Understanding Your Dreams – One Feeling at a Time

Understanding your dreams does not have to mean finding a complete explanation for everything you saw during the night. Sometimes it is enough to pause at a single image or feeling.

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But before I get to the dreams, I need to begin by the sea.

One Last Swim in the Salty Water

Yesterday, I went swimming in the sea.

I had already climbed out of the water and decided that my swim was over. Then I stood there looking at the waves and felt that I had to go back in one more time.

One last time to truly enjoy the salty water, the waves and the feeling of being exactly where I was.

I had already left the sea, but I had to go back in one more time to enjoy the salty water and the waves. Photo: Tommy L Nilsson.

Alfred wanted to catch crabs, and Malou managed to catch a really big one.

My mother-in-law served delicious food and ice cream for dessert. There were also biscuits and chocolate balls. Their little summer cottage is in such a beautiful location, and the whole area is a hidden gem.

Everything becomes soft, still and peaceful when I am there. It is almost impossible to be anywhere other than exactly where I am.

Perhaps that is a kind of Green Time.

A quiet moment in the sunshine at my mother-in-law’s little hidden gem on Tjörn. Photo: Tommy L Nilsson.

A place where the body and the mind are allowed to slow down.

Everyday Life Begins Again

My husband’s holiday is over, and our days are beginning to return to their usual rhythm.

I will also return to my own method, Cleaning in Squares, where I divide something that feels overwhelming into smaller parts and focus on one small area at a time.

Cleaning has been rather irregular while everyone has been at home and we have been travelling in LVL². There is not always enough time for it – and perhaps it should not be the most important thing during a holiday either.

But now it is time to begin again.

On weekdays, I take one room at a time and do one small extra task connected to that room. Then it is finished for the day.

Nothing more.

Life is about more than cleaning and taking care of everything that could be done around the house.

As you may notice, my thoughts are still connected to the workbooks I have created. I began by writing about the sea, found my way into Cleaning in Squares, and now I will try to return to what I was actually going to write about:

Dreams.

Perhaps this is simply how my mind works. One thought leads to another, and suddenly I am heading in a completely different direction.

Dreams and Compassion -understanding your dreams

I find dreams fascinating. They can offer a way of approaching feelings, memories and things that may be happening in our lives.

That does not mean that every dream must be interpreted or that every symbol has one fixed meaning.

A house does not necessarily mean the same thing to me as it does to you.

A door may evoke a sense of safety in one person and anxiety in another.

A person who appears in a dream may not even represent that particular individual. The feeling they evoke may be more important.

That is why I prefer to approach dreams with curiosity and compassion instead of trying to find the one correct answer.

At the moment, I am also exploring the possibility of developing an app about dreams and compassion.

The question is whether I will manage to create it or give up somewhere along the way. But if I know myself, it will probably become a reality eventually, even if it takes time.

I simply need to use the same approach:

One thing at a time.

One feature at a time.

One step at a time.

Understanding your dreams is therefore not about searching for a final answer. It is about becoming curious about what the dream awakens within you.

Understanding Your Dreams – One Small Part at a Time

A dream can sometimes feel as disorganised as a room where everything is scattered around.

We may remember several people, different places and events that seem to have no connection. If we try to understand the entire dream at once, our thoughts may also begin to spin.

Then we can use an approach similar to Cleaning in Squares.

We choose one small part and allow everything else to wait.

It might be:

• a scene
• a person
• a feeling
• a room
• an object
• something that remained with us after waking

That small part can become the dream’s square.

We do not need to understand everything else right now.

For someone who wants to understand their dreams, one small detail can sometimes reveal more than a finished interpretation of the whole dream.

Begin With What Stayed With You -understanding your dreams

Once you have chosen one small part of the dream, you can begin by noticing what happened and what feeling it evoked.

Try not to find an explanation immediately. Instead, pause and remain curious about what you remember.

Perhaps the scene awakens a thought or feeling that you recognise from your life. Perhaps it does not. You do not need to force an answer.

The important thing is not to interpret the dream correctly.

The important thing is to approach it gently.

If you would like some clear questions to guide you, you can use the free worksheet My First Dream Reflection.

Understanding your dreams with compassion begins with curiosity rather than judgement.

What Does Compassion Have to Do With Dreams?

A dream can awaken fear, shame, sadness or other strong emotions. We may then begin judging both the dream and ourselves.

But what happens if we meet what the dream awakened with compassion instead?

Compassion in dream reflection is not about explaining away something difficult or finding a quick answer. It is about how we care for ourselves when a dream has touched something within us.

Perhaps we can ask a different kind of question instead of:

Why am I dreaming like this?

Perhaps we can gently wonder:

What do I need after this dream?

This is where compassion-focused dream reflection begins.

Between the Lines – One Dream at a Time

Understanding your dreams

Perhaps I do not need to understand the entire dream.

Perhaps it is enough to pause at the image that is still with me when I wake up.

A room.

A person.

A wave.

A feeling in my body.

Just as I do not need to clean the entire house in one day, I do not need to make sense of my entire inner world at once.

One scene.

One feeling.

One dream at a time.

Understanding your dreams is allowed to take time. We do not have to open every door at once.

A Question for You

Is there an image or feeling from a dream that has stayed with you?

What happens if you allow that small part to receive your attention while everything else waits?

🌙 Would You Like to Explore Your Dreams?

You can begin with the free Swedish guide Kom igång med Drömdagboken (Getting Started With a Dream Journal) and the worksheet Min första drömreflektion (My First Dream Reflection).

If you would like to continue, there is also the Swedish workbook Drömreflektion med compassion (Dream Reflection With Compassion).

The downloadable materials are currently available in Swedish only. Perhaps I will translate them into English in the future – one page and one step at a time.

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Live today. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is not yet here. Right now, one feeling and one dream at a time are enough – this is where life happens.