When Alzheimer’s began to take my mom,
dreams came to the rescue

This post is the first in a series on how dreams can help caregivers and loved ones dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease.

When my mother began to slip into dementia I became one of her caregivers, along with my brother and a handful of devoted paid professionals. Although I’m a self-help author whose job it is to coach others to take good care of themselves and seek support when they need it, in this situation it was hard to find the time and money to attend to my own needs in the face of my mother’s crises.

Of course I was not alone. There are some 5.7 million people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias in the USA plus over 16 million unpaid caregivers. Statistics show that caregivers’ health and wellbeing suffers due to the stresses and demands of helping their loved ones.

The support groups were there, if I’d had the time to join them, but between work and regular visits from Massachusetts to New York to care for my mom, I did not. Massage, long baths, and other prescriptions for self-care felt likewise out of reach—either because of cost, time, or both.

But through my experience as a caregiver, I did find one source of generous, wise, guidance close at hand, and it was free of charge, and required no extra time or travel on my part: My nighttime dreams coached me and comforted me through the 10 years of accompanying my mother on her journey through Alzheimer’s disease.

In the coming weeks I will share more posts about my experience with my mother and Alzheimer’s Disease, including some pivotal dreams and how I used them, and tips for caregivers.

For tips for caregivers click here.

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Let’s Stop Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer's Walk

My brother James, who was fiercely devoted to my mother throughout the 10 years she coped with dementia and Alzheimer’s, walks each year to help stop Alzheimer’s Disease. Donate in honor of our mother, and for all of the people you know and love who have been affected by this disease.

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Get the ebook

Forgotten Dreams

Tapping into the Power of Sleep and Dreams for Caregivers of People with Dementia and Alzheimer’s

44 pages; Only $2.99

ORDER NOW: Available beginning March 16, 2019

About Forgotten Dreams

Although it’s her job as a self-help author to help people take good care of themselves, when her own mother began to slip into dementia Tzivia Gover had difficulty following her own advice. After all, the taxing nature of being a caregiver takes its toll on physical health and mental well-being. And, as Tzivia found, even the simplest self-care fixes like getting a massage, taking long baths, or taking some extra “me” time can feel out of reach for caregivers—either because of cost, time, or both.

But Tzivia has identified a surprising source of generous, wise guidance that’s close at hand, free of charge and requires no extra time or travel. Dreams can coach and comfort caregivers, and offer new perspectives, creative solutions, and spiritual strength and meaning through what might otherwise feel like a devastating ordeal.

In Forgotten Dreams Tzivia shares her story along with easy to follow tips and techniques that will help caregivers:

Sleep better and find moments of rest in stressful times
Learn to recall and record dreams
Discover how all dreams, even nightmares, can be tapped for help, health, and spiritual and emotional healing

Tzivia is passionate about using her research on sleep, dreams and mindfulness to help others reap the benefits she has experienced from living in harmony with her dreams. In her private practice as a Certified Dreamwork Professional, and as the Director of the Institute for Dream Studies, she has worked with hundreds of clients, many of whom have been caregivers themselves. The gifts she offers in Forgotten Dreams will help families and loved ones of those with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia to sleep more soundly and use their nighttime dreams for support and guidance–so they can find meaning and even joy, even in deeply challenging times.

Available beginning March 16, 2019

ORDER NOW

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The Perfect Companion

Alzheimers Walk The Mindful Way to a Good Night’s Sleep is an ideal companion volume to Forgotten Dreams

Learn more about how to sleep and dream mindfully, and wake up well. OrderThe Mindful Way to a Good Night’s Sleep when you pre-order Forgotten Dreams.

The Case of the Missing Bedsheets

It started with the bedsheets.Which is appropriate, because I’m about to tell you how dreams gave me guidance, comfort, and even joy, as I helped care for my mother during the years she lived with—and died from—Alzheimer’s disease. CONTINUE READING

Dreaming into the Twilight Zone

After years of helping to care for my mother and witnessing the ravages of a disease that stripped her of memory, identity, and language, I was eager to learn more about joy, which at times during my grieving process felt as if it existed on a distant planet–not at the center of my 5’4″ body. So, that night I asked my dreams to show me how to locate that inner body of Joy or Bliss. CONTINUE READING

Caregivers need care, too, and dreams can help

Crazy Good: Dreaming of Mom, by Tzivia Gover | Apr 9, 2015 | Dream Life, Dreaming of Mom

Mother Daughter Dreaming, by Tzivia Gover | Feb 28, 2018 | Dream Life, Dreaming of Mom

Morning Light (A Corner View* Post), by Tzivia Gover | Jul 15, 2015 | Dream Life, Dreaming of Mom

Sacred Space (CV*), by Tzivia Gover | Oct 23, 2013 | Dream Life, Dreaming of Mom

In the Land of Forgotten Dreams: Walking the Walk