We all have some event or person or situation that happened to us that we harbor resentment or bitter feelings about. You can use the simple and effective technique of dream incubation to clear up these problems.
Whether it’s a bitter breakup, a harsh response, a terrible slight or a nasty situation, it helps no one to live in the past. It’s stressful to ruminate over negative feelings and can lead to depression or anger.
There is a way to use your body’s natural processes to resolve these inner conflicts. This is with the power of your dreams.
Everyone dreams every night. If you sleep for eight hours about two of those hours are spent dreaming. Take advantage of this time by using the power of dream incubation.
You may think that dreams don’t matter because you don’t remember them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dreams are rewriting your unconscious mind at a deep level.
Do you ever wonder why sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and sometimes you feel great, even though you’ve slept the same number of hours? This demonstrates the power dreams have over your life.
Dreams are so vivid and lifelike that you usually don’t even realize you’re dreaming until after you wake up. (It is possible to become aware you’re dreaming and control the dream from the inside. This is called lucid dreaming.)
The reason you don’t consciously remember your dreams is because they have much looser associations between ideas and events than waking life. Your brain is still changed on a fundamental level, though. Just as if you’d lived two more hours a day, dreams are affecting you.
Because dreams are so real, they are a potent source of inspiration and are a wonderful way to resolve issues in your life. You can use dream incubation to help you learn how to face life’s challenges.
So what is dream incubation and how do you use it? Dream incubation is a powerful technique of cultivating a specific dream for a specific issue.
The technique is simple yet very effective. It works best if you do it right as you’re falling asleep. Because you dream more later in the night, if you wake up during the night this process is even more effective. Just repeat it and go to sleep.
Start with understanding the most important issue that you want resolution or advice on. Don’t overthink this, just go with your gut and choose a situation or event quickly. This is often the most important to your unconscious mind. Again, do not overthink. You’re seeking to align with a deeper self, and that means dealing with issues one at a time. You have plenty of nights ahead of you to work through issues.
After knowing your specific issue for the night, create a simple mantra that captures the essence of what you want. For instance, “I want to dream and feel better about this person.” The mantra is designed so that you focus your efforts on one topic. This way you can tell directly whether you actually do feel better the next day.
So you’ve found your issue, created your mantra and now you’re ready to consider the issue from different angles. Part of you is upset for some reason, and it’s helpful to allow yourself to freely associate and find some new ways to think about the issue. You want to prime your intention to solve this issue. The more juice you can muster and the more you desire actually resolving this thing that’s holding you back, the more likely you will dream about it and find solutions. This is why you want to go with your gut and choose something that’s really important to you.
While considering the problem from different angles, it’s helpful to repeat the mantra to keep you focused. Try to fall asleep while repeating the mantra. If your mind starts wandering, gently bring it back to the mantra. After about three mind wanderings, let yourself fall asleep. Have a strong intention to dream about this issue and wake up feeling better. This intention will help your unconscious mind pick up on the fact that you can feel better.
As you can see, dream incubation is a very simple and powerful way to resolve your problems. I have used this technique many times and I’m always amazed how differently I feel in the morning even if I don’t remember my dreams. Your mind is rewritten just as if you had been awake.
To reiterate, here’s the technique:
1. When you’re about to go to sleep, pick the most important issue on your mind that you want to resolve.
2. Create a short mantra that captures the essence of the issue.
3. Repeat the mantra and consider the issue from different angles until your mind wanders three times.
4. Go to sleep with a strong intention to dream about and solve your issue.
That’s all there is to it. Leave comments or questions below. Share your success.