Dream interpretation allows us to decode the messages of our dreams, so we’re able to integrate those lessons into our waking lives. If you’ve been dreaming about being chased, here’s what it could be telling you, according to therapist and dream expert Leslie Ellis, Ph.D. “In that respect,” she says, “being chased is an image for the ‘flight’ part of the fight-or-flight response—our body’s initial reaction to threat.” So, generally speaking, “it’s fair to say the dreamer is activated and feeling threatened in some way,” she notes. Long story short: You’re probably stressing! “In the pandemic dreams I’ve been seeing,” Ellis notes, “the chaser is more often something sinister and invisible—like a virus! So yes, it is important to pay attention to just what or who is doing the chasing, as this will help to understand the nature of what feels threatening.” Here, she breaks down what a few variations of this dream could be trying to tell you: “To stop having these dreams, and to learn something from them, simply turn and face what is chasing you,” Ellis explains. If you are able to lucid dream, you can of course do this right within the dream, but for most people, it can be an exercise you do while awake. “Imagine yourself back in your dream, and sink into the dreamscape using as many senses as possible,” she says. “This will deepen the experiential state. Then stop running, calm down, and face your chaser. This will tend to stop them in their tracks.” From there, you can ask what they want from you. “Usually, when you do this, the frightening aspects of the chaser fall away,” she says, adding, “I can’t predict what the dream image will do or say because that depends so much on the individual dreamer—but I can tell you that this action always shifts the dream. It is never the same after this.”
