32
Dream Skills
GROUNDWORK
FOR DREAM
RECALL
Therapy has become increasingly
holistic, and the body, with its
nonverbal knowledge, is recognized as
an important area for self-awareness.
Through observing and checking in with
the body, you can learn a great deal.
Muscular tension, trembling, hot or
cold sensations, and so on are
indicative signs of emotions you have
experienced. Practice the skill of tuning
in to these to help dream recall.
Tune in to your body
As memories drift through your mind after a
recent dream, your body will also have been
involved as the dream unfolded. For instance, it
may have been reliving making love to a former
partner. Not always discernible but in reality
fully present, that body is remembering.
Fear—our primal response to survival—is
likely to top the list. Though actual survival is
less of an issue in the developed world,
psychological survival certainly is. Recalling
unpleasant encounters and wanting to run
away from them is experienced simultaneously
by the dreamer’s body. As countless
bodywork researchers have discovered,
memories are stored at a cellular level
and will respond on cue if triggered by a
dream narrative. Sometimes that body
echo is obvious—but not always.
Focusing
American philosopher and psychologist
Eugene Gendlin evolved a method to
plumb those trapped somatic
memories. He called his insight
US_032-033_Groundwork_mindfulness.indd 32 04/06/2019 11:15
33
Groundwork for Dream Recall
Focusing; a process by which you contact
hidden les of sensation. Calling it a “special
kind of internal bodily awareness”, Gendlin
insists this is not an emotion—rather, it is a felt
sense that can become meaningful only once
you have worked your way inward to discover
its signicance.
Tense musculature can be the result of
suppressing hurt or angry feelings in childhood.
A young child does not yet have the brain
development to challenge and deal with shock,
however innocent; Focusing may help to
release you from its grip. You can do this on
your own, following Gendlin’s six suggested
movements (see Further Reading on page 211).
Failing this, nd a qualied body therapist
trained specically to work with somatic issues.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is another valuable skill, in which
you train yourself to notice consciously what
you are thinking and feeling while it happens,
here and now. For this, we largely use the right
side of our brain, the seat of intuition and
imagination. Meanwhile, the left side deals with
logic, penetrating the outside world. When
these two sides are in balance, all is well. Too
often, the left hemisphere is overworked—
consider business, politics, and law—and
though essential, the resulting overthinking can
blur what the psyche is trying to convey.
So you may nd it hard to start with. Seek out
a quiet space to sit and focus on the sound of
your breathing. Try gently accepting your
thoughts as they arise, then simply spiral back
to the sound of your breath to quiet a
chattering mind and prepare an inner space for
creative thought. As psychotherapist Nigel
Wellings, author of Why Can’t I Meditate?, says,
“By being mindful, we can catch our self in the
moment going along well-worn tracks we now
know do not serve us well and consciously
choose to do something dierent.”
Daily meditation will help you work more
deeply on your inner world. As well as helping
to transition to a more open mindset, it also
reduces stress levels—this is science-
backed—calms the mind, and can
prepare you for a deeper quality of
sleep for your dreaming life.
DAILY MEDITATION WILL
HELP YOU TO WORK
MORE DEEPLY ON YOUR
INNER WORLD.
“
”
US_032-033_Groundwork_mindfulness.indd 33 17/06/2019 16:18
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.