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We offer coaching and training on dream coaching, Dreamwork,
lucid dreaming and on how to apply these skills in coaching and therapy.
Dreaming Together (Dreamwork) is an integral
part of our systemic coaching
Are You the Dreamer? ... Or the Dreamed?
My interest in dreams and Dreamwork began in Hawaii in the
1980's, with two friends who were also studying huna with native Hawaiian
healers. Together we researched Moe 'Uhane - dreams and dreaming
methods of pre-contact Hawaii ... and we experienced some strange alternate realities.
Dreaming may be older than human consciousness. When I
watch sleeping babies and sleeping animals move their limbs and body, while
making unusual sounds, I assume that dreams are happening. Dreams seem to
assimilate or integrate events, and perhaps evaluate future possibilities.
Since ancient times people have searched for the meaning of
dreams. Dreams seem to be one way that people connect their emotional reality
to their physical world. Psychologists say that an awake human mind is limited
to holding about seven things in consciousness. It seems that a sleeping
human mind (unconscious, subconscious or body-mind) can simultaneously manage
thousands of things ... for example, the details of dreams.
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In ancient Egyptian healing,
one relief for mental problems was to sleep in a temple. The island of Philae
(near Aswan) was said to be a center of temple sleep. Dreams would be
influenced by the temple atmosphere and by expectations of supernatural powers;
and were interpreted by priests.
Temple at Philae (Photo:
Przemyslaw Idzkiewicz) |
Many books
have been written about interpreting the content of dreams, which are
often written as if every reader uses the same symbols as the author, regardless
of their history, family and cultural background. I am wary of the claims of
dream analysts ... whose dreams are they analyzing?
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Dreamwork |
If you want individual success,
you can dream alone;
if other people are involved, we can dream together. |
Daydreams & Visualization
Can you imagine yourself on a beach in Hawaii?
Or shopping in Gucci with a platinum credit card? If you feel out of sync with
the world, you can create some retreats. Can you
picture and feel yourself in places you'd like to go to, or doing things you
might like to try? A white sand beach in Hawaii? Parachuting in Brazil? Climbing
the Himalayas? Sailing the South Pacific ... with somebody special?
Athletes often dream before competitions. They imagine
themselves winning a race, or skiing a challenging hill or moving through their gymnastic
movements. They see themselves doing each move perfectly ... (and if they are
smart they also see themselves gaining awards or recognition).
The Harvard Business School surveyed graduates about
their goals and again ten years later. Most graduates who had clear goals
were making two to ten times the income of their classmates. This is a useful
example that is closer to the directed daydreaming we often use in our
systemic coaching.
Can you remember the touch and feel of a lemon? It's cool, heavy
and a bit greasy ... and how your fingers feels when you peel it ... and now
imagine biting it. Probably your mouth fills with saliva. Your body glands are
now responding to your imagination ... to a dream ... not to external reality.
Hawaiian Dreamtime: Moe Uhane
For the healing kahuna of old Hawaii, unusual or recurring
dreams were considered significant, and worthy of exploration. To better recover
the details of a dream, and to find the meanings, a healing expert (kahuna)
might join people within their dreams. Hawaiian Dreamwork is called
moe'uhane - dreams of the spirit or lucid dreaming - and is a
potent key to open the door of
Hawaiian Spirituality.
I have been exploring moe uhane and expanding Dreamwork
since 1988, and I developed some useful methods for this Dreamwork in coaching,
psychotherapy and personal development. The feedback and responses I get are
persistently positive and often phenomenally so.
Many anxiety attacks or depressions
can be called waking nightmares, and the methods I developed for
changing dreams are often valid. And
Hawaiian shamanism
includes awaiku - angelic
assistance.
People resolve unpleasant dreams and recurring
nightmares while making dreaming a wonderful activity.
(I integrated dream coaching into our systemic coach training ...
we teach it on our Systems 3 training.)
Dreamscapes & Nightmares
If you have nightmares
related to ongoing relationship abuse - please
seek advice
from appropriate helping professionals about how you can resolve
abusive situations.
We help many people resolve nightmares and sleep better.
However, many things can cause bad dreams, for example:
- Fevers, influenza and other diseases
- Memories of traumatic or abusive events
- Side effects of certain drugs or medications
- Anxiety about some crisis or potential situation
- Foods or beverages to which you are allergic or cannot
tolerate
We can help you dissolve nightmares, which often reflect
relationship and emotional problems. We may offer to dream with you.
We may gently enter your dreamscape with you, and together we can understand
the often-confusing and sometimes scary imagery. In this way, we can offer possibilities
for helping you integrate your
conflicts, dissolve your relationship bonds or assimilate trauma.
Moe 'uhane and Dreamwork are particularly useful when we
are helping people change deep limiting beliefs or toxic relationships. Our dream
coaching also helps people find lasting solutions for unpleasant or disturbing
dreams and recurring nightmares. If your nightmares are due to anxiety about some
crisis or traumatic event, we can ask your unconscious mind what solutions you want!
We can help you change unpleasant dreams
and 'set up' your dreaming!
Our Dreamwork Coaching
We liken entering dream reality to entering Pandora's Box. Neither
you nor we know what to expect in your dreams. First, forget any books of
interpretations of dream symbols, at least for now ... we usually find that events and
symbols in your dreams have many messages, not only one. Also, many scary dreams
are those of inner children - split off parts
of you that got stuck somewhere and never grew up.
Dreamwork is no place for arrogance ... rather for humility! During
Dreamwork, I usually feel exhilarated, in a reverie. People bring such
interesting dreams then together we explore them. People bring
symbols filled with personal meaning and emotional significance, usually
corresponding to their relationships, goals and emotions. Then, in dreamtime, we can
together dream dreams that can change reality.
Are you curious about some unusual, repetitive or well
remembered dreams? If you have unpleasant emotions or if you have
recurring dreams of misery, death or monsters - why not ask us for help?
Caution: entering the nightmares
of disturbed people can be
traumatic for unskilled or inexperienced helping professionals.
Dreamwork Case History
I was teaching a class about dreams and Jungian archetypes
at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. I asked for a
demonstration subject and a young woman volunteered. She described a recurring dream of being chased
by a female vampire.
During our dreaming together, instead of her running away in
terror, I helped her slow down and communicate with the dream vampire. The vampire explained that
she was her keeper of power, and as the woman kept running away, she kept following her - with her power!
The vampire offered the woman a cloak - jet-black with bright red
trim. She put on the cloak and felt immediately resourceful. She said
that never before could she remember feeling so powerful. The now-friendly
vampire also offered deep advice about the woman's lifestyle and some life
challenges.
Two weeks later, the young woman reported that she could easily
maintain her powerful state. She also described a number of positive
changes that she had made in her family and personal relationships.
Online Dreamwork Coaching
Plagiarism is theft. � Martyn Carruthers,
2000-2012 All rights reserved.
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