 Since harvesting the last of our root vegetables in the garden ~ parsnips, carrots, beets, and potatoes, I've been reflecting on this season when life goes underground. The days are shorter ~ we slow down, conserve energy, and turn inward. We can tap into this cyclic flow of Nature to synchronize with our environment and find grounding.
The other night I had a dream about running away from danger, as the sidewalk turned into tree roots that I had to climb up. This can be a time to tune in more deeply to our ancestors, our familial roots. We have the opportunity to heal our family wounds through time ~ for past and future generations. Dreaming work is healing work. So in this holiday time, how can we give and receive healing ~ through understanding, kindness, compassion, and honest communication ~ to clear the obstacles to living the fullest life possible?
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 Another powerful dream theater in our journeying group. One of our dreamers invites us in to a big dream as her sensitive 8-year-old self feels surges of rage toward those who turned away from her, who taught her to feel shame about her instincts and emotions. She asks some fellow dreamers in the group to express the anger with her, so she is not alone in it. They all feel uncomfortable with the anger at first, then a powerful release and freedom by expressing it with others. Running through the woods with a torch as the trees catch on fire, the black jaguar runs by the girl’s side, her faithful companion. Embodying the woods, I feel a sense of containing and calming the hot, red energy of rage, knowing that things will be alright. Back in her old house again, she is in the bathroom with the pink wallpaper with the mermaids on it, which she always loved. The dreamers who embody the mermaids feel a cooling relief from the fire - a fluid, enjoyable, natural energy. In our circle together at the end of the dream, we silently sway together, breathing with the wind through the trees, sharing a sense of feminine vulnerability and strength, held and grounded by the earth and the four elements.
 In our last Dream Journeying Group, we ventured into the realm of dream theater. One of our dreamers allowed us to step into her dream with her, casting and directing us as the different aspects in her dream. First we embodied and played out these aspects, sharing our experience of being them. Then, as we came to the end of her dream, we all felt an unresolved feeling with possibilities on the horizon. Our dreamer was courageous enough to allow us to further improvise our roles to take the dream into the next scene. In the spirit of improvisational theater, the woods felt a stir of creative movement, the horse spoke of her loyalty and willingness to take the dreamer wherever she wanted to go, and the small, cramped house turned into a castle. The castle was big and scary, full of the unknown, and I stood on the sofa, holding sticks over my head to play the castle, speaking of the power of going into the castle, into the unknown. As I spoke, a crystal that was hanging above the sofa caught the rays coming in through the skylight, and shone a sparkling crescent light onto my forehead. One of our dreamers said, look it’s the Moon Goddess! Continuing our improv, I said Yes, the Moon Goddess has a message for you ~ Go into the castle, sleep there, and dream of the healing and magic of your future! The dreamer felt a sense of hope and possibility, where there had been fear and doubt. When we allow the creative energy into our circle, together we deepen into the messages and healing of our dreams! When we joined our fellow dreamer to support her journey, we all received the healing and learning from the experience!
 A friend recently shared this story with me: After years of being a vegan, she woke up one morning having dreamed of eggs, and eating a huge omelette. Soon after, she found out that she was pregnant, and chose to change her diet to accommodate the changing needs of her body and her new baby. The eggs brought several messages to her through that dream!
Another amazing group last Sunday, dreaming with our animal guides. Here are some of the creatures who joined us: ~ a snowy owl who takes us on magical journeys, and who knows how to get what it needs in life... ~ a baby ocelot who is both vulnerable and fierce... ~ a sleepy bear who needs to be woken up and fed... ~ a tuna fish can which, when opened, is a portal into a deep, undersea world and a deeper level of consciousness... ~ a cat and a snake who weave between the journeying dreamers, helping to hold the space, bringing their wisdom and protection...
 We had a wonderful workshop last Sun. Such incredible synchronicity between dreamers. One dreamer had a demon, a guardian angel, and an abused demon dog in her dream - which coincided with two events in my life earlier that week. The first was when I thanked whoever was watching over me after almost having an accident in my car, just as the radio announcer said he'd be interviewing an author about his book on angels and demons. The second was when I witnessed a woman abusing her submissive pitbull dog, and urged her to treat the dog with kindness. The journeys were powerful and transformative. Many thanks...
 Many thanks to the wonderful participants of the first of my workshop series ~ Dreaming Ourselves Whole. We journeyed into very personal territory to contact lost parts of ourselves, with the opportunity to talk with them, look into their eyes, interact non-verbally, to bring their vital energy back into our lives. We will continue with three more workshops, which still have openings if you would like to join us.
May you have powerful dreams, to bring guidance and healing to your waking life!  We had a wonderful Dreaming Workshop last Saturday - thank you so much to everyone who came! Thea and I co-taught at The Solstice Center in Boulder. The group shared dreams, stories, tears, beautiful support, powerful discoveries, and lots of laughter! I feel so honored to do this work, and so appreciative to have these incredible tools to share with people. At the end of the workshop, when we played the synchronicity card game, I got my own card, on which I had written a phrase from a dream - spoken by a tiger who tells me "I'm the part of you that will always be here with you, and will always look you in the eyes!" This was such a great message for me around creativity, and believing in myself!
 Inspiral Psychotherapy ~ Inspiring healing along life's unfolding path.
Spirals are everywhere in Nature, powerful symbols for the healing process ~ sprouting, unfolding, growing, unwinding, reaching, encircling, interconnecting... Even our most basic element, our DNA, is a spiral! Human growth and development is not linear. We generally wind and cycle through change, moving through patterns with incremental shifts in our awareness. We may experience phases of confusion, clarity, stuckness, movement, boredom, excitement, fear that we've been here before, and that things may never change. In spiral movement, we may move back through familiar territory, but our circle also moves forward each time it comes around. We are different, and in each new cycle we have a chance to see things differently, to respond differently, to add new input for a new outcome, to learn something new. My intention is to create a space in which you can explore your experiences, your life, your dreams, and come to understand your self more deeply on all levels ~ emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual. |
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January 2024
AuthorI am a psychotherapist, writer, artist, and dream teacher in Boulder, CO. Categories |
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