At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want. -- Lao Tzu
Everyone who has seen the movie "The Secret" and talks with me about dream work asks me, "How can I program my dreams to create the life of my dreams?"
The most important things to know about programming your dreams is... that the moments bookending sleep are prime real estate. These are the moments most people watch the news or read the newspaper and fill their minds with worldly worry. If we were wise we would take advantage of this natural state where the walls between the worlds are particularly thin, and saturate ourselves with thoughts and images of our best lives.
With this in mind, write a one-page "story" of your life -- the way you see, feel, or imagine it to be if you were living your highest expression... your dream life. Here are some questions to prompt your Bedtime Story:
1. Describe your life when you see, feel, or imagine your dream life.
2. Imagine for a moment that you've overcome your greatest block or obstacle to doing your part to usher in your dream life. Describe who you would be/feel/think/act with this issue behind you.
What would be possible for you?
How would your life change?
What would open up, be different, or be better than it is now?
3. Describe your "Dream Self" (you, living your dream life) in a single word, e.g.:
Confident
Peaceful
Authentic
Successful
Powerful
4. Describe your dream life in a single word, e.g.,:
Masterpiece
Sanctuary
Heaven
Magnificent
Legacy
5.Write this word in bold letters, calligraphy, or art and place it around your home, office, bathroom, and car, so that in no time you will literaly be surrounded in the essence and energy of your dream self as well as your dream life.
As you read your Bedtime Story, allow your mind to see, feel, or experience this story as if it was a larger than life movie, of which you are right in the center. Use your "imagic-nation" to fill in the details with Technicolor clarity. See the colors, smell the aromas, feel the textures, hear the sounds. Imagine the ripple effect your dream life will have on your future, on your health, your wealth, your impact on the people in your life, on the world, and on the future of this planet.
As your dreams take their cue from your Bedtime Story, your subconscious mind is being gently conditioned to accept the elements as normal and natural, comfortable and safe. As you do this, new neuropathways are being constructed in your brain, preparing to help you to embody your Bedtime Story in your waking life. And as an added bonus, as you lie in bed meditating and marinating in this feeling tone, you will soon realize that you are benefiting from your dream life before it manifests in your life. All these thoughts and sensations to take you by the hand and lead you into dreamland.
Kelly Sullivan Walden says dreams have a language all their own—and being fluent in that language reveals the wisdom to live the life of your dreams while you’re awake.
Author, certified clinical hypnotherapist, inspirational speaker and founder ofDream-Life Coach Training; Kelly hosts a weekly web-radio show The D-Spot, is featured Dream Expert for Fox News, and recently appeared on the Ricki Lake Show. She has written seven books including the Amazon.com #1 bestseller I Had The Strangest Dream, as well as articles published in Woman’s World, Cosmopolitan,Seventeen, and the Los Angeles Times.
One of Kelly’s dreams came true when she was invited to speak before the United Nations about the Dream Project, a non-profit organization she founded to inspire children all over the world to solve the issues described in the United NationsMillennium Development Goals.
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Kelly began her dream research as a curious five-year-old. She and her younger sister shared a room and in morning the girls would wake up excited to discuss what their nighttime adventures might mean in the waking world. Over the years they pouring through dream dictionaries to learn the exciting language of dreams. Kelly eventually studied Carl Jung, Carlos Castaneda and many spiritual and esoteric teachers who took her understanding of dreams to a much deeper level.
Nearly two decades ago Kelly became a certified clinical hypnotherapist and spiritual counselor. This began her professional journey working with her client’s subconscious minds so they might discover themselves—their core beliefs, drives and desires—and discover the hidden resources to heal them from past traumas and experience life with new skills, fresh vision, and deeper knowledge.
Kelly soon realized the impact dreams had in the lives of her clients—but no guidebooks on the market at the time dealt with contemporary symbols or blended dream interpretation with a truly life-affirming approach. Her book I Had the Strangest Dream quickly reached #1 on Amazon’s Best-seller List and has stayed there for over six years. Since then, she’s authored six more books; been guest of over 1,000 media outlets; and traveled the world speaking, teaching and hosting workshops for many thousands of people.
Kelly and her husband Dana and their dogs, Shadow and Lola, are living their dream life amid the animal, trees, and energy of the enchanted Topanga Canyon in California. Kelly is currently in production of a television pilot and is excited to share her latest works It’s All In Your Dreams and Dream Oracle Cards.
“I’ve poured everything I know about dreams into It’s All In Your Dreams and Dream Oracle Cards, reflecting the latest research and current wisdom. I’m thrilled to say this work has already transformed my life and the lives of many others. My dreamwork is not just to inspire you to pay attention to your nighttime dreams, but to give you practical tools to access the phenomenal wisdom of your dreaming mind—the rocket fuel to manifest the life of your dreams!”
~Kelly Sullivan Walden