Too Much Mindfulness? Try Dreaming While Awake Instead
In a way, we are always dreaming… and this is a good thing. Proponents of mindfulness meditation call it our monkey mind: the crazy, undisciplined way our thoughts jump around when we allow our mind to wander freely. It used to be thought that when we were not focusing our minds on something specific, our
Jungian dreamwork basics from John van Eenwyck at the Jung Platform Summit
Jung wrote vast amounts of material about dreams, so much that to approach the topic can be intimidating. In the first lecture for the free dream summit now taking place on The Jung Platform, John van Eenwyck pares this enormous topic down to a few helpful ideas about how to work with your dreams. The
The nocturnal therapist: An argument for turning toward our dreams
Dreams have inherent therapeutic value. Why don’t we tap into them more? By Dr. Leslie Ellis Dreaming is therapeutic. Is there a way to make it more so? Unequivocally, yes. Much like therapy, the more we invest our time and energy into our dreams, the more helpful they will be. This is not a new
Getting answers while you sleep: How incubation seeds helpful dreams
If you are wrestling with a particularly challenging issue and no amount of effort yields an answer, sometimes ‘sleeping on it’ can bring insight that eluded you during the day. If you deliberately ask your dream-self to help you solve problems, the help that comes from such inquiry offers multiple and surprising benefits. Some
Dreams of Bereavement: How Your Dreams Help You Grieve
Bereavement dreams are common and they help us through the grief process. Surprisingly, dreams following the loss of a beloved person or pet are mostly positive. Earlier this summer, already made more cruel by the distress and dislocation brought on by the pandemic, I lost my beloved cat Shadow, a massive Maine Coon that was
New Study Examines Complex Relationship Between Nightmares, Suicide and Depression
A recent study refutes the research which shows nightmares are indicators of increased risk of suicide. A group of Swedish researchers (Hedström et al., 2020) studied a group of more than 40,000 participants with an average follow-up of 19 years and found the rate of suicide linked to depression was not worsened by nightmares. Their
No need to fear the Old Hag: Sleep Paralysis briefly explained
Locals will warn you never to sleep on your back in Newfoundland, or risk a visit from the Old Hag. She steals in on the night fog just as you are falling asleep. She is an apparition that crawls up from the foot of your bed and sits on your chest so heavily you can’t
Turning Toward Our Nightmares: How This Paradoxical Move Helps Us
The surprising thing about nightmares is that there is nothing to fear. This is not to dismiss them. They feel absolutely real, and our heart-pounding response to them is also very real. But as frightening as the characters and situations nightmares depict may be, the dreams themselves are like paper tigers, playing out on the
A Brief Introduction to Experiential Dreamwork
Have you noticed that your dreams are more dynamic and intense during these uncertain times? You are not alone. Many people are reporting increased nightmares and disturbed dreaming, and want to know what this means and what to do with their dreams. This introductory course in experiential dreamwork will give participants several simple yet powerful