In a previous blog, I outlined the three steps to incubating dreams and how they apply to therapeutic hypnosis.
Step 1: formulate a clear intention with feeling
Step 2: upon awaking notice what’s there without judging
Step 3: honor the dream by recording it
Honor the Dream
Saturating the conscious mind with an intention energized with emotion is an application of auto-suggestion. When your suggestion is accepted, you’ll have a dream. So you want to pay attention to what’s there as soon as you awaken.
The dream time, like the tide, recedes as the conscious mind steps forward. So lay still and listen to capture the dream. Write it down, rough draft, just as you recall it.
Once you have captured a dream on paper, you can record it in your dream journal for dream working.
The best journal I have found is a spiral-bound 350 page subject notebook. You can fold the pages right back, they’re sturdy enough for writing on your lap, and inexpensive to buy. I buy them by the case when they go on sale (usually right after the back-to-school sales end).
Their uniform size also makes it easy to file them away, too. They fit perfectly into a file storage box. I have dream journals going back to the early 1980’s stored in my attic!
Recording your dreams is akin to the uncovering process during age regression. The two most important questions you want to answer are:
1. What’s happening?
2. How does that make you feel?
Just as with the uncovering procedure, you want to use present tense. “I am walking down the aisle wearing a purple wedding gown.” This allows you to stay associated to what’s happening in the dream.
And just like hypnosis, the most important thing is DO NOT EDIT! Don’t try to figure anything out. Let the dream speak for itself. Let the subconscious mind speak!
The mark of a skilled regression hypnotherapist is the ability to stay naïve. The same is true with dream working. So record everything exactly as you recall it. It doesn’t have to make sense. Nor does it need to comply with the rules of time and space. If the dream starts with a wedding scene and ends with the first date on another planet, that’s the dream.
That’s the message using your subconscious mind’s own unique language.
Don’t worry if it seems convoluted. When you move onto the interpretive process, you’ll get to translate it all into plain English. But for now, stay present to the dream with a childlike curiosity. And don’t let your rational, logical, thinking mind get in there and monkey around with things.
Include every detail, no matter how small. Nothing in a dream is inconsequential. So if you notice a fly on the wall, write it down! Peripheral characters and objects may seem unimportant. But trust me, they’re not!
Everything in a dream has meaning.
What time of the day or year is it? What colors are present? A sense that something is new or old and familiar is significant information. What does it remind you of?
Especially make note of feelings. As you move through the dream scenes different feelings can arise. How do you feel? E.g. scared, alone, angry, sad, guilty, tired, etc.
In my next blog I’ll share a simple dream interpretation technique.
Tip: To set up for the interpretive process, use double spacing to record your dream. This will set you up for making notes later.
Plan to join me in May 2012 on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC and learn how:
- doing your own dream work can make you a better hypnotherapist!
- dream work can simplify age regression, improve your uncovering skills and help you get better results
- how much fun Dream Coaching is!
- you can increase your income by facilitating dream working classes.
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