I have recurrent dreams of tornados when I undergo certain situations in my life. The setting of my dreams is also symbolic — my “safe place” is a particular house that is special to no one but me, but any time I dream of it, I know that I am under “attack” or in “confrontation” with an aspect of my life, myself, or another astral entity and I am automatically putting myself in my safest space.

There is always the possibility of recurring nightmares having to do with a past life, however, I rarely find that dreams are so literal. This is one of the reasons that dream journals are so vital to learning your dream language. Charting your dreams along with a journal of what you have been going through in your waking hours can help you notice trends in your stress patterns, your experiences, relationships with others that might trigger those dreams, and so forth. You might discover that running into a particular person triggers your crushing dreams. You might find that when you are feeling out of control regarding money, you have a crushing dream, or perhaps the trigger is when you are choking back on something you need to say and it is smothering you from the inside. If you are claustrophobic, are there situations in your life that are “boxing you in” and making you feel entrapped?

Many times, our minds use metaphors for our internal struggles, so being “crushed” could have to do with crushing emotional pain you haven’t yet dealt with, or feeling trapped, or not feeling like you have the freedom to determine your life’s course, or actual leftover trauma and post-traumatic stress from being in a situation where you were taken advantage of against your will.

Healing these inner fears is a long process. You can begin to balance the scales by countering the fear with detached affirmations: I am safe. I have all the space I need. I have room to breathe. I am free to live my life. I am allowed to just be. I am secure within myself. The world is a safe and healthy place for me. No one can make me do what is against my will.

I do suggest that if the panic attacks are frequent and disturb your daily functioning, that you seek professional counseling. While it isn’t always the case, it does happen often enough that we suppress events that cause us too much pain. You can ask your family if something happened when you were a child that caused you a claustrophobic moment — you might be surprised how that turns up later on in your dreams, even though you can’t consciously remember it. Also, remember that, if it’s a past-life memory, it’s past. Not present. Release the memory into the past and let it go, even if you don’t know what it is exactly. It is far more likely to be a psychological response to something in THIS life, either something that occurred when you were younger, or a feeling that translates into your mind as “being crushed”.

Keep that journal going, look for patterns, and counter your fear with the calmness of knowing you are loved by the Gods and safe in this world.

Warmest wishes for peaceful dreams,
Sitara

I don’t need to write it down anymore. I remember all of it. It doesn’t fade away since I learned the very useful power of memory repetition.