I had a chance to interview Kathleen to learn more.
How can people learn to remember and understand their dreams?
One of the biggest challenges many of us face is retaining our dream information. It does not matter how many dream dictionaries we have or how many dream journals we keep if our dreams are too elusive to remember. We must learn to remember not to forget. Holding onto dreams after turning off the alarm clock is a learned skill.
Imagine your mind flexing like fingers as they are gently caressing your butterfly-like dreams before they can fly away. Build your mind-muscle with dream exercises provided in this chapter. Then remember to use it or lose it.
I (Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos) used these easy tried-and-true dream memory methods during surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment for breast cancer. The memory method allowed me to retrieve life-saving information so I could survive breast cancer all three times.
Use this 7-letters acronym SO DREAM as 7 steps to retrieve your dreams and information.
S= Set your Intention- which is a dream part of the Law of Attraction. An intention is the first step in attracting and manifesting information. A simple request is all it takes. “I wish to meet my Physician-within or get a solution to (you fill in the blank) in my dream tonight.” Or, it can be something as simple as, “I want to remember my dream.”
Write your intention on a piece of paper and place it under your pillow to “sleep on it,” a play on words that holds profound meaning. By doing this, you are also showing your inner-self, through your eyes which are considered the windows to your soul, what you intend to do; take a dream from the abstract fifth dimension and bring it into the concrete third dimension of life by turning it into written words that contain messages.
O=Organize yourself before sleep to successfully record your dream upon awakening. Put your dream journal, pen, or recording device, (and a flashlight if necessary) by your bed. If your dream wakens you, it may be telling you to write down or record relevant information before you forget it. This often happens with multiple dreams. If you get up to hunt for a pencil or paper, you may lose your dream.
D= Dream to begin the process of fulfilling your intention. Studies have shown that everything living dreams, including you because you started to dream in the womb at seven months.4 Dreaming is the first step in training your brain to remember dreams.
R=Remain in your same sleep position when you first awaken to Remember and Record whatever you can of your dream. Moving around may cause your dream to dissolve like the morning shadows. Use this step to re-enter your dream-state at a later time to retrieve additional information.
E=Emotion-what parts of the dream, known as snippets, Elicit Emotion. It is the part of the dream that sticks in your mind and creates a physical response like rapid breathing; perspiration often described as having cold sweats, tears, or a pounding heart.
A=Add to your dream memory by asking, “What colors, sounds, words, people, animals, plants, signs, and symbols, did I see? What names and phrases did I hear?” because they may be an essential part of the meaning in your message, that fulfills your intention. If more of the dream returns during the day jot it down on a piece of paper or record it on your phone to add to your journal later. This can help you with dream tracking; keeping track of dreams, messages, and images to see if they come true.
M=Meaning- what do the small dream parts known as snippets mean to you? Dreams are as individual as the dreamers. What is important to you in a dream may be unimportant to someone else because it does not elicit the same emotion. Pictures, forms, creatures, colors, lack of colors, people, and phrases are all part of your individual Dream Language. It is one of many ways we communicate with ourselves. Put the information from the acronym SO DREAM together, start dream-tracking, and begin developing your Dream Language. If the dream is still confusing, ask for a clarifying dream the following night as did some of the dreamers in the book.
Finally, give your dream a title, even if it’s The Dream Without a Name, so if part of it returns during the day, you will know where to add it in your journal.
What is dream therapy, and how can dreams affect our health?
Dream therapy means different things to different people. Freud believed that dreams concealed conscious thoughts. Dreams can be considered a microcosm of our daily life examined in our sleep. Some people see dream therapy as a technique to explore and analyze stressors or triggers; extreme life changes that are perceived to be psychologically stressful. Most forms of dream therapy involve journaling so dreams can be revisited for validation and a means for learning a personal dream language. When the mind suffers, the body cries out. This cry may manifest as a health issue. Since our dreams are often a microcosm of our daily challenges they can warn us of early changes happening in our physical body. Dreams can be an early warning system for disease. The earlier a disease is diagnosed, the higher the chancer for full recovery. Dreams have been proven to save lives, even from cancer recurrence.
How can women work with medical professionals when they are aware of health changes through non-traditional means like dreams?
Dreams are windows into another information dimension just as the internet is a type of informational Universal Wisdom Window at our fingertips. Access to the internet has created a new type of patient; the e-patient.
Women can successfully work with medical professionals by using these 3 techniques.
1.) Become an e-patient armed with medical information. The eighteen women, my self included, in Dr. Larry Burk’s Duke University Breast Cancer Warning Dreams Research Project were all e-patients, as were many dreamers in the book. They armed themselves with medical facts, figures, and vocabulary which gave them an edge when speaking with the medical community, and the intestinal fortitude to stand their ground in the face of adversity that included doctors. Their health-related dreams were proven to be true by conventional diagnostic protocol.
According to Richard Davies deBronkart Jr. aka ePatient Dave/cancer patient, “In the 1970s, the phrase e-patient was born. In the ensuing decades, it grew up a bit, developing and building its catch-phrase, ‘equipped, empowered, and enabled.’”
The late Dr. Tom Ferguson coined the term e-patient. He was a pioneering physician, author, and researcher who studied and wrote about the empowered medical consumer and the online health resources for consumers. According to Dr. Ferguson, the e-patient is Equipped, Enabled, Empowered and Engaged in their health, health care decisions, and choice of healthcare professionals, and systems that support them.
E-patients see themselves as equal partners with their doctors in the healthcare process and are a new big wave in the ocean of internet users. This new type of patient gathers information about medical conditions that impact them and their families by using digital tools for research.
2.) Speak in medical terms. Use a vocabulary doctors can understand. Back up what you say with validated facts and figures, especially when adding dreams to the equation. Western medicine is grounded in scientifically proven research such as The Breast Cancer Warning Dreams Research Project by co-author by Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos and Dr. Larry Burk, radiologist at Duke University Medical. The results of Dr. Burk’s study is published in medical journals worldwide. Therefore, women can mention the book when speaking with doctors about dreams as a means of early detection. And, the research is still ongoing and funded at Duke University Medical, a reputable institution.
3.) Self Advocate! Stand in your power as a patient. Don’t be dismissed and don’t take “No” for an answer when requesting additional testing. Many of the patients in Dr. Larry Burk’s Research Project shared in the book how they would not leave their doctor’s waiting room until they received a second set of tests.
The eighteen women in Dr. Larry Burk’s Duke University Breast Cancer Warning Dreams Research Project were all e-patients, as were many of the additional dreamers in the book. They armed themselves with medical facts, figures, and vocabulary which gave them an edge when speaking to the medical community, and the intestinal fortitude to stand their ground in the face of adversity that included doctors. Their health-related dreams were proven to be accurate by conventional diagnostic protocol.
Resources:
Dreams That Can Save Your Life: Early Warning Signs of Cancer and Other Diseases- Chapter 1 pg 21 Origins of Breast Cancer Warning Dreams Research Project.
Dreams That Can Save Your Life [book review]. Jennifer Holmes, March 18, 2018 https://www.themindfulword.org/2018/dreams-save-life-review/
Dreams That Can Save Your Life: Early Warning Signs of Cancer and Other Diseases- Chapter 41, pg 171, 7 Ways to Remember Your Dreams
Dreams That Can Save Your Life: Early Warning Signs of Cancer and Other Diseases- Chapter 4- pg 42- The Rise of the Dreaming E-Patient
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