You have just had a really bad dream.Why would you ever want to re-enter that nightmare? Don’t we prefer to forget what is not peasant? One of the important reasons to re-enter a dream is to allow the relationships in your dream to grow and develop in a positive manner. Our nightmares can be a blessing in disguise and a call to action.
This was addressed previously in my blog 4 Benefits to Re-enering Your Dream.
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos and Tallulah Lyons are in constant contact with their spirit guides in dreams and use information from their dream journals to findanswers to questions by re-entering dreams. They combined their personal
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos and Tallulah Lyons are in constant contact with their spirit guides in dreams and use information from their dream journals to findanswers to questions by re-entering dreams. They combined their personal
Here are steps practiced by Katheen and Tallulah on how to re-enter your dream for clarification, contact and retrieval of forgotten information.
Follow the breath into a deeply relaxed state;
enter an imaginal healing sanctuary;
invite Supportive Presence/Inner Guide;
re-enter the dream from a new perspective staying grounded in a sense of support and guidance;
allow the elements of the dream to move and shift;
allow new insights, perspectives and interactions;
imagine the transformed imagery as healing energy;
imagine sending the healing energy into any part of the body, mind, or spirit that needs special tending.
Tallulah has developed several guided imagery scripts that can be found in Dreams and Guided Imagery. The scripts are for deep relaxation, nightmare transformation, inviting a healing waking dream, and for integrating healing symbols. The recordings also can be downloaded from the website: www.healingpowerofdreams.com.
Last year, Laura Huff Hileman used one of Tallulah’s guided imagery scripts in a study to evaluate the effect on the transformation of nightmares. In unprompted reports of dreamers who used the guided imagery with their disturbing dreams, 61% – 92% reported movement from anxiety to a sense of safety, transformation of imagery from troubling to helpful, insights for waking life, and an increase in confidence and empowerment.
Kathleen has developed a free introductory meditation tape available for download on her webste www.SurvivingCancerLand.com to help clients use breathing techniques to enter and re-enter the dream-state for their dreamwork.
Dream journaling is an excellent source for researching personal dream delema and information. By dream-tracking, keeping track of dreams that my be recurrent or important, you can highlight questions or dream events and re-enter dreams to research the answers.
Not all dreams are filled with life altering information that must be remembered. However, when you are in crisis or plan to make the “mistake of a lifetime,” our ET (Eternal Teacher) phones home for help.</P
Dreams are phone lines to the “other side.”
Spirit guides send information through dreams that not only diagnose illness but can diagnose and guide you toward creative relationship with all aspect of your life.
Re-entering your dreams is an excellent way to dialogue with self and your spirit guides.
Trouble does not take time off for celebrations or holidays and neither should you. Every day of life is a special gift. Celebrating the holidays is a wonderful way to distract us from our treatments, illness and crisis. When we embrace and celebrate a gift of love, we automatically give back as much as we received. Accepting love is also a gift to the giver.
“But how can I celebrate when I feel so poorly?” you may ask. I asked the same question while I battled three breast cancers over ten years. So the solutions shared here with you are tried and true.
Embrace the gift of love during the holidays as a first step in enjoying life during times of strife. Disaster is temporary. Love is eternal. Focus on the love and joy will happen. It is part of the miracle of life.
Take time to love the simple things in life. Celebration is not measured by how many things you do, how much money you spend, or how lavishly you entertain. It is measured by how much you share the gift of love and how deeply that gift is felt. Celebration comes from accomplishments. Celebration does not come from your mental “to do list.” It comes from your heart’s, “I did it list.”
Start your “I did it list” by writing down your victories in life, no matter how small. Size is a concept and state of mind. Diamonds come in very small packages yet they are a very big commodity. What diamonds do you have to share with yourself that exemplify your life’s accomplishments? Honor them by keeping them with you. When you feel the weight of treatment, illness or life-in- general bearing down upon you, take out your list and re-read it. If you are having an exceptionally bad day, read it to your reflection in a mirror until you believe it. Mirror therapy can be very effective.
Define your limits and know your limitations while in crisis, treatment or recovery. When faced with an emotional or physical decision that is taxing or vexing, ask yourself, “Will life continue to exist if I do not do this?” If the answer is, Yes!” chooseto not do it. Remember that the choice is always yours to accept or reject any request or demand. The word “No” does not require an explanation. Just like the word “Because” “No” is its own complete statement. If you feel compelled to soften the blow add, “But thank you so much for asking.” Embracing this concept is a big step in defining your limits and limitations during the holidays that can become a New Year Resolution.
Sit back and let others show their devotion to you during this challenging time in your life. Receiving affection, compliments or gifts is not always easy for many people. You become so accustomed to giving that you overlook the importance of getting. Look at receiving from a different perspective. Allowing others the opportunity to display their love to you may be the best gift you ever gave to them. It can become the memory of a lifetime. Give them the gift of pampering you.
The holidays are filled with miracles. Some are as small as a newborn baby. Some as big as a second chance at life. Watch for miracles during holiday family gatherings, and remember to give thanks for the small things in life.
During a personal crisis it can be difficult to relinquish control of things that were considered “your job.” Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and shift power into the hands of others can be daunting. Trusting in your Higher Power to lead family members can be a big leap of faith, and that may be a good thing.
Agree to let others help you with cores or cherished jobs like trimming the tree or cooking the holiday meal. It may be a way of seeing how much you have influenced their life in a positive way and a wonderful opportunity to tweak family traditions so that you have more energy to enjoy the festivities. Think of this change as a temporary respite from past frenzies, no matter how enjoyable they may have seemed at the time.
This holiday season choose to embrace the opportunity to sit back, relax and share the gift of love by allowing loved ones, family and friends to pamper you like you’ve never been pampered before.
When talking about their inner guides, dreamers may choose various names in accordance with personal background and experience. Dreamers may speak extensively about their inner-guidance, but have they remembered to give a sign of gratitude? And why is this important.
Giving thanks to your spirit guide for information shared in dreams, prayers and meditations is a way of rewarding them for a job well done and ensuring future contact. It is much like when your children or loved ones listen to and follow your advice. You are much more likely to share more. Seeing them experience success from your guidance is a reward. The same example holds true for spirit-guides.
Tallulh Lyons and Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos are in constant contact with their spirit guides. They combined their personal experiences and shared on the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) online Symposium. The goal of this symposium is to share cutting-edge research and information on dreams, spirit guides and Dreaming-with-Others for research. This information is shared with medical practitioners, students and the world community of dreamers.
For example, Tallulah Lyons is currently in dialogue with an inner guide she addresses as Eli. He is an ancient black man who appears in her dreams. On her weekly radio show, Kathleen often refers to her callers’ inner teachers as ETs (Eternal Teachers) who “phone home” for help during times of crisis. Members of the cancer dream circle in Atlanta with Tallulah have talked about the Inner Healer, Inner Guide, Inner Adviser, Eternal Teacher, Creative Spirit, Holy One, Mystery, Source, Presence, and Universe, as well as many specific names.
Kathleen is often in conversation with Dr. Jules, her female medical spirit-giuide who is also described in detail in her book Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing.
In his classic book Guided Imagery for Self-Healing, Martin Rossman, M.D., addresses the fact that there are many theories about the source of inner guidance. He advises , and Tallulah and Kathleen agree – that there are three proper responses for helpful guidance:
express gratitude
take action
and integrate the energy into waking life.
If you wish to connect with inner-guidance through dreams, perhaps thanking your guides before going to sleep may be a way of opening the lines of communication and manifesting an action by imagining it already completed. Just say thank you and then sleep on it.
Bio: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos believes dreams can diagnose your life. Did you have a déjà vu or did your dream come true? Kat survived three cancers diagnosed by her dreams. Author, inspirational speaker, Cape Women Online Magazine & Wellness Women 40 and Beyond columnist, and R.A.Bloch Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor & Mentor; Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos hosts a weekly web-radio show Your Life & Purpose Revealed, has been featured on radio, in magazines and newspapers, appeared on Every Way Women TV, and the Waking Universe TV documentary. SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing is the first in her three book series on waking up to dreams that diagnose life. www.SurvivingCancerLand.com
In part one of this article Depression is Deadlier than CANCER?: 7 Ways to Survive Treatment, we explored depression and cancer.
The recent suicide of actor Robin Williams has brought life and death associated with depression into our hearts and homes. It has deeply touched our lives and left us with many unanswered questions. For those of us not suffering from depression, it was a surprise. For those of us touched by depression it was a wake-up call. For the whole world, it was a cry for help and a call to action.
Here are more facts and figures that may surprise and alarm you.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental illness is very common. One in five Americans aged 16-85 experience some form of mental illness in any year. Suicide is among the top 20 leading causes of death globally for all ages. According to (WHO), every year over 800,000 people die from suicide. That is an alarming statistic.
The most common mental illnesses are depressive, anxiety and substance use disorder. These three types of mental illnesses often occur in combination. For example, a person with an anxiety disorder could also develop depression, or a person with depression might misuse alcohol or other drugs, in an effort to self-medicate. A third combination would be incompatible pharmaceuticals that exacerbate mental illness during treatment for a physical illness.
One in two people or half the population in the world will suffer from some form of mental illness in their lifetime. One in three people will come down with some form of cancer in their lifetime. More people will have mental illness than cancer.
Cancer, like depression and many other diseases that were once considered terminal, is no longer a death sentence. It may take time and a team of experts to formulate a treatment that works for all diseases that plague our minds and bodies, but that help is available. Knowing your options is paramount to being successful in health. The internet is a great way to connect with other patients, groups and organizations and to research information and success stories.
Success is possible.
Long-term follow-up procedures during and after any health related treatments are extremely important for keeping all diseases under control or cured.
Here are 4 steps to ensure personal success over depression during health treatments.
Be an active part of your treatment team.
Show up.
Follow through.
Focus on success.
It was not that long ago that many diseases now controllable such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, diabetes, blood pressure and heart disease were considered incurable. Now, stories of treatment success far outnumber the stories of failure. Many patients live with or beyond disease. Decide to become one of the success stories.
Since the suicide of Robin Williams, the illness of depression has been in the news and on the minds of many cancer patients. Unfortunately, cancer and depression go together like peanut and butter. The pharmaceutical cocktail of anti-depression medication and chemotherapy can become a hair-raising roller coaster ride, if you have any hair left after chemo.
As an R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor, I mentor woman newly diagnosed with cancer who seek help through the HOTLINE’s center by calling 1-800-433-0464 and I’m pleased to say that I’ve seen a rise in the number of women talking about their depression.
Yes, you read that last line correctly.
Keeping depression a secret is deadly.
Talking about depression brings a dark controlling force into the light where it can be seen and conquered. Trying to overcome depression that is kept a secret is like trying to fight an enemy that is an expert at hiding. It is shooting in the dark.
Being ashamed of depression is like being ashamed of having the flue. It’s not your fault that you have it. You did not deliberately go out and try to acquire any of these diseases.
Like life, sh#t happens. Find it. Fix it!
We are also learning that certain people are genetically predisposed to certain diseases. We are often not aware of that fact until certain tests are preformed when symptoms are displayed. Once test information is shared with us our lifestyle can be adjusted accordingly and our health monitored.
Life goes on.
Statistics have proved that unhealthy diets and lifestyles can exacerbate an existing illness like cancer and depression. My book, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing addresses this in chapter 35, The Finish Line and Depression.
There is also evidence that living a healthy lifestyle that includes a nutritious diet, plenty of exercise and good sleep and work habits and can decrease the chances of acquiring certain diseases like cancer and depression, keep them under control if they do occur, or from returning once they are cured. Ways to change diet and lifestyle are discussed in my book, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing.
We’ve come a long way, Baby. Health care is not perfect, but it is improving and we have the statistics to prove it. Focus on that during times of trouble.
