams in the form of a dark shadow, a monster or some other villainouscharacter.  So when we are temporarily stuck in that Hypnogogic state, which is a hallucinatory state btw, it is no wonder that the very thing that is causing disrupted sleep would still be present in our mind.  I have spoken to numurous people who have experienced this and when asked if was something heavy on their minds that night the answer has always been yes.

If this happens to you… fear not!  It is mostly physiological and will subside in a moment or two.  It is not harmful in any way and does not mean there is anything wrong with you.  No need to call your priest or the ghost hunters!  The cure is to try to get your negative issues off your mind before bedtime.  Try writing out what is bothering you at bedtime.  Get it out of your mind and onto paper.  Very often, writing it down can also help you sort out your thoughts and even come up with ideas on how to handle it.  Plus, this will ensure your dreams that night will work hard on your issue for you.  After all, that is the purpose of dreaming.

That dream you’re wondering about right now is trying to tell you something YOU NEED TO KNOW! When you can understand your dreams, you can change your life.  Find Out What Your Dreams Mean Right Now

“I used your dictionary to look up some of the symbols in my dream and wow….  I had no idea that dreams could tell so much! It’s great to have this understanding and I wanted to thank you.”   – Patty, Toledo, OH

On Halloween Day I had the pleasure of appearing on Oprah and Friends radio to discuss the dark side of dreaming with Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete.  Rodney told me about recurring nightmares he has about being kidnapped, blind-folded and dropped out of a helicopter. Yikes!

Go ahead and click on the link below to listen.  A lot of your nightmare questions will be answered!!

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahandfriends/peetes/20081031_oaf_peetes

Don’t let your dreams frighten you!  Let them enlighten you!!  Grab yourself a copy of one of my books and you’ll easily understand your dreams every morning and get a HUGE edge in life. Put “facebook” in the coupon code at checkout and save
40%!!

“All my friends come to me now when they want to understand their dreams.  Your books have made me very popular!!”   – Gina, Syracuse, NY

Since this is the week of all things scary, I thought we could have some fun and delve into the nightmares some of our favorite celebrtits have had.  I recently did an interview with the Daily Blabber at ivillage.com where we talked about what haunts the dreams of Madonna, Rihanna and more…

Halloween Special: Celebrity Nightmares

What better time to talk about celebrity nightmares than on Halloween? I interviewed Cracking The Dream Code author Lauri Loewenberg, who has analyzed the dreams of many famous Hollywood folks, and she spills their nightmare secrets…

Which celebrities have you worked with and is there one that sticks out as being the most memorable?

Lauri: I’ve talked with Diane Sawyer, Star Jones, Desperate Housewives‘ James Denton, Anderson Cooper, Rihanna, Alice Cooper, and Dustin Diamond. And, no — not a sex dream… thank God!

The most memorable celebrity interaction was with Rihanna. She had a nightmare about watching a plane crash into a building and pieces of it landing on her brother. Naturally, she had no idea why she had this dream and worried it might be telling her something bad was going to happen to her brother. I told her the plane represents her career and how it’s “taking off.” It crashes in her dream because she fears her career might come crashing down before she reaches her career goal. (Plane crash dreams are very common with celebrities, by the way.) I asked her how her relationship with her brother is and she said they are very close and she misses him very much. That made me realize that she’s concerned her rising celebrity — that has her jetting all over the place — might harm the close relationship she had built with her brother, the building representing that relationship. She got pretty emotional at this realization. She obviously loves her little bro a great deal.