The Element Encyclopedia

by Theresa Cheung
Breathing indicates the presence of life, so in your dream the condition or speed of your breathing may depict your pace of life.

If you are holding your breath, this suggests fear and stress.

If you are panting or breathing fast, this suggests excitement and stimulation.

If you are underwater or not breathing at all, this reproduces the condition of the womb and indicates a need to escape from waking reality. To dream of breathing warm air denotes the possible onset of trouble, whilst breathing cold air foretells strength and courage.

If you are feeling stifled by stale air or oppressive humidity, this indicates an illadvised friendship that isn’t encouraging the dreamer to fulfill his or her potential. Or perhaps you feel stifled by your current circumstances in waking life.

Alternatively could you be feeling breathless with anticipation? If you dreamed of taking in great gulps of invigorating air, your dream may be urging you to clear the air—resolve a tense situation—in your waking life, or it may have been referring to a sense of freedom and lightness.

The Big Dictionary of Dreams

by Martha Clarke
Breath is the most precise indication of your emotional and physical state. It could reflect a situation in which the dreamer, in real life, has trouble breathing. The cause could be a bad sleeping position or a diagnosed illness.

If it is not these, the dream of breathing with difficulty signals a moment of fatigue in which you find yourself surrounded by adverse circumstances that drown you. On the contrary, if you dream that you breathe deeply and intensely, the dream reveals a state of well-being in a positive environment that stimulates the development of your personality and your projects.

Ten Thousand Dream Dictionary

by Pamela Ball
1- To become aware of one’s own breathing in a dream indicates a deep connection with the process of life.

To be aware of someone else’s breathing indicates the need for empathy and understanding with that person.

2- Our own emotional state can very often have an effect on the rate at which we breathe which then becomes translated in dreams into, for instance, a panic attack.

To be breathing underwater is an instinctive return to the womblike state.

3- The Soul. Breath is the power of the Spirit and life giving power, without it we are nothing.