The usual dream scenario is that every toilet, no matter how promising it appears to be, turns out to be unsuitable

Some people say it’s probably just as well that most toilets you find in your dreams are unsuitable to use because, otherwise, you might end up wetting your bed – or worse.

This may be the case when your bladder is bursting and the physical sensation is impinging on your dream creating the whole, urgent, ‘Where’s the toilet?’ scenario. Body sensations can and do affect your dreams, and since most people need to get up and empty their bladder during the night, the common occurrence of this dream is not surprising.

However, how many times have you woken from this dream without a pressing bladder? And has your physical bladder ever emptied itself while dreaming of peeing? Probably not. These dreams are common, and symbolically meaningful.

The usual dream scenario is that every toilet, no matter how promising it appears to be, turns out to be unsuitable. Public toilets are locked, or there are no doors or walls on the cubicles, or the toilets are too filthy or overflowing to use. Another variation is that you do get to pee or empty your bowels but you can’t get the toilet to flush, or it starts overflowing while you are using it. In more fulfilling toilet dreams, you get to fully and happily relieve your bladder or bowel, sometimes even in public or out in nature, and then continue with your dream with no further pressing need to find a toilet.

Do you ever feel there's too much 'crap' in your life, blocking good things from coming to you?

The tip for interpreting these dreams is to see emptying the bladder or bowel as releasing toxins and waste products from your system. These are times for letting go of things in your life that need to be let go.

When the let go in the dream is easy and good, and the waste products flow away, you are letting go of issues in your dream. Too often, though, we feel surrounded by ‘shit’ and ‘crap’ that clogs up the natural flow of life. When this happens, you may dream of overflowing or dirty toilets. And when that ‘shit’ is building up within you, when you just can’t seem to find the right conditions to let it go, you encounter unsuitable dream toilets.

This dream is also to do with not getting enough privacy in your life, particularly for processing and letting go of emotional issues and related ‘crap’. There’s always the feeling of someone looking in, when all you need is time to yourself. When you have this dream, plan some quality private time, or ask why you feel unable to discuss and process some of your issues in public.

[Extract from 101 Dream Interpretation Tips, Jane Teresa Anderson, pub 2007]

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