Guest post from Kim Heathwood

Using the internet to take classes is a really great idea if you have children as I do. I took a few classes using wild blue satellite internet as an undergrad and I really enjoyed the freedom. During my undergrad the classes I took were through my regular commuter university, but using wild blue Tennessee service to do my masters completely online. I am even taking my classes from a university that is about a thousand miles away from my home. Since the program is set up entirely online I never have to visit the brick and mortar campus at all.

When my husband and I first moved to our new home with our three small children I decided I wanted to get a master’s degree. Since I wasn’t a resident yet I would have had to wait a year to take classes at the nearby university for in state rates. After I thought about it I decided to look into online classes, this way I could get my Master’s and stay home with the kids.

Thanks to wild blue satellite, (we live so far in the country we couldn’t get cable) I have had no problem meeting the demands of an all internet course load. I am going to school online, full time while my kids sleep. I am getting a full accredited Master’s in Education. The classes are no more difficult than they would be in person and I have the freedom to work at my own pace. I will never go back to a traditional campus setting.

Cli.gs

Image by mliu92 via Flickr

Car dreams can be scary. And they can have a lot of meanings. For example, if you are obsessed with getting a new car, you may dream about them at night. That much is obvious.

But some automobile dreams are puzzling. What caused them is not clear, and you may start thinking that they are premonitions of disaster. But their meaning may not be so simple.

Some people dream of car crashes. Those could be warnings. But if there has been a rash of spectacular wrecks on TV news, we may write off the whole idea. Still it is good to be extra careful when driving anytime.

Dreaming of a malfunctioning car, though, may have very different meanings: metaphor for the body, business or relationships; automobile malfunctions not yet consciously noticed, or…?

Car as metaphor for the body. Your car is your vehicle—-and so is your body. Pay attention to such dreams carefully. They can be warnings about the state of your health.

Car as metaphor for a marriage. I used to dream that I was in the backseat of a speeding car—-and no one was driving. That was during a bad marriage that was lacking in partnership. My spouse was driving our lives recklessly forward with no input from me—and no apparent plan. It was scary.

Car as a metaphor for business or career. Just as we sometimes know there is something wrong with our body or relationships but ignore the signs, we may also miss signs of problems in our company or career. Malfunctioning car dreams may be the tipoff.

Car malfunction as a subliminal perception. Some of us are very aware of our cars on an unconscious level but do not consciously pay enough attention to keeping them in good repair. As Freud said, when speaking of metaphors in dreams, ” Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

If the brakes are wearing out, the tires are a tiny bit lumpy (indicating dangerous wear), or the engine is running rough or using too much gasoline, part of your mind registers that. And dreams are when our unconscious minds have the best chance of communicating with us. So you may be warning yourself to get your car checked before you have a wreck or get stranded somewhere because of a breakdown.

So before you start worrying that your dream of a sputtering engine means that the love of your life is about to leave you, or that the rusty car dream means you could have cancer, check on the obvious. Take care of any car repairs you have been putting off—before they get worse.

The peace of mind is well worth the time and trouble. Once you know your car is safe, you can sleep better—and concentrate on figuring out what your sputtering car dreams mean—-if you still have them. With the car fixed, the troubling car dreams may very well stop.

To ease your mind about finding a good mechanic, take practical steps. Go to the Repair Pal website to find customer reviews and ratings for mechanics and repair shops in your local area, with a list of services and specializations for each one.

So for Chicago auto repair, for example, you can find out which mechanics in your neighborhood specialize in your type of car, such as Toyota Corolla, and other information, such as, for example, why you may need a new water pump.

So if you are having scary car dreams, check it out. It will help you sleep better.

After all, you have better things to dream about.

Image via Wikipedia

Children are especially likely to have nightmares. In fact, nightmares are common in children. Nightmares typically start at around age 3 years old and continue till about age 7 or 8.

People with anxiety disorder might also experience what experts call night terrors. These are actually panic attacks that occur in sleep. It is especially difficult to remember these types of dreams since they conjure up terrifying images that we would just as soon forget.

In poetic myth, the Night Mare is a “small nettlesome mare, not more than thirteen hands high, of the breed familiar with the Elgin marbles: cream-colored, clean-limbed, with a long head, bluish eye, flowing mane and tail.”

Mares’ nests, “when one comes across them in dreams, lodged in rock-clefts or the branches of enormous hollow yews, are built of carefully chosen twigs lined with white horse-hair and the plumage of prophetic birds and littered with the jaw-bones and entrails of poets.” Thus, in a pagan world of myth and blood sacrifice, the Nightmare was a cruel, fearful creature.

Our modern word nightmare derives from the Middle English nihtmare (from niht, night, and mare, demon), an evil spirit believed to haunt and suffocate sleeping people. And so, in today’s world, when we speak of a nightmare we mean a frightening dream accompanied by a sensation of oppression and helplessness.

The blood-thirsty aspect of the mythic Nightmare, provides a clue about nightmares in general. In psychodynamic terms nightmares are graphic portrayals of raw, primitive emotions such as aggression and rage that have not been incorporated into the conscious psyche. Thus we tend to encounter these “ugly” aspects of our unconscious lives as terrifying dream images in whose presence we feel completely helpless.

Nightmares are quite common in childhood because this is a time of our emotional development when we all have to come to terms with, well, raw, primitive emotions such as aggression and rage. Traumatic nightmares can also occur as one of the many symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Repetitive, intrusive nightmares following a trauma often contain symbolic themes that mirror the original trauma and relate to threat to life, threat of abandonment or death, or loss of identity. Therefore, traumatic nightmares need to be treated differently than other dreams.

It is not enough to know intellectually the psychological reasons why you have these nightmares. An event is traumatic because it disrupts your previously secure—and illusory—sense of “self.” And so, to heal from a trauma, you must take the initiative to make conscious changes in your life to accommodate the traumatic shattering of your illusions about life and identity.

Some believe that nightmares have a physiological aspect. Edgar Cayce believed that Nightmares, which bring with them an inability to move or cry out, usually indicate the wrong diet. To end the nightmarish dreams, he advised that you change your diet.

We found a technique on line that can help people who suffer from recurrent nightmares. It is not meant to be a cure-all. It is just a suggested treatment to deal with frightening nightmares. The idea is to use this therapy every night until the nightmare has been resolved. It is called Imagery Rehearsal Therapy.

Here are the steps of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy:

1. Write out the text of the nightmare. Tell the story, no matter how frightening, in as much detail as you can remember.

2. Create a new ending for the nightmare and write it down. Be careful, though, to make the new ending peaceful. Remember that the nightmare is grounded in emotions such as raw anger that have been provoked by a trauma. The point of a new ending is to “tame” the emotions, not merely vent them in violence and revenge.

3. Rehearse the new version of the story in your imagination each night just before going to sleep. Do that as close as possible to falling asleep without any other activity between the rehearsal and sleep.

4. Do a relaxation exercise. Do this immediately after the rehearsal, as a way to fall asleep peacefully. You may use any technique with which you are familiar. This could be meditation, yoga, or breathing exercises. The “cousin” of nightmares is disturbing dreams with unpleasant images.

Related articles by Zemanta

• More Than Just a Bad Dream–A Nightmare’s Impact on the Waking Brain (3quarksdaily.com)
• Dealing with PTSD, Flashbacks, and Triggers in School (faithallen.wordpress.com)
• Women have more nightmares than men (douglasgreen.wordpress.com)
• More Than Just a Bad Dream–A Nightmare’s Impact on the Waking Brain (scientificamerican.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Edgar Cayce, a world-famous prophetic dreamer in the early 20th century, was able to obtain virtually an unlimited amount of knowledge on an unlimited number of subjects. One of these subjects was dreams and dream interpretation.

Cayce astounded people by interpreting their dreams and giving them insight into their psyche, lives and even past lives. From his own experience, and from the feedback he received from others, Cayce believed that dreams are actually journeys into the spirit world.

Edgar Cayce once said,“Dreams, visions, impressions, to the entity in the normal sleeping state are the presentations of the experiences necessary for the development, if the entity would apply them in the physical life. These may be taken as warnings, as advice, as conditions to be met, conditions to be viewed in a way and manner as lessons, as truths, as they are presented in the various ways and manners.”

Cayce believed that our dreams serve several functions. Somatic dreams—dreams referring to the body—are extremely important to pay attention to. Very often dreams will offer solutions to health problems.

For example, one man was plagued with food allergies for many years, but was unable to find the source of his discomfort. Then one night he went to bed and he dreamed of a can of coffee. He quit drinking coffee and his symptoms disappeared.

Like many of us, Cayce also believed that deceased friends and family members sometimes visit us in dreams. Such dreams may be communications from our loved ones. Or they may allow us to resolve our feelings about their deaths. Any person who appears in a dream may also represent some aspect of themselves or some part of us that is like them in some way.

While dreaming, we pass through different levels of consciousness and, according to many, different realms of the spirit world. While dreaming, we have special access to our own inner spirit. According to the Edgar Cayce readings, there is no a question that cannot be answered from the depths of our own consciousness.

According to Cayce, a dream may deal with physical, mental, or spiritual issues. It may include any kind of psychic manifestation, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, prophesies, astral travel, past life recall, communication with other realms, including friends and relatives who have passed away, spirit guides, angels, Christ, or even the voice of God.

Dreams can also give invaluable information on our health. Cayce felt that every aspect of life—emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, financial, or social—could be dealth with in dreams.

Dreams are ambiguous messages. They can warn or encourage, confuse or clarify, tease or explain clearly. Dreams can potentially offer a vast range of information and experiences.

What we get out of dreams depends on how we work with them. Dreams reflect our own attitudes, motivations, and degree of enlightement. What we receive in dreams also depends on how much we have heeded and applied information we received in earlier dreams and in messages we receive while awake.

Do you pay attention to your dreams? Edgar Cayce did, and he was able to help thousands of people while he was alive.

Millions more have gained insight into their lives, health, and psyches through reading the records of Cayce’s dreams and the many books about them.

“Last night I had the strangest dream.” How many conversations in your life have started that way?

People are fascinated with the movies that play in their head while they’re sleeping. Some believe that dreams can predict the future. Others say that dreams depict real life.

Still others believe that dreams are a manifestation of what we want to be. Interpreting dreams has evolved over the years to what some consider an art form.

We spend one-third of our lives sleeping. In the average lifetime, six years is spent dreaming. That’s more than 2,100 days spent in a different world!

Every night, we dream an average of one to two hours dreaming and usually have 4-7 dreams a night.

Recently I reviewed a book and CD set on Flow-Dreaming. I had read the book but had not yet listened to the CD. 

Last night I got to share Flow-Dreaming with a group. We played the first four tracks of the CD and journeyed into the flow. It was a wonderful experience.

Some were old friends; some were new. All of them seemed to really like flow-dreaming. I will let you know if I get any reports of especially good results. I’m hoping at least some of the people will buy the Flow-Dreaming set and keep on using it.

The author of Flow-Dreaming, Summer McStravick, has a very good voice and professional manner. She does an excellent job of leading the guided meditations on the CD.

There is beautiful background music, too, that enhances the experience without calling attention to itself. 

Flow-dreaming with friends. What a blessing!

Dreaming Beyond Death: A Guide to Pre-Death Dreams and Visions is a book about the dreams that some patients have spontaneously that comfort them throughout the process of dying, and how to counsel them. It was written by the Rev. Patricia Bulkley and Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D.

Patricia Bulkley is a counsellor who works with people who are dying. Kelly Bulkeley is a dream researcher. They came together to write a down-to-earth, matter-of-fact book to help patients like Patricia’s and those who care for them.

Recently I reviewed another book on essentially the same topic, The Dreamer’s Book of the Dead, by Robert Moss, whose books I talk about a lot here. If you have read some of those reviews, you know that I love Moss’s books and his ideas.

You may also have decided that his books are probably a bit out there for materialists who have no particular belief or interest in dreams. Moss’s books are extremely readable, but they also tend to be long. While they are easy and fun to read, they are also somewhat mystical. 

Dreaming Beyond Death is a short, simple book, written for those who do not believe in dreams but do want to help others make a peaceful transition. This is a book you can give to a healthcare professional or a person with a conservative, orthodox belief system. The book does not assume that the reader believes in dreams or anything mystical. And for those who are not dream believers that is a very good thing.

This book also tells vivid stories of dreams that have brought peace and reassurance to dying people. It provides guidance for helping people understand and accept their dreams. And it does all that in a simple, readable way.

Dreaming Beyond Death is a great book to give as a gift, knowing that almost anyone can benefit from it. They do not have to believe in anything metaphysical at all. I wish I had had it to use in comforting a friend who was dying of cancer a few years ago. 

So keep it in mind. You might like to read it yourself.

And it could be a wonderful caring gift for someone who needs it. In fact, it would be a great blessing.

Robert Moss, the dream researcher, teacher and author that I keep talking about, has a radio show on dreams! You can listen over the Internet on the second Tuesday of each month, from 11 am to noon Central Time.

Here is the link: http://www.healthylife.net/RadioShow/archiveWD.htm

There is even an 800 number so that you can call in with questions during the show as he interviews other dreamworkers and dream researchers. 

What a blessing for all of us!

The Dreamer's Book of the Dead

Dream expert Robert Moss has written yet another ground-breaking book, The Dreamer’s Book of the Dead: A Soul Traveler’s Guide to Death, Dying, and the Other Side. It’s a big book, and I just started reading it. So you can be sure I will be writing more about it later. Meanwhile, just in case you have some holiday gift cash burning a hole in your pocket, I wanted to tell you about it. 

If you have read any of the Robert Moss books on dreams (or if you have been reading this blog), you know that he uses innovated techniques and is breaking new ground (in our culture) in the practical and spiritual uses of dreaming.

Some Native Americans, Tibetans, Indonesians, and others have been masters of dreamwork for centuries. But Europeans and Americans have for the most part considered dreams to be meaningless, if not downright scary. Robert Moss and others are changing that as they teach us amazing and effective ancient ways of working with dreams.

The point of this book is that our departed loved ones, friends, and spiritual teachers often appear to us in dreams with important messages, but we don’t always pay attention. Moss teaches us to heed such messages. He also teaches us to take the initiative to contact the departed in dreams.

One of the main reasons to contact departed loved ones, friends, even enemies, is closure. Sometimes we need to apologize or receive apologies to heal old wounds. Sometimes we just need the reassurance that they are still in existence, even though no longer living.

Moss says that sometimes people who have died cannot rest easy until they deliver information or make peace with the living. It may be practical, like the whereabouts of missing papers or valuables, or it may simply be guidance on handling business, family or spiritual problems.

If all this sounds morbid, it really isn’t. You can also contact spiritual teachers and others who have gone before. You can ask them for advice or find out valuable information about the past or the present. 

There is a lot of information in this book on various dream practices. As always there are wonderful stories of real people and experiences, as only Robert Moss can tell them. The book covers a wealth of information on dreams and dreamwork.

So you might want to take a look at The Dreamer’s Book of the Dead: A Soul Traveler’s Guide to Death, Dying, and the Other Sided by Robert Moss. You will find it on Amazon. I know, because that’s where I got it.

My family (on both sides) has always been blessed with dreams that contain messages from departed relatives. We have stories of dramatic dreams conveying important information going back over 100 years that I know of. Probably there were others that we no longer remember. Such dreams can be helpful in a practical way, but mainly they are comforting. 

Dreams that bring help and knowledge from departed family members are a blessing that I like to remember, especially at this family-intensive time of year. How about you?

Dreams Poster  24 in. x 36 in.  
Buy at AllPosters.com

People talk a lot about dreams. Usually they don’t specify clearly what types of dreams they are talking about. There isn’t just one kind, or even two (good or bad. There are many kinds of dreams, and to be able to make sense when discussing dreams, we ought to define them.

Processing Dreams

Many people have been convinced that all dreams are just the body’s way of processing memories and experiences. In fact, that is a large category of dreams.

Sorting out our thoughts, experiences and ideas does seem to be one important purpose of dreaming.

Anxiety Dreams

Anxiety dreams are not exactly nightmares (usually), but they are unpleasant. They express our worries about things that may or may not ever happen. In some cases, anxiety dreams may be a way of preparing to deal with difficult situations. In others, they may be a symptom that we need to learn how to handle stress better—and maybe drink less caffeine?

Prophetic Dreams

People who consistently keep dream journals find that they often have prophetic dreams. Sometimes the dreams are quite trivial. Other times they prepare us for events we cannot prevent or prepare us for tragedies that we can avert by being ready.

Because of a prophetic dream (also called a precognitive dream), we have had a chance to think of what we would do, the shock has worn off, and when the event happens, we are calm enough to take action that can save lives or prevent serious injury. 

Clairvoyant Dreams

People over the centuries have witnessed events happening elsewhere, even thousands of miles away, in their dreams. There are records of people dreaming of plane crashes and natural disasters, recording the dreams, sometimes putting the dreams into official records, and then receiving verification via the news media. 

Dream, Explore, Discover  Art Print by Svensson, Torleif

36 in. x 24 in. Buy at AllPosters.com

Communication Dreams

People all over the world have experienced dreams of communication from a loved in times of crisis. Sometimes the loved one has been dead for many years. Other times the loved one appears at the moment of death to say goodbye. Sometimes the loved one appears with a message of warning or other important information, or even with reassurance that the loved one is safe.

Message Dreams

Sometimes dreamers receive messages that are actually intended to be given to others. Often the message dream is for a relative, friend, coworker or neighbor and can be given right away.

But sometimes it is for an acquaintance one has yet to meet. Then, when the recipient appears, the message is given, and the dream is fulfilled.

Astral Dreams

Astral dreams are said to occur on the inner planes of existence, in the spirit world. They tend to be symbolic, like a bare black stage set with only the most essential props and actors spotlighted. Some people may never have astral dreams. More likely most people simply do not recognize or remember them.

When you have an astral dream, it may be the mind’s way of dramatizing things that you subconsciously know but have been ignoring. Or they may be an indication that someone else is trying to communicate with you in your dreams.

Nightmares

Nightmares can occur in any of the dream forms. Most likely they are a dramatization of your fears, but they can also be the result of actual memories. Such memories may require therapy to make the dreams go away.

Nightmares caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be crippling in their realistic sensations and intensity, and they definitely require professional treatment by a therapist who specializes in PTSD. Dreams can seem very real. They can be horrifying.

The fear of having PTSD dreams can cause people to avoid sleeping (which is dangerous) or to self-medicate with prescription (or nonprescription) drugs or alcohol. Doing that can also be dangerous.

Dreams Poster 62 in. x 24 in. Buy at AllPosters.com

Diagnostic Dreams

The body always knows when we are ill or hurt, but we may consciously ignore it, especially if there is no pain. Many people have dreams that tell them of serious undiagnosed problems such as cancer. Those who pay attention to their dreams and know how to interpret the images from their subconscious are warned.

Many a dream has caused someone to get a checkup that saved their life by resulting in early treatment of what could have been a fatal disease or condition.   

Healing Dreams

Occasionally people who are very ill have dreams that seem to bring healing. Is the dream healing in and of itself? Or is the dream announcing the healing? No one knows for sure.

Problem-Solving Dreams

As we have discussed before, problem-solving dreams can occur at any point in sleep or just before or after it. The solution can be literal and complete, or it can be symbolic, or just a hint.

Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreams are rare. They are dreams in which the dreamer becomes aware that he or she is dreaming and takes control of the dream. That last part is the most important. Dreams in which one simply becomes aware of being in a dream and wakes up or goes into a different dream are called prelucid dreams.

Many people have prelucid dreams. Few learn to gain control of them and turn them into lucid dreams. 

Lucid dreaming is a form of meditation for adepts of some spiritual belief systems. In those spiritual systems, people may study and practice for years to achieve it.

Yet in some cultures people have been trained from babyhood to take control of their dreams, and in those cultures virtually everyone can do it. 

Shaman Dreams

In some cultures shamans, or those with the potential to become shamans, are identified by the special dreams they have, dreams that contain specific imagery that only shamans see.

Shamans in many cultures do much of their work, including finding out information or finding cures for diseases or injuries, in lucid dreams or active dreaming.  

Mixed Dreams

Most dreams seem to be a mixture. Parts of a dream may be processing the day’s events, while other parts contain messages. Dreaming is complex. Dreams can and often do have several layers of meaning. 

Other Types of Dreams

Probably there are other kinds of dreams, but these definitions should be enough for discussion purposes and to help identify dreams for yourself and others. Talking about your dreams and working with others on their dreams is worthwhile. It can also be fun. And to me the ability to get and share information from dreams is a blessing.

Dream Clouds Plaque Photographic Print by Katano, Nicole

24 in. x 8 in.
Buy at AllPosters.com