Forget Conventional Dream Interpretation:

Learn to Cultivate Your Dreams Today!

One oI my Iavourite quotes oI all time and I am sure many oI you share my thoughts, is the
speech by Martin Luther King at the civil rights march in Washington, 1963, which went like
this:

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills oI Georgia the sons oI Iormer slaves and the
sons oI Iormer slave owners will be able to sit together at the table oI brotherhood..."

"I have a dream..." Indeed. Inspiring stuII. I want to discuss our dreams in a very practical
way today.

I want to talk about how to cultivate your dreaming. It really is a tremendously valuable thing
to do. I want to steer away Irom conventional dream interpretation and will explain why.

As oI today, pay attention to your dreaming and your daydreaming. Dreams are important to
us in many ways, because they do the Iollowing:

Firstly, when you dream you actively process inIormation and Ieelings.

Secondly, dreams are always involving many senses, so the highly sensory experience is very
rich. It is quite rare Ior us to use all our senses at once as we do when we dream.

Thirdly, dreams give us valuable inIormation about what is going on in our lives, whether
directly or more oIten in a disguised or symbolic Iorm.

Fourthly, dreams are strongly sequenced, though oIten in a way which is emotionally rather
than logically organised.

Finally, dreams draw upon a rich range oI unconscious, associative, creative links between
many kinds oI inIormation.

Some people remember their dreams; others tend to Iorget all but the most dramatic bits as
soon as they wake. When you dream or daydream, take time to replay as much oI it as you
can in your mind beIore the events oI the day overlay it. Relive the story oI that dream.
Remind yourselI oI the events, pictures, sensations and other sensory inIormation it involved.

This dream was the product oI your mind. Marvel at your own creativity! This is amazing
stuII here; get excited by it.

II you get into the habit oI asking yourselI when you wake, "what did I dream?" you may at
Iirst only remember a Iew particularly strong Ieelings or vivid images: write them down and
review it regularly. I actually used to write a dream journal and wrote everything down as
soon as I opened my eyes each morning. It provided me with such inspiration when I required
it.

Naturally, lots oI you may want to start with dream interpretation straight away. Resist the
urge Ior dream interpretation, ok?

Do your best not to assume that there is necessarily a single clear meaning which can be
interpreted according to psychological theories or books on dream signiIicance or dream
interpretation. How can your dreams have the same meaning as someone else? Is your brain
the same as that persons? For now, ease oII the dream interpretation.

I have Iound that the most useIul assumption to make about dreams is that they have some
kind oI signiIicance Ior you, the dreamer: they come Irom your internal, unconscious mind's
storehouse oI Ieelings, experiences and images, and are an active and useIul way oI
processing that is quite diIIerent Irom and just as useIul as the processing that belongs to
the logical conscious part oI your mind.

OIten a strong Ieeling will be your Iirst clue to the meaning a dream has Ior you: so note it,
and wonder about it, but don't try to rush to tie it down by conscious analysis. The real work
oI the dream is oIten done simply in the dreaming oI it: the conscious mind does not always
have to understand, and when it tries to translate dreams into its own terms it may be limiting
it, just as poetry translated Irom another language usually loses something oI its more subtle
tapestry oI meanings.

Think about the value oI dreams.

Dreams demonstrate a diIIerent level oI mental Iunctioning Irom conscious, disciplined
thought. When you pay attention to them, and even cultivate them, you are learning to
become Iamiliar with, to trust and to draw upon a Iuller range oI your own mental resources:
in other words, you are using more oI what you've got. Hey, this stuII is going to keep
happening, so why not really use it.

The mind works both consciously and unconsciously. Conscious thought is Iormally taught in
our education system. Its strength is its systematic and disciplined way oI handling
inIormation. Its limitation is that it tends to be rule-bound and too narrow in its problem-
solving approach.


The brain also processes inIormation at an unconscious level: mostly, this is associative and
depends on links, similarities and Ieelings. This processing produces dreams, as well as much
oI our other "creative" or "expressive" experience. That is why we are oIten surprised by the
spontaneous connections we make or insights we have, and by our imaginative inspiration: it
is not what we would have come up with consciously at all, yet it seems somehow completely
"right". This way oI thinking works "laterally" it expands, goes sideways and Iinds multiple
avenues rather than just one.

We need both kinds oI Iunctioning iI we are to make the most oI our brain power. Logic and
intuition, discipline and divergence, are all vital tools that enrich and enable us. But whereas
we are used to working with the conscious mind, in part because we are aware oI it and can
monitor it as it works, many people are less at ease trusting and using the unconscious
processes. Paying attention to your dreams, and deliberately cultivating daydreaming, are
both ways oI stretching yourselI into this area.

So let us have a look at the value oI deliberate daydreaming. Where dreams come unbidden,
you may Iind it useIul to deliberately evoke the conditions Ior daydreaming, iI, like many
people, you have not really valued the activity beIore now.

How is it valuable? Daydreaming brings us escape and relaxation; visions oI the Iuture that
inspire and help us to bring about what we have dreamed oI; solutions to apparently
unsolvable problems; inventions and creative possibilities. Daydream states allow the
unconscious, associative parts oI the mind to work in their own playIul and imaginative ways,
bringing not only pleasure but results that our usual deliberate, attentive, rational thought
does not. We need space in our lives Ior both ways oI processing iI we are to realise
ourselves as Iully as possible.

The key to daydreaming is to be in that right state. II you want to practice, please visit my
website and download the Iree hypnosis session there, or learn selI-hypnosis, read my book
"The Secrets oI SelI-Hypnosis" or invest in the selI-hypnosis masterclass audio programme,
there is nothing else as good in the world today, really there isn't. There is a kind oI automatic
abstractedness that goes along with daydreaming. Mostly it just seems to happen but when
you know about creating and changing states, you can choose to make it happen.

Here are some ways you can cultivate and work with your daydreams:

Firstly, notice when you have been daydreaming. Is there any pattern oI circumstances that
helps bring about your particular daydreaming state?

Some people Iind that repetitive, relatively automatic, activities such as jogging, ironing or
walking create the right state. Perhaps it is a warm bath, swimming a Iew lengths, or sitting in
the garden. Or it may be swaying to the movement oI a train, staring into space, looking out
oI the window oI a bus on the way to work, or going on a long drive.

Once you Iind what helps you daydream, use it and make space Ior it in your liIe on a regular
basis, imagine that you are in that experience, recreate those circumstances inside oI your
mind. Let daydreaming come to you, and notice what kinds oI windows it opens Irom our
ordinary world into what other kinds oI possibilities. Some oI your best ideas and inspirations
may come at these times.

Secondly, next time you have a decision to make, or a problem to solve, or a challenge to
overcome, you can set up the circumstances so that you can trigger your daydreaming state
and allow yourselI to explore your problem or decision in this way. When you have done so,
make some notes oI what you experienced and discovered. Add that to your conscious
thinking on the subject: you now have much more inIormation, and the advantage oI having
engaged more oI your mental resources.

Thirdly, Ior today, Iorget dream interpretation. That is a conscious and limiting thing to do.
Did I make myselI clear? Forget conventional dream interpretation. For now use your dreams
in personal ways to you.