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Disclaimer: I am not a psychotherapist or liscenced mental health professional, nor do I aspire to be one. The article you are reading does not constitute psychiatric advice, nor is it intended to diagnose or treat any condition, or as a substitute for psychiatric care. If you are currently under psychiatric or psychological care, please consult with your practitioner before attempting this practice. Read and apply at your own risk.

It’s All About New Habits!

If you’re having nightmares about animals, chances are you have one or more of the following dream habits: you flee from the animal, you fight the animal, or you wake yourself up. This is perfectly natural. After all, the chances are that you do not know that you’re dreaming, and so you react to the animal the same way you would if you were awake.

Step 1: Stop Running (or fighting, or whatever)
That’s why the first step is to teach yourself a new habit when confronted with an animal in your dreams. The first part of the habit is this: stop running! (or fighting, or whatever else you might be trying to do to get away from the animal, even if it is attacking you). You can wake yourself up if you want to, but I’ll tell you a little known secret: waking up too early is the primary reason you wake feeling like you had a nightmare. If you manage to stay in the dream and follow these steps, you are liable to have an amazingly positive experience.

But what if it eats me?

Well, it’s a dream, so the worst that can happen is…nothing, right? I’ve actually had amazing dreams where I was eaten by animals (in fact, for a while, it was my dreaming goal to be eaten by alligators; I was very excited when I succeeded). However, before you all run for the hills, away from this article and the animals, allow me to assure you that most of the time when I’ve stopped running or fighting animals in my dreams, one of two things happen: A. the animal becomes an ally, or B. the animal reveals itself to be harmless.

Your Dream Animal Will
A: Become an Ally, Or
B: Reveal itself to be Harmless

Example: I was once in a tree when a large snake seemed to be threatening me. When I asked it it’s name, it instantly turned into a harmless stuffed animal.

Step 2: Face the Animal
This is the link between step 1: stop and step 2: ask a question, and it’s really about attitude and doesn’t necessarily take up a block of time on it’s own. Usually when you’re running from an animal, you back is turned, so when you stop, you turn to face the animal. If you were fighting the animal, you may already be facing it – but like I said, it’s more about attitude.

Be assertive, not aggressive.

In this step, you confront the animal. This confrontation is assertive, but not aggressive. You are not threatening the animal. The key to this whole process is to assume that the animal is one of two things: either it is an ally, or it is an imaginary threat.

In the first case, it will be depotentiated by your looking directly at it. It is an illusion and will deflate under your gaze. In the second scenario, where the animal is really an ally that you have mistaken for a foe, you will be wanting to convey a sense of respect. After all, that’s how we treat our allies. Recognize that this animal may have helpful wisdom for you, or may be speaking for a part of you that is not getting what it needs.

This animal may be a Power Guide – a Spirit Animal that wants to aid you.

The resultant attitude to aim for is confident openness. If you’re too scared, bravery will do. You’ll get the hang of this with experience.

Step 3: Ask the Animal a Question
The question is up to you. Here are three simple questions that I have found easy to remember while a jackal is nipping at my hand, or a bear is clawing my door in, and with which I’ve had marvelous results:

1. Who are you?
2. What’s your Name?
3. What do you want?

Speaking of jackals and their teeth…

Don’t be alarmed if the animal tries to bite you.

In fact, I encourage you to relax as much as you can and not struggle or even flinch away – the bite will most likely reveal itself to be harmless, and the animal will be more amenable if you aren’t acting threatened. This encouragement goes triply for snakes, since in numerous ancient traditions snake venom is symbolically understood to have great healing power.

So, I just Stop, Face the Animal, & Ask it a Question…?

Yes, that’s exactly right. Stop, Face the Animal, & Ask it a Question.

But How Do I Do It?

This is the important question because, as I said before, you probably tend to not realize that you’re dreaming. You have three interconnected options to change your habits. It really doesn’t matter which one you use, or if you use different ones on different nights.

Option 1: You realize you are dreaming whenever you are confronted with a scary animal, and then you remember to follow the steps.

Option 2: You remember to do the steps (you may realize you’re dreaming, or you may not, doesn’t matter).

Options 3: Option 1 and Option 2 happen all at once.

Easy for you to say, how am I supposed to remember to do those things?

Fortunately, you can train yourself to do things in your sleep by saying, writing, and imagining things when you’re awake. One way to do this is through affirmations.

Program New Dream Habits with Affirmations
Say or write one (or more) of these at least three times before you sleep:

~ When I see a [insert your most common nightmare animal here] I will ‘wake up’ in my dream and know that I am dreaming.

~ When I see a [insert your most common nightmare animal here] I will become lucid.

~ Whenever I see an animal in my dreams I will ask, “[insert question of choice here].”

Practice in Your Imagination

You may also wish to imagine yourself doing the steps. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in your most recent nightmare local or with the animal you most often have nightmares about. Imagine yourself doing the steps. If your imagination starts to create a day dream, feel free to go with it – you may have an amazing experience right there!

Right after a nightmare is the perfect time to practice.

Whenever you wake up from an animal nightmare, tell yourself, “Next time that happens, I am going to ask the animal a question.” Or “next time that happens, I’m going to realize I’m dreaming.” Then imagine yourself back in the dream doing just that. If you’re keeping a journal, record what you day dreamed along with the night dream.

Practice Builds Muscles; New Habits Take Practice.

If you don’t succeed the first few times you try this, don’t give up. Every time you have a nightmare with animals in it, remind yourself strongly: “The next time that happens, I’m not going to [insert your habit here]. Instead I’m going to ask [insert question of choice here].” Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the last scene from your dream, or facing that animal. Practice your new habit in your imagination. Ask the animal your question.

You may find that the animal responds in your imagination. This counts as dreaming too. Allow the ‘day dream’ to play out in your imagination, if you’re enjoying it. You may wish to record your experience in a dream journal.

But wait, what happens when it works?

Well, that’s the beauty of it. Who knows? All I can tell you is that some of the most amazing, beautiful, moving, and important experiences I’ve ever had (counting everything I’ve ever experiences awake) have come through employing these methods.

The animal may give you a proper name, and the conversation may proceed from there. The animal may give you a symbolic name, conveying some aspect of your life (For example, I once had a dream figure respond: “I am your tears”). The animal may tell you something – this may be a straightforward message, or something more poetic for you to muse about later. You may be taken on a journey. The scene may change…Your nightmare will become a dream.

(I’ve never had a nightmare turn into a worse nightmare by practicing these techniques. However, like anything else, use at your own risk, and always discontinue if your experience worsens. I’m sure there’s something out there that will work for you, so keep looking.)

Step 4. Build a Waking Relationship with the Animal
Keep a Dream Journal.

Whatever you experience, I encourage you to replay it in your mind when you wake, before moving at all, if possible. Then, record it in a dream journal as soon as possible (again, ideally before you’ve even gotten out of bed). These steps will help you remember the dream better. If this isn’t feasible, at least take notes to elaborate on later. Take special care to remember and record the words spoken by the animal, as exactly as you remember them as soon as possible after waking – as these can be the hardest to remember later, and in my experience, are always especially powerful.

I also invite you share your dream experiences with loved ones, and/or to share your experience below will other readers.

(However, I encourage you to let the animals speak for themselves, rather than analyzing or interpreting them. Please don’t use the space below to analyze one another’s dreams.)

Get to know the individual Dream Animal.

Think of the dream animal you encountered as an individual (“Snake”), rather than just a member of a species (“a snake”). Get to know that individual.

Allow the dream and the Animal Image to live in your minds eye. You may wish to research the animal, and/or to find a physical representation of it (picture, stuffed toy…) Allow any words spoken by the animal to speak to you (but don’t try too hard to figure it out). Continue to relate to the Animal from your dream after you wake up, and in subsequent dreams. Talk to it in your imagination, or write to it in your journal.

And – awake or asleep – it never hurts to say thank you.

~~~

Shamanic Dreaming Key 1: A Nightmare is a Dream that Stopped Before it was Finished

Shamanic Dreaming Key 2: The Animal Brings you Gifts

Bonus: Transforms Nightmares with Scary Humans Too
These same steps work with any nightmare where someone is (or seems to be) threatening, chasing, or attacking you in any way. Just face the person/creature/being and ask one of the questions listed above, or another of your choice.

Who are you?
What’s your Name?
What do you want?

You never need to be afraid of nightmares again.

Sweet Dreams,
~ Layla Messner, "Elf Girl"

© 2009 Lady of the Woods, LLC