All over the world and throughout history, people have turned towards their dreams to get answers for their practical and spiritual life challenges. The Naskapi Indians relied on the Great Spirit for guidance on where to hunt and where to stay the night. You also might have had spontaneous dreams that have helped you.
You don’t have to wait for your dreams to bring you guidance; you can reach is called Dream Incubation. It is easy to learn, easy to do and highly effective. Michelle, a 40 year-old life coach, was diagnosed with Acid Reflux. Her doctor prescribed a medication, which had side effects. She remembered that she could ask her dream for guidance and decided to try it. The question she asked, before going to bed was: What will help to relieve and heal this acid reflux that I am experiencing?
Michelle told me, “I woke up from the following dream: I am walking with a woman on the side of a road. The woman says: You should come over here, I have catnip for you. It will be good for you, come over to try it. The first thing I thought in my dream was, Is this woman serious? She wants to give me cat food? So, I held back from going because it sounded so strange. The only thing I knew was that catnip drives cats a little wild and they get very playful. I wrote down the dream, even though it felt a bit weird to me. Then I researched catnip. I learned — to my surprise that it is a plant that can be dried and used in a tea that helps babies cure their acid reflux and any tummy issues. It apparently is a very effective treatment. It’s also a tea that calms the body and can be mixed into tea blends. So I ordered some. After several days of drinking the catnip tea my acid reflux problems disappeared.”
Research at Harvard on Dream Incubation shows that it works best with problems of personal and emotional nature or medical questions. This is in line with my own experience where I see that dreams seem to be interested in helping a person on their life path. Questions that are not in line with your own path often seem not to be answered.
Michelle loved the dream answer and continues to use dream guidance to receive information that is typically very hard to get to in any other way. Dream incubation allows you to consult your own inner doctor who knows exactly what you need.
The belief that we have an inner doctor is widespread around the world. The term “inner doctor” has many different names. In Africa it is called the Divine Twin, in Ancient Greece it was called the Daimon; in Rome it was known as the Genius, and today many refer to it as the Spirit Guide.
The genius refers to the spirit who is already there and who is standing next to you. It is a spirit you have, and not what you are. In other words, people are not a genius, they have a genius. The good news is that everyone has a genius. This genius is interested in helping a person become who they are and will pro-actively send helpful dreams from time to time. The genius will also allow a person to figure out their own way, or how they want to live. However, the genius is on standby and ready to help when it gets engaged. You can engage this genius, or inner doctor, through many different ways. Dreams are a very helpful way to engage with it.
In order for you to connect with your genius, simply start talking to it. Tell the genius what you are working on, what you are struggling with, and where you would like to get support. Your genius will be delighted that it gets engaged and that it can help you. It is almost like this inner figure needs your informed consent to step in and forward. Treat this relationship as any you might have with a respected wise friend.
To ask your genius and dream for support tonight, it’s helpful to ask something that is relevant to your life and to write down the question before you go to bed. Also, make sure to write down your answer upon waking the next morning, as dreams have a tendency to evaporate quickly upon wakening There are many other steps you can take to enhance this way of asking your dreams for guidance, but asking and formulating the question itself is essential.
I hope these suggestions will help to send you on your way to obtaining guidance from your dreams, and to living a dream inspired life!
Machiel Klerk is a licensed mental health therapist, international speaker, dreamworker, author, and social entrepreneur. Fascinated by healing traditions, he has studied many cultures and their healing and dream technologies, all over the world, specifically African traditions, as he was born in South Africa. Machiel has been vocationally guided by his dreams, leading him to founding the online organization, Jung Platform. He is the author of DREAM GUIDANCE Connecting To The Soul Through Dream Incubation. For further information: machielklerk.com.
