Probably not many people can say they’ve pushed Vin Diesel in a shopping trolley. Although I can; except I haven’t. Confused? That’s dreams for you.
I’ve been exploring the subject of dreams and nightmares, and other night-time phenomena (like sleep walking, hearing your name at night and waking up with a song on your lips) for most of my adult life. Though, my story really begins in childhood, when we would sit around the breakfast table and talk about the night-time adventures we’d had whilst asleep the evening before.
In all the years I’ve spent as a qualified counsellor working mainly with the bereaved, attending speaking events all over the country, and appearing on TV and Radio, people have shared with me their dreams and nightmares, everything from being chased, losing teeth and their partner cheating. Some tell me they struggle to remember their dreams, others recall the content in such vivid detail it’s stayed with them for years. Most people say “I had such a weird dream last night”. Except, when we talk about it, they often have a light bulb moment that the weirdness contained a golden nugget of insight to help understand fears and frustrations, hopes and aspirations and even solutions to some of the problems they face – if we just take the time to explore them. It’s one reason I wrote Answers in the Dark, a genuine labour of love that covers all this and more.
When I wrote the book I was acutely aware that there are loads of books on sleep and dreams, which is why I pride myself on the fact that I think this is different. It sets aside the science-y jargon that makes a lot of people glaze over, when what you probably really want to know is how to sleep better, right? It busts some big myths of sleep, like the idea we all need eight hours sleep every night; because, well, it’s just not that simple.
I offer a Sleep Cycle Repair Kit that offers tips and techniques to help people get a better night’s shut-eye, along with ideas on how to use mindfulness effectively – a proven strategy for helping people sleep better – in ways that actually might work for you. I also talk about grief, and why I think we need to talk about it in a different way.
The last part of the book, Part III, talks about how to explore dreams. It’s deliberately not a massive, complicated or convoluted section for one simple reason: in all the years I’ve been talking to people about the dreams they’ve been having, they actually just needed to know how to decode it. Answers in the Dark offers food for thought, recognising that there isn’t “one size that fits all”. It does contain a selection of different dreams people have; it looks at the types of dreams we might have around death, dying and loss as well as some common anxiety dreams like turning up somewhere naked (because that can feel like a nightmare) alongside what it means when you put your foot on the brake in a car in a dream and nothing happens.
But I’m careful to say the book is not a dream dictionary, mainly because most people I speak with know dream dictionaries only give you one bite of the apple, especially if it’s written from one specific theoretical model, rather than helping you try to unpack it. The thing about dreams, is that they speak to us in ways that are encrypted, so that only we can decipher them. My book aims to help you do that.
So if you had the weirdest dream last night, check it out. If you’ve ever dreamt you’re back at school taking exams you weren’t ready for, dreamt you were on the toilet with no walls to the cubicle or try to call out and you can’t, you might find the answers you’re looking for.
This book is a life changer! Delphi literally goes under the covers and shares her vast experience and knowledge about the reasons why many of us struggle to get a peaceful and rejuvenating night’s sleep.
Beth Lee-Crowther, Pulse Talk Radio Presenter and Author – to read Beth’s full review, click here
Answers in the Dark is available to order on Amazon.
© Copyright Delphi Ellis 2022
Delphi Ellis 