Dreams can increase your emotional intelligence.
“The creative mind — awake and asleep — is the same mind.” -Ryan Hurd
Do you remember your dreams from last night? Whether you do or not science has shown that indeed we all dream. Joining us to discuss the science of dreams and other dream-related topics is Ryan Hurd, dream expert and author of several books on dreaming including Dream Like a Boss.
On this episode of The Art of Charm we dive into lucid dreaming, how dreaming is akin to creative workshopping your problems and how dreams can act as red flags for health problems.
Ryan’s journey into dreams began at a young age. He remembers having very vivid dreams as a child, and being fascinated by them. At 14 he began a dream journal to chronicle his experiences.
Although he became a field archaeologist after college, a decade later he returned to school to study his passion: dreams. He earned an MA in the Consciousness Studies program at John F Kennedy along with a Certificate in Dream Studies. He has worked with dream researchers and experts throughout his career. On this episode Ryan shares us with his scientific and practical application of dreaming.
Practically speaking sleep is the third pillar of health, without it diet and exercise don’t have nearly the same positive impact as they do when we’re sleeping properly. We have to start with good sleep before we can do any quality dream work, like lucid dreaming.
Once good sleep is in place our dreams can help us understand what’s really important (and who), face our fears and anxieties, increase our emotional IQ and come up with solutions to pressing problems.
Ryan says if we have a recurring dream about something or someone there’s a lesson in it for us, our sleep is trying to tell us something. Have you had several dreams about a former lover from a decade ago? It doesn’t necessarily mean you should contact that old flame. Instead, take that feeling you have from the dream and notice when you have that same feeling in real life: your dream is trying to guide you so you can change your response in that situation.
Or if you find yourself dreaming about those bullies from elementary school time and again, use that dream to respond differently; you can use your dream to face those bullies, stand up for yourself and finally work through the fear and anxiety you felt in that situation. You’ll have become more powerful in your dream and in real life.
And you can use dreams to help you with current day issues: if you’re faced with a problem or situation that you don’t know how to resolve in real life your dreams can provide options and potential solutions.
First you must be adapt at remembering your dreams and you can start by keeping a dream journal. Once you’re remembering your dreams you can write down your problem before you go to sleep, then write down your dreams when you wake up. Do this for at least 3 nights in a row and your dreams will provide answers.
Ryan and I also explore the topic of lucid dreaming, including some of the latest technological advances in this area, plus something called ‘dream incubation’ and his dream app recommendations. Check it out on today’s episode of The Art of Charm.
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