I am a BIG supporter of utilizing sleep and dreams for deep healing and growth. As I mentioned in a prior blog post titled, The Healing Power Of Dreams, I have built my dream muscle over the years to work for my highest good.
Focusing on my dreams and my intentional sleep practice has been life-changing for my healing. For most of my life, I just went to sleep. I put on my jammies, got all snuggly in my bed, turned off the light, and slept. I never fully realized that my 8 hours of sleeping can be an opportunity for healing, wisdom, messages, and assistance. Until now.
I am sharing my sleep and dream healing practice with the intent to educate or perhaps inspire others to try it out. As always, do what feels right to you.
Step 1 – Gratitude
Before bed, reflect on your day. Tap into your heart and truly review and feel into what you were grateful for that day. Either say it in your head, write it in your notes on your phone, or write it in a journal. There are no right or wrongs here. Our thoughts are more powerful than we realize.
I will share with you my gratitude journal on 11-3-20.
Today I am grateful for my family. My whole entire family (extended). I am grateful they are well, healthy, and safe. I love them so much.
Today I am grateful for the message I received from my spiritual team and I am grateful for the nudge to share the message with others who are open to receiving it.
I am grateful for the push and messages to get my blog out. Get out of my head and just do it!
I am grateful for feeling uncomfortable because I know this is a sign that I am growing.
I am grateful for Ken’s love and support.
I am grateful for the laughter I hear from Sean’s room right now.
I am grateful for the mentors and teachers I have in my life.
I am grateful for the meditations I did today.
I am grateful for my friends.
I am grateful for my health. I was able to walk and exercise and that makes me so happy.
I am grateful for the time I had today to do all these things.
Thank you for this day. I am so grateful for experiencing life today.
Deep gratitude, right? I am a total deep person, haha. My entries are not always like this, however. Some days I am just grateful for my breath and that is enough. Reflecting and giving thanks for all the gifts you experienced each day is a life-changing tool to practice. For me, it is an instant shift in mindset and my energy.
I believe this practice also sets the stage for the next step.
Step 2 – Set Intentions for Sleep
What do you wish to receive that is for your highest good while you sleep? Healing, guidance, messages, assistance, etc? I ask my spiritual team for this request. I can be very specific with my intentions or I can simply ask to receive whatever is for my highest good.
My personal belief is that my spiritual team (my spirit, my angels of light, my loved ones, my ancestors, my guides, my Source) are waiting to be of service to me. I just need to ask them and truly be ready and open to receive. Whatever your personal belief is, go with that. Go with whatever feels right in your heart and whatever you feel comfortable with. When I first started doing this work, my team was God. As I have grown spiritually, I have a whole posse!
Here is an example of my sleep intentions:
While I sleep, I humbly ask my spiritual team for continued emotional healing to occur.
I humbly ask to receive wisdom and guidance in areas of healing that I am ready to work on in my waking moments.
I am ready to heal. I am ready to do the work. I am ready to grow.
Thank you for this healing, messages, and awareness, that is for my highest good, while I sleep.
Again, it is pretty deep. Some nights, I am just too tired and I simply ask to receive love while I sleep. That is enough and totally ok. The point here is to simply set your intention. Wishes are powerful!
Step 3 – Rise and Shine with Gratitude
Waking up with gratitude is very important. (Do you see a pattern with the gratitude thing?) Thank your Source, the Universe, God, angels of light (whatever your beliefs are) as soon as you wake up. Thank them for another day, thank them for being alive, thank them for the dreams you remembered, whatever feels right. Simply start your day with a healthy dose of thanks.
Step 4 – Sit and Write
Did you have any dreams? As soon as you wake up and give your thanks, write out your dreams. Do the best you can. Most likely, your dreams will be super weird, and head-scratching. That is ok. Just write whatever you can remember, even if it is just one word, a feeling, or a song that was playing. And if you cannot remember anything, that is ok, too! Trust that if you are not remembering your dreams, then it was for a reason. There is nothing wrong with you or what you did. Having certain expectations with this practice will absolutely create distress. So, let go of expectations. Simply believe in your heart that you received healing.
Here is my messy, unedited recent dream that I journaled in my phone under notes:
Christmas jammies
Doug asked me what does the pocket say on my jammies?
I didn’t try them on yet and had no idea what it said.
Saw Ken’s cousin. I thought her name was Stacie. It wasn’t. We were in the car. She asked for my number so I went in the glove compartment and got paper out. It was paper deep in the bottom. And my mom wrote on the back of the paper. I thought her number was one thing but she had a different number. I thought maybe Bc she lived up north.
I was with Ken at a house. Split level house. My mom was there. We were outside in the driveway on a date. Maybe in the car. And I ate tuna fish. After I ate it, I was shocked because it was meat.
In the driveway still. Something with the car and taking it to get it fixed or cleaned? Another family was there too. I was shocked they were home so soon after they took it to get cleaned and fixed.
I went to get a mammogram. A guy did it. Kelly D was there
Song playing in head nonstop – Madonna’s Ray of Light song
Step 5 – Interpret the Dream or Let it Sit
This is a personal choice in my opinion, and I encourage people to do what feels right to them.
If I remember my dreams, I do attempt to interpret my dreams that day because most times, there is usually a message in there for me. HOWEVER, this is not always the case. When I have no clue what the heck the dream means to me, I let it sit, with the intention to review it later. I have learned that my dreams will give me the messages I need at that moment. Not what I want. With this understanding, I have faith more messages are to come. So, the reminder to myself is TO BE PATIENT!
Let’s talk about the interpretation. Dream interpretation is an intuitive muscle and EVERYONE can grow this muscle with intention and practice. It is important to breathe, relax, and quiet the mind. Do your best to not “think” too much about the outcome of your interpretation, the fine details in the dream and/or not having a clue what the heck it means. Trust whatever pops in your head and just write it. When we trust that soft, subtle, quick, whisper in our head, THAT is our intuition. Just go with it.
In the past, I have googled the meaning of my dreams. Researching on the internet has helped me AND it has hurt me. I can easily go down that Google rabbit hole. When this happens, I have moved out of my heart-space and into my head-space and I am being unproductive. Dream interpretation is most definitely a practice that takes awareness and balance. In future posts, I will share ways that helped me build this intuitive muscle.
This is my interpretation of my dream:
I am having a hard time seeing clearly what the messages are.
I think I have the “number” on what is happening in life right now but I don’t. These are assumptions.
I will do things I never did bf.
The key is to continue to keep my “vessel” clean.
This whole thing that is happening in this world is to clean the mess.
Recording and interpreting a dream is NOT to be stressful. When I do this practice and I notice that I am beating myself up or stressed out for not remembering to set my intentions or to write in my dream or gratitude journal, that is my BIG sign to pause and reflect. Perfectionism has no place in my healing practice. BUT, it happens because I am human 🙂
I must shift to the mindset of “Just do the best I can. I am enough. Progress, not perfection. JUST BREATHE.” is key for me. I learned about these statements in my recovery. While they seem very simply stated, they are powerful and life-changing when I practice this mindset and mindful shift.
Step 6 – Be Present and Live Life!
Now that you did all your sleep/dream-work, go be present and live life. Make the present day count. Set intentions for what you wish for in the day. If your dream had a message for you, keep it in your awareness for that day. Do what you feel called to do with the message. And don’t forget to smile, live, love, and shine!
Thank you for reading and being open to my healing practice! If my personal sleep/dream-work steps have been helpful to you, great! If it doesn’t resonate, that is totally fine, too. We are all different and what resonates with one person may not resonate with another. Follow your heart and do what feels right.
Please share your own practice or experiences in the comments. I am always open to learning more! Questions are always welcome too!
Big Hugs!
Tara