Recently, I’ve noticed articles popping up in the mainstream press – The New York Times and NatGeo for instance – about the “weird” and vivid dreams many are experiencing during this time of the Corona virus. Most focus on the important aspects of how dreams function to help us maintain mental and neurological health, their utility in processing experiences and information from difficulties we encounter in waking consciousness, and studies of how groups of people in particular situations may share characteristic dream themes. Some, perhaps as an antidote to the lack of control we feel in our regular life, encourage us to program or incubate our dreams to overcome our “runaway” subconscious.
The New York Times article also mentioned the proliferation of bug dreams that many seem to be having. It made me smile because had one myself! Well, technically, the dream figure wasn’t a “bug” but rather a tardigrade. More about the possible importance of this dream figure in a moment.
But, what I haven’t noticed is a discussion of how, as we face the reality that our world has been shaken, our regular identities disturbed and our routines subverted, the unconscious may be rising up - through dream fissures in our shifting sense of self - not to steal our identify, but to lift up how it may be evolving. In addition, this may not only be personal. More importantly it may reflect how our collective awareness may be finding a new shape. Solving a problem of which we have been only vaguely aware.
As a Processwork Diplomate and eternal student of the Tao – the way of things or path of the Universe - I am curious about the possible connections our individual dreams may have to the collective and evolving unconscious.
Processwork or Process Oriented Psychology is often described as an awareness paradigm. Developed by Arnold Mindell and colleagues beginning in the 1970’s, it’s a form of depth psychology with roots in Jungian, transpersonal, and somatic (body based) sensibilities. It proposes the presence of a subtle “dreambody” which is both particular to the individual but also not. As an animate and evolving field of consciousness, the “dreambody” is vital and evolving.
This larger awareness communicates through a variety of channels - signaling information to our “regular self” through movement, verbal and visual experiences, body feelings or proprioception, relationship and world events. In our nighttime dreams, this intelligence flows up through increasingly “dense” levels of reality from what cannot be spoken but only experienced to a dreaming layer filled with stories and figures and finally to regular consensus reality experiences.
The various levels of experiences - whether perceived by an individual or shared by a group - are considered interconnected by something like a “quantum network” in which the personal, the cultural and ancestral as well as the planetary and cosmic are inextricably linked. This and the concept of deep democracy – in which all parts are vital to the integrity and evolution of the whole – are the basis for Worldwork where large groups come together and are facilitated to unfold and evolve structures seen as global disturbances.
In these stressful times, I believe our dreams – when unfolded and brought into a context of greater awareness - can be considered a form of Worldwork - of developing our collective framework. From the Processwork perspective, individual dreams can lift up larger processes for consideration. So, your “weird dreams” may not only be personally revealing but also globally relevant.
As with all dreamwork, the individual chords and themes that resonate for the dreamer are the most significant. Bear in mind that the “dream creator” is a less known background figure and not your primary dream identity. Within this framework, it is also beneficial to consciously encourage and incubate a dream that will “comment” on world and personal issues. Here’s how you can dive into this fascinating landscape for yourself. I’ll use my recent tardigrade dream in places as an example.
Exercise
Upon waking from your dream, briefly note: the main parts of the dream, the emotions you experienced, any associations you have to dream figures, and the aspect of the dream that most fascinated or disturbed you. Put your impression in the first person to make them more immediate.
In my dream a luminous creature breaks through a membrane and drifts toward me. It is golden, translucent and glowing. The barrier it traverses parts before it. Somehow, I was in awe of this organism, not afraid of it. I also notice the way it moves as if it were floating grandly on an invisible pathway.
If you don’t remember your dreams, note your mood on awakening, allow your mind to become cloudy and “imagine” a situation that might have created your mood. Use your imagination and let that become your dream.
Now, begin to amplify and unfold the dream.
Note the main figures and make associations.
I realize that I don’t recognize the creature but when I think about it consciously it seems like a bug! I get scared and think that maybe the Corona virus has invaded me. My conscious mind gets to an edge quickly, so I know I’m on to something. In Processwork lingo an edge is a liminal space between the known and unknown and is full of potential when navigated with respect.
Imagine being the fascinating or disturbing character.
Since the creature is the most fascinating dream figure, I imagine becoming it - shapeshifting so I can move and be like this luminous being. It feels like being inside a powerful ship – majestic and natural. Everything parts before me. Wow!
In my case, a synchronicity happens! The idea of these meaningful – to you at least – coincidences were brought forward by Carl Jung and can be understood as being indicative that you are moving in an interesting direction.
I am introduced to a TV show with which I am unfamiliar. In one episode a creature called a tardigrade is presented. OMG, it looks just like the creature in my dream a week earlier!!! The tardigrade - also known as a water bear or moss piglet – is part of a phylum of eight-legged, segmented micro animals. In the show, it navigates the Universe through an infinite subtle network something like the way mushrooms are connected beneath the earth. And tardigrades are indeed powerful. Though microscopic, they can survive extreme conditions such as being in outer space.
Gather all the pieces together and sit quietly. Sense, feel or imagine into a familiar and stable place in your physical body where you feel most present right now. Breathe into this place, feel held there and then allow the boundaries around you to dissolve. Notice what you perceive around you through your senses and trust whatever that is. You have just shifted your state of consciousness into a more open and creative environment.
Now, let the feeling-tone of the dream and of your associations to date flow through you. Freed from the narrow constraints of your normal perceptions, your mind – on the conscious, subconscious, and super conscious levels – begins to create, building new constructs and connections. A new tale of understanding begins to write itself. By weaving together vivid threads of experiences, hopes, and dreams, plus a dose of the essential qualities contained in the fear/frozen/angry places that live in our shadows, your place of “becoming” enters the conceptual world.
When I sat with my dream elements, I realized that restricting my movements, having more internal time, and being in Nature during lockdown heightened my perception of and appreciation for the invisible networks that connect us. I felt more in tune with earth and cosmic rhythms than I had in a while. This felt majestic, powerful, and uplifting just like the movement of the tardigrade in my dream.
I wondered what the world will be like when the stay at home orders are lifted and regular life resumes. Personally, I hope it won’t be as it was before. I’d like to take a more majestic pace and follow the ways of acknowledging and appreciating the global interconnection the Corona virus has shown us. I’d like to be more aware of my inner sense of leadership and follow that into the future.
Since this new possibility is still finding its form, interact with it tenderly. Sit together a bit longer, allow it to move into you and become one. Imagine, sense and feel its qualities. As they wash through you, capture the essence as a gesture, a movement, body feeling, sound, smell, or image.
Keeping that seed within you, return slowly to an awareness of your body, and express that quality by moving your hand, drawing a quick sketch, vocalizing, or bring a scent to mind.
Imagine just one simple way you will incorporate this seed into your regular life so it will grow and flourish.
I find that I can be more present with people in general and open to new ways of being in touch so I wrote this blog post!