Turning Season: Conversations with Healers, Activists, Visionaries and On-the-Ground Changemakers

What can you learn from a kid with nightmares, a young therapist at the VA, a corporate executive, a life coach, and a dreamworker? Everything in this episode! Will Sharon has been in all of those roles, and his combination of education, experience and care for people shine through in this conversation.

Will and I talk about nightmares, and how they play a role in growth and healing in adults, as well as how they are slightly differ...

Have you ever dreamt you had a serious illness or injury? Maybe it scared you, at first, but then you came to understand the dream symbolically? It can be a relief to realize, “It's a metaphor.”

But sometimes, our dreams truly are about our physical health. In this episode, Denise Conner jumps right in to the full story of three dreams that changed her life by guiding her through a health crisis. Her series of dreams gave her a ...

Sure, it’s a nice door. But are you going to stare at it, or go ahead and open it? In this episode, you’ll hear Sue Scavo describe each character in your dream as a door to walk through. Have you ever been confused or embarrassed about dreaming of a certain person? Thinking, “why is he here?” Sue gives such a helpful way of looking at this. I really enjoyed hearing Sue share her thoughts on art and dreams, and how core dreams are t...

Can a dream change someone's life? You know my answer is an enthusiastic Yes. But how about a dream combined with acupuncture, in just the right dream-inspired spot? That's next-level. You'll hear golden advice from Bob Quinn, a man whose waking life is “awash in dreams.” He talks about working three dreams from any single person, and watching for themes to repeat three times. He shares how to check for confirmation of ...

Have you had dreams that show the future? Dream visitations from loved ones who've passed away? I know many of you are curious about these two dream phenomena. In this episode, Carla Blowey talks about her own experiences with both, in her decades as a bereaved mother and as a dreamworker who serves bereaved families. You'll hear her explain how to recognize "visitation dreams" by certain qualities they all tend to ...

That feeling of a dream having just now slipped away. Knowing you were dreaming, but nothing is left now except the sense that, a moment ago, you were somewhere else. Wishing to better remember? This one's for you. I'm here solo on this episode, to talk about tips for better dream recall, and to talk about something I don't hear discussed very often: how our physical bodies can impact our dream recall. I'll give you...

Can you imagine being a devoted witness of dreams, your own and others', for almost 50 years? There are a few people who could say, "Yes, that's me." But not many. Azima Lila Forest began working with dreams in the 1970s, when she met Jeremy Taylor. Since then, she has studied with Robert Moss, and become a teacher (sheikh) of universal Sufism and a Unitarian Universalist minister. We talk about: her perspective on ...

Teresa Vazquez still remembers a dream she had at age 5. She's always kept her dream journals from adolescence. Decades went by, though, as she was studying art and becoming a writer and educator, before she found her path as a dreamworker. Now, she describes herself as a "dream midwife." You might relate to the idea of re-birthing a relationship with your dreams. One of the reasons I reached out to Teresa was that she ...

Katherine Lawson speaks from experience about how dreams offer support during cancer treatment. She's been both a patient, and a practitioner. In this episode, she shares her journey with dreaming: her academic work at Pacifica Graduate Institute; the study of Dream Tending and Embodied Imagination; her own cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery; supporting other cancer patients at the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic; and a respectf...

You’re about to meet another teacher dear to my heart: Geraldine Matus, of Justisse College International. You’ll hear her insights from her decades of work in reproductive health and with dreams. I met Geraldine in 2006, when I began studying for certification as a Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner. When I talked to Geraldine about shifting my work over to dreams and Chinese Medicine, I was excited to hear more about her o...

Can you think of a dream in which you felt surprised or confused? I love Billie's insight that this can signal movement into unfamiliar territory. Billie shares so many other gems, like her observation that ancestors frequently show up in dreams as "a large group of people, and I know they're there to see me, but I don't recognize them." Click Play now to hear our whole conversation - or read on to learn more ab...

Do you believe that your dreams serve a purpose, even when you don't remember them? Do dreams help you, even if you don't "work" with them? Katherine Bell believes so, and she's read research studies to back that up. A scientist herself, Katherine blends her curiosity about the data around dreams with her deep respect for the experience of dreaming. You'll hear her talk about how dreamwork helped her shift f...

Over 9,000 pandemic dreams. That’s how many Dr. Deirdre Barrett has read so far from her worldwide survey this year. These dreams are the subject of her latest book: Pandemic Dreams. We talk about the themes she’s seen - from catching the virus (bugs), to homeschooling (failing math), to possible cures (musical injections), and what the world might look like post-pandemic (robots in charge?).

She shares trends in the emotional tone...

This one's for you. You, who

On board? Awesome. Press play to hear me share about:

Click "Play" to hear my conversation with Nicole Torres, a dreamworker, psychotherapist, and medical anthropologist devoted to her own ongoing journey of decolonization, liberation, and learning to “honor the dream.”

In this episode, she explains what all that means to her. Early in our conversation, I ask Nicole’s take on something I’ve wondered for a while: Why do some people explain that their families don’t talk about dr...

Have you ever had a massage, or acupuncture treatment, and gotten the, “Yep, that’s the spot,” feeling when a certain point on your body was pressed? We call those “ah shi” points. “Ah shi” roughly translates as, “Oh, that’s it.” These points tend to feel tender, or sensitive, or simply significant somehow.

In this conversation with Katherine Bell, it occurred to us that the “ah-ha moment” in dreamwork is the same sort of thing. The...

Have you ever wondered, “Did that really happen, or was that a dream?" In some ways, every dream feels real. And, in some ways, all of our dreams ARE real. Kezia Vida and I begin this conversation, and circle back to, the question of what’s “real,” and how our dreams can bring what feels MOST real into our lives.

Kezia Vida is a practitioner of the Natural Dreamwork process, which she’s been offering to clients since 2013. A New...

“My favorite part is when you and the guest talk about example dreams.” ← If you’re a listener who’s said that, this one’s for you. In this New Moon episode, I work one of my own dreams live with guest dreamworker Claudia DeBorde. She takes me on a Dream Tending walk through a dream I titled Time Travel.

We talk briefly about her approach to dreams, our love of stories, and how we can play “host” to the figures in our dreams. Then,...

What happens when adults get out their colored pencils and freely draw their dreams? “Ah-ha moments,” all over the place. Life-shifting, and even life-saving, ah-ha moments.

Click Play now to listen to me talk with Walter Berry about his dream groups, where participants draw their dreams and share the drawings. I loved every one of his stories.

Walter has been called “The Wizard of Awes.” His upcoming book, Drawn into the Dream, will...