meaning of floating/flying

I'm wondering about how floating or flying in dreams can be interpreted. I've dreams in which I'm shooting up into the sky or flying at a high rate of speed over mountains, and this is not what I'm referring to. Mainly what interests me are dreams in which I just float off the ground, gently. I access some special power to do this. I make some subtle shift inside, and presto I'm gently floating. Sometimes I swim through the air a little, but it's never anything dramatic. Usually I don't leave my immediate area.

It seems like it could be a good sign, a way of supporting myself, which I associate somewhat with the idea of a good mood, a buoyant mood that is resilient to life's difficulties. On the other hand, in my life I'm had a lot of other dreams, in various forms, of being un-grounded--unrealistic, inflated, not in touch, etc. But these floating dreams seem to be about something else, because there is usually a sense of being free and not being crazy in the way I "fly around."

That is because you are not "Crazy".

Have you heard of astro gliding?

Nope. Do tell?

floating/flying dreams represent the need for freedom, do you feel trapped or under pressure by anything at the moment?
before i left home and again when caring for my late partner in his last weeks i had the same flying dream.
take some 'me time' relax and be kind to yourself and they will go away.
I actually like flying dreams as they do give the sense of being free and able to do whatever you want. i get the floating gently ones but the flying fast i am not so familiar with. like you i rarely went more than a few miles from where i started and always ended back in the same place. one night though i 'flew' 300 miles to a cathedral and home again!!

I feel trapped in my general circumstances. I am on disability. I'm in school part time but really struggling with questions of whether I like what I'm studying and struggling with whether I can see myself in a music career and all the effort it entails (plus I would have to recover physically).

then that is what your brain is trying to sort out whilst you are sleeping, the dream is your subconciousnesses way of letting your concious bit of brain know there is a problem and it needs help to sort it, your concious bit knows the problem, and is working to find the solution. it /you need to come to a decision and stick to it. go through all the what ifs and the buts and scenarios before deciding so you have an idea of what is best for you at this time. you will not know if it is the right decision till you give it a go. remember to factor in an escape route...if this does not work i can always do ...... Once you have made your choice the dreams should stop as the agonising over it stops trapping you.
a lot to think about, but you are the best judge of what you wan/are able to do. good luck x

Thanks for the ideas.

I think of dreams as expressing what happens in life. Some neuroscientists have done research showing that dreams are rehearsals--they are practicing the things that occurred during the day. So if I float in a dream, it means that something analogous to floating happened during my day. The trick is that dreams speak symbolically from the perspective of the unconscious. My conscious mind is preoccupied with worry a lot of the time, but my unconscious has a much broader view of the situation and has access to other capacities in me. Love, for instance. So I might be surprised from time to time when I dream about love on a day when I was mostly worrying. That's because I really did spend the day feeling love--only it was unconscious. And therefore I need that wake-up call. I need to be told, "Hey Mike, you've got love in you, don't get caught up in the fear."

So I think of floating and flying dreams as saying that during the day,I'm doing something analogous to floating and flying. The trick is to figure out what that analogous thing is.

For gentle floating, I think it might be my growing ability to be resilient in mood.

Mike

Hi Mike, I found this article for you that you might be interested in:

Dreams About Flying: Dream Meanings Explained

That's a great article, thanks. The guy has Jungian training, which is something I like. I am mainly interested in gentle floating, because that's what occurs most of the time (rather than flying). I think that it makes sense that it corresponds to a sense of freedom. I think in me it points to the growing ability to shift my thoughts and my perspective while meditating (or in life). It feels like that in the dream---I do something in the dream to help me float that feels analogous to what I do in meditation to "let go" of something that has grabbed me.

I'll try to narrow my search to focus on the floating aspect. However, to me it sounds like you have a pretty wise handle on your own awareness as to the meaning of this dream to you and I doubt there is much more one could offer you as you appear to have a great understanding of dreams and are very self-aware.