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.
Body Images Scenarios
ANESTHETIZED, COLD OR DEAD BODY
The image of an anesthetized body can 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 feet indicate a fear of doing something or indecision. The image of a dead body in a dream depicts feelings and potential to which we have not given expression in daily life.
APPEARANCE
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 smiling you feel confident, if you are frowning you 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 disappears in 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 body in a dream, this indicates a need to get away from cares and responsibilities. If you grow tall in 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 fat is 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.
DISEASED, DISMEMBERED, INJURED AND DEFORMED BODY
If the body is diseased in a dream, this suggests a sickness of attitude or it could simply indicate extreme emotional and physical fatigue. A dismembered body indicates emotional and mental distress; perhaps you are tearing yourself apart over something or someone, or your life is falling apart. Half a body dream 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 limbs in a body usually indicates a sense of inadequacy, sometimes connected with the limb that is lost. For example, loss of legs could suggest an inability to stand up for yourself or someone dependent on you. Loss of an arm could indicate an inability to influence other people, or to give and receive. If your body is burnt in 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 body in 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 body in 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 body in 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.
Ugliness
Dreaming that you are ugly may indicate anxiety about what others think of you. The central question when it comes to interpretation is whether you believe yourself to be ugly, or whether others are imposing this view on you. Perhaps your feeling of physical inadequacy is due to a change in your waking life, such as being pregnant.
Other changes that may influence your body image include a shift in physical or moral behavior, such as smoking, drinking, using drugs, becoming sexually active, or participating in sexual experiences you once considered taboo. This dream is worth serious consideration as how we feel about our bodies is often a significant part of how we feel about ourselves overall as a person. If you are having recurring dreams of personal ugliness, then counseling for self-esteem or eating disorders may be worth considering.
Toilet and elimination themes
Elimination in dreams can symbolize release and self-expression. When we urinate or eliminate, we are ridding ourselves of bodily waste and when these actions occur in dreams your unconscious is referring to the removal of emotional waste, such as unhappy memories. So, if you dream of rushing to the bathroom, what are you trying to flush out of your system in the real world? Or do you wish you could purge yourself of destructive, negative emotions such as jealousy or envy? Is there something you need to let go of in your waking life? Did you find it hard to let go in your dream or did everything go smoothly. The answer will help you see how emotionally blocked or constipated you are.
Perhaps you were searching frantically for a toilet in your dream, but couldn’t find one. If this is the case, you need to find the catalyst for emotional release. Dreams about being clogged-up, or about a lack of toilets, are not so much about emotional baggage as about a lack of proper outlets for your own creativity and self-expression. They can also suggest that you are the kind of person who takes on the problems of other people, leaving no room for your own. Dreams about frustrating attempts to find a toilet could also suggest that you have over-committed yourself in waking life, and that there is no opportunity for you to express your own feelings and talents. On the other hand, you may also feel that you have been taken advantage of or dumped on by someone in waking life? Finally, such dreams may also be due simply to a physical need to pee in the night.
Other elimination dreams include using a toilet in a strange place, in front of people or in the middle of a conversation. In such dreams, the elimination represents the expression of an opinion or insight unsuitable for public consumption, or not appropriate to the situation. It could also reveal concern that you might have been too impulsive in the way you have expressed yourself, and your dreaming mind is urging you to bear in mind the possible impact of your words. If you can’t find a private toilet in your dream, perhaps you are living or working in a crowded environment and your dreaming mind is compensating for a lack of privacy and personal space in your waking life. If you dream of a bathroom and a toilet, this may suggest your need to clean up your sexual attitudes or attitude to others and yourself.
If you put anything down a toilet in your dream, take careful note of what it is, as it will symbolize what your dreaming mind considers to be the least important or unpleasant aspect of yourself or your experience. Urine suggests letting go of strained feelings or the release of sexual feelings. Feces indicate letting go of parts of yourself that you need to let go of. It can also indicate new beginnings, as excrement makes great fertilizer. Evacuation of the bowel usually highlights a need to be free of responsibility, or sometimes the need to be uninhibited. If you are eliminating over someone in your dream, this can indicate a repressed desire to belittle that person or feel superior.
Playing with excrement can represent money, so playing with it in a dream may suggest anxiety about money and fear of responsibility. If the excrement is transformed into an animal, this suggests that the dreamer is coming to terms with the fact that he or she is responsible for managing their own instincts. If you are vomiting in your dream, this indicates a discharging of unpleasant feelings, or experiencing something unpleasant. Finally, if you realize you are sweating in a dream, you are alerted to the amount of energy you may be expending handling your own emotions and fears in waking life.
LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE BODY
Typically, the left side of the body represents feelings, intuition and the irrational, whilst the right side suggests the rational and logical. The left side is also associated with maternal influence, and the right with paternal.
External Body Parts A to Z
In dreams, body parts can be interpreted in the following way
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ABDOMEN/STOMACH/BELLY
When dreams focus on your abdomen, belly or stomach, they are referring to repressed feeling and emotions. The stomach is often seen as the center of emotions. This symbol may also have purely physiological origins if you have been experiencing constipation or indigestion. From a psychological point of view, seeing your abdomen in your dream may imply something in your real life that you ‘cannot stomach’ or have difficulties accepting, something you want to get out of your system. If your abdomen is exposed, this signifies trust and vulnerability, and in women it may indicate a desire for motherhood. If you are injured or shot in the stomach, this is about emotional hurt. Traditional folklore says that dreaming of your abdomen can foretell infidelity. A shriveled abdomen warns of lies, a swollen abdomen promises success. To see your navel in your dream represents your being and self. The dream may suggest that you need to find your center and middle ground.
ANUS
This suggests repressed emotion or an aspect of childish behavior, as the child’s first experience of control is when they gain control over bodily functions. Consider also if you or someone in your life is anal retentive and perhaps need to loosen up a bit. To see buttocks in your dream represents your instincts and urges. It can also indicate feelings of insecurity, especially if the buttocks are misshaped. If you see your pelvis in a dream, you may be dealing with issues of creativity and self-expression.
Idioms: pain in the ass; talking out of your ass; an asshole; head up the ass; all tits and asshole (i.e. unable to reason)
ARM/ARMPIT/ELBOW
To see your arms in your dream highlights your ability to reach out to others. Alternatively, it may represent the struggles and challenges in your life, loss of confidence and not being able to reach out or create. Consider also the pun, ‘arm yourself’, which implies that you need to protect yourself, or be more aggressive and take a firmer stance on things. So if arms appear in your dream, are you defending yourself, fighting or being held, or showing passionate commitment?
To dream that your arm has been injured or your arms are tied up signifies your inability to care for yourself, or your helplessness in reaching out to others. The right arm signifies your outgoing nature and is associated with masculine energy, while your left arm signifies your supportive or nurturing nature, and is associated with feminine qualities. Losing either arm may suggest that you are failing to recognize its respective characteristics. To dream that you rip someone else’s arms out, indicates that you are extremely upset with something that this person has done or represents, but you have not been able to fully express your anger.
If you see, notice or smell someone’s armpit in your dream, this represents the characteristics and personality that you choose to display to the public. To smell your armpit in your dream indicates that you are hoping for some kind of acceptance in waking life. If you see your elbow in your dream, perhaps you need more personal space in waking life?
Idioms: give one’s right arm; arm twisting; at arm’s length; with open arms; one hand tied behind the back; babe in arms; strong-armed tactics.
BACK
To dream of your back represents parts of yourself hidden from view, secrets that you are keeping from other people or aspects of your personality you would prefer not to think about. Your dream could be pointing to some aspect of your life that is behind you, or a situation that is over. Maybe your dream contains some other play on words: is someone getting your back up? Do you feel the need for a pat on the back? Do you need to watch your back? Is somebody on your back or trying to dominate you? Are you engaged in a back-breaking task? Is your back against the wall? Do you wish someone would get off your back? Have you been stabbed or scratched in the back? Traditionally, seeing a back in your dream forewarns that you should not lend money to anyone. In particular, lending money to friends will cause a rift in your relationship. If a person turns their back on you, this may suggest that you may be deeply hurt in waking life or that other people may not be ready to share their thoughts with you.
Idioms: backbreaking; back to the wall; pat on the back; stab in the back; turn one’s back on; scratch my back; get off my back; rod up one’s back.
BREAST
Usually, to be aware of breasts in a dream indicates your connection with the mother figure, and your need to be nursed and cared for. Does a part of you long to again be an infant without responsibilities? Alternatively, breasts represent sexual arousal and raw energy. Seeing naked breasts can also denote a feeling of exposure and invasion of privacy. In particular, for a woman, the dream may indicate anxieties about becoming a woman/mother. If a chest appears in a dream, this indicates a sense of social confidence or good feelings about yourself. Alternatively, it represents feelings of being overwhelmed and being dangerously confronted by something. Consider also if the dream is telling you that there is something that you need to ‘get off your chest’. If nipples appear in your dream, this signifies dependency. If you squeeze pus out of your nipples you may be feeling inadequate sexually.
EAR
If you see ears in your dream, this suggests that you could be more responsive or receptive to guidance and assistance from others. Alternatively, it signifies your immaturity and lack of experience. Such dreams may be about the need for the dreamer to listen to their own true feelings and make a connection with their unconscious self. Dream ears may also reveal a concern on the part of the dreamer that someone close to them is not being totally straightforward. If you have more than two ears in your dream, you may be feeling valued and respected. The size of ears in a dream can have important interpretative associations. Small ears could suggest that someone is not telling you the whole truth, whereas large ears can suggest the help and support of a colleague or friend. Ears being pulled in a dream can represent disagreements in waking life. If there has been a dispute, perhaps the time is right to move forward with a sensible solution. If you are cleaning wax out of your ears, perhaps you are not listening, or refusing to listen, to the opinions of others. Are you turning a deaf ear?
EYE/EYEBROW/EYELASH
Any dream connected with the eyes is associated with observation and judgment. It suggests wisdom, enlightenment and the dreamer’s attitude to, and understanding of, the world. These windows of the soul can give vital clues to the state of your true health and well-being. Are the eyes bright? If they are, this suggests awareness. Are the eyes happy, sad, angry, kind? What color are the eyes? All this can tell you a lot about your way of looking at things. Darker eyes are linked to emotional and romantic relationships, whereas pale eyes are seen as connectors to the more social side of one’s world.
If the dream eye is wide open, this can refer to innocence or the excitement caused by a new undertaking. Narrow eyes on the other hand may be a symbol of deceit or cheating. Dreams about eyes may also be a pun on ‘I’ or the self. If you dream that your eyes have turned inside your head and you can now see the inside of your head, then it symbolizes insight and something of which you need to be aware. This dream may literally be telling you to look inside yourself, and trust your own intuition and instincts. To dream that you have something in your eye could represent your critical view and how you tend to see faults in others.
To dream that you have one eye indicates your refusal to accept another viewpoint. To dream that you have a third eye symbolizes inner vision and insight. You need to start looking within yourself. To dream that your eyes are closed suggests your refusal to see the truth about something or the avoidance of intimacy. You may be expressing feelings of hurt, pain or sympathy. To dream that you have crossed eyes denotes that you may be getting your facts mixed up. Loss of eyesight suggests loss of clarity, and, depending on which eye is lost, can be the loss of logic (right eye) or intuition (left eye) If eyesight is regained, this suggests a return to clarity or clear-sightedness. Lack of eye contact suggests avoidance of intimacy.
To notice eyebrows in your dream represents expressions of disbelief, surprise or doubt. Eyebrows are also thought to reflect dignity and honor, and could indicate the fact that you are about to be recognized or appreciated by some unexpected source. If hair is being shed from the eyebrows, you may be worried about how others view your status. Eyelashes are thought to represent secrets or secretive pursuits.
Idioms: you must be blind; I saw it with my own eyes; all eyes; eye opener; evil eye; sheep eyes; one in the eye; turn a blind eye; easy on the eyes; keep your eyes open.
FACE
If you dream of your own face, it may represent the persona you present to the world and not your real self; this is particularly so if you are putting on make-up. A dream face therefore refers to how you would like to be seen. If a beautiful face appears, this may be connected to feelings of pride and satisfaction. If the dream face is unknown, this suggests a possible change in the dreamer’s waking life. If a dream face is being washed or cleaned, this can have links to guilt or sin, as the act of cleaning indicates a desire for a fresh start. If the faces are familiar, it could be a portent of future social gatherings. To dream that your face is flawed or pimply represents erupting emotions. You may have suffered an attack on your reputation in waking life. If you are blushing, this suggests embarrassment and feelings you do not want to reveal to others. An elderly face may simply be a projection of life in the future. However, aged faces also carry symbolic ties to the notions of wisdom and longevity.
