Melinda Powell
on Lucid Dreaming
“If, by chance, I met you at a gathering, what dream might you choose to share with me?”
Although we spend around 6 years of our lives dreaming, we are not able to fully understand the power of dreams. Dreams generate scenarios where we can rehearse for waking life, and enable learning, problem-solving and decision-making. They inspire creativity, balance our emotional life and lay down the foundations of self-reflection and awareness. They fill us with grace. Gratitude towards the gift of dreams means “gratitude towards the gift of life”.
Dreams bridge our inner and outer worlds, breathing new life into us: “When we ignore our dreams, we disregard the nature of our consciousness rooted in planet Earth. In our sleep, Earth dreams. Each night, if we pay attention to our dreams, we awaken to new potentialities in ourselves. The warming of our planet reflects our over-heated lives: pollution of the natural world parallels a profound imbalance of the human psyche.”
Melinda Powell’s life has been guided by her dreams. Now, she teaches “dream guidance”.
She recollects and shares her learnings from Lucid Surrender, as the co-founder of the Dream Research Institute at the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education, to promote research into dreams and wellbeing. She was also a psychotherapist and the vice president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Her books, The Hidden Lives of Dreams and Lucid Surrender: The Alchemy of the Soul in Lucid Dreaming focus on the power of dream sharing, because “when we share a dream, it becomes alive for those who hear it.”
In childhood, she was fortunate to spend time exploring nature, which built her soul stamina. Her first writing on dreams was a story at the age of 7 about one of her lucid dreams, when its realness scared her and blocked her writing. In her twenties, looking for dream guidance, she got the needed support from an Episcopal Priest and Jungian Analyst who encouraged her to follow the dream path, as the core of transpersonal psychology relates to life’s Big Questions: What gives our lives meaning? How do we live fully?
Melinda believes we can find the answers to these questions in our dreams, as they not only mirror our personal psychology but also open the psyche to sacred qualities that facilitate inner transformation. An encounter with a powerful healing Presence. “Real therapy”, as Carl Jung said.
It seems dreams reflect one of Nature’s most effective ways to recognise our need for balance.
May we dream in balance!
Thank you, Melinda, for being a Lucid Dreamer!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Melinda Powell
Company / Institution: Dream Research Institute (DRI), London
Title: DRI Advisor, Lucid Dreaming Authority, Dream Guide, Author
Website: melindapowelldreams.com
LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/melinda-powell-a5005b242
Country of origin: USA
Country you currently live in: UK
Your personal definition of Regeneration: Renewal from within.
Main business challenge you face: Scientific Materialism, a worldview that dogmatically declares that physical matter is all there is and so ultimately nothing matters.
Main driver that keeps you going: The Light of the Soul.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: I continue to learn from the things about myself of which I’m not very proud!
The trait you most value in others: Willingness to be vulnerable.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Hidden beauty.
The #inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path: Nature and dreams.
A hint or starting point for companies or professionals that are taking the first steps in the regeneration journey: Be inspired by seeming limitations.
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: “We’ll stick with it as long as it takes.” This only serves to justify inertia on the speaker’s part.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: Let Nature be your guide. Trust your dreams! Know that the power of love is greater than the love of power.
Books that had a great impact on you:
Catching the Light: The Entwined History of Light and Mind by Arthur Zajonc
Books by Henry Corbin, especially his Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn-Arabi.
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
Gifts from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg
Conversations with the Soul and The Way of the Soul by Andrew Powell
Must-reads for any regenerative professional:
The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge by Jeffrey J. Kripal
The Eye of the Heart: A Spiritual Journey into the Imaginal Realm by Cynthia Bourgeault
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Movies or Documentaries you would watch all over again:
“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” directed by Daniel Keller and Dayna Goldfine
“No Direction Home”, directed by Martin Scorsese
Babette’s Feast, directed by Gabriel Axel
Films by Andrzej Tarkowski
Blogs / Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently:
www.driccpe.org.uk
Dreamboat podcast,
Imaginal Inspirations podcast with David Lorimer
www.annebaring.com
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing:
The music of silence.
Music composed by Arvo Part and Morten Lauridsen.
My husband playing piano and singing!
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Mt Whitney, Sierra Nevada Mountains; Joshua Tree, Mojave Desert; the Grand Canyon; Swiss-French Alps; Jerusalem; Torun, Poland; London; the Lake District, England.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow: The still small voice within!
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: More expansive views on consciousness and the Imagination viz “The Flip”.
Best places for business networking (online or offline): Sharing dreams!
Events we should attend:
The annual conference hosted by the International Association for the Study of Dreams, IASD;
“Beyond the Brain” and “Mystics and Scientists”, annual, hybrid conferences hosted by the Scientific & Medical Network.
Associations, business clubs, tribes you belong to – and why:
The Dream Research Institute, London
The International Association for the Study of Dreams
The Center for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education, London
Scientific and Medical Network
New Paradigm Navigators
These organizations are involved in shaping regenerative perspectives on life.
Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses, trainings, or certifications that really teach us how to have an impact: Dream groups and trainings held by the Dream Research Institute, London. Courses that quieten the mind and get us in touch with our inner guidance.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: Humanity’s capacity to dream.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: Humanity’s tendency towards destructive reactions and violence.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Gentleness, kindness, and the ability to yield.
The #inspirator you are endorsing for a future edition of the newsletter is:
David Lorimer
The quote that inspires you:
“We belong to more than ourselves.”
Your own quote that will inspire us:
