Name It, Claim It & Reframe it

Last updated on: May 24, 2013 at 7:06 am by Kelly Sullivan Walden

Name It, Claim It & Reframe it 2013-05-22T20:23:59-06:00 Kelly Sullivan Walden

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We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate,

it oppresses. ~Carl Jung

Ok, I admit it, I’m a bit obsessed with “dream alchemy”. It’s one of my primary passions within the realm of dream work. My D-Spot gets seriously activated when I experience a nightmare (in life or in dreams) that is tragic being turned into magic, drama turned into phenomena, victim into victorious, and even guacamole into something holy.

Because of this fascination, here’s one more (I promise this is the last) blog dedicated to, yet another way to re-direct your dream.

Name it

You can’t heal what you can’t feel. In order to create dream alchemy you must first go back to the scene of the crime. This works on your nighttime dreams as well as your waking dreams. As painful as it may be, naming the issue is half the battle. Summon your courage and name the issue your dream is revealing (i.e. issues regarding money, power struggles, job security, weight/body issues, health, healing, rejection, etc…). Identify the core feeling(s) you are left with as a result of this scene (i.e. frightened, disrespected, restricted, abandoned, powerless, rejected, disliked, dishonored, etc…).

Claim it

Once you’ve named the primary issue and feeling(s) this dream situation brings up for you, take some deep breaths, and simply “be with” this uncomfortable feeling. This may seem counter-instinctual, but, breathe anyway, and while you are breathing, make room inside yourself for this discomfort to exist. We are trained to pull back from the fire, run from pain, and recoil from ugly, which is an appropriate response during an early period of our development, however, counterproductive if we choose to transform to a more awakened version of ourselves. In order to create mastery over it, the name of the game is to OPEN WIDE and claim it all.

Reframe It

Poison leaves clues. Isn’t it interesting that within a flu virus resides its immunization, and within a snakes venom is its antivenom? Einstein said, “There is a solution within every problem. However, you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created the problem.” In other words, you must think outside the box (Pandora’s box, that is).

Now that you’ve named and claimed the issue the nightmare is revealing, you simultaneously have the exact formula for the antidote. By reframing and re-directing the most painful part of the dream, you transform the poison into medicine. In fact, sometimes I like to call re-directed nightmares “*Right-*mares.”

In waking reality and in dreams, if you don’t like the direction it’s going, rewrite it! And if you are stuck in a nightmare and you feel you can’t figure out how to turn it around, then WAKE YOURSELF UP in the dream. Look into the mirror, into the depth of your eyes and remind yourself that you are an unlimited phenomenon. There are no periods, only commas in your story. If it is all made up, you might as well make up a story that is entertaining and liberating for you (and everyone else.) Use your five senses to reenact your dream in your mind from the perspective of being victorious (supported, appreciated, strengthened, empowered, respected, etc.) Exaggerate the scene in your mind’s eye. The goal is to override the imprint left by the poison with the exact opposite quality that is the antidote.

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Identify the “alchemy word” that expresses the way you feel within your reframed dream.

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Excerpted from It’s All In Your Dreams (Conari Press). Once you buy your copy, click here to receive $4,000 worth of fr*ee dreamy gifts throughout the month of May.

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Join the conversation! Post your dream on Dreams Cloud, then tweet it using #DreamChallenge.

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I had the strangest dream