Dream Inquiry is Like Yoga Practice | Katharine Donovan Kane |

There’s silence at twilight. Spring is beginning. The days are getting longer. I like getting up before the birds when it’s still dark and the world is quiet. In the liminal spaces of early morning my creative juices are more noticeable. This stillness is my way of meditating. Soon deep blue light will signal dawn behind the bare branches of the trees. It's time to remember the feelings and figures that visited me in sleep.

Dreams are like yoga sutras. They are sacred threads to inner teachings. They are the warp and weft threads on the loom that weave our dream messages together as we awaken.

Something in my dreamscape last night had me waking up wondering about the meaning of expanded reality. I’m curious what in my dream sparked this question. The dream itself isn’t clear. Sometimes it’s like that…my dreams fade too quickly but a feeling or a thought remains. So, with hot coffee warming my hands I do some pre-dawn free-writing about the threads emerging from the dream’s other dimension.

Following Sacred Threads

I journal about the general understanding of expanded reality as a place, or a parallel verse. Like the Celt’s hidden, mythical realm of the Otherworld. Sometimes it’s perceived as a pervasive inexplicable presence. The Mesoamerican Toltecs explain it as the limitless energy field of the universe called Nagual. Either or both are correct.

My dream thread about the nature of reality comes from a shared collective unconscious. Maybe it’s a commitment to spiritual clarity that prompts a search for deeper understanding of expanded reality. Or perhaps there’s an urging to realign, to re-balance physically and emotionally for a better quality of life. Whatever the reason, we’ve engaged with an important question.

Similarly, when we fully participate in practices like yoga, qigong, early morning writing, gardening, singing and such, we are engaging a broader perspective. Tapping into these mind-relaxing practices helps us begin to remember what has been forgotten. We begin to see what is hidden in plain sight. The beauty we find, the rightness, the awe of connection is worth the journey.

And if we struggle along our journey there are ancient voices such as Rumi’s reminding us, “what you seek is [already] seeking you.” There’s comfort in knowing that an abiding presence is companioning us.

And…by the way…we may deny ourselves access to this greater part of our expanded humanity because our internal dialogue convinces us that we are not “good” at meditating. Our inner voice says, I’m not one of those people who feel nature’s vibrations. Somehow this translates into not being worthy. Listen to your heart instead, not your mind chatter, and keep going.

Continue to understand how your mind / body / spirit energy-flow works. Notice the blockages. Begin to cut and re-cut the energetic chords. Our ego is a beautiful thing, but it also demands most of our energy resources. It works hard to divert our attention.

Dream Inquiry is Like Yoga Practice

As distracted as we humans can be, we often find ourselves striving to connect to “otherness.” Like other mind-quieting activities which attune our intuitions, a dream inquiry practice explores our sacred threads. In the dreamscape we find deeper wisdom about what we don’t fully understand.

The unique symbology and imagery of our dreams can offer insights to assuage the stress and concerns of waking life.

For instance, when we practice yoga we first learn to breathe. We inhale the surrounding air flow and allow it to merge with our inner breath. We notice our body respond to this energy flow as we step into our asanas. The mind becomes less active as you establish an inner sovereignty and ground yourself in the moment.

We begin dream inquiry in the same way. First, follow your breath. Then do a body scan and see where the dream has left its mark. Instead of asking the dream too many questions right away, look around (inside) the dream. Let it surprise you. I often hear people say that their dreams are “weird.” This is mind chatter. Ask your brain to rest a bit longer. Let curiosity guide you into the weirdness.

Like yoga practice, a dream inquiry practice, can relax the mind’s need to find answers, to reach a goal, or to make sense of whatever appeared. Allow the dream to flow, like we allow our breath to flow, and notice wisdom emerge from behind all the distractions. In this way we begin to recognize our own inner power that is hidden in plain sight.

And…no matter life’s stresses…no one, no job, no-thing can take our power away. Remember Rumi’s quote reminding us that what we seek is already there seeking us. It’s waiting to be noticed.

And there are times we may observe a dream energy. It emerges as a ripple of healing that reverberates in our aura. Importantly, this renewed vibration reaches out to others, and consequently to the surrounding world. Our world needs your energy right now. So, onward and blessings.

Here’s an opportunity to experience a one-time session to learn more about Dream Circles. Join a small online group on Wednesday, March 19 at 1:00 pm ET. I offer these sessions quarterly. So if you’d like to join and can’t on the date above watch my website for the next class.