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I\u2019ve been reading and listening to a lot of Iain McGilchrist\u2019s work lately. I find his thesis very compelling\u2013 he argues that many of our most intractable problems are rooted in the struggle between the left and right hemispheres of the human brain, a struggle in which the left hemisphere has recently become dangerously dominant.\u00a0 If you are not yet familiar with this idea, I would urge you to seek out and watch a few of McGilchrist\u2019s many online interviews or delve into either one of his two excellent books\u2013The Master and his Emissary, and The Matter with Things. McGilchrist…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
Let\u2019s consider the question: why do dreamwork? It takes some investment of time and effort, and most of us are pretty busy with other important things, especially first thing in the morning. So why would we take the trouble to think about our dreams? What does it offer us? One good answer lies in a basic understanding of mind states. We humans have three fundamental states of mind: awake, dreaming sleep, and deep dreamless sleep. If we take the trouble to remember a dream and give it some thoughtful consideration, we are taking a phenomenon that arose in one of…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
I recently had the following dream: I\u2019m at a large educational institution, I have a sense that I am in the 3rd year of a 4-year program. I am with a tall man, who is my classmate, colleague, and friend. We are approached by another man. He is smaller, younger, and he looks frail and unwell. When I see him the phrase \u2018failure to thrive\u2019 comes to mind. He asks us for help. He can\u2019t find the rest of people in his year (he is not in the 3rd year like us) and this has made his health situation quite…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
Have you ever had a dream experience in which you were convinced that you were awake, but you could not move or make a sound? This experience is often referred to a \u2018sleep paralysis\u2019. It\u2019s not the same for everybody, but several of the following characteristics are often present: a feeling of not being able to move a feeling of not being able to call out or speak a sensation of being held down, or having something heavy on the chest a sense that there is a \u2018presence\u2019 in the room, or just outside it a confusion about whether one…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
One powerful way to work with your dreams is to re-enter them and dream them forward.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
If you have a frightening encounter with an animal in a dream you don\u2019t have to let it end there. Re-enter the dream….slow everything down and give your brain a chance to contextualize and integrate whatever is happening. Now\u2026how do you feel about that animal? If you feel better\u2026what would you like to happen next?<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
I always sit up and take notice when someone tells me a dream about a tree. Many years ago I became aware that tree dreams seemed to have some special significance; they stood out somehow. So often they had that mysterious, numinous quality of \u2018big dreams\u2019. The tree (or trees) in the dream weren\u2019t just part of the background props and the setting, they seemed to carry some particular meaning in their own right. The tree was not only a key part of the dream story but seemed also to set the feeling tone. I stayed on the lookout for…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
One of the greatest benefits dreamwork offers us is the chance to change, to learn a new behaviour, a new way of being. To get this benefit we usually have to do a bit of work. Most dreams give us the problem but not the solution; it\u2019s our job to find a solution, and we may have to explore a few possible solutions before we find one that really feels right. This is where the IRA comes in (Imaginal-Ritual-Actual)\u2013we can start by imagining the solution playing out in our minds; then we can do a ritual enactment that reinforces and…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
Have you ever had a dream of someone or something that was truly nasty and harmful, something that creeped you right out, terrified or tormented you? Most of us have dreams like this, and upon waking we often wish the outcome had been different. We may wish that we had taken a more courageous stand against that nasty figure\u2013 stood up to it, talked to it, fought back against it, defeated it or drove it off, perhaps even killed it. Many people have wondered\u2026what would it mean to imagine killing an entity from our own dream life? Is it possible…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
It seems like a very simple and natural thing to ask yourself: \u201cWhat does my dream mean?\u201d We all tend to do it. It\u2019s so fascinating! Could there be any reason not to do this? Perhaps\u2026 because this seemingly simple question sets many subtle and powerful things in motion, particularly these three: First\u2013 when you ask yourself \u201cwhat does my dream mean?\u201d you remove yourself from it in order to see it from an external perspective. You\u2019re no longer an actor in a play, you\u2019re the critic writing about the play. Second\u2013by asking this question you are petrifying the dream…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>
Dreamwork can be very dramatic and alive, especially inside dreamwork, the kind where you re-enter your dream, let it come alive again, and move it forward in your imagination. But dreamwork can also bog down and become stagnant and unsatisfying. You may know this from your own experience\u2013 have you had that feeling of your dreamwork session losing energy, as if things have wandered slightly off the true path? Why and how does this kind of stagnation happen? I have been doing inside (re-entry) dreamwork almost exclusively for several years now, and I have observed three quite distinct kinds…<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>