How Eclipses, Full Moons, and Planets Affect Your Relationships

You may wake up wondering why on earth you had this sensual dream that felt so real when you were in it. What does it mean?

First of all, relax. You are not alone. Dreams themed around symbols of love and sex are exceedingly common. We all have them, a lot of the time. The reason being is that human beings are curious. In the dream state we can safely explore intimate relationships without hurting anyone. So, thank your dreaming mind – your inner nocturnal therapist – for offering you this virtual relationship training playground!

The next step is to understand the meaning of your love dreams. They often appear incomprehensible, but dig deep enough, and the symbols you find will always comment on your feelings and thoughts in your waking life, because what you feel and what you think tends to be what you attract.

With relationship themed dreams, your night vision will be commenting on your attitude towards relationships and what urgently needs to shift within you for you to attract lasting love.

What do you dream about...?

Below are some very common love dream scenarios. Be aware that every dream is personal to the dreamer, and these examples are simply universal, or the most likely interpretations that may not be relevant to your unique situation. However, these interpretations can help you think along the right lines, so the next time you wake up from a passionate dream affair, you have a head start in understanding.

Having An Affair With Someone You Know

In this dream you are having an affair with someone you know. This person may or may not be someone you fancy. Either way, they are appearing in your dreams for a reason and that reason isn’t necessarily romantic.

Think about the first word or feeling that comes to mind when you reflect on that person. This first word or feeling association you make will help you understand what quality your dreaming mind wants you to face within yourself. Maybe it's something you need to integrate within your own personality?

You see, dream affairs reflect the aspects of yourself that you need to feel more passionate about. Yes, in your dreams you really are having an affair with yourself. Other people in your dreams symbolize aspects of your own personality.

More often than not, the feeling this dream inspires is simply one of excitement or adventure, and if this is the case, your dreaming mind wants you to bring that sense of adventure into your own life (but not by having an affair.) Vary your routine a bit! Laugh more! Do something different! Book a holiday! Don’t look to others to bring a sense of magic your way. Spice up your own life.

Having An Affair With A Stranger

If you dream of falling in love or having an affair with a stranger – someone you have never met – your dreaming mind wants you to feel more alive. You need to step outside your comfort zone now and then. This is not necessarily about relationships and seeking out different perspectives, but about challenging yourself in other areas of your life. For example, challenge yourself in your career, hobbies, and interests.

Bear in mind that making love to a dream stranger can also suggest that you fear really getting to know the people close to you, or that you feel you can’t be true to yourself with others. If that’s the case, work on your self-belief and consider what you may be ‘cheating’ yourself or others of when it comes to your relationships. Dreams about unreciprocated love or being ignored by a crush have a similar interpretation.

Your Partner Is Cheating

You may be in a loving relationship and have a dream about yourself or your partner cheating. If this is the case, don’t panic!

This dream simply suggests that either of you may be feeling overlooked. Have you or your partner been spending a lot of time focusing on work, a pet, or another outside interest? Seize this Valentine’s Day holiday to book some quality time together, and rekindle the passion.

Having An Affair With A Celebrity 

Celebrities dominate the media these days, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself dreaming of having an affair with a celebrity, and an unlikely one too. Think about what association comes to mind when you think about that celebrity. It is that association which carries the hidden meaning.

For example, if you dream of a reality TV star, do you simply want to be noticed more? There is a quality that celebrity has that you need to integrate into your own personality for personal growth.

Your Ex

This dream could be about an ex that you have absolutely no desire to rekindle things with, or an ex where there is still unfinished business.

If an ex reappears in your dreams, it is not a sign that you want to go back to them, it is a sign though that your ex has become a symbol of something important for your current personal growth and relationship happiness.

Have you found closure from that relationship? Do you need to make sure that you don’t repeat patterns from the past in your current relationships? Do you need to reflect on your own attitude when you were with your ex, and whether there is something you still need to learn there? Or, does your ex symbolize an aspect of yourself you need to let go of now?

In all cases, the clear message is that you need to empower the relationship with yourself.

Someone Falling In Love With You

When you wake up from this dream in which someone falls in love with you, consider how this surreal affection from someone else made you feel. If it made you feel good, then seek out more of that emotion from people in your waking life. If it made you feel insecure about the dream affection, then consider, why you don’t feel worthy of love and attention.

Are your current relationships dragging you down? Are you longing for a deep connection with others but failing to understand that relationships risk becoming toxic or co-dependent, especially if you don’t feel deeply in love and connected to yourself first?

Remember that relationship truth universally acknowledges that you can’t give to others what you can’t give to yourself. Your wise dreaming mind has always known that. Valentine’s Day is the ideal time for you to discover your self-love.

What These Dreams Mean For You

In essence, romantic dreams are mysterious, and can mean many different things, but the rule of thumb is that your dreams are typically symbolic and not literal. They are also very current.

If you truly want to decode their meaning, take a moment every morning when you wake up to ponder their meanings, reflect deeply, and look within.

All the answers, all the love, and all the magic you may be seeking from others is already right there within you, just waiting for you to celebrate it, not just on Valentine’s Day but every day!

Have You Had A Good Cry Lately? What About?

It's pretty easy to cry when we're feeling upset or if we're experiencing an influx of love or joy — tears are the emotion that can't be kept in. And with so much happening around the world, it's extra easy to feel overwhelmed right now. Asking a question like this acknowledges that we're all feeling something and it gives your friend the space to express their emotions without feeling bad about it.

What Are You Dreaming About Right Now?

Be someone who helps your friends dream big and reach for their craziest goals. There's nothing like hearing someone talk about something they're passionate about, and when you have a deep-rooted love for that person, it's even more fun to hear. Plus, if they answer with their actual dreams from last night, then you can have a good laugh too.

How Is Your Soul?

There are certain things that affect us on a very deep level, and while our bodies might be okay, our souls may have taken a beating recently! Asking about your friend's soul or heart will let them talk about how the details and nuances of their emotions. This is a great question for people who feel things deeply, even if it's not exclusive to them.

How Did [Insert Event] Make You Feel?

If you know the ins and outs of your friend's life, there's a good chance you know if something in particular has affected them. Whether it's trouble with their partner, their parents, or they were really hit hard by something on the news, don't be afraid to ask them how they're feeling (when it's appropriate, of course). Asking them about a particular event or conversation will help them focus more than if you just ask how they're feeling in general.

There's A Lot Going On In The World, How Are You Handling Everything?

It's okay if you're not handling things well, and right off the bat, this question will let your friend know that it's okay if they're overwhelmed. Since everyone handles things differently, this is also a good way to check up on someone without making assumptions about how they're feeling.

What's Something That's Made You Smile In The Last Few Days?

There are two reasons this can be a great question. First, allowing your friend to focus on a positive story will allow them take note of something beautiful around them, no matter how small it is. Second, asking for a recent example will remind them to look for the good since they'll have to sift through the good and the bad to give you an answer. It'll boost their mood, especially if they've had a rough week.

You've Seemed A Little Off Lately, Is Everything Okay?

We've all changed in the last two and a half years, but if you've picked up that your friend seems extra sad recently, you can ask them what's going on. It'll show that you're attentive and allow them to talk about something they're dealing with if they don't feel comfortable bringing it up.

What Did You Think About [Insert Entertainment Program]

Maybe your friend has been recovering from a loss and was impacted by the pilot of The Last of Us, or they're super excited about a new job opportunity and finally got around to watching The Bold Type. Either way, if your friend loves stories and resonates deeply with fictional characters, this could be a great way to help them work through both positive and negative emotions.

What's Something That Impacted You Last Week?

The great thing about a question like this is that it lets your friend decide whether they want to talk about, something difficult or positive. Or both!

If you're facing a problem — you're not sure if you should end a relationship, you're stressed about work, or you're in a funk and don't know why — art can help boost your mood, even if you're not fixing an actual problem. Art, whether you're painting, singing, or doing pottery, can reduce the stress hormone cortisol's levels in the body, and increase your serotonin levels, according to PNAS. Not to mention that when you're working with your hands, you're not doomscrolling on social media. Talk about a win-win-win!

For beginners and experts alike, there are particular skills that you need to do art, and those skills can actually help you access emotions that are otherwise difficult to find.

"Sculpting with clay is a tactile manipulation process that may engage more concentration and movement to create a piece," Dr. Kennedy says. "In contrast, journaling may tap more into verbal skills and unlock emotions that are important to express. Painting with oils, which takes more time to dry and may require more patience, might be a very different experience than painting with watercolor, which can be more difficult to control."

The good thing about working with art therapy is that, even if it stretches your patience or concentration, it's something that you can control. You're in total control of what activity you choose to do, what products you use, even if you need to relinquish some control over what the final product looks like.

Regardless of which medium you prefer, Dr. Kennedy says that these creative outlets allow us to focus on, and rest in, the present moment. Not to mention the fact that we're also tapping into more than one, if not all, of our five senses when creating art, which can help us practice mindfulness.

You might prefer to bullet journal and scrapbook, or love to turn on music and paint a visual representation of what you hear, but it can actually be beneficial for your mind to switch mediums every once in awhile. Even if it's something you feel you're not good at.

"Switching mediums for creative outlets can tap into various cognitive processes, promoting cognitive flexibility or neuroplasticity [which is the ability of the brain to remain flexible and grow in response to stimulation]," says Dr. Kennedy. Singing taps into the speech and sound production centers of your brain, while physical art like pottery exercises your sensory centers. "These sensory channels for input promote being fully immersed in the present moment, an essential aspect of mindfulness, relaxation, and anxiety reduction."

Because of the fact that they use different areas of your brain, creating with your hands and creating with your mind can also have different effects on your mental health — but one isn't necessarily better than the other.

"Creating with your hands can be just as therapeutic as creating a story with your mind through creative writing, and these activities use some brain regions in common, yet others differ," says Dr. Kennedy. An activity like embroidery engages your whole brain by using the left side to analyze threads and stitches, and the right side to create patterns, compare colors, and visualize the end result.

"While more complex relationships exist between creative, visualization, sensory, and motor regions within the brain, they are nonetheless all engaged in a focused activity that taps into our senses and promotes mindfulness," Dr. Kennedy says. "Therefore, our brains release more dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in activating the brain’s reward system, when engaged in a satisfying creative activity."

This is definitely an excuse to buy (another) adult coloring book, or keep a journal to jot down story ideas wherever you go. You never know when inspiration will strike!

The best part about these artistic projects is that they're fun *and* they count as self-care. "Artistic, creatively-loaded activities involve many brain functions working in concert," Dr. Kennedy says. "[They] can improve mood through increased serotonin and dopamine and an overall reduction in cortisol levels."

"Regular incorporation of these activities can have a similar impact to meditation by reducing anxiety and depression levels," she continues. "Sharing your creative projects with others can also add an extra layer of mood and confidence boost through the emotional satisfaction of creating something for someone you love. While the primary goal is self-care to improve your mental health, you may end up inspiring someone else as a bonus."