Waking up from a nightmare

It was not just a dream. Even as you sleep, your psyche continues to try to communicate essential matters to you. They help you to know what is really going on in your consciousness. Carl Jung believed dreams to be a major part of the development of the personality. This, he called individuation.

Whether it is a dream or it is real life experience, whether it affects you directly, or it does not; we remember.....it is helpful to trigger our inner mother.

If a child wakes up from a nightmare, what do we do? We parent them. We soothe them.

We speak kindly to them,

and run fingers through their hair,

we sing to them,

we rock them and maybe give them a lovely drink to calm down. Then we count sheep with them so that they can go back to sleep.

As adults, we do need parenting after a nightmare, a dream that shakes us up or disturbs us. To tune into the experience of that dream, and soothe ourselves.

In any situation we need mother.

We need a loving parent.

We need acknowledgement.

We need reassurance and support.

The source of our challenges might be that while we are aware of what we need, maybe we do not know that we can give it to ourselves foremost.

Of course we live in the community with others, which means we can also receive these acts from others.

Initially though, in any situation, practice reflection or objective evaluation. Sit with the situation that comes with the thoughts and be your parent.

What is it that happened exactly and how did it make me feel?

What sensations and feelings accompany the the situation?

What are the thoughts?

What is the root cause?

What would a loving parent do for me in this situation?

Do that for yourself.

Apply, five love languages- deep breathing, self-hugs, reframes, gratitude, affirmations, sing, solutions and release the negative energy with a cathartic shake. We can also practice meditation, get a calming chamomile tea, listen to soothing music and inhale lavender oils or similar.

Journaling dreams and their experiences is part of self-parenting. Also, get into the world consciously and show up intentionally.