I woke up this morning still connected with my dreams and felt happy. I dreamed that I was in a tropical bay. As I walked into the water I could feel the sand under my feet, the wind on my face and the waves against my skin. I loved playing with the waves.

I looked out for a large wave. As soon as I saw one, I dived into it. The wave rolled over me and broke onto the sand. For a moment I was under water, connected with the movement and the flow of the wave. I enjoyed feeling the different elements: sand, wind, warm air, water. I sensed freedom, flow, empowerment, energy, connection with nature, play and ease.

After waking up, I was fortunate to share my dream with Shantigarbha and explore its meaning. It became a doorway to a deeper process of self-empathy. Now I share it with you, dear reader, in the hope that it’s useful for you.

In a blog about dreams (click here to revisit), I wrote about C. G. Jung’s idea that dreams are helping us to receive information from our subconsciousness. As we know, our awareness of what we can see, hear and understand is only the top of the iceberg. So it was interesting for me to experience and discover something about myself. I seemed to go through different phases.

Immediately after waking up, I felt warm, connected and energised. Then I noticed sadness rising up. It was difficult for me to imagine swimming in the ocean and playing with the elements in the near future. Maybe it will never happen. I felt frustrated to realise that we don’t have the financial resourses to go to a tropical bay… perhaps Hawaii? I felt disappointed as I am longing for connection with nature, playing with the elements, a sense of joy and freedom. So what can I do to live my dream and fulfil my needs?

Shantigarbha pointed out that exploring dreams can be inner work, and some dreams have archetypal rather than literal elements. For example, what happens if I go to the tropical bay of my dreams and the wind is so strong that swimming is banned? Or if I manage to swim in the waves, but feel unhappy because of things inside me that make it difficult to feel joy?

In my understanding the inner work is being open to different outcomes and aware that things can change – even I can change! This is a kind of inner wisdom. Self-empathy is for me inner wisdom, getting in touch with what’s alive me in the moment and finding one step in the direction of meeting my needs. Celebration and mourning can be a part of this.

I can take care of my dream by taking care of my needs. My dream still can become reality. I don’t know yet how it looks in detail. It’s not so important anymore because I’m back in the waves again, feeling warm and energised, and connected with a sense of freedom, flow, empowerment, energy, nature, play and ease!

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