Browsing Tag

Subconscious

Blog

The Dream State

Posted on November 17, 2011

Greetings!

There is so much to say about the dream state that I hardly know where to start. This may take several posts but at the risk of losing my readers, I think I will need to start with the dream state as real & literal. The typical understanding of the dream state & dreams in general is that they are the result of the subconscious & the brain playing out & processing all that has happened during the day. I don’t dispute this at all. Test subjects, deprived of dream state sleep, quickly become psychotic. Another understanding is that dreams are a way for your subconscious to communicate to the conscious mind via symbols or metaphors. Again, I agree. I own a dream dictionary entitled simply “Dream Dictionary” by Tony Crisp that is decent (although not my favorite.) I recommend that everyone have a good one in their personal reference library as a dream interpretation book is an excellent tool for discovering yourself. Not only is it useful for interpreting dreams but I also use it to interpret the happenings in my waking life as well. I firmly believe that spirit uses our waking life just as easily as our sleeping life to talk to us. Other books useful for this purpose include: “Heal Your Body-the Mental Causes for Physical Illness” by Louise Hay, “Permanent Healing” by Daniel R. Condron, “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” by Karol K. Truman, “Love Is In The Earth” by Melody & both of the “Animal-Speak” books & “Nature-Speak” by Ted Andrews.

To consider the dream state as real & literal is a little bit farther out there, so to speak. You may not think of dreams as being about or taking place in actual literal places, planes of existence, other dimensions, other lives but consider how often you hear of someone receiving a warning in a dream that comes true or having a dream about an event that then happens in the physical. You can probably remember an instance in which this has happened to you or someone you know. I’ve had many such dreams of prophecy. Of course, I realize that such dreams can be explained away by the idea that your subconscious is aware of things & is communicating them to the conscious mind via dreams. However, I’ve relived & experienced past lives in my dreams. I’ve visited family members that have passed over. I’ve woken up in my dreams. There is a book that I still have entitled “Lucid Dreaming” by Stephen La Berge. I first read it more than 20 years ago & immediately began having dreams in which I was “lucid” or “awake”. In such a state, you feel completely awake, aware & physical in your dreams which is the most amazing thing as it’s nearly impossible to tell that you aren’t awake in the physical. The basic idea in the book is to ask your self many times during the day if you are awake & then test the question by choosing to float. If you are unable to float then you know that you are awake in this 3rd dimensional reality where it is not possible to float but if you float then you realize that you are actually dreaming & it is this realization that has the potential to wake you up in that dream. By asking your self these questions during the day when of course you know that you are awake, eventually you will think to ask your self during a dream. Waking up in a dream is not the same thing as being aware that you are dreaming. It is very possible to be aware that you are dreaming & yet not actually wake up in the dream. To wake up in a dream, is to be fully present in the body that is in that dream. You will know when you have succeeded because you will feel completely physical & the dream will feel completely physical. What I have noticed about waking up in a dream, once you have realized that you are dreaming, is a feeling of being drawn forward into the dream & into your body in the dream. Alternately, as you become more proficient, you may simply be awake in your bed one minute & awake in a dream the next & move from one dream to another fully awake & present in each. Typically, this tends to cause me to wake up in bed multiple times in between or during the lucid dreams.

So, how does lucid dreaming illustrate that dreams are possibly real experiences & literally taking place in other dimensions, realities or planes of existence outside of our physical awareness? Well, experiencing a lucid dream is pretty convincing by itself but what clinched it for me, was many years later after my first experience of lucid dreaming, when I began to have Out-Of-Body-Experiences (OOBE’s). In an OOBE, you experience the process of leaving your physical body in another body, usually traveling to another place. OOBE’s feel equally as physical as lucid dreams & once out of my physical body, I could not discern any difference between them. Everything that I’ve experienced during a dream or a lucid dream, I have also experienced during an OOBE. I’ve experienced past lives in my dreams as well as during lucid dreams & OOBE’s. Likewise, I’ve visited family members in all three formats. These experiences led me to wonder if lucid dreams are actually OOBE’s minus the awareness of leaving the physical body. And I wonder, also, if dreams are experiences taking place somewhere that you experience in a less conscious manner than OOBE’s or lucid dreaming – like watching a live soap opera on television versus actually being in a play on stage.

If you accept the possibility that your dreams are real experiences just as your physical life is a real experience, then you can see that your dreams need your prayer & healing just as much as your waking life. In fact, I feel that your dream life can often illustrate your wounds even clearer than you could be aware of otherwise. By treating your dreams as your own true experiences & doing your work to heal them, you heal yourself & possibly prevent those undesirable prophecies from coming true. The dream state is a magical place & is much simpler to heal than here. Anytime I wake up from an unpleasant dream, especially, I pray: “I ask for the Complete Cleaning Clearing Healing Restoration Protection Forgiveness Prayer * for this dream & for all persons, places, things, events, circumstances & situations involved & I surrender this to the Holy Spirit & specialists who are best to do all that is best for me through grace at all levels everywhere continuously and in divine timing, amen.” It is often a good idea to interpret the dream both symbolically with the help of a counselor &/or a dream dictionary & also literally & heal with prayers & forgiveness work. By doing your spiritual work on issues illustrated by your dreams, you probably prevent them from becoming a reality in your physical life & lessen the problems you already have. For those who do not remember dreams, I recommend saying the above prayer every morning when you awake with the following added to it: * “for all of my dreams & everywhere I’ve been at night during my sleep & for all persons, places, etc.” & continue as above.

To encourage your remembrance of dreams, it is helpful to leave a pen & notebook by your bed with the expectation that you will write down any little glimmer. As you commit to writing what you do remember, you will be encouraging your self to remember with more detail until you will be good at dream recall. Another trick to recalling your dreams, is to not move when you wake up as remaining in the same position that you were in while dreaming seems to help you recall the most recent dream. Rather than immediately moving or getting out of bed, lie there for awhile & see what you can remember. It’s not unusual for it to take several minutes for the dream to come to you. I have a theory about this as well. I have often been aware when returning from an OOBE that while I (my consciousness) has returned to my body in bed immediately, the body that I (my consciousness) has been traveling in, is much slower to return. It seems that body has the memory & sometimes I don’t consciously remember anything until I feel that body rejoin my physical body. It’s a very distinctive subtle feeling of humming. I have also noticed this humming when awakening from dreams & not just after OOBE’s. Once the humming stops, I can suddenly remember the dream or the OOBE.

Are our dreams actually OOBE’s? I don’t know for sure but from my experience it certainly seems a possibility. I would love to hear about your experiences of the dream state.

Live, Love & Laugh in the Light of God 🙂

Dawn

Blog

Our Subconscious Selves

Posted on March 28, 2011

Greetings!

Our Subconscious Self encompasses that part of our selves that we are not aware of consciously. This aspect of our selves can be seen in others, however & this is one of the blessings of our relationships. Sometimes, others are in our lives to show us our subconscious selves & issues as well as other aspects of our selves so that we can heal them. Otherwise, we would be clueless as to what lies there & therefore clueless as to what is causing some of our problems. So, embrace your relationship challenges for they are here to serve you & your healing journey on this planet. Oftentimes, we strive to ignore what is bothering us in others because of feeling guilty about how we feel about them. Once you recognize that they are you in a way, in a level of you that you are unaware of, then you can be grateful to them for showing you your self. How would you know otherwise? Make a list of everyone in your life that you are uncomfortable with, can’t stand to be with, are upset with or disagree with & then look at each one on the list & accept that they are you at the subconscious level or in some aspect of your self, showing you your self. Be grateful that they are in your life showing you your self & pray for healing for them for as you do you pray for your self. This is one of the more difficult concepts to understand & accept. All of us walking around in different bodies makes it look as though we are completely independent of each other, completely separate from each other, completely different from each other. It obscures the reality that we are all one.

A few years ago, I was in meditation. It was a guided meditation led by a mentor but within just a few minutes of starting, the Holy Spirit took me in a different direction. I don’t remember how the meditation was meant to begin but what I saw was a clear glass bowl of water upon which appeared a paper origami swan. Suddenly the bowl disappeared from view & I was looking down onto the surface of a body of water at a living swan. I began to be moved backwards toward the sky & as this happened what I could see in my field of vision expanded. What had been a bowl of water now looked to be a pond & then a lake & then an ocean & then I began being pulled back ever more quickly as the United States came into view & then all of the Americas. This continued on & there was the planet earth & the moon. The sun & solar system soon appeared. The feeling of rushing back intensified as I continued to be pulled away. Soon the sun began to look like a star just like all the other stars in the cosmos & then I could see our galaxy & then it became smaller as other galaxies came into view. Finally, in my field of vision, all I could see was an infinite black field filled with galaxies & as I continued to move backwards, farther & farther away, all of the galaxies converged to became just a single spot of light before me. It was at this point that a very, very deep voice reverberated through me, saying “ALL ONE.”

I wish I could convey the intensity of this experience fully, especially the voice of God at the end. I’m glad for the opportunity to write about it, to remember it again. It’s all too easy to buy into the false appearance of the physical that we are all separate, different, disconnected, independent from each other & have no need for each other. This spiritual experience was a reminder to me that, despite what appears to be the truth in the physical, we are one.

By accepting that we are one, you open the way to healing your self & your subconscious self. You may think that what others have done to you is unforgivable & that you could not possibly be guilty of doing to anyone what they have done to you. I’m here to tell you that it is possible. We wear our issues like the clown that has the sign on his back that says “Kick Me!” We attract to our selves what we have said, done, thought, felt or believed whether we can remember it or not & whether we are aware of it or not. This is where others play their part & come to our rescue by reading the sign & kicking us! So if others are doing unto you what you don’t want done, then more likely than not, you have only yourself to blame & believe it or not, this is a good thing. The alternative is that you are just unlucky, cursed, being unfairly picked on or a victim. Taking responsibility for all that happens to you & your reaction to it puts the ball in your court. What’s even more amazing is that when you take full responsibility for your self, the universe moves to deliver you from what you are holding that has been attracting all the abuse. My favorite way of taking responsibility is through prayer & forgiveness work (Emotional Attunement). These two methods have proven themselves over & over again to be effective at removing the “Kick Me” signs no matter the cause or the source of them.

What you will find when you have fully forgiven yourself & others for their part, is Divine Unconditional Love, Peace & Healing. You may think this is not possible because of what has been done to you. You may feel that others don’t deserve to be forgiven. You may believe that it’s not in your power to forgive but I tell you that it is in your power because in doing so you release yourself from bondage. You also help release others from their bondage. When I was little, I was molested many times by my grandfather. Fortunately for me, this was not the grandpa who raised me. As I got older, I got better at avoiding him & preventing further abuse. He passed over when I was 16 years old, much to my relief at the time & I have not seen him until just recently. Needless to say, I had years of traditional therapy as a teenager & in my 30’s interspersed with a lot of nontraditional forms of therapy through the years. A few years ago, I realized that I had finally healed from the abuse, had fully forgiven him & let it go. I thought no more of it until about a month ago when I saw him in the dream state when I was visiting my grandma (his wife). She passed over a little over 20 years ago & I’ve visited her in the dream state many times but she was always either alone or with other family members. I was completely shocked, therefore, to see my grandfather with her this time. This was the first time I’d seen him in over 35 years. He was almost unbelievably transformed – loving, happy, healthy & whole. What was even more shocking to me was that, as I stood before him, I realized that not only had I forgiven him (which I already knew) but that I loved him! Not at any point when he was alive, did I ever feel that I loved him. I hugged him then & told him I loved him & in my mind I told him that I’d forgiven him. I didn’t say that I’d forgiven him aloud because I’m never quite sure what is remembered, known or understood by others at that level.

I am not sharing this to show how enlightened I am, to gain sympathy or to impress anyone but to impress on you that forgiving others is in your power to do & to point out that if I can forgive my grandfather then you can forgive those who’ve hurt you as well. I know that forgiving him transformed me, did my forgiving him transform him as well?

Love, Dawn

Blog

Our Selves

Posted on January 7, 2011

Greetings!

My main purpose for this blog, is to address spiritual experiences but as a self-professed health nut, I can’t ignore all the rest. To ignore all the rest, is to se e only a small fraction of ourselves. We are so incredibly multifaceted, complex & wonderfully made, that to ignore any part of us is a grave mistake having serious consequences. In order to be truly whole, healthy & happy, we need to become aware of & address the issues of every part of our selves including our spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, energetic & subconscious selves, leaving nothing out. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all that we are & all that we can perceive & this is probably what drives us to find a magic bullet cure, a quick fix, a simple answer. I have been as guilty of this as anyone but I have discovered along the way that, usually, there is no one simple answer to the questions of life or to the problems in our lives. So, if I only write about spiritual experiences in this blog, I will be doing Spirit, myself & you a disservice. For this reason, this website & my posts will encompass the full spectrum of our selves & our lives as spiritual beings having a physical experience. After all, there’s more to us than meets the eye.

This is the first in a series of posts dealing with the different aspects of our selves & how best to heal them. That I know of so far, I will be covering our emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, energetic & subconscious selves. I am not suggesting that this is all that we are or even that we literally have an emotional self, a mental self, etc. We are in reality, much more complicated than this but I am dividing our selves up into manageable, descriptive bits so that we can talk about them.

In many ways, we are like a house divided against itself. How much can we accomplish in a day, a month, a year, a lifetime, if much of our energy is spent struggling against our selves? This is what happens when every part of our self is not in agreement. Conflicting needs & agendas are created by unhealed traumas, wounds & issues, past experiences, misunderstandings, damaging beliefs, unclear perceptions, false ideas, negative thoughts, emotional baggage & many other things. As a result, we are unable to perceive ourselves clearly let alone know what we truly need or want according to the desires of our hearts planted there by God. Then there are all the external influences throughout our life that affect us such as our family, friends, teachers, caregivers & co-workers, our home, environment & culture, our relationships & connections to others, books we’ve read, movies we’ve watched & so on & so forth. These pull us every which way & can make it difficult to move forward in our life. Additionally, there is the chaos & confusion generated when we take on things that are not ours to take on, things that are not who God created us to be. All of this, successfully separates us from our true selves, our wholeness, our true hearts desires & God’s purpose for us. From this perspective, it can be clearly seen, that true healing requires that we address all aspects of our selves.

What can be done to heal & become whole? The best & first answer to this question is, “Ask to be healed.” This should always be the first step before doing anything – remember Matthew 7:7-8 (on my “Wisdom” page)? By asking, we bring the power of our words & our will to bear on our lives, we give permission to God & Spirit to help us, we admit to ourselves that we can’t do it all & that we need help, we open our selves to accept that help & we become willing to be healed. Asking removes obstacles to our healing. Asking removes obstacles of every kind & believe me, we are full of obstacles.

Unsure of how to ask for help? There is no one special formula for everyone. It’s best to experiment, trying many methods, until you hit upon what works for you. What I have found is that the below methods can all work. It’s a good idea to hold the intent for the less traditional forms of asking/prayer that you are talking to Spirit.

Traditional Prayer: This is probably the form of asking or prayer that is most familiar. This can be a formal memorized prayer or an informal made-up-as-you-go prayer directed to God & said kneeling with hands clasped before you.
Beg & Plead Prayers: This is one of my favorite forms because it has a good track record of working for me. I know it isn’t necessarily Spirit’s favorite. I know this because, more than once, I have been told that “Begging & pleading isn’t necessary” & Spirit one time actually said to me while I was in the midst of this prayer, “Enough with the begging & pleading!” So, it would appear, that it isn’t necessary from Spirit’s viewpoint to beg & plead but I think it can be necessary for us. We are one of the biggest obstacles to receiving what we need & ask. I think that by passionately praying in this way, we convince ourselves of our need, our sincerity & our worthiness to receive. I think this kind of prayer also helps us overcome ego, arrogance, stubbornness & willfulness-major obstacles to moving forward on our path & into wholeness. If you have children (or have seen children in a store!) then you already know how to pull off this prayer. Just think of the last time your kids or maybe you as a kid, begged & pleaded for some special favor.
Meditation/Contemplation: I consider this to be a form of prayer because it encourages communion with Spirit. Where there is communion with God, there is communication – the very definition of prayer. It can be helpful to set an intent for the meditation or to say a prayer before meditating if you have a specific need. This form of prayer also teaches a very special skill that will serve you well if you desire to hear Spirit, that of learning to be still so that you can hear “the still small voice.”
Journal: Keeping a diary or journal is a less traditional method but can easily be adapted to our purpose of asking by simply directing it to God & Spirit. This method is especially helpful for getting the noise out of your head which can lead to feeling more peaceful & centered. Many times, once everything is on paper, you know exactly what you need to do. Writing can bring clarity to your mind & heart & offers another way to learn to hear Spirit.
Talk out loud or in your mind to Spirit/God: I consider that much of my day is spent in prayer because I am often talking in my mind to God or Spirit as I go about my daily life. Sometimes, I am specific about who I am talking to but often it is just to whoever is with me. I think you will find that the more you talk to Spirit in this way, the more you will become aware of Spirit responding.
Talk to your favorite spiritual advisor in the physical or in spirit: Directing your communication to someone you feel that you know, can make it easier to talk & get things off your chest. This can be a minister or spiritual advisor that you know in the physical or it can be someone in spirit such as Jesus, Buddha, etc. Simply hold the intent that through talking to this person, you are talking to God.
Talk to anyone in the physical who will listen to you: This person can be anyone who loves you & whom you love. To keep this from degenerating into gossip & to keep your words from creating what you don’t want, it is very important that you verbally set the intent with this person that you are venting, not gossiping & that you only need them to listen, not solve anything. You must also intend that this verbal communication is to be directed to God/Spirit.
Write a letter: This is similar to journaling but differs in that it is usually specific to a certain need or purpose. It could be compared to writing a prayer down on paper & has the benefit that you can look back on it & see that your prayers are being answered. This would also be a benefit found with journaling. I have had the experience of praying & then forgetting about it. When the answer comes, I almost don’t recognize it as an answer to a prayer!
One last final thought about asking & prayer: Express gratitude in every prayer, no matter what form your prayer takes. Be continuously grateful, even if it seems that you are not being heard or that your prayer requests are not being answered. Gratitude has a similar effect as the Begging & Pleading Prayer in that it removes obstacles to our receiving. Prayers of gratitude & thanksgiving belong in a class all to themselves, so make sure to make time for this.

What has worked best for you? What are your thoughts on prayer? In what other ways have you prayed that I have not listed here? Leave a comment telling us. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love, Dawn