Dreamwork
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“Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.” ―Sigmund Freud What is the value of working with dreams? Working with Dreams has dramatically and beautifully enhanced my life in a multitude of ways. I grew up knowing that dreams held answers to problems or unanswered questions. My mom, a very pragmatic and practical women told me stories of receiving answers through her dreams on multiple occasions. She was a mathematician, and in college if she couldn’t figure out a math problem, she would go to bed, dream the formula and finish up in the morning. I remember her knitting, and forgetting how to do a certain stitch for a pattern she was working on. (We did not have internet at the time.) She would dream the solution and continue working on her project the next day. There wasn’t anything mystical or magical about it. It was just how it was. Of course, to me it was magical and mystical, but that’s me. I do believe dreams are magical and mystical, AND they are also practical and can help our lives in very down to earth and functional ways. Throughout my own life I have had dreams that gave me a lot of insight about who I am. I’ve received guidance around my own mental health, physical health, emotional states, and where I am in my spiritual development. I have dreams that represent different parts of myself, and sometimes I have dreamt for friends or I have a dream that is really telling me something about the current collective energies at play in the world. There are no bounds when it comes to dreams. We have this amazing part of our lives that happens every single night. I know for myself, as a dreamer, if I remember a dream I write it down, go about my day and then I’ll be onto the next dream. But when I pause, and really look at the dream, and esp. when I share the dream, it begins to come alive. It begins to stir, it activates the symbols and stories and there are new curiosities, connections and AH HA moments. Dreams connect us to more than our everyday realities. They are living symbols in a different realm- the dream realm, or imaginal realm. This realm is filled with wonder, travel, magic, symbolism, myth, shadow, and mysteries. For me, when I am actively paying attention and attending to my dream realm, these qualities cross over into my waking life. I have access to a more expansive reality, I begin to notice more synchronicities, and life is more interesting. I have been working with dreams for decades. And I have had the honor of being a part of a small weekly dream group with dear colleagues who also highly value their dreams. I have witnessed the the beauty and challenge that comes from not trying to figure out or interpret , but hold a sense of curiosity and wonderment. We examine and allow information to reveal itself. Staying in the not knowing and getting comfortable with this allows for more to be known! Funny how that happens. I deeply honor the dreams of my clients. I take them seriously, and hold space for exploration and inquiry. I encourage my clients to keep a dream journal, I teach how to incubate night dreams as well as daydreams. Together we step into the dreamworld and navigate the different landscapes and dream encounters in a variety of ways. Usually it is through a re-telling of the dream, dream re-entry, writing, visioning, and art. Depending on what is evoked, we can also use EMDR and Brairspotting to help process and give resources to the different aspects of ourselves and issues that need extra care and attention. |