Dreams are essential to our growth. Although we don’t always remember our dreams, with proper sleep, we do, in fact, dream. Without adequate sleep, we can have a host of issues from high blood pressure to anxiety and concentration problems.

A dream is, generally, our mind’s way of winding down and giving us its interpretation of that day’s activities. Dreams can also be a cumulation of our feelings about an upcoming event in our lives. Our brains continue to keep us aware of our surroundings while we sleep. Have you ever had a dream that you stepped into a cold creek only to wake up and find your leg slipped out from under the warm blankets, or some other similar dream experience? Your ever-conscious brain was trying to make sense of what the body was feeling. That’s right, even with closed eyes, the mind still works to make sense of things. This is a critical factor in dream interpretation.

Can Spirit visit us through our dreams? The short answer is, YES! Our deceased loved ones are now in energy form. They are no longer in physical form. Therefore, they can communicate with us by tapping into our consciousness, which is also a form of energy, while we sleep. Our brain uses our memories, and other things we may recognize or to which we have attributed meanings or feelings, to help us make sense of these communiqués from Spirit. For example, if you dream that your deceased Aunt Penny was taking you for a drive while you both laugh the entire time, that would be her spirit sending you the feeling of joy and happiness. The brain is trying to make sense of the spirit energy and provides us with a visual representation of the energy Spirit is trying to share. So, is that really Spirit communicating with you? Yes! I believe it is more comfortable for Spirit to give us a message while we sleep since we tend to ignore or not recognize their messages during our waking hours.

If you are depressed or grieving, receiving communication from Spirit may be more difficult. So, if you’re not dreaming of loved ones lost on a regular basis, don’t worry. It’s not that your loved ones in spirit are not with you; they are. If you are depressed or have terrible sleep habits, your brain may not be producing the necessary chemicals to allow you to remember your dreams or to experience the emotions they bring. Sadness often overrules other emotions. It is hard to recognize or feel love when one is depressed. People experiencing depression or sadness may receive visitations but report that, in the dream, they were not able to come close to their loved one. In a way, this makes sense for those of us “left behind.” If Spirit were to visit us in our grief-stricken sleep, some of us would never want to wake up. We would sleep all the time, hoping to see them again. This is not what your loved ones in spirit want you to feel nor how they want you to live. Since the grieving process is different for everyone, it may take time to experience a communication dream. Please know your loved ones are still with you and still loving you from Spirit whether you can sense them or not. Love never dies.

NOTE: If you are experiencing depression, please contact your doctor or health care professional. Depression is a severe and real disease of the mind, and there are many treatment options.