Potential dangers (and benefits) of herbs that help you dream
Clinical herbalist Sky Richarde says she is often asked about plants that can bolster your dream life by giving you more vivid or lucid dreams. However, few people are aware of the potential dangers of taking an herb without knowing about things like side effects and possible interactions with other medications. “A lot of people
The dream text is not so sacred: Dreams as doorways to possibility
“A dream is alive.” Eugene Gendlin wrote this in his book, Let Your Body Interpret Your Dreams to describe the ongoing, in-process nature of dreams and how much potential they possess because of this. He said dreams are ‘unfinished’ and therefore they represent a huge possibility space. Rather than dismiss what may at first feel
Dream Emotion: A key to unlock their meaning and purpose
By Dr. Leslie Ellis Emotion is key to understanding and working with dreams. Many theories of dreaming suggest that emotion is what generates dreams, and that one of the reasons for dreaming is to process feelings. Dream researcher Ernest Hartmann famously called dreams ‘picture-metaphors’ for the dreamer’s most prominent emotion. For example, he found that
What Can You Do About Your Nightmares? Ideas from a trauma expert
There is a lot you can do, and some compelling reasons why you should take action to quell your nightmares, especially if you suffer from post-traumatic stress injury Tom is awakened with a start by the sound of his own screams. Several nights a week in his dreams, he revisits the burning building, and hears
Dreaming in Times of Collective Crisis: A nocturnal perspective on Ukraine
Recently I dreamt I was standing on a rocky, mountainous ridge, the stone an iron colour, like dust mixed with blood. I am looking for a way down, and all the options seem treacherous. Suddenly, the ground begins to split under my feet, a massive slice of it neatly dropping away. It feels as if
Nightmares and the Nervous System: A new way to understand and treat nightmares
In the world of trauma therapy, a paradigm shift has been taking place over the past decade or so, a marked shift toward embodied and somatic approaches to the understanding and healing of trauma. The polyvagal theory by Dr. Stephen Porges has led clinicians to consider that much of what was previously viewed as pathological
Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model: A Bottom-Up Approach
A timely and compassionate book on treating trauma and addiction using the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model. Just at a time when the wider world is waking up to a more compassionate and inclusive way of understanding trauma and addiction, a timely book that addresses these issues in personal, historical, embodied and practical ways has arrived.
A shift in dreaming patterns from the first to second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic A year and a half ago, as the full scope of the pandemic that was descending on us became apparent, there was a global increase in severe stress, worry, fear and uncertainty. Reports of heightened dream recall and dream vividness
Dreaming with our hearts as well as our minds
New research uncovers a brain-body network that creates our dreams So much of the research into how and why we dream has focused on the brain rather than the body… with the possible exception of nightmares where physiological fear responses are clearly a part of the experience. My sense of dreaming has always been that