Is there Any Way to “Re-Enter” a Dream After Waking From One?

Can You “Program” Your Own Dreams?

A couple of frequently asked questions about dreams actually have a lot in common:

1. Is there any way to re-enter a dream after waking from one?
2. Can you “Invite” a dream back into your dream world. For example, once you have dreamed about a particular thing, can you make yourself dream about it again?

Whenever I’m asked this one, my response is never one the dreamer wants to hear.  It’s been my experience that you cannot (once awake) quickly return to the dream you have just left. If this has happened with anyone, I’d have to say that the dreamer never fully awoke.

The second frequently asked question also receives the same negative-type answer (sorry about that!): While it’s not “impossible” (since few things are ever 100% impossible), it’s highly unlikely that you can “make” your brain repeat a dream or even return to the scene of the dream, so to speak.

There are, in all fairness, some dreamologists who believe that a dreamer can “program” their mind to dream about a certain subject. They say that frequently thinking about this subject – especially as you are falling asleep – can cause the brain to enter into this type of dream.  However, even if the general subject of the dream is created, there are no sure bets that things will play out as you thought they would.

While it isn’t a sure thing, all I can say is this: What would it hurt to try?!  I’m not convinced that you can direct your dreams from “this” side, but I’d have to agree that focusing on the desired outcome is the way to go about it.

However, I think the better question would be, “Why are you wanting to return to this dream in the first place?” If the dream scenario is revisiting loved ones who have passed (a frequent dream people don’t want to leave), realize that you obviously miss them even more than you realized. Get out old photographs and think and talk about these loved ones. Mention them more throughout the day, keeping their memory alive.

Our dreams about loved ones are extra sweet because we feel as though we have “visited” with them. Simply “visit” with them throughout the day with treasured memories.

If you feel your dream is helping you “work something out” in your mind, you can get to the answer through another door – daydreams.  Daydreaming (at appropriate times, of course) can help your mind sort through things that your conscious mind often gets in the way of.

Daydreams are also a great way to deal with a dream we wake from “sooner” than we’d like. Simply close your eyes and “daydream” the rest of the story.  You’re able to call the shots more with this approach anyway!