Coins Could Be Symbol of Change

Dear Cynthia: I have had two recurring dreams for many years. In the first, I am picking up change in a grocery store parking lot. I fill up my pockets and they become full and heavy, then I wake up searching my underpants for change! In the second, I’m on a railroad track and I sense that a train is coming (I don’t actually see a train), and my body moves in slow motion and it is very hard to take steps to get off the railroad track.

--RICK

Via e-mail

Dear Rick: In the symbolic language of dreams, coins can represent small things of value and found treasure. But because you refer to them as “change,” a more obvious association would be that you have a desire to make a change in your life. Since you are in a grocery store parking lot, I wonder if you have been worried about your weight or your diet?

In the second dream, you are on a railroad track, a train travels in a fixed direction with no possibility of making a change. You sense danger, but your body moves in slow motion, it can’t keep up.

Many people report this sensation of not being able to move fast enough in dreams. One possible explanation for this is that the body becomes essentially paralyzed during the rapid eye movement sleep in the dream state. This is caused by a temporary infusion of brain chemicals, and is probably meant to protect us from physically acting out our dreams and getting hurt. If you begin to wake but aren’t fully conscious, you may feel as though you can’t move temporarily. When this occurs, you need only remind yourself that you will soon be fully awake.

You use the words “full and heavy” in describing how the change feels in your pockets; this is another possible clue that a weight issue is at the core of your dreams. If you do struggle with your weight, you could feel that you couldn’t move fast enough and this frustration might be illustrated in your dream in this manner. Your subconscious mind may be telling you that it is time to get off the tracks and make the changes that would most benefit your life.

Fax your dreams to Cynthia Richmond at (818) 783-3267 or e-mail them to in.your.dreams@worldnet.att.net. Please include your hometown and a daytime phone number. “In Your Dreams” appears every Tuesday and should be read for entertainment purposes only.