consciousness

Dear Readers,

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Thank you for following Conscious Chimera all of these years! I have made a change recently. In order to keep all of my content under one roof, I have relocated to Substack. My Substack account is https://substack.com/@consciouschimeraclassroom – PLEASE SUBSCRIBE.

Dr. Kim’s Conscious Chimera Classroom contains both paid and free content to subscribers. The topics or area of focus will remain the same – that’s anything related to human consciousness, wellness, spirituality and psychology. Instead of jumping around from YouTube to WordPress and other sites, all videos, slideshow lectures, papers and articles, blogs, audio recordings (guided meditations and yoga nidra), etc., can now be found here: https://substack.com/@consciouschimeraclassroom

Thank you again and I hope to see you on Substack!

Be well,

Dr. Kim

biohacking and dreaming: an unlikely pair?

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What are you willing to do in order to be at your very best?

How far would you go? Which risks are really worth it?

Since there are so many aspects of and so many options for bio-hacking these days, ranging from age old practices to contemporary ones, just about anyone can give it a try. From oral supplements, dietary changes, injections, IV therapies, external/wearable physiological tracking devices, implantable biotechnologies, and more, just about anyone with extra income can bio-hack their body, in one fashion or another, in an attempt to reverse aging, elevate performance, and increase vitality. I have found some of the methods to be quite extreme. But couldn’t one engage in biohacking for little-to-no-cost with little-to-no risk by utilizing their innate gifts? I would say so, and that is through attentive engagement with sleep, especially dreaming. While napping and extra long hours of nightly sleep can be viewed as a luxury, the free practices of dream incubation, as well as lucid dreaming, can open up a whole new world. Such nonordinary or altered-state-of-consciousness biohacking is low-level and safe. Double-bonus: these no-cost strategies, skills, and techniques can take as little as 10 minutes out of your day (or night, depending). First, I will share some words about the practice known as dream incubation, then I will say a little about lucid dreams and how they might relate to hacking our biology.

Photo by Tembela Bohle on Pexels.com

Biohacking is all the rage these days, the latest DIY (do-it-yourself) craze. You can find dissertations written on the topic, as well as, articles published over the last 14-15 years in journals like Nature Biotechnology (2009), BioSocieties (2017), and Futures (2021), differentiating between biomedical citizen scientists and fringe biohackers, alongside how hobbyist, activism, art and science intersect within a DIYbio landscape. Here, they note the risks involved, and the fact that research on such “hidden populations” brings with it many challenges. Even Forbes has highlighted the topic over the last couple of years. DIYbio practitioners, or biohackers, are increasing in number and the phenomena itself is increasing in popularity with each passing year. And why shouldn’t it? Everyone wants to be at the top of their game, and to feel that sense of control when it comes to taking charge of experiencing optimal health, peak performance, with the hopes of extending living with quality over one’s lifespan. 

Dream incubation can be used for a wide array of needs. It is an ancient practice. Dream incubation involves sending out an intention before a nap or bedtime to ask for guidance and knowledge. The manner by which one sets up a dream incubation ritual can be simple or complex. The ritual aspect is important because effective rituals are done with great focus and intention – never autopilot. Dream incubation is at home in the biohacker world because it can be utilized for diagnosing or better understanding health-related conditions or concerns and in support of healing those.

DISCLAIMER: The information in this article is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The information provided here is NOT a substitute for medical care. If you have any medical issue, of any kind, please go see a physician. 

Okay, now back to dream incubation. Possible questions or statements to include as part of the dream incubation process could be any of the following – but be ready, knowing that what you ask for, you just may well receive.

 “Show me a mirror that can allow me to see into my body, revealing health or illness.”

“Which foods are best for my unique makeup?”

“Show me the supplements my body needs right now for XYZ.”

“What practices I do at this time in my life for peak performance?”

“Show me a solution to this problem (or situation or issue).”

“What area of my life needs my attention right now?” 

“How can I heal from this?”

“Please give me a direct healing in my dream.”

“Take me to the time and place where the root cause of this problem came to life.”

“Show me the circumstances surrounding this concern I have.”

You may also craft your own, of course – Just be sure it is done in the positive and affirmative. Make the question or statement short and to the point. Once you have one, write it down on a piece of paper while expressing it out loud. Proclaim it. Then, place that paper under your pillow. Once you are in bed, cozy and comfortable, focus on the statement or question you chose as you drift into dreamland.

Write down, draw or sketch out, or if you prefer, audio record anything you recall immediately upon waking up from the dream. Keep at it – use one intention for a full week or even two. This consistency increases its effectiveness. Once you have something, reflect. You may do a daily reflection, or wait until you have recollections accumulated from a few days of practice. I’ll add an important point here: anything a dream provides – all wisdom coming out of the dream world – deserves a thank you offering, even an offering as simple as a prayer is fine. You don’t necessarily have to offer up an object. What comes with including dreams into the bio-hackers world, is a relationship. This way of working is not a secular transaction. I’ll say more about this in the final paragraph of this article.

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

I’ve practiced dream incubation quite a bit for many reasons. Years ago when I was searching for healing and cures in the dream state due to a medical condition I faced, I would regularly begin my evening with a dream incubation ritual. For some nights my recall seemed nonexistent while other times I awoke with a lot of quality information relevant to my situation. One time in the dream, a colleague who also happened to be an amazing lucid dreamer appeared right in front of me, holding “the cure” in her hands. It was a frame drum made from natural materials, slightly larger than the ones I was used to seeing. I awoke immediately after this very direct and clear wisdom was provided. I awoke angry, and sad, because after having spent years studying traditional healing ways as a, primarily scholarly endeavor, I knew what “a call” looked like and how they could appeared. Even worse, I knew what happens to those who do not follow through…those who “refuse the call.” So that this story remains a short one, I am sure you can guess what I did. That was to begin the multi-year long training with a noted, quality teacher and surrender as I embark on the deep, deep dive. Even though I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and frankly, just didn’t want to to do it, I did so regardless of the investments of time and cost. This path includes ceremonies that honor the gifts that emerge from the altered state practices, so many prayers are offered, naturally. So, while a free biohacker support, dream incubation can lead to something you might not want to do, or even want to know. Therefore, be clear before you proceed.

Now let’s move on to lucid dreaming. As for those of you who lucid dream skillfully and fairly regularly, you can use any of the statements or questions above in the lucid dream state. You might address the dreamscape first. I’ll share an example from one of my own experiences with lucid dreaming and healing. Upon becoming lucid, I called out, “Dreaming Mind, show me how to heal this condition!” I have also asked, “Dreaming Mind, what is the root cause of this condition?” Additionally, “Dream, take me to XYZ so I may understand XYZ.” Remain open and receptive to what is shown or revealed in that lucid state. Again, write down, sketch out, or audio record anything you recall upon waking up from the dream. But, of course, do not jump out of bed so quickly. Remain still for a few moments as you collect yourself, mentally gathering together what you recall from the experience.

While lucid dreaming is as popular as biohacking these days, remember that lucidity does not equate to superiority. Ordinary dreams are truth teller. In addition, the liminal zones, in fact, offer some of the best information out there, so do not dismiss them. By this, I mean, as you relax prior to sleep, stay alert enough to catch solutions whether they arise as sounds, voices, or images that may come forth before drifting off to sleep. This pre-sleep zone is rich in what it can offer. On that note, be aware when you are awakening as well, as it is another valuable time period for gaining insights and catching solutions. These are the liminal states of consciousness. Some time ago when I was dealing with a condition and using the dream arts as part of my healing protocol, I heard a strong and direct voice in a liminal state. It was a teacher of mine reminding me how the body knows how to heal itself (given the right conditions). While not a diagnosis nor a remedy per se, the liminal dream did inspire me. The experience also served as a reminder for me to provide the correct, necessary conditions so that I may move along toward a state of healing from within.  

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

No matter which dreamy state you find yourself in, remember to remain physically still as your awareness rises in order to enhance recall, whether those dreams be ordinary, liminal or lucid. Treat them all with the same respect. May your dreams be your medicine, as I always say! Stay open and receptive. Allow yourself to be surprised.

I’ll wrap up by returning to a point I made earlier. That is, how important it is to act on any and all information your dreaming mind gifts you. “Dreams require action,” as Robert Moss has said. So, do something to honor the dream. In addition to ceremonial prayer, one of the other ways I have done so is through creating art. I have made paintings based of what I saw and sensed in my lucid dreams, as well as collaged images from ordinary dreams that threw me for a loop as a way to process and understand them in deeper and deeper ways. Poetry or song are other possibilities. And since we are talking about bio-hacking here, be sure to visit your doctor anytime a dreams shows you a possible or potential illness or medical condition brewing. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Happy 2024,

Dr. Kim

3 types of extraordinary dreams

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This June 2023 blog features an open-to-the-public talk I gave on May 11, 2023 at Hollyhock Leadership Institute in Canada. I hope you enjoy it.

Most nights, dream recollections can be quite ordinary, reflecting our daily concerns. But sometimes, we experience dreams that are quite extraordinary.

I’ll share with you three dreams from each of the following three extraordinary dream categories: Announcing Dreams, Visitation Dreams, and Health-related Dreams. Some of them are my own, others have been previously published in my books.

So what are Extraordinary Dreams? Consider these features:

•Vivid, intense, unforgettable, precious and/or meaningful

•Rare, unusual quality, not easily explained, anomalous

•May include clairvoyance, precognition, telepathy, an extension beyond ordinary thinking

These descriptions typically make up extraordinary dream experiences.

The 1st type of extraordinary dream I’d like to tell you about are Announcing Dreams.

Announcing Dreams can be considered pre-birth communication between (most often a ) parent & fetus before conception or birth.

These dreams are high-sensory (visual, tactile, auditory) dream perceptions leaving the dreamer believing that genuine communication has taken place.

Consider these examples:

Photo by Thiago Borges on Pexels.com

1) In her first trimester of her first pregnancy, the dreamer dreamt of a baby girl. The infant, visually appearing to be about eight months old, exclaimed, “I’m not your baby.” Shortly after this abrupt dream, the dreamer miscarried. Later that same year, another dream occurred with a slightly younger looking male infant visually appearing and stating, “I’m your baby and my name is Travis.” 

This second dream was as abrupt and as clear as the first, as well as convincing. The dreamer birthed a male child the following year.

2) Not yet a mother, the dreamer had experienced many challenges with becoming pregnant over the years. She prayed and prayed for a baby girl. While taking a break from it all, the dreamer dreamt of a huge, adult-size male baby, leaning on her bed, kneeling on the floor. The dreamer saw this extra large baby boy watching her and her husband sleep. As the dreamer arose to take a closer look, he said, “I’m coming.” 

The dreamer conceived about a month after the dream, and was in such disbelief that medical confirmation was necessary. She birthed a male child the following year. 

3) While in a bad relationship, and in her first trimester, the dreamer was contemplating whether to continue the pregnancy. Then, she dreamt of sitting with a little boy. The sight of him prompted lucidity. The boy would not answer her when she asked if he was her baby, instead he told her that he would like to be named Peter. The dreamer told him NO. The dreamer said that she felt like “this was a person speaking to me.” A few months later, the boy reappeared in dream, sitting next to her, calming her silently. She knew he was going to stick around. When she gave birth to a male newborn some months later, she did not name him Peter.  She believed they had already met.

Another type of extraordinary dream I’d like to tell you about are Visitation  Dreams.

A Visitation Dream involves a dreamer experiencing a dream with the deceased in such a way that the dreamer believes they’ve received a visit from a departed loved one.

1) It is a warm, sunny day. I see my beloved Nonni sitting on a structure, like a cement block, in a park. She is having a lively conversation on a cell phone, even though they were not common when she was living. “How strange,” I think. I have a good feeling when I see her. She’s wearing a pretty violet and blue dress… As I greet her with a touch and a kiss, I can feel her and I can smell her.

Photo by Alain Frechette on Pexels.com

2) I’m on a train. Several extended family members (all deceased relatives who have died during different periods of my life) enter through doors, but not all at once. Some are already seated, while others enter through different train doors on the same long train car. We quietly acknowledge each other. The train is moving again. Some prepare to exit as the train approaches its next stop. Then, they begin to leave, some together, some solo, getting off at different stops, exiting through different doors. I am not going with them. I do not protest. After all, I know they are dead. I have my own stop, my own door. I have some awareness that I am dreaming.

3) I’m in my bedroom looking out the window onto the grassy courtyard on a bright and sunny day when he (a recently deceased neighbor) approaches me on foot. I see him walking toward me and notice that he appears younger and easily walks without his cane, practically floating. We make eye contact during our greeting and there is a brief telepathic engagement. I’m happy to see him. He seems full-of-life. When I woke up that morning, my heart was warm and I felt very grateful for this experience, albeit a brief one. There was a sense of great peace. I knew that he was just fine, and that he was not completely ‘gone’ forever.

A final type of extraordinary dream I’d like to tell you about are Health-related, particularly pointing to a brewing chronic health issue before the dreamer is diagnosed.

1) I’m in my vehicle and I’m the driver. I safely arrive at my destination but it’s overheated. I see the little symbol lit up indicating that the vehicle was operating too high. I worry about how I will get back/make the return trip. It’s best to drive slower and not use the air-conditioning system. It is necessary to look out for how much I drive and the manner in which I drive. This can prevent overheating. 

2) I’m with a group of female friends. One of them, who is an experienced Lukumi practitioner, does something that feels divinatory – a charting of some kind. It’s circular and reflects various symbols, images and words. I don’t recognize it, but it is something related to my health. They give me directions and instructions for something I need to do for my health. Do I need a special practitioner? Is it something huge? I need to figure out what my body needs …. I’m assured that this issue isn’t huge or life-threatening, but it is a message to attend to my body and psyche and to give it what it needs. I need to make adjustments, take certain vitamins or something but I don’t recall exactly. 

3) The toilet becomes clogged, and explodes. Fecal matter shots upward about four feet high in a powerful stream, like a volcano erupting. There is a huge mess. I tell the landlord who connects me with a local company to correct the incident. But this team is only prepared for a minor incident and gives a superficial response. I’m pissed off by this so I give passioned speech regarding what I expect, as this incident is a big deal. 

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Now there are many additional health-related dreams that are quite extraordinary in that the dreams provide direct advice regarding HOW to manage the illness or disease, post diagnosis. However, we’ll stop here (just as I did at the in-person talk so there could be time for discussion and questions). Since you are reading this online, you may ask questions or share an extraordinary dream of your own in the comments.

Thank you for reading about my 3 favorite extraordinary dream categories!

I’ll be giving a workshop in Ashland, Oregon in just a couple weeks at the 40th annual conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Consider attending – registration is open. Go to: asdreams.org

I can guarantee you’ll have a truly memorable experience! If you see me there, please say hello!

Kindly,

Dr. Kim

24/7 dream medicine

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While I can say that I cultivated Dream Medicine so that I might acquire an intimate relationship with my personal ‘inner physician,’ I must admit that Dream Medicine found me, naturally, organically. I did not find Dream Medicine, or go hunting for it. But…we can if we need it.

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

About a year before I was consciously aware that I must navigate my own healing journey, vivid nocturnal dreams unfolded consistently. At that time, they provided warning and direction. Some are still unforgettable!

I’ve given nocturnal dreams explicit attention since the time I began formulating my research question for my doctoral dissertation. But as a long-time student of hypnotherapy and meditation, waking dream visions were also important in my life. Therefore, I can say that in practice, Dream Medicine centers working with dreams along the continuum of consciousness. Yes, we can be conscious 24/7, however, this is no easy task, rather it is a skill developed with serious long-term dedication. Waking, dreaming, and sleeping states make up a continuum of consciousness. Dream Medicine holds all states as equally valuable for connecting with one’s inner healing capacities and abilities, the ‘inner physician,’ if you will.

In general, everyone wants to be well, right? Some are not attuned to the profound realization that anyone, yes anyone, can tap into one’s inner healing magic. If we only look outward, we will miss it. 

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

Dream Medicine found me, and taught me that caring for myself requires a holistic, multidimensional approach, existing beyond intellect, beyond rationality, and reasoning, beyond mechanical reductionism, beyond Newtonian physics. Now I can take what arises out of Dream Medicine and apply it in a cognitive decision-making process, but it is not birthed from that place. 

While we may consider it as a branch of the dream arts, I also consider Dream Medicine to emerge from powerful aspects of the Divine Feminine. We are more than our ordinary, waking-life self. We are creativity, we are intuition, we are energetic vibrations and frequencies, we are the weavers of the dreamtime, the all-at-once-time, and so much more. This supports our tremendous capacity for growth and what some call miracles. From that space, creative inspirations, enhanced wellness, ‘downloads’ from the divine, and immense healing potentials are abundant. 

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

If you’d like to share in cultivating such experiences and work with me in this way, please know that there is a unique opportunity to do so coming up this May 10-14, 2023 in Canada at Hollyhock Leadership Institute. 

First-timers are very welcome!

Join me for a holistic dream-based kickstart to live your one-of-a-kind dream medicine!

Here’s the link: https://hollyhock.ca/programs/5663/dream-medicine-a-conscious-dreamwork-retreat/

In this blog, I will also include some specifics about the retreat. See the list of learning objective below. I will expand on them in next month’s blog. But, don’t wait! If you want to attend, please register today.

 Participants of my Dream Medicine retreat will have the opportunity to:

  • Partake in gentle movement and nature walks for grounding & increasing conscious awareness.
  • Understand and learn about various types of extraordinary dreams.
  • Participate in daily guided meditations, experiencing deep relaxation.
  • Design a personalized sleep hygiene ritual for optimal dream-time.
  • Utilize trusted dream incubation strategies.
  • Learn about today’s dominant dream theories, and apply them in daily life.
  • Decode personal dream imagery.
  • Describe the benefits of using multidimensional strategies and tools for wellness and inner healing.
  • Be in community with like-minded people.

Last but not least, I value relaxation, solitude and space for reflection and contemplation, therefore this will not be a fast-paced retreat. I value and provide the time and space for one to digest the material and integrate direct experiences.

Thank you for reading about what Dream Medicine means to me and why it is so close to my heart! 

With gratitude,

Kim

be like water

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Celebrating our 7th Anniversary this week, Conscious Chimera is dedicating this blog-article to the main substance of our being. That is, water.

Years ago, when I was immersed in training in Wing Tsun, a form of Kung Fu, my Si-hing would always say, “Be like water.” I learned this way of movement and relating to life from the discipline of Wing Tsun. A lived commitment to this fluid, formless, yet effective martial art was shown through a consistent practice of yielding…just how water does. A deep bow of respect to Grandmasters Ip Man, Leung Ting, and Bruce Lee for bringing this wise way of being into the western world. After I had moved on from my physical Wing Tsun training, the psycho-spiritual realities of Wing Tsun stuck with my for a long time. As time continues to pass, I began to forget.

It wasn’t until years later, when I relocated to Maui, that an oceanic state of consciousness would permeate my entire being. And then, those words from long ago –  ‘be like water’ –  would be recalled along with how water flows without resistance. Water has no rigidity. It yields, gracefully moving past obstacles. How could I be more like water on my new island home? Would its attributes permeate me while being completely surrounded by it? Allowing life to flow without a structured plan for the future, without familiar surroundings and routine, all the while without resistance to fluidity and unfamiliarity, may naturally arise when one lives this close to water…if we allow it. Such a state of consciousness could do us the favor of slowing us down, and of existing in the now.

During my last few years in California, I lived in the mountains and forests with its deeply dense, heavy energy. A switch to now residing in the most remote island chain in the world has many blessings, especially as a water sign (I’m a Pisces), yet it has spun me around quite a bit. Some days I found a part of myself just didn’t give a f*@# about fast-paced productivity, yet I knew I had to work, to produce, to survive. This is evidenced by the absence of a January blog post – ha!

As a part of nature, and in relationship with it, I value nature as a primary tool for grounding and connecting to Source. So, having the ocean waves crashing in (literally a five minute walk from the front door) and on me, has surely enhanced its effects. It’s been challenging to make decisions, follow-through on intellectual work-related plans, or even have logic-based conversation. And honestly, I just haven’t been interested in such.

Because I also choose to immerse myself in the ocean water regularly, it completely permeates me. It’s not just on my skin, but inside and through me. The effects of detoxing also come into play. Yes, I have been feeling a bit all over the place. I’d like to think that I can open myself to it, fully surrender to this shift, but some days I sense how a part of me is still grasping on to something I can’t fully explain. A part of me resists. Turns out, it’s not so easy to “be like water.” But I know one thing. The salty detox and mana here are in control. If you want to stay, there’s no point in resisting. 

I’ve written a lot about nonordinary, or altered, states of consciousness, especially here on the Conscious Chimera blog, with a fair amount of personal experience behind my writings, yet what is unfolding here is something different. It’s a dreamlike energy that doesn’t quit. The waking dream is real. Since I haven’t figured it all out yet (haha) I just continue to respect water, pray to water, ask her to protect me upon entering her, and honor this experience of existing in an oceanic state of consciousness…letting go fully so I can see where it takes me. 

In Peace and Wellness,

Dr. Kim

the ritual complex of lucid dreaming

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For December, we have another guest writer. I hope you enjoy this piece by Ryan Hurd.

You can reach him at https://dreamstudies.com/

Despite the snake oil pitch that lucid dreaming is all about “controlling your dreams,” the real value of lucid dreaming is to interact with the deep mind. Otherwise, we would just close our eyes and have a fantasy daydream. Done! But that’s not what we really want.

Lucid dreaming at its best invites something dynamic, unknown, or potentially ecstatic. With greater consciousness, the dreamer can dance with the dream, gaze into the bright eyes of mystery, and move with new power in a mythic world.

So let’s agree to use a simple definition for lucid dreaming: a dream in which the dreamer knows this is a dream. I do not talk a lot about “dream control” as it is not a big part of my dream life. I’m more interested in choice and meeting the dream where it stands.

Controlled aspects of lucid dreaming do come in handy, though, don’t get me wrong. Especially when calling the dream forth, when setting the stage.

Indeed, when viewed from a practical perspective, lucid dreaming induction can be seen as a controlled ritual used in order to stir up the unconscious mind and its visionary effects. By ritual, I mean an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set or precise manner according to a social custom (1). Reframing lucid dreaming as a ritual complex is the hidden structure behind our forgotten lore, and the key to getting the most out of the Lucid Talisman.

Induction = Incubation

The ritual aspects of lucid dreaming can be seen every step of the process, and I would argue they are inseparable from the culture of lucid dreaming.

To begin with, the daily practices that bring on lucid dreams—also known as lucid dreaming induction—are a modern take on the ancient skill of dream incubation. The term comes from the Latin incubare, which means to lie down upon, or as we say today: just sleep on it. Dream incubation is about calling dreams, asking for guidance or clarity.

Anthropologist Charles Laughlin has noted that, while dream incubation is largely a lost art, many people have participated in dream rituals without knowing it when attempting to have a lucid dream (2). In fact, lucid dreaming can be thought of a specific form of dream incubation in which we are not looking for a dream message, but a specific form of dream thinking: being aware of being aware.

Ritual Drivers for Lucidity

In its weakest form, dream incubation can be represented by a wish for a certain kind of dream while lying down before sleep. This is the idea behind autosuggestion, one of the first lucid dreaming techniques popularized in the 1970s by lucid pioneer Patricia Garfield (3). 

In stronger variations, common ritual drivers can include affirmations said throughout the day, meditation, prayer, fasting, seclusion, drumming, and the ingestion of a tonic, pill or smoked herbs. Sound familiar to the “new tactics” posted on lucid dreaming forums? All of these techniques have been used for millennia across the world and in many cultures to ignite altered states of consciousness.

Neurologically, lucid dreaming is associated with increased activation of the frontal and parietal lobes (bringing waking-like awareness) during dreaming, a state of consciousness that comes with intense emotionality, vivid imagery and deep access to long-term memory (4). In this way, lucid dreaming is a bridge between the imagination of the dream state and the focused and intentional thinking that comes with being awake. However, the emphasis on waking-like consciousness in sleep (applying reason, testing memory skills, signaling to scientists in a lab) is a modern preoccupation.

In contrast, Anthropologist Michael Winkelman has called lucid dreaming a shamanic state of consciousness, because it “integrates the potentials of dreaming and waking consciousness.” This integrative mode of consciousness invites the classical markers of visionary awareness seen in other altered states, including abstract geometric imagery, encounters with animal-human hybrids, emotional catharsis and ecstasy, and finally, experiences of white light and nonduality (5).

That doesn’t make every lucid dreamer a shaman—heck no—but it sets up lucid dreaming as a vital bridge into the visionary worlds that have long been explored for the aims of shamanism around the world (healing, uncanny information, and personal insight).

The bridge, this transfer of knowledge, can go both ways: it is not just about bringing waking life-levels of self-awareness into the dream, but also bringing the imaginal realm back into the waking world.

This is the true potential of lucid dreaming: not the ability to change the dream, but our allowance to be changed… perhaps transformed.

This article is adapted from Ryan’s new book Lucid talisman: Forgotten lore, a book about using amulets and other liminal objects to empower your life with more lucidity.

Notes

1 Hayden, Brian (2003). Shamans, sorcerers and saints: A prehistory of religion. Washington: Smithsonian Books, p. 359.

2 Laughlin, Charles (2011).  Communing with the Gods. Brisbane: Daily Grail Press, p. 140

3 Garfield, Patricia (1974). Creative Dreaming. New York: Simon and Schuster.

4 Dresler, M., Wehrle, R., Spoormaker, V., Koch, K., Holsboer, F., Steiger, A., Obrig, H., Sämann, P., and Czisch, M. (2012). “Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study.” Sleep. 35(07), 1017-1020.

5 Winkelman, Michael (2010). Shamanism: A biopsychosocial paradigm of consciousness and healing, 2nd edition. Santa Barbara: Praeger, p. 141.

THANK YOU, RYAN, FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION to Conscious Chimera!

About the Author

Ryan Dungan Hurd (he/him) is an educator, author and dream researcher. He is interested in consciousness studies at the intersections of ecology, spirituality and material culture. Ryan has been featured on NPR, CNN, Coast to Coast, Psychology Today, and many more. With a background in both archaeology and dream research, Ryan currently teaches graduate level courses at University for Peace in Costa Rica and National University in California. Ryan is a member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and abides by their ethical guidelines. His website DreamStudies.org has been going strong since 2007. He currently lives in Philadelphia, PA.

lucid dreaming as a portal to afterlife communication

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Lucid Dreaming as a Portal to Afterlife Communication by Janet Piedilato, PhD (https://www.janetpiedilato.net/)

“The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul.”  C G Jung (Collected Works, 10, p 304)

Pere LaChaise lies east of central Paris, gathering place of such notables as Chopin, Champollion, Balzac, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, American’s Jim Morrison and over one million others.  It is a place of life, not death.  One emerges from the Metro at the stop which bears its famous name, Pere LaChaise, Father LaChaise, the eminent confessor to King Louis XIV,   Pere LaChaise, communicator between the voice of the sun king and the eternal divinity.  And so the journey begins, entering and coming down a long pathway ending with a monument, Aux Morts by Albert Bartolome.  It is an imposing monument, a mastaba, a funerary monument prevalent in Ancient Egypt.  It is how the Step Pyramid began its life, step by step added during the long years of birth, until it became the first pyramid.  Yet the mastaba remains as foundation.  And Aux Morts begins the journey for along its outer walls are the waking humans lamenting the passing of their loved ones as they await their entry through the False Portal that leads to no ordinary reality landscape but to the Everlasting, the Mansion of Millions of Years.  Here begins our journey to communicate with those passed over, we walking upon the earth, lamenting the departure before us of our loved ones, yet coming to the doorway to commune with them…..How?   With intention and with our ability to commune through the waking lucid dream, that is how.

For many a lucid dream is one where we are aware that we are dreaming, understanding during the dream that we are experiencing something beyond our waking reality environment.  I expand the experience of the lucid dreaming to beyond the sleeping state proposing that we can be awake while fully attending internal imagery.  Altering our focus away from the tangible proximal environment to the mental dreamscape allows us to experience a lucid waking dream while our critical observer is aware that we are physically situated in a particular location as our mind moves on the dreamscape.  While only a few may be able to experience a lucid dream while sleeping, many can experience a lucid waking dream. With this widened perspective we will be able to view shamanic journeying, trance meditation, and invited waking dreams as lucid experiences where we expand consciousness in service of increased understanding of life and afterlife.  We literally become walkers between the worlds, that of the physical tangible and that beyond waking limitations.  We will come to see how the waking lucid dream acts as a doorway, a portal to an empowering inner experience opening to afterlife communion and a greater understanding of our true nature beyond the physical. 

Introduction

“Tomorrow, at dawn, as the countryside whitens,

I shall leave. You’re waiting for me; I know.

…

I shall walk with my eyes closed in on my thoughts,

Seeing nothing beyond, hearing no sound,

Alone …

When I arrive, I shall place on your tomb

A posy of green holly and of heather in flower.”

Victor Hugo, Tomorrow at Dawn.

Victor Hugo said it well.  Tomorrow at Dawn speaks of his journey to the tomb of his young daughter Leopoldine.  He speaks of seeing nothing beyond his inner vision, hearing no sound from around him in waking as he focuses upon his meeting with her.  The true portal thus recognized as inside oneself.  The image of the Egyptian false door on tombs and temples that dot the landscape along the Nile reflect what is this deeply meaningful inner experience.  The portal on Aux Morts likewise reflects the meeting place between the here and the hereafter.  It is an experience open to each of us. And at this time when the veils are thin from Toussaints, All Saints, All Hallows, All Souls Day,  to the flowing end of the year is the perfect time to make the intention and seek our communication.

Trance, meditation, and shamanic journeying have been with humanity beyond measured time and each practices the opening of inner communion. They are examples like lucid dreaming where individuals are awake, focusing inwardly upon mental imagery while remaining aware of the waking physical environment.  A critical observer is thus in control of the experience, grounded in the physical proximal environment while we focus upon the dreamscape, gift of our imagination, the faculty by which we form mental images.  We literally become walkers between both worlds, external and internal.

Communication with those in the beyond can begin simply in an ordinary sleep time dream or in waking we can call upon them, stand before the portal between waking and dream consciousness to call them forward.  Sometimes the experience can be spontaneous as I relate the following unexpected experience.

I present a personal example of a meditation I encountered decades ago. Unexpectantly it took me to a deep afterlife communication.  It began with a simple rosary.  Kneeling on the floor with my rosary early one morning at 4 AM I had one of the big lucid dream moments.  My rosary practice then and now consists of repeating a simple prayer, the Hail Mary, over and again as my fingers touch my beads.  It was thus that one morning deep in the rosary praying that I suddenly found myself peering down from the ceiling of my room looking at my physical body kneeling on the floor below.   A voice communicated with me from the Afterlife, one I recognized.  I knew I was outside of time and space in that eternal space and I knew far more, understood more about my life than at any other moment.  I understood that whatever challenge or sorrow befell me it would all always be all right, the message of this communication so strong it came upon me as something I already knew yet had somehow forgotten.  It is difficult to articulate even now decades later the effect this had on me.   The communion was real, undeniable. The message unquestionably genuine.    It was unexpected and spontaneously generated.  I was able to reach that communion again and I began to share my experience and the manner in which I reached it with others.   Dawn, the liminal space between night and morning, the perfect time to rise and take the beads in hand to seek the lucid waking dream and communion with the Afterlife.  The simple repetition of a prayer while the fingers engage with beads helps us to open the portal taking us beyond the boundaries of the physical. The waking lucid dream in that experience happened while I was completely awake attending to my rosary.  While many might see my experience as an “out of body” experience I prefer to call it an “experience of expanded consciousness.”  Looking upon this experience we can embrace the idea of walking between the worlds, lucid, aware while sleeping or fully awake.

More recently a series of lucid sleep dreams brought me what many might call remote viewing or out of body experiences  (I call this expanded consciousness where my consciousness is still connected to my physical body while expanded far beyond its limitations. When my body dies then I can experience out of body, at least in my thinking) In any case I found myself in Pere LaChaise Cemetery in Paris.  I had no prior waking knowledge of this place yet in the dream I was certain of my location.  A communication came and I knew its sender who directed me to find that poem, At Dawn, something I likewise had no prior knowledge.  I listened well. There was another prominent voice that rose to communicate with me, a composer, his music filling me.  So strong were these communications that I booked my flight and followed the directive of the dreams.  I was not disappointed.

I spent two days visiting in flesh what I first saw in lucid dream. It was surreal to be physically in Pere LaChaise, an experience which defied words.  I yearn for more, something I hope to accomplish on future journeys..  And I rushed to two other places directed by the lucid dreams. One led me to Le Pantheon where upon the wall I found a memorial to one of my lifetime favorite authors, Antoine de Saint Exupery.  And thus his words come forth

“That which is essential is invisible to the eyes”

Antoine de Saint Exupery.  Le Petit Prince.

“Oh sleep that dreams and dream that never tires, Press from the petals of the lotus-flower something of this to keep, the essence of an hour!”~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

The other place I needed to visit was L’Eglise de Madeline.  An exquisite church, it was the location of the funeral mass for Chopin, one who connected with me during the dreamings.  I wished to sit in the Madeline and bring to mind Mozart’s Requiem which was played for his funeral.  Before I left I purchased concert tickets which featured Chopin, hoping in this way to honor him.  Yet upon arriving at the Madeline I found a poster announcing the memorial concert of Mozart’s Requiem in honor of Chopin’s funeral anniversary: October 30 1849- October 30 2022!  I had no idea that my journey landed me at this important time.  Immediately I purchased these new tickets and through an amazing turning ended up seated in the empty church, my two companions and myself, listening to over an hour of the orchestral rehearsal prior to listening to the entire memorial concert.  All due to the lucid dreaming which led me across the waters to follow them, and to affirm my lifetime commitment to memory, to the state of our dismemberment, and our journey toward rememberment, joining waking and dream consciousness to be healed, made whole, gently freed of the overwhelming ignorance of our true nature. Communion with those passed over was so powerful, so meaningful in both the lucid dreaming and the synchronicities manifesting in waking.  At Pere LaChaise we have the presence of the False door, the place of communion on the mastaba, like the many false doors in ancient Egypt, each pointing to the one inside ourselves.  

The Egyptian False Door: Knocking on Heaven’s Gate

“Arise, O great reed float, like Wepwawet (Opener of the Ways), filled with your spiritual power (Aka) come forth from the Akhet (Afterlife).”  The Pyramid Texts.  Alexander Piankoff.

While we have no written information on our prehistoric human rituals of communicating with the Afterlife, we are blessed with the abundance of a strong Afterlife belief system in the Ancient Egyptian culture.  The image above gives a view of one of the seven vaulted chapels in the Great Temple of Seti I in Abydos, Upper Egypt.  Center on its west wall  is the False Door. This is a door that does not open to a waking reality room but is intended to serve as a portal between the world of the living and that of the Afterlife. It was here at Abydos that priests would bring offerings and commune with the deities.  It was here that the communication would flow between one living and one passed over.  The living would remain aware of the physical chapel while focused upon the Afterlife communication,  the waking lucid dream.  Offerings were presented, physical or imaginal.  The Ancient believed in the power of the word and thus they created what is called a Voice Offering.  I present my abridged version here

An offering to Osiris, Lord of Djedu, great God, Lord of Abydos,

Of bread, beer, ox, fowl, alabaster, linen,

Everything good and pure on which a god lives

For the Ka of the revered one ( here the name of the deceased. ) ….

The False Door of Abydos is one of the many in the mortuary temple of Seti I, a pharaoh.  Yet there are many False Doors in the mortuary chapels of nobles.  A lovely example may be found in the False Door of the Mastaba of Perneb which can be visited in the Egyptian Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Likewise there is a vast collection of False Doors on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo with others in museums all over the world.  They are simply a common feature pointing to the deep conviction of the ancient Egyptian people: The ability to communicate with those passed to the Afterlife.

 I frequently visit Egypt as well as visiting the Mastaba Tomb which graces the Metropolitan Museum nearby.  I often find myself standing before the ancient False Door reading the hieroglyphs above it.  A scribe, now passed thousands of years ago addresses me in the script he left for my reading:

Oh ye who talk upon the earth, please stop and speak a voice offering in honor of Perneb…..

Composed and chiseled into the wall by a scribe over four thousand years ago I find myself responding, bridging the centuries as I speak the voice offering articulating the ancient prayer presenting the incorruptible, of all things good and pure for Perneb…… And I continue, seeing the False Door, as a place of communion, not only with the deceased for whom it was created, but as a portal of communion with my beloved passed away before me.  The Door is behind glass presenting a division between where I stand and the opening to the Afterlife.  It is a narrow room and few tourists spend more than a few moments inside.  Alone, I shift my consciousness allowing the portal to open, allowing the images to rise on my mental landscape, allowing the communication to flow.  The Ancient Egyptian False door is so symbolic of the portal beyond waking perception, a doorway to Communication with the Afterlife, all accessed via the lucid waking dream.

Awake and yet no longer solely attentive to physical environment each of us is capable of becoming walkers between the worlds, communicating with what is physically absent, eternally present in the Afterlife.

Nobles and workers who had the opportunity and the funds and time, created mortuary chapels and put aside additional funds for priests to conduct offering prayers for them at the False Doors within their chapels.  The mortuary chapels and temples were seen as a place where the living continued to interact with the deceased. The prayers and offerings were presented to the Great Lord, the deity, in the name of the deceased as the living continued to commune with them. The False Door was not the sole place of Afterlife communication as it is suggested that in some households there were areas, rooms set aside as chapels in which mortuary stelae or ancestral busts of dead family or ancestors were kept as a place for convenient communication.

In summation:

The shift in consciousness, the altering of the focus from the sensory generated view of the external world to the imaginally generated dream reality ushers in the lucid waking dream state which offers one the opportunity to commune beyond the limitations of the physical world.  The False door of Aux Morts at Pere LaChaise like the  Ancient Egyptian False Door brings to mind the place of communion where one upon the earth can make offerings leading to a communication with the Afterlife. It is a powerful reminder of the empowering nature of our dreaming mind.  We can expand our understanding of the False Door as a place, a portal within ourselves, where our conscious focus turns from the physical to view the imaginal world as we enter into the experience of Afterlife communication via a lucid waking dream.  With one foot in each world we step beyond and open the possibility of Afterlife Communication.

Our beloved awaits our arrival… Meeting through our lucid dreaming….

I’d like to thank Dr. Janet Piedilato for contributing to the Conscious Chimera blog!

If you’d like to contact Dr. Piedilato, join her courses, purchase her dream tarot deck and book, or simply read her bio, you may do so here: https://www.janetpiedilato.net/

a diagnostic coin toss

~ kimberly mascaro ~ Leave a comment

Consciousness-related phenomena (what the Conscious Chimera blog is all about) and cancer may not seem to blend together so well, at least at first glance. But maybe, just maybe, I will convince you otherwise. Cancer is coming up for me at this time because it is October – that dreaded month – reminding me of the biopsy followed by diagnosis.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry, the biopsy report shows that the tissue is cancerous.” 

Or something like that. 

Yeah, the exact words have faded although at the time I believed I would never forget them.

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Something else happened that week too. I determined I would work with the cancer, understand it and it’s lessons for me. I would not engage in a battle, nor would I fight it. After all, my own body grew this. 

I believe bodies can not only allow cancer to blossom, but also wither. Consciousness plays a part in the shrinkage and the growth.

October has also been named Breast Cancer Awareness Month, yet many people actually prefer Breast Health Awareness Month. After all, we don’t necessarily need to be reminded of cancer. How could we forget it? It’s everywhere, in about 50% of the population…and growing. Could our chances of getting a cancer diagnosis be no better or worse than a coin toss? I can’t tell you how many people I know who are managing this condition! A focus on health – how to stay healthy or return to optimal health – is more appropriate.

So given the month and my personal experience, I’ll share how cancer and consciousness are in good company. Over these past three years since the diagnosis (I’ll never say ‘my’ diagnosis), I’ve spent countless hours with doctors (MDs, DOs, NDs, DTCM, PhDs, and functional and integrative ones) who have taught me a great deal about cellular behavior, consciousness, and even the biofield. 

If the term biofield is new for you, think of it as interacting fields of energy and information that surround living systems and deliver information to and throughout an organism, such as the human body. Long story short, I knew that cells were conscious from the work of Bruce Lipton, PhD and many others, yet finally, I knew my next life phase would be about much more than education or a theoretical comprehension. 

This phase is about transformation, and building an interactive relationship with all parts of my-self. 

With decades of practice in cancer treatment under his belt, Antonio Jimenez, MD, ND, has talked about how a bad thought is more deadly than a bad germ. After all, our cells are always listening…and they respond. Cells behave in accordance with one’s thoughts and feelings. Or as Bruce Lipton, PhD has noted, one’s beliefs have a profound impact on that person’s biology. 

In short, everything is conscious. We shape frequency, vibration. Consciousness is behind everything: Everything we think, feel, sense and do. 

Consider the research conducted on seeds, sand, water, and plants. It is profound. I’d even say magical. But it really is science.

This is not to say that anyone has consciously programmed their cells to make them turn cancerous. It is to say that we exist in a conscious multi-verse where we are participants in creative forces at play, whether we have awareness of it or not. We are not passive recipients or victims…at least we don’t have to be. 

As conscious creators, we are extremely powerful. Within us lies the ability to shape matter. How? With our thoughts and beliefs, our feelings and emotions, our actions and words, our energetic flow (or lack of it). Furthermore, by altering our states of consciousness (most commonly done through sound or the breath) it is easier to do so. A lot of things become easier when mental chatter (aka monkey mind) simmer down and we joyfully open to influence frequency. By focusing in, consciously directing energy to the target (energy follows attention), trust there will be results.  

Cancer Awareness just brings attention to cancer, but a month of Awareness on Health, especially Breast Health, supports women everywhere in fostering a healthy lifestyle. This can impact the entire body, supporting all levels of functioning.

Health-focused conscious lifestyles can co-exist with all forms of medicine and healing. If you have been diagnosed with cancer, allow a team of professionals to support you and simultaneously consider bringing in body workers and energy healers. Even if you are well-versed and practiced in work involving nonordinary states of consciousness, it can feel very supportive to invite others onto your team. I did, and I’m grateful for every person that provided assistance. At the same time, I ramped up my own inner work and found solid, grounded, experienced teachers to guide me further along in my wellness journey. 

It’s been three years now, and while I’ll always remember that numbing phone conversation, I feel empowered to use all of my abilities to continue to heal. If this essay encourages you do take the lead in your own health and healing journey, then my work is done for now. 

May you be blessed with good health,

Dr. Kim

meditate while you ZZZ

~ kimberly mascaro ~ Leave a comment

How many people would say meditation and sleep make strange bedfellows? A lot, I’d gather. Allow me to convince you that those people would be wrong!

Sleeping and meditating have the potential to blend together easily in the right conditions. With practice, it is very possible to be aware in a lovely meditative conscious space while the brain is in deep sleep. Enter the fascinating realm of Yoga Nidra, a centuries old practice, brought to us by people of India.

So what exactly is Yoga Nidra, you may be wondering?

Yoga Nidra is a sleep-based meditation designed to remove mental and emotional disturbance and rejuvenate the body. Yoga Nidra is composed of a structured series of breath, body and awareness techniques which progressively drop you into deeper brainwaves where your thoughts effortlessly move further away from you. It is in this gap between the thoughts that you can effortlessly experience restful meditation.  The body can deeply heal and rejuvenate, excess mental stimulation ceases and you awaken energized and focused. The more we rest as the silence behind the mind, the less we are disturbed by its unhelpful chatter—even while awake. Like meditation, Yoga Nidra can be used for medical, restorative and spiritual benefits alike to support one’s own goals and intentions.

What makes Yoga Nidra unique?

Most styles of meditation simply involve observing and allowing thoughts from a place of silent stillness. However, Yoga Nidra effects shifts from the state of meditation with the use of intention. In Yoga Nidra you are free from identification with deep-seated thought patterns that are constantly shaping and creating your mind, emotions, and even your body. With the use of intention you can consciously plant a seed to shape and create the state of your mind, emotions and body from the subtlest states of being very quickly and easily. This style of Yoga Nidra I was taught by Kamini Desai, PhD, and John Vosler is called the Integrative Amrit Method (IAM). They say it is like making changes to water versus ice.

The big difference with this particular method is that the focus is on energy as the point of entry into meditation. This released energy in the body increases the healing potential available during an I AM Yoga Nidra™ and typically takes most practitioners into deeper states of meditation more quickly. That is why this style is often known as “the deep one”.

You can learn more about this method here: https://amrityoga.org/yoga-nidra/

Let’s look into the process of Yoga Nidra.

Yoga Nidra is practiced in a comfortable lying down position. Typically, one lies on a yoga mat on the floor with just a little padding under the head so that the spine stays in alignment. Something under the knees allows for extra comfort as well – some use a pillow or bolster for this. For those that cannot lie comfortably on the floor, a bed, couch or reclining chair are preferred. During yoga nidra body temperature may drop, so having a blanket next to you in case you need it is a good idea. Some people also like to use an eye pillow for extra darkness – I love eye pillows!. As the yoga nidra experience begins, you will be guided through a series of breathing exercises and simple instructions. Some of these include visual imagery or a scan of the body, which occupies the mind and prevents it from becoming involved in the usual mind-chatter that absorbs our ordinary consciousness. Within a short time, you become submerged in the alpha state…then go even deeper.

Ah…it’s sooo relaxing.

Now if you’ve read this far, let me tell you why I’m blogging on this topic today. Firstly, it is my three-year anniversary of earning my Yoga Nidra Certification. When I entered this whole yoga nidra thing seriously, it was early 2019, and honestly, I wasn’t sure why I was propelled to do it. But before the year came to an end, I understood. This brings me to the second reason. The following month, after earning my certification in September 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. As you can imagine, I had some big decisions to make and, naturally, anxious energy flowed through me night and day. So guess what? I used Yoga Nidra (sometimes twice a day) to calm my nerves and instill a state of calm. I had the direct and long-term experience to discover how effective it is. Through Yoga Nidra, I was able to relax and focus much more so than I was at that time able to with other forms of meditation I knew so well. To this day, I offer free Yoga Nidra every Wednesday to a growing online community. You’re invited! Just reach out.

Lastly, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to my teachers at the Amrit Yoga Institute. Check them out here: https://amrityoga.org/

Jai Bhagwan,

Dr. Kim

got insomnia? turn down mind-body-spirit noise!

~ kimberly mascaro ~ Leave a comment

Is insomnia in your self-descriptive vocabulary? I hear this regularly among patients in my clinical practice. Maybe you experience insomnia or sleep next to someone who does. Sleep is natural, but why do so many people struggle with it? Insomnia seems to have become the new normal. Would you agree?

No one is alone here. Sleep disorders are a major concern for millions of people, including young children. Loss of restorative delta sleep (~ 0.1 – 4 hertz)  – that’s the deepest level of sleep –  and loss of REM sleep are both related to a slew health issues, both physical and mental. In Dr. Matthew Walker’s (2017) Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of  Sleep and Dreams, he writes, “No facet of the human body is spared the crippling, noxious harm of sleep loss” (p. 133). Sleep loss negatively affects all major systems of the body, including the immune and sympathetic nervous system. Research also shows how cancers are linked with getting 6 hours or less of sleep each night and over-exposure to light at night. There is good reason for making some changes!

Photo by Acharaporn Kamornboonyarush on Pexels.com

But what is sleep? Sleep is holistic, intimately tied to many areas of life. This includes our relationship with the deepest part of our-self, our inner world.

The underlying organizational and foundational structure of sleep is natural  cycles or rhythms (think circadian, ultradian, etc.), body temperature, and a sense of inner peace, according to sleep specialist and clinical assistant professor, Dr. Rubin Naiman of University of Arizona.

Challenges to getting good sleep are much, much more than a biophysical issue. Most people these days are aware of the psychological consequences of sleep loss, such as increased thought distortions, and mood disturbances, as well as loss of attention, concentration, and memory. In children, sleep deprivation leads to what adults describe as ‘behavioral problems.’ It’s really the same with adults. But beyond this, how many are aware of the social and instinctual aspects of sleep?

For those with insomnia, we might consider what we have imposed upon ourselves. One question to ask ourself is “What do I consume?” Beyond consuming food (with lower nutritional value today than decades ago), we also (over)consume various forms of stimulation such as light (electricity, screen time), information (24 hour news), fluids, and energy (aka heat/arousal). Then there’s additional stressors – the good old fashioned kind – such as the quality of our relationships. Chronic inflammation, which underlies all major diseases, and hyperarousal (do you run hot?), which is behind insomnia, are associated with consuming excessive energy/stimulation (aka noise).

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

The good news is that we can reset ourselves, just like a pendulum clock. Exposure to nature light early in the morning is the best way, according to some sleep specialists. Greet the sun each morning  – use the moment to connect with Source through meditation or prayer.

Last year I wrote an article which included 10 sleep hygiene tips – Find it here: https://dreamstudies.org/dreammedicine/

And here are a few additional suggestions. In the PM hours, get into a solid ‘sleep hygiene’ routine. Furthermore, use substitutions, such as swapping out coffee (or alcohol) for teas, elixirs, or mocktails. We can also add a 30 minute yoga nidra session into our day or evening. Yoga nidra is a guided sleep-based meditation that “helps restore autonomic nervous system balance,” according to yoga expert, Dr. Kamani Desai. Yoga nidra turns down the heat. This is one antidote for sleep loss (and the tension that builds with ongoing insomnia) since it is designed to gently guide practitioners into deep sleep. It’s so relaxing! If you’d like to join me for yoga nidra, email me. For almost three years now, I have facilitated free yoga nidra sessions. At this time, I invite you to my free, virtual yoga nidra offerings on Wednesdays (6pm Pacific Time) – since it’s online, you can enjoy the relaxation from the comfort of your home. If you prefer pre-recorded sessions, two links to audio recordings can be found near the middle of this page: https://consciouschimera.com/professionalservices/

Since insomnia is much more than a biomedical condition, if you’ve made positive bio-psycho-social-enviromental changes (you’ve turned down the noise) yet still struggle to sleep, you may consider melatonin therapy or pharmaceutical medication. If so, consult with a functional medicine doctor (FMD) or naturopathic doctor (ND) for proper melatonin usage (especially to learn about its anticancer properties) or with a psychiatrist for pharmaceuticals. Like physicians, psychiatrists have earned a M.D., however the vast majority of primary care physicians do not have the training in sleep and psychopharmacology. So, a psychiatrist is recommended. NDs and FMDs are extremely helpful as well. Remember that integrative care is highly supportive, so if you choose to use medication for sleep, you might want to continue with a sleep hygiene routine, and know you are always welcome to join my free online yoga nidra group. If you want to use psychotherapy to treat insomnia, there is also CBT-I, that is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia – the gold standard, with no side effects. I use CBT in my private practice when appropriate as do most therapists. Feel welcome to contact me for support here, especially if nightmares are involved – just click on the Therapy tab on my website, ConsciousChimera.com

Wishing you deep rest,

Dr. Kim