What’s the Meaning of a Dream About Your Ex?

Dreaming about you ex can have many different meanings, and the return of all those memories while you sleep can make you wake up with disquieting feelings.

If the breakup happened only recently, it’s perfectly understandable that your ex will appear in your dreams.

But when an ex from a long time ago makes it to your dreams all of a sudden, it can definitely be a little weird and confusing.

Know just what it means to dream about your ex even if they’ve been out of your life for quite a while now.

Dream About Your Ex and Yourself Back in a Relationship

When you have a dream about your ex, it does not mean that you’re harboring passionate but secret feelings for them.

But because they were a huge part of your life for quite some time, they can still be present in your life in some other way.

After all, they were like family to you. They hung out with your friends, and they spent a lot of time with your co-workers.

They know your likes and dislikes, your quirks and habits, and your most secret dreams and desires.

Just because the romance fizzled out and you’re no longer in love does not mean you will no longer associate certain things, places, sensations, and feelings with that person.

In fact, it’s usually the little things that will make them pop back in your head, like wearing your favorite yoga outfit that he bought, smelling the shampoo that he said he loved, or passing by the coffee shop where you had your first date.

Even if you fall in love and get back together in your dream, the dream’s meaning need not be literal.

You could have been sharing a passionate kiss, or getting married, or going on a honeymoon, or buying your first house together in your dream.

Still, it does not mean that you should run to their arms and win back their love. When it comes to these kinds of dreams, you need to consider the whole context of the dream.

How do you feel about the dream? How are you feeling in a general sense? What other themes were present in your dream?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you a great deal instead of making assumptions and jumping to conclusions.

But admittedly, one of the biggest challenges that you will face when dreaming of your ex is experiencing very real feelings during and after the dream.

You had very intense feelings for this person while you were together. Dreaming about them also reminds you just how much you loved them and how much you got hurt by them.

The memories and the feelings they once made you feel can still affect you in some way. This is why you need to approach your fragile feelings rationally while you’re thinking about your ex.

Dream About Your Ex and Your Lingering Feelings for Them

When you dream about your ex, it also doesn’t mean that you no longer have feelings for them.

What exactly those feelings are can be quite tricky to figure out because nothing is ever just black and white when it comes to love and relationships.

Perhaps the most obvious and most common reason why you dream about your ex is because you just miss them!

Your ex was a major part of your life, and there were pretty incredible moments spent with them. Before you fell in love, they may have been your best girl or guy friend.

It’s not easy to forget all about the things that made you and this person love each other.

Maybe you sucked at being lovers, but you were great at being friends. No matter the reason why the relationship did not work out, deep down you know that you can never hate them or wish the worst for them.

The cause of the breakup can help shed light on how you truly feel about this dream.

How did the relationship end? Was it an amicable breakup? Was it you who initiated the breakup, or was it more circumstantial? Also, how recent was the breakup?

If it’s very recent, you can still have doubts about your decision even if it was your decision to break up. These feelings can make your ex appear in your dreams.

If you dream about getting back together with your ex but the whole time you were together you felt nothing but jealous, anxious, insecure, and lonely, it’s highly unlikely your dream wants you to pursue a reconciliation.

Your subconscious mind is more likely telling you to focus on how well you are healing and moving on from this bad relationship.

A dream about your ex can sometimes mean that you want to get back together, but it can also mean the complete opposite.

Dream About Your Ex Being in a New Relationship with Someone

It may sound weird, but when you enter a new relationship with someone, you will most likely dream about your ex.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, you will find yourself comparing your new relationship with your past ones.

There’s a reason why your past relationships didn’t work. If you dream about your ex with someone new, you’re maybe concerned whether your new relationship is a good idea or not.

Clearly you don’t want it to end in disaster and you’re also hoping that it will be so much better than the last one. It’s perfectly normal to be scared and cautious when the relationship is new.

It’s also understandable that your brain will bring up old memories whenever you feel nervous or anxious.

Dreaming of your ex with someone new most likely stems from your anxieties that you will act in the same way and follow familiar patterns.

Dreaming about your ex with someone else can be very weird. To remove the feelings of weirdness, you need to look at the dream the same way you felt about the break-up.

If you’re happy that it’s all in the past, then it’s likely there’s something else that you’re feeling aside from jealousy or regret.

Also consider who the new person in your ex’s life is.

In the dream, is it someone vague, someone you know, or someone you don’t know? Is it someone famous or popular?

If it’s someone abstract, it simply mirrors your abstract feelings for your ex as well.

Maybe you dream about your ex simply because you miss them. You’re wondering what they’re doing, how they’re doing, and whether they think about you with fondness.

If their new partner is familiar to you, you should also consider what this person symbolizes for you.

If it’s someone you’ve always felt insecure or jealous about, it can mean that you’re having issues with your confidence.

If it’s someone famous, it may be something to do with your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Dream About Your Ex Whom You Haven’t Seen or Spoken to in Years

Have you ever had one of those dreams about your ex whom you haven’t seen or spoken to in years? It’s definitely strange to suddenly be dreaming about them after all this time.

It’s also a tough one to decipher because there are a lot of reasons why they suddenly show up in your dreams.

If you dream of your ex whom you haven’t seen for a long time, your thoughts are probably focused on the time that you and this person were still in a relationship.

Maybe it was a very satisfying and happy relationship. You miss it and wish you can have it again without all the complications.

It was during this time when you felt the most alive. Sure, life was crazy then, but definitely a lot more interesting.

It’s most likely your dreams reflect all the progress you have made in your life since that relationship.

Maybe when you were together, you were too young or inexperienced to achieve the results that you desired.

Dreaming about your ex after so much time has passed can say a lot about how much you both have grown as people.

You both might be doing so much better now compared to that time when you were in love.

Everyone is guilty of glamorizing the past, so don’t let this dream of a lost love make you feel as if you missed out on a lot.

Dream About Your Ex Being Killed by Yourself

While this can be a scary and disturbing dream, it’s unlikely that you actually wish to kill your ex.

An ex is called an ex because they were in your life then but now they’re not. Therefore, an ex means the past.

Dreaming about killing your ex symbolizes ending all the problems of the past between the two of you. Dreaming about them means you have been thinking about the past.

You may also dream about killing your ex when you feel regretful about how the relationship ended or how you cut all ties with your ex.

Maybe they were really someone you thought you could build a family with and grow old with, and it’s making you think about what could have been.

Other Meanings of a Dream About Your Ex

To dream about your ex marrying someone else can be an indication that your feelings for them are still there and you want to rekindle your relationship.

If your ex remains single in your dream, it symbolizes a shift of your good luck to bad luck.

It can also signify that your romantic life can be better, and you need to resolve your issues in love and relationships more thoughtfully.

If your ex dies in your dream, the death can represent burying the past and forgetting all about it so that you can move on to a better relationship.

If you were sad that your ex died in the dream, it symbolizes your sadness or regret that you two didn’t work out.

If you see your ex in your dream coming to celebrate with you before you get married, it suggests that there’s a hesitation on your part to go ahead with the wedding.

This can be just a classic case of cold feet, though.

If your ex ignored you in the dream and you couldn’t care less, it means exactly that. You no longer care and only happened to dream about them because of a certain circumstance.

If you got annoyed because you were ignored, it means you still have doubts about why you broke up.

It’s also a reminder for you to get ahold of yourself and put it all behind you so that you can pursue the love that you deserve.

If you felt happy to see your ex again, it means that you look forward to being their friend, even if you have already broken up.

If you acted embarrassingly in front of your ex and felt out of control, it signifies that you’re experiencing your own personal conflicts.

If you’re kissing your ex in your dreams, this means you need someone who will love you the way you want to be loved and communicate with you.

If you patch things up with your ex in your dream, it signifies you’re still holding out hope that you two can be together again.

The dream also reminds you to wake up to reality and search for your true love.

When You Interpret a Dream About Your Ex, Here Are a Few Things to Remember

• You dream about your ex for many different reasons, and these reasons can be the same reasons for dreaming about any other person in your life.

• The only difference is that you feel more passionately when you dream about a person you used to love or a person you used to be in a relationship with.

• When trying to know the meaning of this dream, pay attention to the details. Which emotions were prevalent in your dream? What did you feel upon waking up?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you figure it out.

About the author

Kathy Freeman

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