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A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine ISSN# 1708-3265
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Being MindfulDreams and the Dreamstate by Janet Alston Jackson "Pain pushes until the vision pulls." I have always loved that quote. I saw it on a poster 15 years ago and it's always stuck in my head. When I find myself at rock bottom after I have tried everything—and nothing seems to work, that quote comes to me as if in a dream. I then surrender and with that surrendering suddenly a vision appears in the form of telling me what steps I need to take next. I see a beautiful and perfect solution to my challenge. I see the perfect outcome and that is the dream. The vision with direction and steps has always been there, but I was too busy struggling - trying to make things happen, to see it before me. I was not living my dreams. I was living in a dream state. What's the difference? A dream helps us to see the right path. The place where all is well with our lives. No pain, no struggle, just love, peace, abundance and happiness. For all of us, the dream is difference. It's a place of consciousness. We don't have to sweat to get there, because it's being aware that deep inside of us is the perfect reality reflected to us in the form of a dream. When we realize that we already have what we are looking for, the universe works to materialize that dream. We call it a dream-come-true. And they do.
Too often we live in a dream state also known as a fog. This is when we are walking around with our heads in the past. We go over things repeatedly in our head. Things that happened to us, and what people said or did that offended us. Even when our lives are going well, we live in the past fearing what happened to us before, will happen again… and even worse. We also live in the dream state of the future. When we are at work, we are thinking about what we will do when we get off. And when we are with our family and friends, we are thinking about what we have to do at work. So we are never really present with those we love. It's no wonder when we drive across town, we don't even remember actually driving past landmarks because our mind was somewhere else. Yes we must plan for the future, but plan and let it go. So the dream state is the pain that pushes us when we are thinking about what we need to do in the future when we are engaged in other tasks. We are now stressed and frustrated because we can't be in two places at once. Stress is not only pain; it causes physical pain through illnesses. This dream state keeps us anxious and in fear. Fruitless when we remember the fact that over 90% of the things we fear will never happen. Is it any wonder that many of us have trouble sleeping at night? We've been in a dream state all day agonizing over our fears. When we surrender and give up walking in the past and the future, something magical happens. Our monkey minds that keeps jumping from one thing to the next—from the past to the future—settle down, and the vision, the dream appears. It pulls us in the direction we need to go. We don't have to do anything; it automatically pulls us like gravity. We find our lives straightening out, and the problems disappearing. We know we're on the right track because we're not anxious and we sleep better. Suddenly we realize we are living our dreams. How do we surrender and step out of the dream state into our dreams? We practice living in the moment. We try to do all of our tasks with our mind firmly planted in the here and now. When we are with someone we listen to them with our heart and soul. And whenever you are in this moment… be there. When we are living in the here and now, we are mindful. It's not easy, but for me I don't like living in pain, so I choose to keep practicing Mindfulness because I know it's pulling me toward my dreams. Each moment reflects the next and the next. That's how we shape our future. But if we are stressed in this moment, the next moment will be a reflection of the one before. Mindfulness dissolves the dream state so that I'm not living in the past or in the future, I am living in the present.
Janet Alston Jackson is the author of "A Cry for Light: A Journey into Love." To order books and CD's, schedule Janet for speaking engagements, or subscribe to Janet's newsletter, visit her website, email, or call Self Awareness Trainings toll free 1-877-796-8288. You can order Janet's book: click here.
Janet Alston Jackson, a certified seminar leader, has facilitated self-awareness workshops to a variety of audiences since 1993. She often teams with her husband Walter Jackson (author of "Sporting the Right Attitude"), to facilitate fun, high-energy motivating trainings for which the couple is known. This unique husband-and-wife team have been guests on numerous radio talk shows around the country, and have made appearances on KCET, public television.
Janet is a certified behavioural consultant, a certified anger management consultant, and a certified seminar leader. Through their motivational company Self Awareness Trainings, the Jacksons have given numerous workshops on "How to Effectively Communicate," "Releasing Stress," and "Mindfulness Trainings" to a variety of audiences including corporate executives, parents, teachers, women in recovery, prison personnel, health care workers, and entertainment industry executives.
Janet co-founded with Walter, Believe In Yourself Inc, a non-profit self-esteem program for children and their parents.
Janet earned her B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the California State University at San Jose. She started her television career as a production assistant for the Los Angeles local CBS station, and she was a news writer for the Los Angeles CBS owned radio station, KNX Newsradio.
A strong advocate for children, Janet was a Court Appointed Special Child Advocate (CASA) and a board member for their fundraising arm, Friends of Child Advocate. Today she is a board member for Child Care Resource Center, which serves thousands of families in Los Angeles County.
The author and her husband Walter, have three teenagers; Ryan, Devon and Jada, and one very loveable Chow named Simba. They live in Los Angeles.
Be sure to read the reviews of her book in our January 2007 Issue.
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