Dreaming Toward Bliss
A gift in the night
I’d like to tell you a dream I had.
I know, you don’t like to hear about other people’s dreams. You think they’re long, and you have no idea what they mean, right? But I’m going to tell you this one anyway.
Because, it illustrates something that I believe will change how you view your time asleep.
First let me set the scene, I didn’t just have this dream. I requested it. I prayed before bed to have a blissful dream. That’s because, I wasn’t having a lot of bliss at the time. My long-term relationship had just ended, I’d lost my job, and my daughter was in her late teens, and testing her wings – and my patience. So, I asked for a dream that would show me that deep happiness was still possible.
The results, didn’t look promising at first.
I dreamed I entered my daughter’s bedroom. It looked just as it would in waking life: as if a bomb had gone off in it. As for me, I was lugging around a basket of dirty laundry. Again, not what I call bliss.
But then, I noticed a little spot of blue light glowing on the bureau in the far corner of the room. And as I looked at it, that color grew brighter, and more colors appeared: Greens, yellows, purples and golds—like the colors of a peacock’s tail.
Then, everything else dissolved in the dream: the messy room, the laundry basket, the bureau … and only those colors, and the feeling that they gave me, remained. It was as if I were experiencing their beauty from the inside out. I was floating on a wave of what might be called divine love, ecstasy … or bliss.
When I woke, I felt like I’d been given a gift; the knowledge that even while it seemed like I had fallen into a pit of despair, I had within me a wellspring of great joy.
Taking the dream off the pillow
If I’d simply “had” the dream, and not reflected on it, or changed my behavior as a result, it would have been an amazing—but isolated—experience. And it wouldn’t have changed me or improved my life.
Instead, because I practice paying attention to the messages in my dreams, I trusted that each part of that dream had significance.
So, when I woke I wondered why my bliss dream took place not on some white sand beach as I might have expected, but in the farthest, darkest corner of the messiest, most chaotic room in my home (my daughter’s bedroom). I had to stop and consider.
I mentioned earlier that my daughter had been acting out. But that was an understatement. She was pushing me away—hard—with her angry outbursts and rebellious behavior.
For my part, I was starting to wall myself off from the hurt of that rejection, and thus I was contributing to the problem.
The (rocky) road to bliss
The dream showed me that to find bliss I should explore the difficult territory of my life. Rather than give in to my urge to accept the distance that was growing between myself and my daughter, I had to take a step in her direction, risk even more hurt, and be vulnerable in order to be the mother I wanted—and and she needed me—to be.
It took some effort, persistence, and hard work on both of our parts, but over time my daughter and I grew closer. And the young woman she has grown up to become, and our relationship together, are among my proudest accomplishments.
Having learned this lesson in such a memorable way, I’ve been able to help others use their dreams to guide them through their dark and difficult passages, too.
A joyful reminder
I still marvel at that bliss dream. Not only did it help me in the days after I had it, but it has served as a touchstone for me when life feels like a struggle. It reminds me, and it can remind you, that experiences like this are available to everyone. We can all make nighttime and dreams, a staging ground for self-growth, inner healing, and soulful evolution.
And if we pay attention and heed their call, our dreams can lead us to lives rich in connection, purpose, meaning and joy.
Three steps to more blissful dreams:
- Invite joy: Use meditation or gratitude practices (such as making a gratitude list in your journal) before bed to clear and calm your mind and create conditions for having sweet dreams.
- Ask for it: Request a dream on a particular topic, and write your dreams down in the morning.
- Take action: Whether your dream is clearly blissful, or whether your dreams instead show you your blocks to experiencing more joy, take an action step during the day to bring yourself into more harmony and help you move closer to joy.
Copyright 2018 Tzivia Gover
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This post is excerpted and adapted from my talks, “The Mindful Way to Sleep and Dreams,” and “Joyful Dreams” (presented at various conferences and events including the TEDx Berkshires Conference at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, on July 31, 2017, the 92nd St. Y in NYC, and the Chappaqua, NY, Library in 2018.
Buy the Book
My book The Mindful Approach to a Good Night’s Sleep is chock full of information and exercises to support you in sleeping and dreaming better. Order yours now and give yourself the gift of a good night of sleep & dreams!
For more posts about joyful dreaming and waking up well, read these posts:
Waking to Simple Pleasures
https://thirdhousemoon.com/waking-simple-pleasures-cv/
A beautiful invitation and inspiration, Tzivia—thank you! I feel the blessing of your dream as well as the blessings of my own.
Thank you, Kirsten! The dreams are such blessings <3
My dream:
It was pitch black and I must have been floating, I saw from a distance a very bright white line that had no beginning or end, as I got closer to the line a saw 2 finely detailed images also in bright white to the left side of the line, one was a butterfly and I don’t remember what the other one was, I floated closer and when I
crossed the line I was in absolute bliss just floating in all black, I can not believe the amount of happiness I was feeling it was not of this Earth.
I prayed a thousand times to have this dream again but never happened but I’ll never forget it.
Thank you for sharing! A dream like that shows us what’s possible–awake and asleep!
Very interesting talk , just by paying attention to our dreams we can over come so much. Seems simple but by preparing for sleep helps us sleep, I often come home at 11pm and go straight to bed with no wind down , so all the tips on preparing see as if you know them already but good to have a list in one place
I’m so glad you found the tips for winding down helpful! Choose one or two and stick with them for a while (21 days if you can … then 40 …) and observe what difference it makes. Wishing you sweet and healing dreams!
Good dreams help with emotional regulation, problem solving, memory consolidation, better sleep, nightmares, uncomfortable dreams, creativity and inventions, and lead to a sense of well-being and happiness. Sleeping protects us from many physical and mental health disorders. Sleep hygiene habits give us so many natural ways to get better sleep. It always amazes me how many people prefer expensive pharmaceuticals rather than changing some simple daily/ nightly habits. Imagine if everyone in the world practiced these mindful sleep and dream habits.
Indeed, what would happen if we had a world in which sleep was valued and we all took a mindful approach … sounds dreamy 🙂
Thank you, Amber!
Asking your dreams to show you what is possible was inspiring! Often times, my dream incubations focus on the negative (e.g., show me how to stop _______ ), especially when things seem to be going wrong in my life. Next time I’m stressed or worried about a situation, I’ll ask my dreams to show me what is possible! Thanks Tzivia.
You’re welcome, Logan. Sometimes a small adjustment to our wording can make a big difference in dream incubation!
I believe that sleep helps us with our health issues. Working in corrections, I have witnessed several prisoners who would ask to be placed in an observation room just so that could get uninterrupted sleep. They always reported that they felt better after receiving much-needed sleep because they had time alone and were away from the chaos of the dorm environment. Many people do not understand the importance of sleep hygiene habits. Maybe healthcare professionals should give more attention to sleep hygiene when treating their clients.
Hi T! Thank you for this valuable perspective on the importance of sleep! I agree that it would be great to see more health professionals giving this issue more attention.
Tzivia,
Your presentation was so beautifully sculptured, and there was so much to absorb. I found the whole hour fascinating, and helpful. Being mindful when preparing for sleep and dreaming is such an important message to take to heart and practice.
Thank you for all you offer us! I love that you take the time not to rush what you want to teach.