I was woken by a scary nightmare last night. This doesn’t happen often to me, but, when it does, the long hours of recovering seem sometimes impossible to bear. The dream was so real, it took several hours to feel my physical reality again. I finally remembered a healing process I’d learned a long time ago: as you lie there, wide awake and terrified, try going back inside the dream. Talk to anyone who was in it. Perhaps try completing it in a different way, creating a different outcome. Last night, I dreaded welcoming my dream back into my psyche, but eventually I was able to pour my wild mental terror into a focused meditation. It took some time, but eventually I felt a familiar peace settling through me and sweetness prevailed. Maybe if we practiced welcoming in our daily hurts, anxieties, and anguish, not just our nightmares, we could learn to move through them more gracefully. Perhaps opening ourselves to what we dread is the secret to wellbeing and serenity. Whether it’s guilt, rage, or hurt—what we resist, persists. We don’t have to face our fears with a heavy shield and sharp sword, but instead welcome them in with gratitude and love.
