Dreams About Being Chased
Imagine you are running down a dark alley lined with cobblestones in a city that feels vaguely familiar, reminiscent of historic London. As the slippery cobblestones gleam along the misty walkway, your hurried steps echo in the night. Yet, you run purposefully, hoping you will find a haven at the end of your path.
Suddenly, you glimpse a movement in the corner of the dark alley. A figure in a dark cloak advances as you turn your back and dart around the corner. Your breath feels louder than a scream; surely, your attacker can hear it. As you run, the image of your pursuer flashes before your eyes. He looks familiar; he has the same facial features, a strong jaw with a determined expression, and piercing, dark velvet eyes. You struggle to remember when you saw him last because he is just as mysterious as familiar to you.
Tragically, you slip on the cobblestones, and as you stumble, you notice a gate in a side alley. You know that at the end of that alley, you will find a series of doors and have a chance at safety. You run through the gate into a courtyard that looks as if it has witnessed much drama for centuries.
As your attacker pursues, you perceive a familiarity, that you know him well and that he has always been around. You dodge into a massive doorway, trip down the steps, and immediately regret your choice while hearing your attacker growl behind you. You turn and see those brown, gleaming, velvety eyes you have known for centuries. Your mouth opens in a silent scream as the attacker envelops you, and then suddenly… you wake up.
For guidance on understanding your dreams, get in touch with a Keen expert.
What Does this Common Dream Represent?
You are in your comfortable, fluffy bed, panting and covered with sweat as if you had just run a 5K. You look around the room for your attacker, but he is nowhere in sight. Suddenly, you recover your wits and realize that the dream is over. As you sit up in bed, you begin to wonder how common such dreams are and what their meaning is.
Dreams about being chased are likely the most common of dreams. Typically, such nightmares symbolize an internal conflict or guilt at leaving a particular task undone. Depending on your dream, the assailant may represent a nagging thought or guilt chasing you down. The rationalist among us can easily explain such dreams as stress or anxieties.
As our bodies and nervous systems react to daily stressors, it is no wonder that at night while we dream, our bodies and minds reflect the current state of our nervous systems. While it can feel regenerating to get a good night of sleep, not everyone can easily let go of their daily stressors.
Spiritual Meaning of Being Chased
So what exactly is happening? Could your mind be trying to betray you, play tricks, or communicate?
Subconscious Mind
What is the function of your subconscious? Your subconscious is that part of your mind that you’re not always in touch with, but it guides and influences your thoughts. Unfortunately, sometimes we are too stressed to be in touch with our subconscious, and as a result, we feel frazzled. In such cases, this disconnect can express itself in dreams as our mind explores our daily conflicts and nudges us toward taking action.
Past Life Dreams
Some believe that your dream could be a glimpse of your past life. In this case, fears from previous lives could be behavior patterns that we repeat and attempt to resolve in the current lifetime. Could your subconscious be telling you that it’s time to lay down the old baggage? For example, during a past life regression, I once experienced the loss of two of my children taken away by the military. As I came back from a meditative state, I had a substantial cathartic reaction and realized why I was scared of having children and wasn’t getting pregnant. Making such a connection made me realize that I could choose to live in fear (being scared of having the same grief pattern), or I could step into the future bravely and form love connections with other souls.
Premonition Dreams – The Right Brain and Left Brain Struggle Daily
What if your dream is a premonition? What is your intuition, higher self, or guardian angel attempting to communicate? Could your dream happen because you are too stressed to receive these messages?
During our day to day, we spend most of our time in the Beta brain wave state, relying on our problem-solving left brain. These are the states that occur during our conscious hours. We also spend most of our days in the Gamma brain state, typically associated with thinking and working. To gain insight into our intuition and personal development, we must spend time in the Delta and Theta brain states (deeply relaxed states that promote insight, regeneration, and relaxation).
Since the enemy of stress is relaxation, spending time in the Delta/Theta states encourages health and vitality. In such cases, your dreams could guide you towards a healthier life and increased relaxation created by learning how to deal with stress.
Do the people chasing you remind you of anyone/anything?
Can you think back to when you looked back at your attacker or when he was so close that you could feel his breath upon your face? Does the face, body, or style of movement? Remind you of anyone you know? Could you hear your attacker’s voice? If you don’t recognize your attacker or any feeling of familiarity, this could symbolize that you feel anxious in life without actually knowing the source of that threat. Many people experience chronic anxiety or stress without an apparent cause.
What if, to your very horror, you recognize your attacker, and they are someone close to you? Does this mean you are angry at them or want them out of your life? Before rearranging your family affairs, think briefly about what you were most scared of in the dream. Did the person seem threatening, selfish, or overpowering? Sometimes such a dream may be a great indicator of how to set boundaries with loved ones to protect yourself from unwanted behavior patterns. Alternately, such a dream is a great mirror to turn upon oneself to recognize the traits we were most scared of in our attacker. Sometimes those traits are what we see in ourselves and wish to change.
What does it mean to Dream about Being Chased by an Animal?
What if your attacker suddenly turns into an animal? Dreams about animal symbolism are fascinating and require further discussion. For example, dreaming about a snake chasing you may symbolize toxic or poisonous individuals in your life or the desire to “shed your skin” and re-organize your life. Another example is when we dream about a dog that growls and lunges at us during a chase. In such cases, it may be a sign of aggression from those around us and our subconscious warning against the threats posed by these individuals.
What if your threatening attacker suddenly morphs into a cuddly bunny rabbit during the chase? When a nightmare neutralizes the source of the threat, our subconscious could be telling us that whatever it is we are fearful of will cease to be scary once we face it. Likely, at this point, you did the legwork it took to overcome specific threats and are ready to take the next step in life.
How can I stop having Dreams of Being Chased?
What if you are scared to go to bed because you know this nightmare will occur again? Can you prevent dreaming about being chased? Yes, of course! The best way is to resolve your stresses and fears. As you face your life with transparency and integrity, you will realize that being honest with yourself and those around you prevents stressful dreams.
Another great way to prevent reoccurring nightmares is simply communicating with your subconscious. There are many such methods out there, such as Jose Silva’s Dream Control Technique, but mainly these involve going into a deep meditation to program your subconscious to support your goals. Regardless of your chosen method, the idea is to create harmony between your subconscious and your awake self.
While that may seem like quite a feat, learning to deal with stress promotes harmony between your subconscious and your awake self. Such an effort is rewarding and promotes achieving life’s goals, reinforces productive relationships, and will always bring us closer to harmony with our souls. Life is about love, including self-love.
Inducing a dream
What if you are eager to discover what happens further in your dream and wish to induce a dream? As you relax and take deep breaths to prepare yourself for slumber, tell your subconscious that you are ready to explore further and welcome the dream continuation. Tell your subconscious what problem you wish to solve and what benefits you envision.
One of my favorite ways to do that is with the Glass of Water technique. Take a glass, fill it with water and sit it on your nightstand before bed. Next, close your eyes, look up slightly and deeply relax into a meditative state. Drink half of the glass while programming your subconscious. Relax in gratitude as you experience the desired results and drift off to sleep.
Upon awakening, drink the rest of the water with feelings of gratitude and with a conviction that your dreams brought you answers or that your subconscious will resolve your problems during the coming day.
Harmony
It’s important to remember that our dreams exist to guide us and that we should be grateful for the insight (and not scared). As long as we approach each dream as an opportunity to better understand ourselves and the world, the fears will turn into doorways to love, abundance, and blessings.
