Dream Incubation: An Effective Problem Solving Technique
78© Copyright 2010 Patrice Walker All rights reserved
Your dreams represent an incredible source of information that you have direct access to. Why not let your dreams help you navigate the ups and downs of life?
To incubate a dream simply means to ask your dreams for specific information that will help you solve a problem you are currently experiencing.
Dream incubation is creative problem solving at its best. Follow these steps to get the answers you’ve been seeking.
Dream Incubation Steps
Step 1
Have
some paper, preferably a notebook or journal, and a pencil or pen within easy
reach so you can record your dream when you wake up. You can also use a tape
recorder, but you'll have to transcribe the tape at some point.
You will also need a light source to see by when you are recording your dream
at night. I have a small lamp by my bed, but you could also use those little
book lights and snap it onto your journal so you don't disturb anyone sleeping
nearby.
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Step 2
Before going to sleep, write down the question you want your dream to answer. But don't stop there. Journal for a bit about the situation in as much detail as you can. Conjure up all the feelings associated with your situation and record them, too. When you finish writing, restate the question you want your dream to answer.Step 3
After you've journaled and written your question, add a statement that affirms your intent to get excellent information from your dream that will help you solve the problem you're facing. Say something like:"Thank you, Dreams, for giving me the perfect information that I need to solve this problem."
Step 4
As you drift off to sleep, continue to think about your problematic situation and the information you want your dream to provide.I've discovered, after keeping a "dream journal" for over 25 years, that my dreams typically are about some aspect of what I've been thinking, doing, or involved in during the previous 24-48 hours. This might be why thinking about your problem and question right before you fall asleep creates a dream that gives you the information you need to solve it.
Step 5
If you wake up without remembering a dream, don't feel that you have failed. Record whatever you are feeling and thinking. This will get you into the habit of writing something upon awakening. Pretty soon, you will have a dream to record in your dream journal
A Suggestion for "Light" Sleepers
I tend to get up several times at night to go to the bathroom, and I often wake up remembering a dream. Sometimes I'll record the dream right then, but my favorite time to record dreams is in the morning when it's time to get up. You can ask your dreams to provide the information you are seeking in a dream that you have just before waking up in the morning or at the "perfect" time, whatever that may be for you.
Step 6
If you wake up remembering a dream, don't jump up immediately and start writing. Continue to lay in the same position you were in when you woke up and recall as many details as you can. Also, don't try to interpret the dream at this point. Simply remember as much of it as you can without analyzing anything.
Now you can gently sit up and start writing. Write in the first person, present tense (e.g., "I am in the house I grew up in" instead of "I was in the house I grew up in"). This will put you back in the dream, and you will discover more details coming to the surface that you can record. Give your dream a title once you are finished recording it.
Again, do NOT try to interpret your dream at this time. Just get it recorded. Even if your dream doesn't seem to be related to your question, write it down anyway. You’ll understand why when it’s time to talk about dream interpretation.
Dream Analysis Steps
One note of caution before we begin:
I would recommend not relying on dream symbol dictionaries to discover what the dream means. As you get the hang of interpreting your dreams using the method I’m about to show you, you'll discover your own, personal dream symbols that no dream dictionary can give you.
Ok, let’s begin. Don't expect your dream to give you a "literal" answer to your question. Dreams can be tricky to interpret because they communicate by means of "metaphor."
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is equated with something else to suggest that the first thing resembles the second thing in some way. For example, saying, "He's a pig," might mean someone eats too much or is messy or dirty, if that's what being a pig means to you.
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The following is the step-by-step method I use to interpret my dreams that I learned from dream psychologist, Gayle Delaney.
After years of trying to understand my dreams, this book and its predecessor, Breakthrough Dreaming, was the key I needed to unlock the meaning of my dreams.
Step 1:
View each person, place, object, action, and feeling in your dream as a metaphor that represents something that is occurring in your life right now and is related to your problematic situation.
For example, you may want to get insight into why you’ve gained so much weight over the past few months. Let’s say there is a pig in your dream. Jot down some notes about what a pig is, generally speaking, how you feel about pigs, and what the pig looks like and is doing in your dream.
Step 2
Read the notes you've just written; then ask yourself, "Does this remind me of anything that's going on in my life right now?" Jot down what comes to mind and elaborate on WHY it reminds you of this current happening in your life.
Continuing with our example, you may have written that a pig is a fat animal that has no control and eats everything in sight. In the dream, your pig is gulping down a second helping of the favorite dessert you had after dinner last night.
You recognize yourself as the pig in this dream and realize that having a second helping of dessert every night might be contributing to your weight gain. You decide to have only one helping of a healthy, low-calorie dessert.
Step 3
Repeat this process with each dream person, place, object, action and feeling in your dream. If your dream is a long one, this may take some time. You may want to take a few days and work on a section of the dream at a time.
It takes a while to get the hang of "bridging" from the dream symbol to something occurring in your life, so don't give up if nothing comes immediately to mind.
Step 4
Viewed as a whole, the dream symbols you've just interpreted and related to your life should provide you with the answer to your question and suggest measures you can take to improve the situation.
The more dreams you incubate, record and interpret, the better you'll become at using dream incubation for problem solving.
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Hi ParticiaRose! I guess maybe my comment about dream dictionaries was a little strong, and I'm glad you're open to new approaches. I highly recommend Gayle Delaney's books. I wish she would re-issue "Breakthrough Dreaming"; that's where I learned her "interview" method of dream interpretation that I briefly describe in this hub. But "All About Dreams" is good, too. Thanks so much for commenting.
Based on your hub, I have a few questions. Recently i dreamt about holding a baby girl in a pink hat; and she seemed comfortable with me. How would that relate to my everyday life? I would have to be Sarah or Elizabeth if i took it literally.My lifestyle does not include newborn infants at this point so I do not see the relationship or symbol.
The next night I dreamt of being seated in the front row; and I prefer the back row.When i identified myself to someone who had looked me in the eye, his response was,"So you are XX XX!" as if he had heard about me beforehand. I did not wake up feeling good about this dream not because I have anything to hide but because it placed me in the dark...in suspense.
However, a dream journal is a good idea and I plan to start one tonight.
Hi aoiffe379. You can't view the baby literally. It's symbolic of something. You can start by asking yourself some questions like, What is a baby? To me, babies are at the beginning of life; they don't know much and are totally dependent on the mother to help them survive. I'd then ask myself, is there currently anything going on in my life, that represents something that's just beginning and needs a lot of help to make it grow into its full potential. Re: the second dream, you need to find out what the sitting in the front row symbolizes. How does it make you feel? Then ask yourself if you've been feeling like that recently.
The people, objects, settings, actions and emotions in dreams are usually metaphors, not to be taken literally. The All About Dreams book explains in detail how this method works. If you can find a copy of Breakthrough Dreaming by Delaney ( currently out of print - there may be used ones on Amazon.com), I highly recommend it. Hope this helps, and thanks for stopping by.
I enjoyed your hub and it was quite timely as I had a vivid dream last night, rife with symbols (a maze, a woman I was protecting since childhood...returning to where the harm had originally occurred...) I also killed seven people in this dream and I have no intention of interpreting that literally. Perhaps I slayed seven metaphorical dragons that needed slaying.
Glad you enjoyed the hub, J! Sounds like you have an exciting dream life! I can't emphasize enough how helpful the Delaney books have been in helping me understand my dreams, especially Breakthrough Dreaming which is, unfortunately, out of print. Hope you're able to figure out what those 7 dead people symbolize!
AWESOME!!! I had dreamt of a pig the other night, and a few days prior to the dream I had been saying that I needed to learn self control. I've been eating so much and I haven't been able to control my anger. This post was so helpful...im gonna start recording my dreams ASAP. Any idea with dreaming of a penguin eating your pet dog means?
Hi Lvtybug! So glad my hub was helpful. If you purchase one of the Gayle Delaney books, she'll show you how to interpret your "penguin-dog" dream. The symbols that show up in our dreams are unique to each one of us, so it wouldn't help you if I told you what I thought they mean.
If you can't get the books, carefully follow the steps in this hub. I tried to summarize Delaney's system as best I could. The first step is to record your dreams and you are doing that, so you are off to an excellent start. Remember to record them in the present tense, as if they are happening now, and give each dream a title.
Let me know if you have any questions about the interpretation process and I'll help if I can.
Great hub, Patrice. I'm bookmarking it for further reading, but I've already tried to interpret my dreams and that's really not easy because they are mostly nightmares or strange dreams that really puzzle me - some of them are simply "sick" - don't want to scare you :) maybe I should buy a book covering this topic - do you think that the books you are featuring in this hub will do?
Hey vox vocis, thanks for checking out the hub (that backlinking acutally works! :-)) Yes, I know what you mean about the strangeness of dreams and the "yuck" factor.
The dream interview method presented in Gayle Delayney's books is the best dream interpretation method I've come across in more than 30 years of recording and interpreting my dreams. Breakthrough Dreaming is out of print but you can still get a copy on Amazon pretty cheaply. It's the one I learned the interview method from. She also spells it out pretty well in All About Dreams, a newer book that's still in print. The former is somewhat "academic," which might appeal to you?, but it's also extremely comprehensive.
The interview method takes a while to learn but once you have the basics, interpreting your dreams will be a piece of cake!
Interesting points here - I am not used to free-forming when it comes to solving problems, but this is an interesting concept that we can combine with the mechanical ones.
Yes, Dav, it certainly does work well with other processes you might use. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I've heard about dream incubation before, but I've never actually gave it a serious attempt. I guess that's because up till now I had no real idea how to, other than dwelling on the desired dream on your way to sleep. I am an expert lucid dreamer, however, so I sometimes use that for creative problem solving. Have you ever had a lucid dream?
I think tonight I just may try this technique to get more ideas of things to write about. haha
Hi Jared, yes, I used to have lucid dreams all the time as a kid, but as I got older, I stopped having them. The closest I get now is having an extremely vivid dream that feels so real that, when I wake up, I'm surprised it was a dream.
I also used to have out of body experiences where my body would start to vibrate or buzz and then I'd be out of my body. I resisted this vibration for a long time out of fear, but finally got the nerve to let it run its course. I ended up in my daughter's bedroom above mine and then the experience turned into a regular dream. Interesting stuff!
Let me know how the technique works for you. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.
i dreamt of holding someone's child
Hi nana1! See my comment above to aoiffe379 to help you begin interpreting the symbols in your dream about holding the child, using the interview method. Believe me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a lot easier to figure out what your dreams mean. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.
I still haven't bought that book you recommended, but plan to very soon. A few days ago I dreamt that I was being attacked by ferocious wolves (that was a nightmare). I wish I had used the interview method to interpret that dream. I'm wondering whether it's too late to do it now.
No, Jasmine, it's not too late. As long as you remember some of the dream, even fragments, you can interpret them. Write down what you do remember as soon as you can, and write it in the present tense. This often will bring up more details of the dream because it's like you are re-experiencing the dream as you write.
Also, try to remember what was happening in your life around the time you had the dream and record that as well. That will help pinpoint what the dream was about, along with using the interview method to determine what the wolves and other dream elements symbolize.
Good luck, and let me know if you have questions about the interview method. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Oh, dear! I learned what the dream meant very recently. I just wish I'd investigated the meaning right after the dream. It would have saved me a lot of trouble. I know you said not to check dream dictionaries, but I did after this warning became real and hit me on the nose :)The meaning was a perfect match with what happened after the dream. I would just like to learn whether I deserved it. An interview with myself based on the dream might be helpful. I'm sure the answer lies somewhere inside of me. I don't remeber being guilty in the dream. Just surprised and on the run. I thought the wolves were going to eat me.
Glad you were able to interpret the dream, Jasmine. Sometimes dream dictionaries work (I modified my statement about them) because many dream symbols are archetypes in the collective unconscious of humanity. But I'd suggest doing the interview method first and then consulting one if you can't come up with anything. And always bridge to what's going on in your life. If there isn't a match, then fall back on the interview method.
Not sure what you mean by "deserved it." If you learned something from the experience, then it was useful.
You've got a point there. I did learn something and got the motivation to dedicate my time to my own success and benefit. I've been telling myself that it had to happen for a good reason. I'm glad you confirmed it :)
Wow @ PWwalker281, I never thought of interpreting my dreams, by recording them writing down, or even navigating them somehow to help assist me in my every day life. Now this would be truly cool if I could use your advice and it actually worked.
The funny thing about it all is that, when I was very young, I had the ability to control all of my dreams in such a way that each time I dream-pt up something, I knew I was dreaming, and I became like a sort of super hero in it, and had the ability to take flight. I would fly anywhere I chose to go, and it was totally awesome.
Come to think about it I will write a hub about it all, as an inspired hub from this very hub of yours, to spark a cool resonating vibe with others about your hub here as well.
I especially liked the part of your hub where you stated that dreams aren't to be interpreted as certain symbols one may find in a dream book, and the metaphor thingy, I love using metaphors in my writing of poetry, and actually much of my poetry stems from my dreams, that might be also why their mostly technical in nature, because as you put it here many of your dreams come from what been on your mind within the mast 24-48 hours, well that's whats always on my mind this darn technology today.
Awesome hub by the way, and this one already got pinned, and is being shared in places on the web many people have no clue exists to day. LOL. Oh and thanks for the cool commentary you left me on my hub earlier about PDX yesterday.
Hey Mike, I'm so glad you found the hub interesting and that it has inspired you to write a hub. I've been passionate about dreaming and dream interpretation for a long time, probably because, like you, I was a lucid dreamer (i.e., awake in my dreams) as a kid and could actually wake myself up from a nightmare. Dreams have always been easy for me to remember, so I figured why not take advantage of them. But it wasn't until I was in my 40s (back in the 90s), I think it was, that I learned the "interview method" of dream interpretation that has served me so well.
So glad you dropped by to read this hub, and you're welcome re: my comments on the PDX hub. I'm really looking forward to reading your hub on dreams, and you can bet I'll be commenting on that one :-).
And thanks so much for your positive feedback and for pinning this hub on your Pinterest board!!
P.S. You can call me Patrice if you like since I'm using your name.
patriciarose7 2 years ago
Thank you for your Hub page as I too have been journaling dreams for some time and found that I do use a dream dictionary that works for me but I have no trouble trying different approaches to see if there's any improvement.