I had a dream for a client who was struggling with feeling her life was out of her control. The first dream showed me a yard where a bunch of chipmunks were playing. A cat came up and bit one on the spine, stunning the chipmunk. I woke up with a jolt as if I were bitten. Instead of dream healing, I should call it dream feeling 🙂 I had the thought that my client must be frozen in a state of fight-or-flight response. More on chipmunk symbolism in a moment.

The second dream showed me a woman on a boat with a small boy and girl. She looked up and that they were heading for the rapids and a dangerous waterfall. People were paddling frantically around her. She panicked telling the children to grab their belongings as they needed to get off of the boat. The boy collected his things quickly and the girl did not. The woman yelled at the girl, “Grab your things NOW! We have to get off this boat. We’re going to die if we don’t go now!” This continued for quite some time. The girl looked over the side of the boat and pointed. The woman impatiently walked over to the girl and saw that the boat wasn’t in the water. They were on land the whole time. They were never in any danger. It was her misperception from where she was standing on the boat.

First off, the meaning of chipmunk from my go to Pocket Guide to Spirit Animals, by Dr. Steven Farmer, was, “You’re well protected and there’s no real danger you’ll have to face.” Well that was the meaning of the dream. We could just end right there, but there’s a little more I’d like to say. I love the confirmation from the chipmunks! The cat biting it on the spine showed that my client may need to be released from a fight or flight response in her body. The spine also represents Kundalini energy which can be strengthened through Kundalini yoga and meditation exercises. The sense of peace that comes from doing any kind of yoga will help from entering this state of overwhelm.

Being on a boat was a symbol for the rocky waters of her life. She’s gone through a divorce and a career change with many painful emotions arising and obstacles along the way. Water symbolized cleansing and emotions in this dream. When emotions arise they are needing to be released so that we can energetically move forward when we’ve shed people and circumstances that no longer serve us. During her session we helped her release the energies of twenty different repressed emotions: lost, anxiety, despair, nervousness, worry, horror, overwhelm, vulnerability, helplessness, lack of control, confusion, defensiveness, ill at ease, frustration, panic, disrespect, taken for granted, unsupported, threatened and shock. If you sense you’ve got stuck emotions to release, simply ask your spirit team for help releasing them.

The little girl represented her innocent, peaceful, all knowing self. This part of her is always there. She is wise and loves to be free. She beats to her own drum. The frantic woman in the dream represented the state my client has found herself for over a year since the shock of her husband leaving. This or any event that catches us by surprise can put us into a panic mode if we don’t understand what’s happening. Changes that are put upon us are usually a last ditch effort from our soul needing change. She wasn’t happy in her marriage for many years. She’d been putting up with things that didn’t resonate with her on a deep level. She secretly longed to be happy and him leaving was the universe’s way of making things right. She also had some healing to do as she had avoided connecting deeply with herself for quite some time.

Given this pain and new void in her life, she’s starting to reconnect with herself, the childlike self who knows what is right for her. Just as the chipmunk message said, there really is nothing to fear, although our mind will try to convince us that something’s wrong with big life changes. We tend to panic in particular when these changes weren’t initiated by our actions. Our soul is a powerful force.

When we were complete with the session I heard her take a deep breath of relief.