I often go to bed and then chant a mantra silently, radiate good-will or some other practice until sleep. It is not uncommon for these practices to then become the frame of reference for the time spent dreaming. At first this seemed to be a novelty, but as it grew more familiar I began to explore it further.
One aspect of the potential in this type of practice reminds me of an article I came across about 8 years ago or so by Jay Drixit. The title was “Is dreaming rehearsal for real life?” In this article a theory and supporting evidence are put forward for dreams being a rehearsal and learning space for skills necessary for survival.
“Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo believes the marooned rats lost their ability to defend themselves not because they were exhausted but because they were robbed of their dreams. Dreams, he contends, are a training ground in which animals and people alike go over the behaviors that are key to their survival. Prevented from dreaming, the rats were unable to rehearse their survival behaviors. In other words, they were defenseless because they were out of practice.”
-“Is dreaming rehearsal for real life?” by Jay Drixit
Seeing as how for many Buddhists the perceptions and behaviors around survival are often some of the deeper places that work needs to be done, the potential of shifting survival responses from the tendencies to act out of greed, hatred, and delusion towards more selfless problem solving that operates without a “me” in the center of the answer (often prioritized above others) seems like a potent place to work.
This is in line with my own experiences. When meditation methods, or the perspective shift of emptiness begin to operate within a dream, the content and flavor of the dream tend to shift in a drastic way, as does what is learned and practiced in the dream(s).