In our waking lives, we tend to restrain our emotions. We want to appear civilized and in control. We are afraid that if we allow ourselves to fully express our emotions, others may see us as vulnerable or weak. We may deliberately redirect our emotions in order to conform to society’s expectations. A woman may cry when something makes her angry because women aren’t supposed to get angry. A man may shout and behave as though he is angry when something has made him sad because “boys don’t cry”. In addition, we deliberately avoid experiencing negative emotions like sadness, anger and jealousy because they are so painful.
Constantly holding back our emotions is harmful to us. Our dreams can help us to fully experience the feelings we have kept locked up while we were awake, and so enable us to become more well-rounded human beings.
Usually, the emotions that you have in a dream are consistent with the plot of the dream. You feel happy in a situation that would make you happy in waking life. However, sometimes the feelings you have in your dream may not make sense. This could be a sign that you need to pay more attention to your feelings in waking life. For example, you may dream that your children are being tortured while you sit by idly without any desire to intervene. This could mean that you need to consider your own needs in addition to the needs of your children.
Sometimes, the emotions that you feel in a dream can be the most important part of the dream. You may not even remember what it was that made you feel angry, frightened, anxious, joyful or relieved. You may not even remember the plot of the dream at all, just the feelings that you experienced.
If the feelings that your dream is trying to convey would be particularly difficult for you to handle, they can be expressed symbolically. For example, a swiftly flowing river can represent a strong current of emotions. A heart, of course, represents love. Pay attention to the context in which the symbol appears and how you react to it.
If you allow your dreams to help you gain a better understanding of your emotions, you will be able to integrate them more fully into your waking life and use them in a productive and positive way.