Healing Benefits of Dreaming and my favorite sleep ritual

When was the last time that you had a good dream? Do you even remember it? 

I recently learned that back in ancient Roman/ Greek times, they actually used dreaming as a form of healing. They would send you off to a dark room to sleep and dream, so that in your dream, you could find the answers to heal yourself.

Centuries later, many used dreams as sign posts/tailsman for when you go to war, when to act, when a girl was going to get her period so she could be sent off to wed, etc. 

Dreams have been incredible tools for so many throughout centuries. 

Even today, we hear stories of people who’ve learned from their dreams or been inspired by them. Think of Paul McCartney’s story of how his hit song “Yesterday” came to him in a dream or of Mendeleev’s construction of the periodic table of elements was inspired in his dream. 

I’ve personally experienced the healing power and spiritual support of connecting to and listening to my dreams. My dreams have literally changed my life. I actually had a dream about wearing and making crystal jewelry that had me launch my business, and not too long ago I was told in my dream that I was meant to help heal women & help them get on their right path by reading them their birth charts. (These things don't always come to your busy, rational, logical and judgmental mind) 

When you allow yourself to heal yourself and your life through dreaming, its called "dream therapy". Google it. It's a thing! 

"Research shows that dreaming is not just a byproduct of sleep, but serves its own important functions in our well-being."

6 benefits of Dream Therapy

• Conscious and subconscious balancing. A major benefit of dream therapy is the strengthening of the subconscious and conscious mind. Psychologist Carl Jung called it “harmonic mental tuning”.

• Insight into mood. Dreams can be a reflection of what we are feeling at the subconscious level and what our deeper needs might be letting us know.

• Exploring symbolism. By keeping a dream notebook handy and recording different symbolism, you may be able to identify various themes that indicate where you need healing or where you need to focus attention. You can ask yourself: What is the central message?

• Sparks creativity.  If you are in a creative slump, dream therapy may help to spark creativity or give you a new idea to put in to motion.

• Positive self-care ritual. A major benefit of dream therapy is the habit of a positive self-care ritual, journaling. By allowing five to ten minutes a day for journaling, you carve out time to focus exclusively on you. Some people immediately write down themes from dreams upon waking and then use the symbols as part of a morning meditation.

• Internal conflict awareness. The Hellenistic era Greeks practiced something called dream incubation. Thats where you self-reflect on a specific concern and then write it down before going to sleep. Upon awaking, record whatever images pop up from your memory. Doing so may be helpful in shining a light on internal conflicts or life challenges.

My go-to ritual for lucid dreaming

My dream story: I’ve been connected to my dreams ever since I was young. We had a family member pass away when I was very young and he would often appear to me in my dreams. He would show up with messages for my family members. I mentioned it once and it was dismissed, so I never really shared the messages I would get but one time something very interesting happened.

One night this uncle appeared in my dream telling me to call a distant family member to tell them he loved them. So, that next morning I called that family member and it happened to be that family members birthday and that family member had recently gone to visit his grave site. It gave me chills.

Because of that, I’ve always paid attention to my dreams and the messages within them. I often look to my dreams to help unlock answers or hidden insights for any questions/situations life may bring.

Every once and a while I will notice that my dreams don’t always come to awareness when I wake up. Sometimes I don’t dream at all. When I find myself in those “dry dream” periods I use the following steps to help me boost my sleep so as to help me dream.

1. Eat a light dinner. When our bodies are full of harsh chemicals, heavy carbs, alcohol or toxins, it takes up a lot of energy to digest so it’s harder for our mind/body connection make it to the type of sleep we need to dream. Keep your body clean. I like to drink a lot of warm tea to help me sleep. I like peppermint, ashwaganda & I love to add honey.
   2. Take a salt bath. Bathing is a purification ritual. Hot baths help your body detox and relax. Magnesium salts soothe and purify your skin. You always want to be clean & prepared for a deep sleep.
   3. Grab a journal and pen. In the journal, you’ll write the questions you would like answered in your dream. You can say things like “I’d like clarity on this situation. God, show me the way” or “I’m looking to create more wealth in my life. What is the easiest path for me?” Dump your questions in your journal. Keep your journal and pen on your nightstand so you can wake up and record your dream immediately.
   4. Turn down the lights. For at least 30 minutes before bed, dim the lights or put on a Himalayan salt lamp. The soft light helps your brain prepare for the proper sleep. 10 minutes before bed (at least) you must have no blue light on your eyes. Turn off the TV, iPhone, iPad. Clear your eyes of that blue light distraction.
   5. Write what you remember from your dreams immediately. The most important information is what you dream just before you wake up. So the most recent dream carries the most gold!
   

   I recorded a podcast on this topic to take you a little bit further into the psychological benefits of dreaming! Listen and let me know what you think…

5 Realistic Habits for a Healthy Morning Routine – Start Your Day Right!

Struggling to find the right morning routine? This post will help you come up with an easy and realistic way to start your morning right.

My morning ritual story

My favorite tea cup company no longer makes my favorite tea cup. So, yesterday I spent hours scouring Ebay and the internets searching for anyone selling these very specific tea cups that I am obsessed with. I have a major obsession with tea and coffee and I like my cup to have a specific style. I cannot stand a small cup, I like my cups large enough for at least a good 10 - 12 oz . I also like a very curved handle, it has to be a very specific handle for me to love the cup.

Anyway, this got me to thinking about my mornings and my morning routine and rituals.

My mornings have truly become my favorite time of day. I wasn’t always a morning person but years ago when I started lighting candles in the morning as a form of setting intentions, it became a whole new experience for me. Ever since then, I understood the importance of cultivating a strong morning routine in order to experience better days. It changes the game for you when you become intentional about your morning.

5 REALISTIC Healthy Morning Habits:

1.Wake up slowly. But make sure you get up.

It is incredibly enticing to hit snooze when your alarm goes off but hitting snooze & drifting back into sleep is completely counter productive to your day. Hitting snooze will leave you actually feeling groggy and leave your more tired. Here’s why: when you’re relying on your alarm to alert you so that you can get more bits of sleep, it interrupts your bodies internal clock therefore disrupting your mind & body’s internal sleep system.

When you go back to sleep, your body begins a new REM cycle and it’s likely that you won’t fully complete that cycle which ends up leading to long term health defects. Your best bet is to get up when you wake up. Push through the tough part but be sure to allow yourself the time and space to get up slowly. Take a few long deep breaths to get your cells moving, your body will follow suit.

HOT TIP: In order to give my brain a boost in the morning, I set the light in our bedroom to a soft pink light to soften the light on my eyes. It helps to transition easier. You can grab a Pink Himalayan Salt Lamp and it will totally transform your morning routine. I also would grab my water bottle instead of grabbing my phone. Ensuring I get some really cold water before I get up really helps your body wake up naturally.

You don’t have to get up super early to have an effective routine but shoot for about 30 minutes earlier than your normal wake time.

2. Stretch your body & do breath work.

I feel like this is something we know but we just don’t do enough. So, if you can actually find a way to do some stretches in bed, it makes it easier to remember to do in the morning and I like to stretch as I am getting into my mini morning break work session.

The benefits you will get from stretching you body are endless. Most importantly, it helps you to ensure that your muscles relax, tense muscles are what leads to poor posture. Proper posture is a significant factor on your long term health. Doing your stretching and some Wim Hof breakwork before you even get out of bed in the morning is the most efficient and health effective thing you can do for yourself.

3. Hydrate & nourish your body.

Just after waking up, I love to head to the kitchen to make myself some drinks. I do three things.

1. I take a quick shot of Apple Cider Vinegar. It will wake you up instantly if you’re still feeling groggy. It’s so good for you and the taste is a shock to the system. You can also just take the vitamins.

2. Then, I drink some water. I like to fill my water with vitamins and nutrients, chlorophyl and lemon.

3. I take my vitamins. On Sundays, I refill my vitamin planner which is absolutely essential for me.

4. Make everything a ritual.

Coffee is a ritual for me. I make it a beautiful experience and in doing so, it’s a mindful form of self care. Like I explained before, I am very specific about my coffee cup. I’m also specific in what I put in my coffee and how it looks.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying my iced coffee out of a wine glass, it’s how you do things not just what you do. It is this ritual in the morning, that transforms how I feel for the day. When I rush, spill coffee, hurry out of the door…the day ends up feeling frantic and erratic. When I am in control of my morning and I curate a visually appealing and fun experience, I feel powerful and purposeful in my day.

As a person who is incredibly visual and connected to all things beautiful, I like to linger around my pretty table setting, gaze at beautiful flowers, open the window and connect with the weather. I use this time to be mindful, you can always ask yourself these questions while you are curating your beautiful morning and enjoying your coffee or tea.

5. Set intentions for your day.

In yoga philosophy, it is called san-kalpa. According to one definition, the word can be described as: “A vow that comes from the very core of your heart -- the place of your deepest truth. It is different than a goal, in that it's a longing that comes from your highest self instead of your thinking brain.”

The power of an intention is incredible, whether it's just one or several. You can set as many or as little as you want and what’s great is that they can be experienced all at once, ensuring that you feel whole. Setting intentions ensures that you don't feel that something is missing or lacking in your life. They’re like planting seeds and creating a foundation for your day. It helps you to focus on the present, what you are intending right now instead of tripping about what’s happening in the future. This is my secret to so much of what I have created in life, intentions have transformed me. When I set intentions for the financial goals I have, I’ve noticed how my subconscious mind will come up with ideas to help me reach those intentions almost out of the blue.

How to set your intentions: On Monday’s I like to set weekly intentions and every morning I set daily ones. You want to choose a goal or mantra that you would like to use to help shape your life experience. It could be something like, “be more mindful today” or “I am going to lose 3 lbs this week”. After you decide your intention, you want to make a ritual out of setting the intention. For years, I did it with candles. I would light a candle as I set my intention. However, when I began learning about the power of crystal healing (if you want to understand crystal healing better, grab my ebook Manifesting with Crystals), I personally started to use my crystal jewelry to help me with my intentions and honestly it changed my entire life! The power of crystal healing is truly transformational.

For example, if I am setting a financial goal, I will use my Green Aventurine bracelet, the stone for attracting money. As I put on my crystal bracelet, I set an intention “Today I will make $500 in sales” or something like that. Every time I look at my Green Aventurine crystal bracelet on my wrist, my subconscious mind connects with that set intention throughout the day and will create situations that propel me towards that goal. And somehow it usually inevitable happens one way or another.

HOT TIP: I often wear several bracelets every single day, filled with my intentions. I can pick and choose intentions for my day to feel powerful, connected and aligned with the life I desire to create for myself.

Another example, If I am looking to lose a little weight, I will wear my Blue Apatite crystal bracelet as it is a crystal with the benefit of decreasing your appetite. I will set the intention “today, I will take the time to eat healthy, nourishing foods for optimal wellness” or something like that. That bracelet serves as a reminder to my subconscious mind, so that I won’t be tempted to blindly reach for unhealthy snacks.

So there you have it. These are the 5 habits I use to ensure I start my morning off with power and alignment. What are your favorite morning rituals and routines? I would love to know. Take a listen to this episode of the Blissfully Ambitious podcast for a deeper look into the power of morning routines.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I'll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.