A nightmare is a dream you WILL remember. It is trying to get your attention.
WHY?

Nightmares have positive reasons for happening.
Nightmares, when interpreted, tell you that you are worried, or have fear about something going on in your life. You may not realize how fearful you actually feel deep inside.Your bad dream, or nightmare, is trying to alert you that your negative emotions are stuck inside you.

You don’t understand the true reason for the dream because its message is hidden within symbolism.

Almost all nightmares are trying to tell you that you are holding onto stress or a negative emotion. If this is not released or resolved in some way, you could get sick, have physical pain, or, emotional problems can result. A nightmare or bad dream is attempting to help you by alerting you. The dream is showing your emotional state in the form of a scary metaphor.

Dora brought her nightmare to my dream study group.
She was still feeling somewhat upset by it.

Dora's dream:
I am in my bedroom.
I want to get out of bed...but I can't move.
I am totally paralyzed.
I cannot move my arms or legs.
I feel so frightened, I can barely breathe.

Then, I hear my mom’s voice. She is saying,
“You won’t be able to move until you find the code.”
Then I notice that everything in the room is navy blue
The walls, the ceiling, the floor and the doors are all navy blue. I see that all the furniture in the room is also navy blue.
I wake up. It takes me a minute and then I can move.
But I still feel scared.

In our dream study group we use my “Dream Decipher Process” to find the meaning of our dreams.
The first step in Dream Decipher is for Dora to call on her “Voice of Intuition” to tell her the actual meaning of each dream scene. This is the key to accurate dream interpretation.

I facilitated the “Dream Decipher Process” for Dora by reading aloud each sentence of her dream. Her Voice of Intuition then told her what each phrase meant.

The next step is to read aloud the list of intuited meanings for each dream scene. This will allow intuiting the reason for having the dream. For example: When I asked, “What does ...being so frightened that you feel paralyzed... have to do with your life right now?”
Dora intuited that her dream-fears were about her husband. Her insight is that this is how frightened she feels because her husband is taking her back to court. He doesn't want to pay child support.
Her intuitions are synopsized into a brief phrase or short statement, which is the dream's "MAIN THEME." (i.e. The primary reason she had this nightmare)

Therefore, her “MAIN THEME statement is: I'm frightened because my ex-husband is taking me back to court.

Intuiting the main reason for having the dream is important. It then allows the dreamer to subsequently understand the meaning of every scene/symbol in the dream.

“When we were divorced I was awarded minimal child support. I have been getting that same amount for several years. It’s not very much money, but it helps me to do what I can for my kids.

“My ex-husband recently changed jobs. He says he is making much less money now.
I just got an email saying he went to the court and filed papers. I’m so scared that he is going to try to get out of paying any child support. I don’t know how I’m going to take care of the kids without that payment.”

Dora has two kids. One will turn eighteen soon. The other is eleven. She believes that support for the older boy will stop as soon he turns eighteen.
Her subconscious mind is showing her (via the nightmare) that she is paralyzed with fear about not having enough money for their needs.

When one is so fearful, it may be impossible to be resourceful. It is difficult to intuitively get guidance for solving problems when one is paralyzed with fear.

When going through the Dream Decipher Process, I often find that even the worst nightmare can contain positive messages, and/or helpful guidance from Spirit.
Dora’s dream does contain two positive messages, but these are disguised within symbolism.

Positive message number one:
The scene… my mom tells me that I won’t be able to move until I find the code…is interesting. Dora’s mom has passed on. She has come into the dream as a spiritual guide, but her message seems mysterious. While dreaming, Dora had wondered, What is the code? Where do I find it?

However, Dora's Voice of Intuition knew what this meant. She intuited that she doesn’t have the information she needs to confront her ex-husband in court. She further intuited that there is something in the original court order that she needs to find. She needs to do some research.

Positive message number two:
The end of the dream – in which everything in the room is navy blue – is a surprise gift from Spirit.
Dora intuits that (for her) the color navy blue means happiness. She is surrounded by this color in the dream. Spirit is clearly showing her a total happy ending.

NOTE: Colors in dreams do have meaning.
You have to intuit what each color means for you.

“DreamChange”

DreamChange is a shamanic process in which one can go back into a bad dream or nightmare and change it for the better. This does make lasting change within the inner-self.
I told Dora to imagine that she was back in the last part of the dream. Because the navy blue color meant happiness to her, I asked her to breathe the color into her body. I suggested that she feel the happiness and calmness it gave her.
She did as I asked. After a few minutes, her face began to look different. Softer. More relaxed. She opened her eyes and exclaimed, “Well, I just remembered that my-ex still owes me for back health insurance and other payments that he missed. I’m going to find an advocate and find out what my rights are!"

After interpreting her dream with the help of her "Voice of Intuition," Dora was no longer paralyzed by fear. She went into action. She sought out legal aid and found an advocate. The advocate helped her find the orders in her original legal document that were important to take to court.
Even though her son will be eighteen soon, he is still in high school. He intends to go to community college. Therefore, his dad has to continue paying support for him until he is twenty-one. It also turned out that because there was unpaid health insurance, and payments her ex missed, he now has to pay Dora more each month than he had been paying.

This story is just one example of how a nightmare (when interpreted accurately) can provide enlightenment and lead one to change life’s circumstances.

Would you like to learn more about how to interpret your nightmares and bad dreams?

Would you like to read more case stories about the positive, hidden messages in nightmares?

Download the “Nightmares” chapter from my book Decipher Your Dreams, Decipher Your Life.
It is absolutely FREE!