PT450 – Mackenzie Amara & Dr. Ido Cohen – Dreams, Psychedelics, Symbolism, and Cockroaches
Oct 12, 2023
auto_awesome
Jungian analyst-in-training and clinician discuss the connection between dreams and psychedelics, exploring Jungian psychology, nature's equilibrium, and reclaiming aliveness. The conversation dives into symbolism, working with dreams to guide experiences, and the clash between conscious and unconscious realms.
Dreams and psychedelics share a similar space, providing insights into hidden energies within us.
Dreams post-psychedelic experiences reveal emotional dynamics and energies, aiding in self-realization.
Dreams can be used to prepare for a psychedelic journey by exploring suppressed aspects of self.
Deep dives
Building a Relationship with Dreams through Attention and Witnessing
One way to build a relationship with your dreams is by giving them attention and witnessing their unfolding. By holding off the default mode network upon waking up in the morning, you can prolong the period before your biographical self takes over. This practice allows you to tap into the psychic energy contained in dream content, providing insights into the energetic forces at play within you.
Dreams as Continuation of Psychedelic Experiences
Consider your dreams as a direct continuation or reflection of your psychedelic experiences. Just as psychedelics lessen the default mode network, allowing for different brain networks to engage, dreaming also occurs with the default mode network offline. Exploring your dreams post-psychedelic experience can reveal hidden emotional dynamics and vital energies present within you.
Using Dreams for Preparation and Exploration
Dreams can be utilized for preparation before a psychedelic journey by uncovering themes, feelings, and energies present in the psyche. Pay attention to dream characters, symbols, and scenarios that emerge before an experience, as they can inform your intentions and alignments during the psychedelic journey. Dreams offer a pathway to explore the aspects of self that may be suppressed or hidden, aiding in deeper self-realization and integration.
Experimenting with Dream Recall to Foster Dream Connection
Engage in an experiment to enhance dream recall by setting the intention to remember your dreams every night for a span of two weeks. Keep a notepad and pen by your bedside and jot down any dream fragments, images, or emotions immediately upon waking up. Over time, this practice can lead to a gradual shift in your connection with dreams, opening up new insights and possibilities for self-discovery.
Exploring the Power of Dreaming and Psychedelic Experiences
Dreaming and psychedelic experiences play a significant role in self-discovery and integration. Anecdotal evidence suggests that intentions set during psychedelic experiences can manifest in dreams, leading to profound insights. Dreams can act as a divinatory tool, providing guidance and uncovering hidden meanings within one's experiences. By allowing the unconscious mind to take center stage, individuals can tap into the symbolic language of dreams for personal growth and integration.
Embracing Symbolic Thinking and Emotional Exploration
Symbolic thinking in dreams and psychedelic experiences challenges conventional rationality, emphasizing the importance of emotional responses over logical interpretations. Dreams often communicate symbolically, requiring a deep connection to emotional reactions for meaningful understanding. Cultivating a strong symbolic imagination involves curiosity, embodied experiences, and a willingness to explore the depths of the unconscious mind. By embracing the enigmatic nature of symbols and emotions, individuals can navigate complex inner landscapes and foster profound personal growth.
In this episode, Johanna interviews Jungian analyst-in-training, writer, researcher, 5Rhythms® teacher, and Vital graduate: Mackenzie Amara; and Vital instructor, clinical psychologist, and creator of our new course, “Illuminating the Hidden Self: Navigating the Jungian Shadow with Psychedelics“: Dr. Ido Cohen.
This sequel to their fascinating discussion about shadow work earlier this year focuses on dreams, as Amara, while dreaming that she was having an acid trip and coming to the realization that dreams and LSD may be sending her to the same place, is researching the similarities between the odd worlds of dreams and psychedelic experiences: Is it the same place? Do the dreams we have after psychedelic experiences continue those visions and ‘Aha!’ moments? Can they answer questions for us (the concept of “sleep on it”)? Does dream analysis result in a greater feeling of integration? Can we use the dreams we have before experiences to help guide the experience itself?
The conversation goes a lot of places: the many aspects of Jungian psychology; the fluidity of Indigenous perspectives around visible and invisible worlds; how Jung wrote “The Red Book”; the concept of eros and reclaiming our relationship with aliveness; how nature is in constant equilibrium (as are we); how to build a relationship with your dreams; how to work with symbols in dreams; and much more. Ultimately, this episode is about the clash between the conscious and unconscious, the willed and the incidental, and waking life and other realities, and dream analysis and integration work is really tracking vitality in the human psyche: what is alive in us and how does it want to live out in our beings? What makes us come alive? Can our dreams tell us?
