Recurring dreams have always remained a mystery. When you go to sleep at night, you continue to experience the very same dream you had the night before, or maybe a week, month, or the year before. Sometimes, that recurring dream can look exactly the same or follow a consistent theme. According to dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg, when we are dealing with dreams like this, it is usually connected to an unresolved issue, conflict, or a useless behavioral pattern in one’s life. She says, “Dreams reflect your subconscious mind speaking to you, not literally or linearly, but metaphorically.” She explains that recurring dreams happen in an attempt to help one get an idea as to what they may need to take head-on in their life.

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According to Stephanie Gailing, astrologer, dream guide, and author of The Complete Book of Dreams, recurring dreams help us to focus on things that our psyche is telling us to pay more attention to. So how do we decode these types of dreams? Usually, they reflect your own personal interpretation of a certain event, behavior, or something happening in your life in the present moment. Loewenberg says, “Dreams are always about the right now. So, while they can be connected to an issue from your past, they’ll usually only happen if there’s something going on now that feels similar, or if you’re behaving in a certain way now because of an event from your past.” In other cases, the real-life circumstances related to your dream might be very clear to you, which usually occurs for people experiencing post-traumatic stress.

While there is nothing wrong or dangerous with having recurring dreams, what is one to do if they no longer wish to have a dream on repeat? It’s important to get an understanding of the root cause of the issue or behavior. Gailing says, “Just the process of writing down a recurring dream will allow you to be in a deeper relationship with it and more clearly reflect upon it. And if you include ancillary factors, like outstanding events of the day or emotions you feel before bed or just upon getting up, you might begin to see a common thread that can help you better understand the dream and figure out its message.” After that point, its power is likely to become much less potent—and may eventually diminish altogether.”