Do you know that you can train your brain to deliver very specific insights about decisions you’re struggling with, problems you can’t seem to solve or even ways you might smooth out a difficult relationship by literally “dreaming up” a solution? With added purpose and intention, the tradition of dream analysis can take on a whole new level of meaning for you.

Make Your Dreams Come True

Guiding your dreams is a unique area, so I spoke with two experts on how to do it — Judith Orloff, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and author of Second Sight: An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Extraordinary Story and Shows You How to Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom… and Christina Bjergo, MS, LAc, a qigong expert and author of the new book, The Tao of Tarot: “The Way” to Health, Happiness and Spiritual Illumination through Qigong Dreaming.

Dr. Orloff (you may remember her from another recent story — “Use Your Intuition to Guide Your Health,” Daily Health News, January 19, 2010) told me that it was by using this technique that she decided to attend medical school. At a time when she was trying to figure out what to do in her career, a dream pointed her in the direction of what she now recognizes as her “true calling.” Working with an intuitive researcher from UCLA during what she calls her “hippie phase,” she dreamed of herself as a medical doctor and psychiatrist who helped legitimize intuition in medicine. This was especially surprising because she’d never had an interest in science or medicine… but she has literally fulfilled her dream.

Dream Weaver…

You can start dreaming productively tonight, but you’ll be more likely to gain valuable information if you do some advance preparation. Here are some suggestions…

• If you are not already in the habit of doing so, set aside 5 or 10 minutes daily to sit in silence and just focus on your breath, in and out. This will help you learn to pay attention to your interior state, without distraction.
• Start a “dream journal” where you will record your dreams. Dr. Orloff suggests buying a really beautiful notebook “to honor your commitment” and adds that she likes to use a pen that lights up so that if she happens to awaken in the night she can write down her dreams without having to turn on a light. Keep these by your bedside.
• Consider designating a “dream buddy” with whom to discuss your dreams. Dr. Orloff advises selecting someone you trust, who will enjoy and feel comfortable with this type of conversation. Sharing your dream life in such a way increases your attention and focus and — who knows? — you may find that he/she has insights you would not have come up with on your own.
• Plan to build some time into your morning routine to linger in bed. Even a few minutes is helpful (though longer is even better) to allow you to bring your dream, in as much rich detail as you can recall, into your conscious mind.

Make Dreams Work for You

Ready to start having productive dreams? Dr. Orloff suggests that you begin with a question — just one, but a specific one. At bedtime, after you’ve turned out the lights, direct your thoughts to a vexing problem or a creative challenge; for instance, how can I improve my marriage or how can I heal my back pain?

• Limiting your effort to one question helps to concentrate your creative efforts.  But try not to be too intense about this. Just fall asleep and enjoy the state of sleeping, allowing yourself to relax and be open to whatever your dreams may bring — or not bring, as the case may be.
• If you awaken during the night, quickly record your dreams. Don’t worry if they don’t seem to make sense and don’t analyze them.  Just write down whatever you remember. You can examine your notes later for clues to issues or problems in your life.
• Be silent and stay in bed for at least five minutes when you wake up each morning to prolong your stay in the state between sleep and alertness. Bjergo suggests trying this qigong technique to connect with your dreams. Upon awakening in the morning, lay in your bed, face up, hands relaxed over your belly. To get properly balanced, a woman should place her left hand on top of her right, a man his right hand on top of his left. Focus on the movement of your breath, and let your belly rise and fall naturally. This can often bring back details from dreams you had the night before.   And there’s a bonus, too: This will also help your energy flow all day.
• When you feel ready, write down whatever comes to mind, including a narrative of any dreams that you remember, along with the details that stand out, even those nonsensical or odd intrusions that seem to make no sense whatsoever. Also describe how you feel now, as well as how you felt in the dream.  Some dreams are happy and invigorating, while others invoke anxiety, sadness or any number of other emotions.
• Now, examine your dreams for answers,direct or indirect ones, to the question you posed before falling asleep.

Follow this routine for a week and see what answers come your way. Over time, you may find that you can detect certain themes in your dreams. Does the same person or situation continuously present itself? Ask yourself what in your life might be represented in your dreams, perhaps beyond the questions you’ve asked at night. Are there clues about any unresolved issues in your life? What healing needs to occur?

And, if you really have difficulty remembering your dreams, Dr. Orloff has one more suggestion: Try making your bedtime request the statement of an intention rather than a question, such as I will remember my dreams. Another idea: If you aren’t feeling ready to deal with the mystical aspects of intentional dreaming, try it by asking a practical question, combining your intention with something specific you really want to know — such as, I will remember in my dreams where I left my glasses. Let me know how it works!

Christina Bjergo is a licensed acupuncturist, renowned body-dream-work instructor and Grand Master of Sacred Serpent Spiral Qigong. She is based in Vancouver, Washington, and is an international motivational speaker teaching others how to incorporate dreaming in their lives for greater health, joy and spiritual insight. Bjergo is author of The Tao of Tarot: “The Way” to Health, Happiness and Spiritual Illumination through Qigong Dreaming (O Books).

Judith Orloff, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is author of Second Sight: An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Story and Shows You How to Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom (Three Rivers Press), and the New York Times bestseller Emotional Freedom (Harmony). For more information about dreams, www.drjudithorloff.com.

Reprinted with the permission of:
Bottom Line Publications/Daily Health News
Boardroom Inc.
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Work stress is a common culprit for causing heart problems; making fun of this well known trigger is a grand pastime…one of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld shows George’s father shouting “Serenity now!” instead of getting angry. While I laugh at such ironic absurdity, it highlights the researched back notion that there is a very fine line to walk between blowing up over, and bottling in emotions that result from work stress.  New research has found a link between suppressing workplace anger and increased risk for heart attack. In other words, holding anger inside at the office could literally kill you.

Though this research began more than a decade ago, it has become particularly relevant in our difficult economy. Workers may feel uneasy about the consequences of disagreement or having a misunderstanding with a boss or colleague. People may simultaneously experience more job-related pressures and feel under-appreciated. We’ve heard many disturbing accounts of disgruntled workers reacting violently when things aren’t going the way they want them to; while such violent reactions are deplorable, this study also makes clear that it’s not healthy to hold in your feelings all the time either.

Mad Men at Work

Working with a group of 2,832 Swedish men, the researchers designed a questionnaire to quantify each participant’s typical style for handling angry feelings toward superiors or colleagues at work. A series of questions measured the likelihood that each participant would react “covertly” by suppressing his anger – that is, walking away and taking some time to calm himself, but not taking up the issue again. What they found is what makes gulping down your angry thoughts and words at work, or even venting them somewhere else, seem very unwise: The more covert a participant’s style of handling workplace anger, the more likely he was to have had a heart attack in the period between 1992 (when the study began) and 2003 (when it ended).

What does this mean for heart health? The researchers found that those who tended to handle conflict with a superior or coworker by suppressing their anger without saying anything (just “letting it pass”) had double the risk for heart attack or cardiac death compared with those who never or seldom behaved this way.  And for those who held their anger inside and suffered physical distress later, the risk was triple.

Note: Though this study examined only men, study coauthor Tores Theorell, MD, PhD, professor emeritus and scientific advisor at the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University, said that covert coping is actually even more common among women. The study was reported in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Fine, You’re Mad, What Can You Do?

The findings suggest that it’s unhealthy to suppress your emotions when you’re treated unfairly, say the researchers. But other research has shown that simply venting, expressing strong anger directly can trigger a heart attack as well. I called a workplace-management consultant to ask about the healthiest ways to handle anger at work-both career and health-wise:

“Blowing up or holding in anger can both lead to problems, and people who suppress their anger eventually blow up anyway,” I heard from Emil F. Coccaro, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the clinical neuroscience and psychopharmacology research unit in the department of psychiatry at The University of Chicago. Dr. Coccaro said that the goal is not just to get through a situation but “to be calm inside and out and to not feel as if the world is out to get you.”

Take a Time-Out

The best and simplest strategy for handling anger at work is one any modern parent will recognize, a “time-out.” “Excuse yourself and go for a walk. After you’ve calmed down, you’re more likely to have a discussion that’s rational and likely to produce a good resolution,” Dr. Coccaro said. “If you try to discuss the situation when you’re angry, you’ll say things you’ll regret and you won’t get what you want.”

Try to view the situation objectively: Do some deep-breathing exercises, or try counting slowly to 10. Then, he suggests, you should mentally review the situation when you’ve calmed down. Consider whether your anger is justified, was what the person said or did really so bad? Could it be that you were just feeling irritable that day? Or perhaps you need to take some responsibility; did your own actions trigger something you hadn’t foreseen? It’s important to try to understand the situation as completely as possible-from both sides.

Everyone gets angry from time to time and sometimes with good reason. If you’re blowing up a few times a week, you may need to be evaluated for anger-management problems, Dr. Coccaro said. Treatment may involve talking with a therapist and sometimes even medication for a short while to help you learn to reframe your thinking about your interactions with others. Sometimes at least some of the problem lies within.

Source(s):

Tores Theorell, MD, PhD, professor emeritus, Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden.

Emil F. Coccaro, MD, E.C. Manning Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral neuroscience, Biological Sciences Division, The University of Chicago

Stress can make any day hard. There are many ways you can avoid having a heart attack and minimizing stress is one of them. Check out our weight loss tips to find out more ways to minimize the risk of having a heart attack.

Reprinted with the permission of:
Bottom Line Publications/Daily Health News
Boardroom Inc.
281 Tresser Blvd., 8th Floor
Stamford, CT 06901
www.BottomLineSecrets.com