Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used dream therapy and encouraged his patients to have healing dreams. Likewise, Aristotle suggested a doctor could diagnose patients’ illnesses by listening to them talk about their dreams.
And even today some scientists see a connection.They believe that health-related, or “prodromal”, dreams occur when the body's cells detect minor chemical abnormalities and send warning signals through the nerves to the brain. The subconscious mind, which is much more adept at picking up these signals than the conscious mind, then expresses them in the form of dreams.
Learn to read the signals:
For example, if you dream of being hit on the head, it may mean you've got a migraine coming on; if you dream about someone changing a flat tire or putting out a fire, your body may be fighting an infection; if you're allergic to cats and you suddenly begin dreaming that you're petting one, you may be developing an allergy to something else. Dreams of collapsing houses, intruders, or ambushes can also be signs of illness. As for positive dreams, newness, flowers, and housecleaning often represent a return to health.
How dreams can heal:
The amygdala and hypothalamus, parts of the brain that are highly active during dreaming, have 40 times as many opiate and neuropeptide receptors as other parts of the brain. When they are positively impacted, they may have a positive impact on the immune system. In fact, there has been plenty of research done in recent decades on the mind/body connection. Findings have documented that imagery and visualization can increase the number of circulating white blood cells as well as levels of a hormone used by T helper cells; affect the functioning of neutrophils which is the first line of defense against infectious agents or “non-self” substances in very specific ways; reduce aversion responses to chemotherapy, as well as lower surgical stress and speed up postsurgical healing.
