Dream

Invite the dream to Visit

The following material is taken from:
PowerHunch: Living an Intuitive Life^© (Beyond Words, Hillsboro, OR: 2001)

If you are an avid dreamer, you now have a sharp new tool to cut through the text and clip out the penetrating insight. Perhaps your dream practice is intermittent or even brand new. Use these guidelines to consistently connect with your intuitive mind and learn from your dreams.  Here are the rules: 

1. Set your intention.

2. Create your dream environment

3. Record the dream in your journal.

4. Follow the DreamShift.

Set Your Intention:

               Setting your intention really has three parts: making a commitment,  programming a dream for a specific purpose, and asking for an unprogrammed dream.

             Make a commitment: If you have trouble remembering your dreams, tell yourself several times throughout the day, "I will remember my dreams." If your inner censor is chiding you by saying, "You won't remember your dreams," remember the refrain you learned in the last chapter: "Yes I can! Yes I can! Yes I can!"

            Program a dream: Ask your dreaming mind to attend to a specific request. Many people literally sleep on their problems, and find the answer is there when they wake up. Before Yvonne goes to sleep, she appeals to her intuitive mind by making the request, "I need an answer to this by tomorrow morning." When she awakens the next morning, she has the answer and a strong sense of what she has to do, even though the actual dream content remains elusive.

             Cay Randall-May uses the dream state to retrieve lost objects, create outlines for books and classes, and even formulate meeting agendas. You, too, can formulate an agenda literally while you sleep. As you go into the dream state, ask yourself for certain information when you wake up. You don't have to remember the dream. Just know that when you wake up, you will have the outline of the meeting and a clear idea of the agenda.

            She also uses this technique to help her decide between two alternatives. For example, if you are trying to decide between two jobs, first ask for a dream in which you see the results of taking Job A. Then wait a couple of nights and ask for a dream in which you see the results of taking Job B. You don't have to remember the contents of the dream; just check in with how you feel when you wake up in the morning.

            Remember: You are not always going to get the results you want in this way. Laila was trying to make a decision between two daycare centers for her son. Every night, she instructed her dreaming mind, "I will go to sleep and find the right answer." After three days, however, no answer came. She finally realized that her answering dream was thwarted because her heart wanted to choose one daycare facility, while her head wanted her to choose another! She finally had to reconcile herself to the fact that she wasn't going to resolve that dilemma in a dream. Intuitively, she understood that she needed to do more real-world research before she could let her intuition guide her to the right choice.

            Elicit an unprogrammed dream: I usually feel that the cosmic or intuitive mind knows what I need to receive. Before I go to sleep, I set my intention to receive a dream by saying, "I will fall asleep quickly, sleep peacefully through the night, and awake in the morning remembering my dreams." I fall asleep knowing that the dream will clarify any disconcerting issue in my life; or bring any buried concern to the surface so the smoldering embers of a potential problem can be addressed before it becomes hazardous. 

 

Create Your Dream Environment

            Bring comforting objects into your dream environment. Place flowers, a plant, a crystal, a spiritual picture, an inspirational saying, or attractive art object by your bedside. For example, Pete gazes at a beautiful geometric rainbow crystal on his nightstand, and says, "My intuition speaks clearly to me through my dreams."

Have your dream journal and a pen or pencil near the bed. My journal is a small, three-hole, loose-leaf notebook. You can also use a standard size notebook or a spiral memo book that is easy to carry.

Be gentle as you approach bedtime. If stimulants such as alcohol or caffeine keep you awake, then avoid them before sleep.

Open to a new page in your dream journal. Date it for both the night and next morning. This is also the best time to record your Day Notes. If you have a programming question, write it down under the date. If you prefer, you can speak into a tape recorder instead of writing in a notebook.

 

Record the Dream in Your Journal.

Your dreaming mind is very fragile as you awaken, and can easily beat a retreat if stunned by a blaring alarm clock, restless partner, or affectionate children and pets. Lie still as you replay the dream in your mind. You can start at the end and go through each scene until you reach the beginning. Don't move or even open your eyes until you are ready to write in your dream journal. Stay in the same position you were in when you were dreaming.

            If the dream is elusive, lie still until you can "pull up a thread"— any image that will help you elicit the complete dream. If you only remember a fragment, an intention, or a word, write that down. Later, that fragment will spontaneously trigger another memory, which will give you the entire dream.

            Allocate one or more pages in your dream journal to collecting interesting symbols that come to you in dreams. After all, they have been personally crafted and designed for you by your intuitive mind!

            You might want to keep track of symbols that are especially important in other ways. For example, Ruby had an especially vivid dream of a black bear rising from the bottom of a lake to the surface. She felt that this powerful image was especially important to her, although at first she was not sure what it represented. She discovered that the  black bear symbol reminded her of a huggable cuddly bear. The insight came that she needed to get closer to others and hug them. This would help her emotions be more open and rise to the surface. She decided to buy a small bear charm and wear it on a necklace. Over the years, she slowly added other important dream symbols to the necklace, to remind her of these messages from her dreams.

 

Follow the DreamShift.

            A Yiddish proverb says, "A dream uninterpreted is like a letter unopened." How long can you keep a letter unopened? Not for very long. The same goes for dream interpretation—don't leave it for too long.

            If possible, upon awakening, follow the steps of the DreamShift. If you only have a hot minute, at least give the dream a title. Make a commitment to spend quality time with your dreaming mind as often as you can. By honoring your dreams, you will become a prolific dreamer.  (Note: The DreamShift steps can be found in Chapter 5 of PowerHunch!).