“Chapter 6: The Dream Report (page 75)
Studying your dreams requires more than recording them and thinking about them in isolation each morning. You must return to them days, weeks, or even years later and think about your dreams in relation to one another. It is through this periodic review of dreams that you will find the patterns in them. It is these patterns that are the meaningful parts of most of your dreams. It is these patterns that reveal the unseen patterns of your waking life. Once revealed, you will then work to change your unhelpful patterns.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Chapter 6: The Dream Report (page 76)
As you review your dreams, think about our six questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how? Who appears in your dreams? What appears in your dreams? What objects, feelings, and actions? Where do your dreams take place? When do these dreams take place? Night time? Winter? In your childhood? In the distant future? For why, consider the motivations of the characters and their goals. How are things done in your dreams? Are they done the same way as in waking life? Or is there something strange about it?
Don't just think about the answers to these; organize them, write them down, be systematic.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Chapter 6: The Dream Report (page 77)
After reviewing all your dreams for the previous two weeks, count up all of the marks for each item and write down the number.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Chapter 7: Finding your Dream Pattern (page 98)
When you first read the phrase "dream patterns" you may have thought of recurring dreams. Recurring dreams certain represent a dream pattern, but they are a special category of them. Usually dream patterns are the repetition of particular clusters of dream images or themes. Recurring dreams, however, are dreams that occur over and over the same way, perhaps even identically.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Chapter 8: Breaking and Making your Patterns (page 105)
Often, simply acknowledging an undesirable pattern in your waking life isn't enough. You may have to work to replace that pattern. As you do so, you will find confirmation of your efforts in your dreams. As you replace the waking-life patterns, the dream patterns will dissolve.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Chapter 8: Breaking and Making your Patterns (pages 109-110)
As you become more mindful and self-aware, you will be better able to penetrate the waking-life patterns that your dreams are pointing to. Moreover, you will start to become more aware of the deep source of your patterns. With awareness comes the ability to accept those patterns, determine whether they're helpful or not and, if not, to let them go. As you do so, write down all of your observations about yourself and your dream patterns.
Write up your interpretations of your dream patterns in your dream journal. Write about the waking-life patterns they represent. Note your efforts to change your waking-life patterns and how those changes affect your life. And, of course, identify and discuss changes in your dream patterns as a result of the changes in your waking-life patterns.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Chapter 8: Breaking and Making your Patterns (pages 111-112)
Take Action
Answer the following questions in your dream journal. They will help you analyze your dream patterns and your waking-life patterns.
1. Briefly describe one of the dream patterns you've recognized. It may be the same you recognized in the workbook for the previous chapter.
2. Link the above dream pattern to a waking-life pattern. If you're unsure of the link, identify several possible links. Describe the waking-life pattern(s) in your dream journal.
3. Consider how you might work to change an undesirable waking-life pattern. Take some notes on how you might recognize, acknowledge, and let go of the pattern.
4. As you work on that pattern, write some notes in your journal on your efforts. Are you able to recognize, acknowledge, and let go of the waking-life pattern? How is this affecting your life? How is it affecting your dreams?
5. Develop a daily meditation, mindfulness, or qigong practice to help you cultivate the self-awareness necessary for recognizing and letting go of your waking-life patterns.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Glossary (page 143)
dream pattern
A cluster of recurring images or themes in your dreams. It is in these recurring patterns, rather than individual images or dreams, that we will generally find meaning. Our dream patterns reflect conscious or unconscious patterns in our attitudes, feelings, or behaviors in our waking lives.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Glossary (page 143)
false awakening
A lucid dream in which a person believes incorrectly that he or she has woken up and is no longer dreaming.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives
“Glossary (page 143)
hypnopompic sleep paralysis
A rare event related to sleep paralysis. In these cases, the dreamer awakens, but the normal sleep paralysis has not yet worn off and the now awake person remains paralyzed. This can result in a sense of panic. Such cases are often accompanied by the clear sighting of a face or figure in the room with the dreamer. The person perceives the figure to be frightening or hostile. The paralysis and the frightening figure typically fade away on their own accord within a few seconds.”
Source: Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives