Theresa Cheung - The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams - The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams

If you dreamed that you were in a playground surrounded by other children, were you enjoying yourself or did you feel left out? If you felt exhilarated, your unconscious may once again be signaling your need to have more fun in waking life, but if you felt aloof or alone from the other children, it could suggest that you prefer to play no part in the immature behaviour currently displayed by a group of people in your waking life. See also references to toys and games in LEISURE.

Typically, dreams about the body, or parts of the body, occur for four reasons.

The first is that in waking life, your body and/or body image has taken center stage. For example, if you had a manicure yesterday or cut yourself shaving, your unconscious may simply be recalling that. The second reason is that dreams about your body, or body parts, can signal ailments before you consciously recognize what is wrong with you; sometimes even before there are any physical signs. This isn’t to say every nightmare suggests serious illness, but if you do have a dream about any part of the body that is injured or painful, especially if it is a reoccurring one, it might be worth booking an appointment for a check-up.

The third reason is that some dreams about the human body are simple reflections of the dreamer’s feeling about their own body or appearance. These dreams can be significant markers of the dreamer’s self-esteem regarding their physical appearance. If in the dream the body appears beautiful and healthy, then the dreamer may be feeling good about themselves. However, an unattractive or unhealthy body could point to signs of insecurity, or body image problems.

The fourth reason is that in dreams, the body often represents the ego, the self or the lifestyle of the dreamer. That is why broken bones or injuries can symbolize emotional pain, or losing parts of yourself. When you lose or give up parts of yourself in order to fit in with or please others, psychologists call this ‘fragmentation’. We all do this to a certain extent in our lives, but when we do it too much or for the wrong reasons, the unconscious may send out warning signals. The dreaming mind may then express its concern in body image dreams, not only about your health and happiness, but about your ability to cope when your true nature is profoundly censored.

For instance, if you dream of missing a hand or foot, or having an organ or other body part removed, this can be a sign that a portion of your potential is being lost as a result of a path you have chosen in waking life. A common dream is one where you lose teeth; this is a great example of your dreaming mind issuing you with a warning. It is asking you just how far you are willing to compromise, and reminding you that what you are losing may be irreplaceable.

If body images appear in your dreams, it can help to think of body-related expressions you may use to describe feelings; for example, ‘I lost my head,’ ‘feels like I’m losing my right arm,’ ‘I don’t have a leg to stand on,’ or ‘can you stomach it?’ When we say these things, we are not being literal. We haven’t lost a leg or an arm, we are expressing an emotional response and our unconscious uses images to express the emotions these phrases convey; typically, a sense of loss of direction, helplessness or confusion. Such dreams often begin to make sense when you view the body images as parts of yourself, and connect their meanings to your emotional responses. See also SICKNESS AND HEALTH.

The image of an anesthetized bodycan represent a deadening of feeling, or a loss of passion and creativity in waking life. The same meaning applies to coldness of the body, with the implication of emotional coldness, lack of enthusiasm or distancing oneself from others. If the coldness is in the lower part of the body, this suggests sexual coldness and again, lack of passion. Coldness in the chest(heart) suggests lack of feelings or feeling cold towards someone. Cold feetindicate a fear of doing something or indecision. The image of a dead bodyin a dream depicts feelings and potential to which we have not given expression in daily life.

How your body appears in a dream can offer vital clues when it comes to interpretation. In many cases, the interpretation is fairly obvious: if you are smilingyou feel confident, if you are frowningyou feel annoyed. Are you confident and tidy in your dream, or are you tired and unhappy? All these factors represent the state of your mind, and perhaps your health, at the time of the dream. If your body disappearsin a dream and you become invisible or you aren’t aware of your body, this clearly suggests that you are feeling ignored, isolated and perhaps lonely. If you leave your bodyin a dream, this indicates a need to get away from cares and responsibilities. If you grow tallin your dream, your unconscious may be mirroring waking feelings of satisfaction with yourself; but if you were horrified to shrink small, it may be that you feel insignificant and looked down upon, or that you long to shrink away from a problematic situation. To dream that you are becoming fatis to recognize that you need to widen the scope of your activities in some way. It can also indicate fear of taking on too much responsibility.

If the body is diseasedin a dream, this suggests a sickness of attitude or it could simply indicate extreme emotional and physical fatigue. A dismembered bodyindicates emotional and mental distress; perhaps you are tearing yourself apart over something or someone, or your life is falling apart. Half a bodydream images suggest a lack of balance in your life between your outer and inner life. If the top half of your body is missing, this indicates lack of reasoning and emotional intelligence. If the bottom half is missing, this relates to loss, or denial of instincts and sexuality. If the body is injured or you see injuries, this suggests emotional scars or hurts, or repressed anger. If the body is cut open, this indicates a vital change within yourself or the release of emotional tension. In times past, such dreams were interpreted as the release of ‘evil spirits’, hence the association of a sometimes painful release of tension.

Loss of limbsin a body usually indicates a sense of inadequacy, sometimes connected with the limb that is lost. For example, loss of legscould suggest an inability to stand up for yourself or someone dependent on you. Loss of an armcould indicate an inability to influence other people, or to give and receive. If your body is burntin the dream, this suggests an emotional scar, and if the burn is painful, this suggests that you are relating to this hurt in an unhelpful, self-destructive way. If, however, the burning isn’t painful, it has a more positive interpretation: feelings of potential and new beginnings.

Marks on the bodyin a dream suggest things you carry with you in life, or experiences that have marked you. If your body is crawling with maggots, this indicates the need to cleanse your body of toxins, infection or resentment. A murdered bodyin a dream represents aspects of your life that you find hard to deal with, such as anger towards a family member. Sometimes such anger may be a way of avoiding the real issues involved and, if this is the case, the dream murder may show how you feel about being ‘murdered’ by lack of love or trust. If you are pulling things out of your bodyin your dream, this suggests growing self-knowledge; you are becoming aware of thoughts and emotions of which you were previously unaware. See also SICKNESS AND HEALTH.