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Healing through Dream Incubation

DreamingThemeBackDreams are a direct pathway into the subconscious.  Although they may seem at times to be just random, nonsensical firings of your brain, they contain messages for both healing and guidance.  Dreams are clearly a reflection of our deepest fears and desires.  The more we pay attention to what they are trying to tell us, the more we can learn and grow.

During Ancient Greece, the Greeks built thousands of temples in honor of the Greek god of healing, Asclepius, specifically for what they called “dream incubation” (from the Latin word incubare, meaning to lie down upon or sleep on it).  Hoping to get a powerful message, they practiced and built rituals around calling forth a dream to give them insight into solving their toughest problems. These temples were staffed by priests and physicians, known as dream healers, who were skilled in the practice of spiritual healing.  This practice is still used in some Greek monasteries today.

While some people’s most creative inspiration may come from a dream, like the plot for their next script or invention, I have personally found dreams to be an invaluable tool for insight–especially from reoccurring dreams and/or nightmares.

When I was in my 20’s I can remember one rather persistent dream about being chased by this great big old grizzly bear.  He was terrifying to look at and I would run and run and run trying to escape him.  One night I had the same dream and went into my usual run mode, but then I felt a deep exhaustion. I just couldn’t run anymore.  I had no strength left to evade this bear, so I stopped running knowing for sure I would face my inevitable annihilation.  As the bear came upon me, I closed my eyes and submitted to my fate.  But then the most curious thing happened.  This great big terrifying grizzly bear turned into a big old fuzzy teddy bear and was embracing me in a loving bear hug, not trying to kill me.  By facing it, I had the power to transform it.  Upon waking, I knew that the bear symbolized something I couldn’t “bear” to look at in my life,  which I also feared and ran from.  I suddenly saw things much clearer, addressed the problem by facing my real life fear, and as a result I never had the dream again.

Without knowing about the ancient Greek practice of dream incubation, I then started to ask for dream answers right before falling asleep.  One particular time (again in my 20’s), I wanted to know why my face had suddenly broken out rather badly with noticeable blotchy red marks and blemishes.  I had never had problems with skin blemishes growing up, so this really got my attention.  It was like trying to successfully hide a big black mole on your nose.  Nothing seemed to be working.  My dream question was:  What is the cause of my skin eruptions and what do I need to change?”  Immediately I drifted off to sleep and that night I got what I thought was my answer.vintagevanityphoto

I saw myself sitting in front of a mirrored vanity where I was carefully applying and fixing makeup to my face.  I awoke from the dream thinking, “Oh, I get it.  I must be allergic to the makeup I’m using.”  I changed my makeup brand, but there was still no change with my skin condition.  In fact, another big blemish sprouted up to party with the others.  I was mortified.  I thought to myself, “Okay, I must have interpreted the dream wrong.  Can you give me another dream that’s clearer?”

True to my request, I got it.  I got the very same dream again, but this time with something added to it.  As I sat in front of the same vanity mirror, applying the same makeup, I looked at myself in the mirror rather vainly and said, “Oh, aren’t I beautiful.”  Whoa!  That surprised and shocked me.  I immediately woke up.  You got to smile at dream symbology, because sometimes it’s so clear it hits you over the head.  I was a hotshot disco roller skater at the time, showing off my skills and cute little outfits on the rink.  The dream was about my need to address my “vanity,” look at myself in the mirror and change my own “blemished” personal makeup.  As soon as I did, the blemishes on my face mysteriously cleared up as suddenly as they had appeared.  Pretty trippy!  I was a convert to dream messages from that moment on.

Try dream incubation for yourself.  Why not start tonight?  Sleep on your back for best results (like the ancient Greeks did) and ask for an answer to some problem you are dealing with.  Keep a dream journal nearby to record what you experience for later interpretation.  You may not get an answer that first night, but most people get something by the second night.  Just remember to stay positive and open to receiving.  The more you pay attention, the more messages you will receive.  It’s like going to some wonderful cosmic night school and the payoff is accelerated awareness and ultimately–growth.

Dr. Kathy Forti is a clinical psychologist, inventor of the Trinfinity8 technology, and author of the new book, Fractals of God.   amazon.com/author/kathyforti

Waking Illusion or Dream Reality

RealityCheckAheadIs life as we know it real or some illusionary dream reality? Can we exist in two waking/dream dimensions simultaneously? These are some deeper philosophical questions to ponder, and I don’t hold all the answers, but they certainly intrigue me.

This question always brings to mind a 9-year old client I once treated for seizure disorder. Audra developed nocturnal seizures after a bad vaccination reaction when she was five. At school she was in special education classes for learning disabilities. Her behavior was often slow and lethargic–almost like someone going through life sleepwalking. The epileptic seizures didn’t happen every night and rarely ever happened during the daytime, but the damage had taken its toll in all aspects of her life due to her lack of energy. Her mother brought her into my office for neurofeedback brainwave training to help reduce and regulate her daughter’s sleep onset seizures, which were causing a sleep disorder.

While hooked up to an EEG monitor, Audra’s frontal lobe (the executive function of the brain) displayed high amplitude slow wave theta/delta activity. This is the type of activity our brain makes when drifting off to sleep or in an altered state of consciousness. Audra had an abundance of this activity. Consequently, I had to adjust visual and auditory Neurofeedback training rewards to make it easier for her or frustration would quickly set in and she would give up. It was usually a struggle.

Then one day, while Audra was doing a training session, I suddenly heard faster beeps signaling she was racking up points and doing outstanding. I glanced over at Audra and she was sound asleep in her chair. I looked at the EEG monitor and saw she was making consistent wide-awake beta activity without even trying. I’d never seen this pattern before with her and she was clearly not in the throes of a seizure. Her closed eyelids showed no indication of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, either. I was perplexed. Most people show faster beta activity while awake, and the slow theta/delta activity while sleeping. Audra was just the opposite. I’d never seen anything like it. Intuition kicked in and I knew I was witnessing an anomaly.

I had the clear thought at the time, however unproven, that Audra’s real waking world might very well be what we call the sleep state. Then when she transitioned upon waking, her brain would slip into what looked like an abnormal dream-like state. I tried to get her to talk about her “dream” experiences while sleeping, but she wouldn’t open up. It was if she had a secret she was not going to share.

Which comes back to the point–what do we understand about reality anyway? Is a dream/wake reversal state even possible? Perhaps. Later, I would learn from researchers studying Alzheimer’s disease, that these patients seem to be able to transverse both dimensional worlds as they deteriorate and become more communicatively unreachable. Some patients were able to later reveal how the other world seemed more real at times than this world. Consequently, they began spending more time in this other world until the body’s life energies eventually withdrew and they exited this plane. This is fascinating stuff.

The closest you can get to understanding this duo-dimensional world is through the practice of lucid dreaming—knowing you’re dreaming while in a dream state. If you’ve ever experienced a lucid dream, then you can probably attest to how real that other world can feel. The trick to staying in a lucid state is to not let yourself get too emotional (i.e. excitement, laughing, fear, etc.) or it will wake you right up. I once tried opening a refrigerator in a lucid dream to see if I could eat veggies while in that state. The second I put the dream carrot in my mouth, I woke right up. It’s hard to master. But perhaps for some it’s not at all. Which leads us right back to where we started—what is the true nature of reality?

Dr. Kathy Forti is a clinical psychologist, inventor, and author of the new book, Fractals of God.   amazon.com/author/kathyforti