Life Coach Reveals Why We Should All Be 'Obsessed' With Our Dreams – 'Most People Are Scared Of Their Own Minds'
“You get a full holistic snapshot into your psychological mind … minus the ego, finally.”
Lysenko Andrii / Shutterstock We’ve all been there. You wake up from a dream, wondering what part of your brain caused that ex to pop back up or reeling from the nightmare that spawned from a rough day at work. Dreams are chaotic and complex, with research that only emphasizes the vagueness of their presence in your slumber.
However, there’s one thing that most dream experts agree on — your subconscious and unconscious mind are at the root of your dreams. Whether it’s stress, subconscious emotions, or an old childhood memory resurfacing, your dreams are a telling part of you.
Life coach Jared Gilmore on TikTok suggests tapping into these dreams or becoming “obsessed” with them. This practice can not only help you to understand the subconscious and unconscious thoughts running in your head but can also give you insights into how to navigate your waking life.
The life coach explained that being ‘obsessed’ with your dreams can unlock important insights into your unconscious mind.
“It’s absolutely bizarre to me that some people aren’t obsessed with your dreams,” Gilmore said in a recent video. “Your ego goes to sleep. A lot of your unconscious complexes come out to play. You have this chaos happening and now you get a peek into it.”
Many experts support this theory of the “disappearing ego” during dreams, where your personality slips away to unveil the darkest, deepest, most “authentic” parts of yourself without being clouded by your wakeful sense of self.
But, as Gilmore suggested, this dream experience doesn’t need to be overtly negative or scary — becoming “obsessed” with your dreams can actually have significant benefits in your real life.
Typically inaccessible in our ‘wakeful’ state, the unconscious mind can reveal important insights about us through our dreams.
“You get a holistic perspective [on yourself] minus the ego,” he continued. “If you understood, truly, what that meant … you’d be obsessed with this stuff. These complexes are pulling the strings.”
Becoming aware of these “unconscious complexes” and understanding what they’re founded in can transform your consciousness and wakeful life. You can better understand your impulses, emotions, and perspectives without your overarching ego making excuses. So, how can you harness the power of your dreams, especially if you’re quick to dismiss them once your alarm goes off?
People Images Yuri A / Shutterstock.com
He admitted it can be difficult, especially considering that it’s scary for some people to come face-to-face with their unconscious complexes manifesting in their dreams.
“Most people are scared of their own minds,” he added. While therapy and other therapeutic practices can help to aid the process, recounting and recording your dreams can be a great place to start.
Avenues like dream journals can help you to understand your dream complexes.
Dream journals can be great tools for remembering your dreams. Keep a notebook next to your bed that’s accessible when you wake up from a dream. Not only can you catch some of your initial thoughts and experiences from sleep, but you can also begin to interpret where these narratives stem from.
Dream experts also suggest prioritizing good sleep — between 7 to 9 hours, depending on your age, physical activity, and lifestyle — to better remember your dreams. Avoiding stimulants and waking up slowly can also help to aid the process. Doing all of these things can both help keep track of trends from your sleep and also give insight into things you might be struggling with in your life without even realizing it.
While many dreams can be extremely emotional and even scary, Gilmore suggests opening your mind to the ways they can be helpful for growth. For example, dreaming of a troublesome ex-partner might be alarming, but it could also be your unconscious mind “evoking” a certain emotional state you’re yearning for.
Without realizing it, your mind can remind you of the community, connection, and love you need in your life. While stress, chaotic schedules, and overwhelming daily lives can often disconnect us from our inner needs, reconnecting on a basic level, like with our dreams, can be the key to unlocking growth, healing, and understanding.
Don’t overcomplicate it — just spend time getting to know yourself at a very basic level.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.