Last night I had a terrible nightmare. I’ll spare us both the trauma of having to relive it and just keep the details to myself, but trust me when I tell you it was a doozy.
I am one of those people who either has no recollection of my dreams or has very vivid and super intense dreams. This one was vivid, intense and horrifying.
No fun, and certainly not the path to restful sleep!
So how did I manage to fall back asleep quickly after waking up to a pounding heart, having just had a horrible dream experience?! I immediately did two things.
First, I acknowledged that that was some scary stuff. Second, I asked myself, what was this dream telling me?
My scary dream themes are often around loss and what that allows me to recognize is how much I value all that I have in my life. By accepting my emotional response and then reframing my nightmare into an immediate reminder about what matters most to me, I was able to quiet my stress response and quickly shift my focus.
By acknowledging the underlying message, packaged in a scary dream, I was open to shifting my thoughts so that I could fall back asleep. I literally started running through my gratitude in my head and that gave me a much more positive perspective to fall asleep to.
To really reinforce this process, this morning I also prioritized some time to write out my gratitude list. I was sure to put on there how grateful I am for all that popped up in my dream last night.
Oftentimes we can become fixated on the thoughts that we don’t want. We focus on our worry and on our fears which simply gives them more and more power. [bctt tweet=”When we can shift into what is triggering that worry or fear, the underlying message of value, we are able to transition our thoughts quickly. “]Once we have the new thought, we can put our focus there and watch it grow and strengthen (just as if you were planting and watering a tomato seed).
Give it a try. Think of one of your worries or fears, a nightmare worthy theme that crops up for you. Acknowledge it and then ask yourself, what is the message there? Reframe the thought to bring the positive to the surface and then use gratitude to nurture and watch it grow!
Here’s to planting seeds and watching them grow!
Emily
P.S. If you need more help with this, simply leave a comment below with the thought or themes that keep cropping up for you, I’ll send you over some specific examples just for you!
P.P.S. Speaking of growing, there is a lot growing here at B&T! Stay tuned for details later this month!