Dreambody Introduction

"Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans."
---- Betty Talmadge

DREAMBODY: is a psychological system that brings together the dream world and the body. Arnold Mindell and associates from Portland, Oregon developed the concept of the dreaming body and they call it process oriented psychology.

In dreambody philosophy we think of life happening simultaneously in the material world and the dream world. The physical body has it's needs as does the dreaming body. The dreaming body lets us know of it's needs through our dreams, fantasies, body symptoms, spontaneous body sensations, relationship misunderstandings and synchronicities. The unseen dreaming body reveals itself in manifestations not consciously intended. Few people wake up in the morning and say, "I think I will give myself a headache today, walk into a brick wall or have a fight with my partner." These events happen to us. Our goal is to investigate these manifestations and find out what the dreaming body is trying to communicate. When we carefully examine our dreams, symptoms, accidents, synchronicities and relationship difficulties we will begin to find the same message being communicated. 

Healing wisdom is weaving the material world and the dreamworld together. You will experience an increased sense of wholeness as you expand and integrate these bodies. 

When working with the dreaming body we confront two realities happening simultaneously. 

The first reality is our Ordinary World: the concrete world we perceive around us. Our plans, expectations the structures we create to live in. The way we think it is. The houses we build around us. Who we identify ourselves as. Ordinary world maintains our day to day. Some roles I play in my ordinary world are writer, herbalist, teacher, parent, husband and scuba instructor. 

The second reality is the Dream World: the unexpected, the unknown, accidents, surprises and illness. Who we do not identify ourselves with. The Dream world is the hidden and unknown mysterious world. It may contain such roles as the poet, mystic, shaman, clown, dreamer, witch, and many others. Our spirit guardians and guides make up part of the dream world. The dream world may be contacted through our body symptoms, dreams, moods, spontaneous visions, strange sounds or voices, weird movements, etc. 

Learning about and trusting the dream world more, allows the flow of life's uncontrollable events to teach and guide us. By relaxing our attachment to ordinary world we can open ourselves up to potential new growth. Arnold Mindell believes that one of our greatest addictions is to the idea of an ordinary world.

Most of our life in the ordinary world is caught up in linear time. We often live in a state of anxiety racing against a sense of time running out. Many of our modern illnesses are fueled by the pressures of linear time. When we enter the dream world we enter the world of non-linear, non-chronological sacred time.

Do This! 

Exercise 27 • Playing with Time

Sit quietly. Close your eyes. Imagine that you are an eternal spirit. Let go of any need to accomplish anything. Allow yourself to just be. In this world of sacred time allow your thoughts to surface and then pass. Observe them and then let them go. See if you can locate in your body where your eternal self resides. When you find that spot allow yourself to rest there for a few minutes. Talk to this part of yourself. Does it have any advice or answers for you. I encourage you to try this every day for two weeks.

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Whenever we experience pain, we have a cramped sense of time. Serious illnesses are time heavy. The domination of linear time that we have accepted in our lives is criminal. Make a habit of freeing yourself from this jailor at least once a day. More often if you are ill or suffering. 

Completing this book brought me face to face with linear time. I needed to see it as a living form, in a state of becoming. It will have a form at its birth but will continue to grow and change. Your feedback will help shape its future just as our life's feedback shapes our lives. 

The dreambody dreams when we are asleep and awake. Dreams and many body symptoms occur just below the threshold of our conscious mind. A dreambody process therapist or shaman helps people bring these dream messages into fuller awareness. Through this process of engaging these cutoff parts we bring them into relationship with each other. When we can integrate them, we begin to form a larger and new identity. These cutoff parts are "dream world characters" that Arnold Mindell calls "dreamfigures." 

In shamanism they are called "allies." In Jungian psychology they form complexes or archetypes. For example, I dreamt that I was walking by a river. As I looked into the water I saw two large sturgeon (fish). As I gazed at them they turned into two beautiful golden seals with round faces and soft loving eyes. Next one of them turned into a human form and crawled out of the water and grabbed my arm. As he held my arm, he looked lovingly and longingly into my eyes. He was a wildman all covered with long, soft, brown hair. He wanted me to come with him into his world. In the dream I communicated telepathically with him that I needed to move forward and that I couldn't join him right now. In dreambody theory, I need to pick up more of this shape shifter power and live it in my own life. I may also grow by reaching out lovingly to invite people into the magic of the dreaming body. As far as shape shifting, I still need to learn how to be more fluid with the roles that I play.

Do This! 

Exercise 28 • Processing a Body Symptom 

Feel a current body symptom that bothers you.

Describe it in detail: Is it sharp or dull? Constant or changing?
Hot or cold? Localized or general? 

Gently amplify the symptom according to its quality. If it is sharp then apply a sharp pressure. If it is dull then apply a dull pressure. If it is hot then make it hotter. You are taking over the function of the symptom maker. Pay careful attention to what happens as you amplify the symptom. 

Does the pain move to another place? Does the pain look like something? Does the pain bring a memory or thought? Does it make you want to move?

Follow the process of change once it has begun. Where does the pain want to lead you? Get creative with your process. If you visualize something, then draw or paint it. If you move then slowly and consciously make your movements larger. If someone comes to mind then relate with that person in your imagination or in person if possible or desirable. If you have a *body feeling, then stay with the feeling. Spend some time exploring the sensation. Your body is having a dream. When you feel complete it is helpful to write down your experience or share it with a friend.

* An excellent book on body feeling is Focusing by Eugene  T. Gendlin 

This is a way of working with the dream world as it manifests in our body. As we observe and explore this mysterious energy, we learn more about it. Find out what it wants, act on it, change and grow.

• Record the processing of your symptom