RETURN: A DREAM JOURNAL EXERCISE

The Jewish New Year is a time of self-examination when we reflect on the year past. We celebrate the joyous remembrance of creation and our annual opportunity for re-creation. This is a time to reflect on our shortcomings, a time to resolve to make changes, a time to rediscover our true selves and to contact our divine potential. 

EXPLORATION

Write for ten minutes:

Does your dream lead you to recognize regrets, shortcomings, habits and patterns of behavior that no longer serve you?

Does your dream encourage you to make changes in your life during the coming year?

Guided by what your dream has revealed, how can you return to your true self and find your connection with the divine?

FINDING CENTER: A DREAM JOURNAL EXERCISE

A dream is a microcosm of time, memory and space. Each dream holds a simultaneous reflection of the body, the soul, the waking life and the unconscious. Dreams encode multiple layers of meanings that can be understood on infinite levels.

EXPLORATION

Diagram multiple levels of your dream around a central axis. Use circles, squares, crosses, triangles and spirals to create concentric shapes. Scribble words, make marks and patterns to create a symbolic language that express the multiple layers of feelings and impressions from the dream. Work from the outer layer inward toward the center.

Write for ten minutes with a still, calm voice from the center of your dream. Speak about your journey inward toward your most sacred center.

PULLING WEEDS: A DREAM JOURNAL EXERCISE

When we care for our dreams in a similar manner to cultivating a garden, we invite understanding to grow. Dreams are a fertile plot of ground where tremendous growth and expansion takes place from small beginnings. Like gardening, DreamWork takes time and patience. Often we have to dig in the dirt. Persistence in confronting the weeds in the garden is similar to keeping the demons from growing in our psyches. The dream gardener must be vigilant.

EXPLORATION

Find a quiet space inside yourself for a few moments for writing in your journal.

• What kind of care is needed for your positive dream images to grow and thrive?

• Which dream images appear as destructive predators, pests or weeds? What kind of boundaries must be created to control them?