Meditation and Dreamwork Book

It’s so amazing when you “accidentally” find a book that you weren’t looking for. And, just like magic, it turns out to be the one you really needed.  I am already learning so much from this “Meditation and Dreamwork” book that seemed to just jump out at me from the shelf in the laundry room of our apartment complex.  Oh, sometimes, doing laundry can lead you to extraordinary findings.  Where you might lose a sock, you may also gain a treasure – of learning and exploration.  I have just begun this book but it has already taught me more about myself while helping me to appreciate further the world around me. I love how old books can still speak to you, louder and clearer than some lessons or classes that you can be seated in in the here and now.

If you’re interested in dreams and meditation and in adding depth and more awareness to your life in general, I highly recommend this book.  It’s also a great way for someone who has been curious or interested in meditation, but a little overwhelmed by where to start, to learn some very simple but life changing steps towards making meditation a part of your world.  It takes the daunting, far-from-my-regular day stereotypes of meditation and dreams, and brings them together to show you how the these seemingly separate worlds are not separate from your daily life at all.  In fact, they truly enhance each other if you know how to tap into this connection.  This book teaches you how to do just that.

I think stumbling upon this book was no accident at all, but just another bit of proof that our energies and inner guides really lead us to answers all the time.  And we just need to learn to be more open to listening to the signs.   Dreams are an amazing part of our lives, not just because they mesmerize us in our sleeping worlds, but because they enrich our waking world when we know how to make use of them.

 

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Writing Down Your Dreams

As a lover of words and literature, I find the process of writing so intriguing.  But I realize that not everyone enjoys writing, or even feels comfortable doing it.  Believe it or not, I too have my days when I think the last thing I want to do is write some more.  Sometimes, I’m scared that nothing interesting will come out.   But… there is a secret behind what makes me pick up and start writing again:  it’s not until you actually try it and give it a chance that you come to learn that writing has its own power to grow… grow ideas, grow new perceptions, grow solutions and even grow a whole set of words that you never had planned in your head beforehand.   And I am always fascinated to find out where this will take me. And the only way to find out, is to START the writing.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from my favorite English Literature Professor- Lee Johnson- is this Wordsworthian idea that writing has “the power to move thought forward”.  The romantic poet Wordsworth felt that the mere act of putting pen to paper (or pen nib and ink to scrolls- in that period?) – writing a word or one thought down- actually allows more thoughts to develop and surface.  It is, therefore, in the act of writing that the writing  grows. Sometimes, you might think you have no idea what to write, but it’s because you haven’t started yet. Let the writing happen for you. Writing actually generates more writing.  Believe me, it works.

I have suggested in previous entries in this blog that using a voice recorder, or scribbling down images and pictures of your dreams, is a helpful way to record the dreams as immediately as you can.

Nevertheless, it is important not to use this as an excuse not to write the dream down in words.  If you can try not to, do not use your voice and sketches as a substitute for the writing. The reason for this is that, just as Wordsworth described, it is in the writing – the process of putting the words down- that more ideas and details emerge.  It’s not that your mind will be making things up as you write. It is that you will start jogging your mind’s memory as you start jotting the first thought or idea down.  “Even if you only remember one object, …record the object, your feelings, and ideas about it. …Sometimes in the process of recording this snippet of information you will recall other pieces.”- (Dreams of the Goddess-p. 85)

The digital recorder and sketches would be better thought of as tools to help you to better remember and describe the dream so that once you do write it down, you have a more accurate picture to work from.  This does not mean that you have to write every dream down or stress yourself out with too many words.  Simple is fine.  But try not to eliminate the writing. You’ll be amazed at what you get out of it once you start.

The more you record your dreams in writing, the more value you give your subconsious and the dream world.

” Befriending the dream begins with a plain attempt to listen to the dream, to set down on paper or in a dream diary in its own words just what it says… and so one takes care receiving the dream’s feelings, as with a living person with whom we begin a relationship.”- James Hillman (in Dreams of the  Goddess)

It’s getting your mind into the habit of this recording and honoring your dreams that is important.  It’s similar to writing in a journal. Some people do not like writing, but once they train themselves to write in a journal regularly, it becomes more natural and comes more easily.  With dreams, it helps to practise keeping track of them.  Writing, with its power to move thought forward, is one of the best ways to do this.

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Quality time with your dreams…

It turns out that I didn’t grab my journal or my digital recorder last night to record my dreams, because my dreams… or at least the two I remembered at the time, just vanished. and I had nothing to report.

I found out that when you make an abrupt movement, or are woken up by a sudden noise or even a loud alarm clock, this can actually push away your ability to recall the dream you just had. 

I believe that is partly what happened to me last night.  I suddenly turned onto my other side because I was cold and went to grab the blanket to pull it further up towards my chest.  And with just those little movements, the dream slipped away even though I know that at that moment when I was awake, I was starting to remember it.

What do you do in this situation? Some books have suggested that again, it’s all about the comfort you feel when you’re sleeping.  Having the right mattress, pillow, and temperature in the room may help you prevent you from having to make sudden movements that distract your dream recall. 

Also, I have been reading how waking up naturally, if you can do it on some days, without any buzzers or outside noises to startle you awake, can help train you to remember your dreams. 

This is because at this time in the morning, you are coming out of a dream state.  Take the time to think about the images that come to mind as you rest in bed for a short while.  Don’t get up. Just lie there in the moment, and let your mind scan over the details that come up in the silence, in that very instance. 

Although this is hard before you have to go to work, and because we are often in a hurry when we get out of bed, it might mean trying it on the weekend or a day when you don’t have to worry that you might be late or miss your time to get up.

After awhile, the more you get used to this, you may be able to try more frequently.  Honoring your dreams by spending a little extra quality time with them just after you awake from the dream state means your are giving value to your dreams.  And just a few minutes each time will help to develop  your ability to recall these dreams and find out what the dream world might be telling you.

I’m going to see if I can spend a few minutes… maybe I’ll start with 5- lying in bed tomorrow morning, letting the images from my dreams sink in- before I actually get up and start my day.

You try it to!  We can exchange notes on how it all went.

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