This topic features briefly on p.188 of Answers In The Dark: Grief, Sleep and How Dreams Can Help You Heal and I’ve offered an extended view of this type of dream below. Please note this article is not intended to be prescriptive and as the dreamer, you are the best person to decide what your dream means. Please read these policies for terms and conditions.
School and, for some, college or university, can be part of our formative years. It’s here we may form (lifelong) friendships and begin to shape our outlook on life. What happens during these years can have an impact, whether pleasant or unpleasant, and therefore show up in our dreams, even in later years.
Dreaming of being back at school can be a metaphor that reflects we may be navigating a period of learning. Perhaps something is happening in life right now that could be described as a “learning curve”; you may have learned something about yourself, someone else or life itself.
We sometimes use language like “life lesson” – (not that we needed to be “taught” something or punished, just that’s how we phrase or emphasise the impact it’s had), which could also explain this type of dream.
Or you may be thinking about going back to school, starting a new qualification or a change of career, which requires a new period of learning in your life.
How you experienced school will also influence how you interpret this dream.
If school was a happy time, you might find the dream is taking you back to good times, and the feeling of being carefree again.
If school was difficult, ask yourself why you might be having this dream again now. What’s happened that would remind you subconsciously of the time you were at school. Perhaps you’re feeling the same pressure now, as you did back then.
Taking exams in dreams often presents itself the way described above – not knowing about it and not feeling ready. This can mirror how life can be – something happens we’re not ready for and not prepared for how we might cope with it, or what the outcome or results might be.
Dreams like this can symbolise the stress experienced when back at school, especially around exam time. The dream can serve to remind us that we’re getting stressed again maybe as we did back then, and so it’s time to start managing the load.
It can also be a common dream if working to tight deadlines, or where time is a pressure. It can symbolise trying to keep on top of everything, and then something comes out of the blue which adds to what you’re already doing. And of course if you’re a teacher, it could reflect your waking life too.
Sometimes it might represent feeling as if being tested by life. If lots has happened, and you’re being pushed emotionally to the limits, talking it through with someone can be helpful.
You may also find keeping a dream diary useful (I offer a template in my book Answers In The Dark), as you may start to notice patterns and see clues as to why you have this dream when you do. See more on this below.
Top tips for School and Exam Dreams
- Have a think about how stressed you are and what positive changes you can make to help you relax. Having a good bedtime routine, like winding down before sleep, can also be useful (there is a Sleep Cycle Repair kit in Answers In The Dark).
- Consider whether you’ve been going through a period of learning. What, if anything, are you feeling tested by? These can provide insights as to the meaning of your dream.
- Try keeping a dream diary. You might find you have this dream because of something that’s regularly happening in your life at the time.
Always do what’s right for you.
Delphi is a qualified counsellor, educator and author of the #1 best seller, Answers In The Dark: Grief, Sleep and How Dreams Can Help You Heal, available to purchase from Amazon, Hive and all good bookstores. (#1 Best Seller on Amazon for its category.) For more services to help you find your mojo and get your sparkle back, visit HelpingYouSparkle.com. Content on this website may appear elsewhere to promote Answers In The Dark.
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The 4 am Mystery: That’s an actual thing by the way. Even before a global health crisis, people found themselves awake in the middle of the night. Answers In The Dark aims to join the dots between sleep, dreams and our mental health, specifically how grief shows up, even if no one has died.
It explores some of the Big Myths of sleep, offers a Sleep Cycle Repair Kit and tips on how to decode your own dreams.
Please note this article is not intended to be prescriptive and as the dreamer, you are the best person to decide what your dream means. Please read these policies for terms and conditions.
Answers in the Dark™ by Delphi Ellis 