Process Oriented Journaling Tips journal process Dec 29, 2023

I've been journaling for over thirty years.

I have every journal I've ever written.

I can't imagine not journaling, and yet I often hear from people that they find the process daunting, intimidating, or confusing.

Here are some simple tips for how to dissolve that resistance and get started with...

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Should I use a dream dictionary? archetypes dream dictionary dreams dreamwork free association jung processwork Oct 05, 2023

The allure is strong: you have a mystifying nighttime dream and then you open a magic book that de-codes the symbols and, voila, the meaning of your dream is revealed.  Nice and clean. Cut and dry. Easy peasy. Too bad it doesn’t work like that…

Do I use dream dictionaries?...

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Dreams speak the language of symbol, and so can you Oct 03, 2023

Remember when you were a baby, before you could talk, before you could make meaning of the strange jumbled mumble of sounds coming from the adults’ mouths? No? Me neither. And part of the reason we don’t remember that time is because we didn’t yet have symbolic awareness to...

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What does it mean when I dream about people I know? dreamland dreammaker dreams dreamwork friendship healing pregnant process processwork relationship Sep 26, 2023

I dreamt vividly that a friend was pregnant. I knew this friend definitely wasn’t intending to be pregnant, yet the dream was as real as day. I saw her that same evening in waking life and heard the words, “I have news!” come out of her mouth in a way that made my eyes open...

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How to catch and remember your dreams beta brainwaves dream journal dreams dreamwork processwork theta Sep 20, 2023

Each morning, I wake up bleary-eyed, barely conscious, still halfway in Dreamland, and I grab my dream journal. I scribble down whatever I can catch from my dreams before they dissolve back into the ether. I’ve been doing this for nearly thirty years and I can’t imagine it any other...

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Why I don't teach lucid dreaming (at least, not yet) control dreams dreamwork enlightenment lucid dreaming nightmares power processwork skills spiritual practice Sep 20, 2023

“Are we going to learn about lucid dreaming in this class?” as student asks at the start of a dreamwork series.

This question often arises from new students in the first or second session of my dreamwork classes, regardless of the theme of the class. When I give my answer, I see a mix...

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Are Dreams Real? colonizer culture dreams dreamwork internalized oppression modernity processwork reality Sep 18, 2023

“How can I trust that this is really real?” asked a student in one of my dreamwork classes.

A few days later, a private client said to me, “I don’t believe in my own reality."

Do either of these sound familiar?

If they do, you’re far from alone, but before we unpack...

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Should I tell people my dreams? collective dreaming collective unconscious dreaming dreams dreamwork share dreams social change Sep 18, 2023

In my advanced dream workshops, students are invited to share their dreams with the group.

Sometimes I work on a dream with the student in real time so that they and the group can learn from this practice together.

Sometimes students help each other work on their dreams.

Sometimes people,...

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Dancing with Depression depression grief healing pain psychiatric medication trauma Feb 09, 2022

My first memory of depression is from the fifth grade. As if I had walked into a thick cloud bank, things that used to feel clear were now obscured. Joy receded into the background and sadness closed in around me. My back ached and my heart was heavy as lead. Nothing was right with the world....

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You May Need Healing, but You Don't Need to Be Fixed anxiety depression healing mental health self-care self-love Feb 04, 2022

Have you ever gotten a paper cut? A paper cut is a small, but often painful, breach of your body’s boundaries. Where you had skin before, now you have a wound, and when you have a wound you’re more vulnerable to losing vital fluids or contracting infection by viruses or bacteria....

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The Art of Being Breathed breath breathing david abram earth connection faith grief martín prechtel meditation Jan 27, 2022

“Our chest, rising and falling, knows that the strange verb “to be” means more simply “to breathe”; it knows that the maples and the birches are breathing, that the beaver pond inhales and exhales in its own way, as do the stones and the mountains and the pipes...

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The Secret Winter Life: Pandemic, Depression, and Hope depression grief hope new normal pandemic seasons snow winter Jan 25, 2022

There’s a dense fog outside my window. There’s a grey hue inside my mind. There’s a flat, dull affect to everything I see. There’s a murkiness to my thoughts. I reach for words, for memories, and they float through the fog, just out of reach. I have low motivation to go...

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