In his book, The Three “Only” Things, Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence & Imagination, dream expert Robert Moss says we should take our dreams more literally, and our lives more symbolically. This is never more relevant than when we face sudden changes in our health. Unusual somatic symptoms that cause us stress should be examined symbolically, as well as medically.
A friend once asked me what to do about her daughter (we’ll call her “Shelly”) who was away at college, studying to be a Registered Nurse. Only a couple of weeks into her first semester, Shelly began experiencing sudden dizzy spells. Along with the lightheadedness, Shelly also experienced a temporary “black out” where she couldn’t remember the previous few minutes in the classroom. She didn’t lose consciousness, but from reports of people around her, she looked frozen in place for only a few moments when these spells occurred.
Of course, Shelly was scared and sought help from the student health office. Upon examination and intake of Shelly’s medical history, the university nurse diagnosed possible epilepsy.
Shelly’s mother thought back to a time when the child was in elementary school and had similar dizzy spells, which led to a series of doctor’s visits and the diagnosis of dehydration. Shelly and her mother managed the symptoms then with a regimen of daily hydration. The mother reminded her daughter of her past history and encouraged her to drink more water.
All the while, the mother wondered if there could be a psychosomatic component at play in the scenario. The mother contacted me, and I examined the situation intuitively, as though these situations were scenes in a dream. We discussed the events to brainstorm for dream-type symbolism. The process of dream interpretation often means applying adages, or common clichés, to describe an event.
In many ways, Shelly didn’t seem to be adjusting well to being away from home, and she often complained about the rigorous academic curriculum. The mother noticed her daughter seemed “off-balance” trying to fit in at school. Shelly seemed to have a “dizzying amount of work to do” that “made her head spin.” She was clearly “in over her head” and seemingly “drowning” in the work load. She seemed “frozen” in deciding what to do next, and was “scared stiff” she would fail a course.
Our thoughts, our reactions to daily life do affect our physical health. In her book, You Can Heal Your Life, publisher and author Louise Hay says, “…we create every so-called illness in our body. The body, like everything else in life, is a mirror of our inner thoughts and beliefs. The body is always talking to us, if we will only take the time to listen. Every cell within your body responds to every single thought you think and every word you speak.”
Shelly was in an unfamiliar and challenging situation, and she often spoke of feeling, “the world was spinning around too fast.” It was no wonder then that her head began to play out the self-talk that filled Shelly’s mind.
Her mother remained supportive of her daughter, while acting cautiously, from a medical perspective. All the while she did not rule out that her symptoms—however REAL—might be psychosomatic. We waited for the “next shoe to drop.”
Meanwhile, Shelly grew more panicked by her schoolwork—these dizzy spells made it impossible to concentrate on her Anatomy and Mathematics classes, and she was falling behind in her assignments. One night, Shelly had a spell in her dorm room while studying. She became so “freaked out” that her dorm mates took her to the emergency room at the adjacent hospital, and more tests were run. Yes, the symptoms did point to epilepsy, but only a complete neurological exam could discover more. So Shelly and her mother booked an appointment with a neurologist, who ordered an MRI. The MRI showed no anomalies.
The next step medically, would have involved secluding Shelly in a hospital room for seven days with electrodes attached to her head in an attempt to “catch a spell in the act of occurring.” The earliest time the doctor was available to run such a procedure, while not interfering with Shelly’s school schedule, would be over spring break—several months away.
Predictably, the cycle escalated and Shelly’s episodes became more frequent, causing more stress. Now she felt heart-pounding palpitations—until the mother suggested that Shelly drop her most stressful class—Anatomy. Shelly did. Remarkably the symptoms disappeared within days.
I’m not a doctor, but I am a mother. If I had been in Shelly’s mother’s shoes I hope I would have made the same choices—seek medical advice AND look at the real life situations symbolically.
Master spiritual teachers, Abraham, and Esther Hicks, (www.Abraham-Hicks.com ) inform us that “thoughts become things.” They say that ALL dis-ease is based in the mind. ALL dis-ease is psychosomatic. And if our minds can put the symptoms into our organs, bones, and tissue, then our minds can erase the symptoms as well. They say—and I believe—healing can be this simple: change your mind, and change your dis-ease into health.
Are you ready to tap into your mind’s healing potential? Take your first step: join us for an upcoming Dream Interpretation class at Dream Weavers!