The inherited body's deep brain continually tattoos its image on the brain's receptive and dynamic cortex. The brain functions like its close relative, the skin, in that it, too, receives and absorbs the body's patterns. The body's pulses, of which the dream is one, deepen the relationship of the body to itself by osmosis and volitional influences, thus shaping personal identity. The dream is somatic activity, speaking about itself as it prepares for the awake world. The instinctual body and personal, social somatic shapes talk to each other.
Some people dream of the wild man or woman even as they live as proper social citizen.
Each self influences the midbrain the cortex in an inner dialogue. The body is an excitable, contractile continuum that is responsive and able to shift its shape Dreams, too, are like the heart, continually shifting shape, a pulsation from stable to less stable, and back to stable again. These cellular pulses deepen the range of tissue metabolism and emotional expression. The dream, which is organized from the pulsation of the body, helps give the soma a personal structure and sense of presence. The method of working with a dream is to connect it more fully to its own source, the body.