Embracing the Shadow

Thus far into my ELI, I have succeeded in increasing the frequency of my lucid dreams. This project has inspired me to become a more self-actualized person. I have been doing a lot of research on the different aspects of dreams and what they can do for your mind. One topic that particularly interested me was the curing of nightmares through lucidity. I watched a lecture given on TEDx by Tim Post about the concept of a “shadow aspect” in dreams. The shadow is any negativity in a dream, whether it be through setting, characters, or mood. Tim gave an anecdote about him complaining to his lucid dreaming mentor of nightmares. His mentor told him to “embrace the shadow”. The next time Tim had a lucid dream, he found himself in a nightmare in which he faced a “three headed demon”. Tim remembered the words of his mentor and opted to literally embrace this shadow aspect of his nightmare.

As Tim hugged the demon in his arms, the monster initially thrashed about, but as Tim’s embrace persisted, the demon stopped struggling. Tim could feel it shrinking against him until it was the same size as him. Opening his eyes, Tim let go of the creature and looked up to find himself staring at an exact copy of his body. The shadow from before had transformed into a neutral object, no longer menacing. This process of acceptance of the shadow is said to be at times very beneficial for the dreamer as he walks the path to self-actualization. Shadows represent darknesses within us, such as repressed emotions, scarring from past experience, and lifelong fears. Once we are able to overcome and accept these aspects of ourselves, we are at peace with ourselves and our increased self-awareness.

Tim’s story really resonated with me, implanting itself into my current awareness. The very next time I had a lucid dream, I met my own shadow. I find myself in a darkly and menacingly painted hallway with flashing lights and all kinds of hellish noises coming out of surrounding rooms. One room was particularly loud, holding a giant snake thrashing itself against the walls and hissing violently. Although I knew myself to be in a dream, I was afraid of this snake. The door to its room slammed open against the wall and the snake began to chase me towards the end of the hallway. Throwing open the stairwell door, I bounded down flight after flight of stairs with the snake bashing itself down the stairs just behind me.

As I fearfully attempted to escape from this dark dream character, my heightened awareness kicked in and I suddenly remembered Tim’s video that I had watched previously. I identified the snake as my shadow aspect. I immediately resolved to embrace my shadow and stopped running, turned, and called to the snake. The beast ceased its thrashing and was quiet. I rescaled the stairs up to where he rested. The snake stared me dead in the eye as I reached out my hand and brushed its head lovingly. I caressed the snake and told it how much I loved and accepted it aloud. The snake seemed to reciprocate my fond feelings as much as a snake can appear to do so. My dream began to deteriorate and I had to implement the spinning technique to spin my way to a new dream scene. I left this dream scene with a glowing feeling of contentedness.

Embracing the shadow is a widely accepted method of nightmare treatment through lucid dreaming. Once dreamers can accept darknesses within themselves, what more is there to be afraid of?

~Katie