Engineering Dreams: Should We?
Engineering Dreams: Should We? I’m just back from MIT’s Dream Engineering Symposium, and I only noticed my conference badge for the first time as I was packing to leave. It reads: “Leslie Ellis, Independent.” I love that. Everyone else had impressive institutional affiliations – MIT, Stanford, Harvard, sleep labs and research centers. Here I am,
Nightmare Obscura — On the Art and Science of Shaping Our Dreams
By Dr. Leslie Ellis Dreams and nightmares immerse us in experiences at the edges of what we can know. To study them is to wander a landscape of the night, of half-remembered images and startling creativity. Michelle Carr has spent her career walking this terrain with unusual determination and curiosity. Nightmare Obscura: A dream engineer’s
Dreaming with Intention: Exploring Common Factors and Lucidity for Trauma Nightmare Healing
For many who have experienced trauma, the impact doesn’t end with waking. Nightmares can be a persistent, distressing echo of past events, leaving you exhausted, re-traumatized, and robbed of restful sleep. Finding effective strategies to quiet traumatic nightmares is a significant step toward reclaiming peace. Such strategies may be more accessible than you think, both
When Bones Break: The Paradox of Recovery from Trauma
How we tend to our deepest wounds determines whether they become sources of strength or lifelong fragility When a bone breaks, two futures emerge from that singular moment of fracture. Left untreated, the break may heal poorly, remaining crooked, weak, a constant source of ache that flares with every storm. But when properly set, supported,
Dreamscapes as Sensory Journeys
The more senses we engage in dreaming, the deeper we feel and recall them In dreams, we are transported to richly-imagined landscapes that feel intensely real when we’re immersed in them. Yet most dream reports lack sensory detail beyond the visual. This may be because we humans tend to rely so heavily on our sense
The importance of your private inner space: An alternative to oversharing
In a digital world increasingly filled with immediate full disclosure and the celebration of the courage and honesty it takes to bare your soul for all the world to see, I offer a counter to that trend: the value of a private inner space to reflect and digest, to pause before sharing. I once went
Why Children Have More Nightmares—and How We Can Help
In my dream classes, I am always amazed at how well people recall their first childhood nightmares. They describe the dark woods or multi-limbed monsters as if the dream just happened yesterday. When we are very young, our dreams are more vivid, more memorable and often more frightening. Why is this? And what can we,
Perhaps our creative minds work best when we stop trying so hard By Leslie Ellis Have you ever forgotten someone’s name and strained to recall it, only to have it drift effortlessly back into awareness once you stopped trying? This simple experience reveals something profound: our minds often work best when we stop trying so
An invitation to read Let your Body Interpret Your Dreams with Dr. Leslie Ellis
Online (Class will also be recorded) 7 Tuesdays, September 9 – October 28, 2025 11:00am-12:30pm Eastern (New York) Time “A dream is alive.” Eugene Gendlin In re-reading Gendlin’s little book of 40 years ago, I have discovered so many gems, and so many ways to work with my dreams or client dreams that are now