Pain, according to the Dorland’s Pocket Medical Dictionary, 24th Edition is defined as, a feeling of distress, suffering, or agony caused by the stimulation of specific nerve endings.

Any form of pain is distressing, but chronic pain can tear your life apart. It can make you depressed, bitter, inverted; even suicidal. Pain is not only felt physically, it can be felt emotionally. Pain has the ability to leave scares on our psyche. Learning how to deal with and manage pain is a crucial part of keeping up the quality of life.

Pain is the body’s way of alerting us that something is not right. When you experience a paper cut on your finger, pain signals go to the brain. The brain releases a substance called endorphins, which are the body’s natural opiate/pain killers. The pain usually subsides on its own with out needing an artificial drug to assist in pain relief.

When artificial opiates, like heroin and morphine are introduced to the body for a long period of time, the brain can stop producing its own natural opiate. When this happens, it creates a dependency for the artificial substance. When the body does not receive these drugs, it can go into a state of withdrawal.

For specific conditions like labor and delivery or the pain that comes after surgery, alternative pain relief is ideal because these situations are only temporary. If you are dealing with a long term or terminal illness where pain is involved, alternative methods can be used with traditional-modern medications. Unfortunately, when pain is so severe, you may have no other choice but to use both methods to manage your pain.

Some alternative methods of pain management are listed below:

• Acupuncture, a Chinese practice, is where thin needles are used to pierce areas of the body along the peripheral nerves to relieve and block pain.

• Electroshock Therapy uses an electrical current to change the pain signals that are going to the brain.

• Hypnosis, which is a passive state of mind, allows increased responsiveness to suggestions or commands. This works by being able to disassociate from the pain.

• Relaxation or Massage Therapy helps relieve pain by releasing tension in the muscles. When pain is present, we tend to tense up, which can increase the pain.

• Meditation and Visualization are also good for pain management. With a relaxed state of mind and body you can accept the pain as it comes and visualize it flowing right back out, letting it go.

Spiritual Suggestion:

Though most of these techniques will cause no harm, you may want to consult with your physician before beginning any alternative methods of therapy. Your doctor should know any medications you are taking, prescription or over the counter. They should also know of any natural herbs, oils or pills that are on your list of healing remedies.

Dream interpretation is the explanation of your dreams. When you pay attention to them, you are paying attention to yourself. Our sub-conscious mind is a whole world of uncharted territory that can be discovered through our dreams.

While engaging in the process of dream interpretation, you can only benefit from the awareness and insight that you will receive. Once you have an understanding of your true feelings, thoughts, wants and needs, you can deal with them one by one. Even your fears and doubts can be faced safely in your dreams.

Out of fear rejection and judgment, we tend to portray false impressions about ourselves in order to please others. After a life time of this performance, we seem to get lost and forget what our true nature is, and who we really are.

Dream interpretation books use general meanings and symbols. Be careful which books you choose to do your interpretation because some direct themselves towards negativity.

There are different approaches and types of books out there. Some are of the supernatural; others are psychologically based, while others are of a sexual nature.

Because we are all different, we most likely will not conform to just one type of interpretational need.

I have found three different books that I personally liked. One is all about the interpretation, the second is about realizing your role, and what part you play in the dream, and the last one is about discovering the true self by having lucid dreams, journalizing and then interpreting them.

Spiritual Suggestion:

If you are interested in these books they are listed below. It is a fun approach to rediscovering who you are.

· The Mystical Magical Marvelous World of Dreams, Written by Wilda B Tanner

· The Power of Dreams, Messages from Your Inner Self, Written by D. Jason Cooper

· Pathway to Ecstasy, The Way of the Dream Mandala, Written by Patricia Garfield, Ph.D.

The word “Lucid” as per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means clear-minded, easily understood.

Lucid dreaming means being aware of the fact that you are in a dream. Most people can not remember their dreams let alone realize they are actually having one. Not everyone can or will dream lucidly, but there are ways that you can train the brain to recognize when it is dreaming. This will help your awareness to be on a heightened level, which will in turn allow you to be more “Lucid”

People say that once they know they are asleep and dreaming, they wake up. They realize they are dreaming and have fun with it. They say you can control your actions, like flying in the sky, or travel to special places, i.e. the ocean or outer space. Etc

You can start by being aware of your thoughts and feelings through out the day. Keeping a dream journal will help set the stage for your brain to remember, as much of your dreams, as you possibly can. Also, telling yourself before you go to sleep how you want to be “awake” while you dream may also help.

The ability to lucid dream is something that takes time, it does not usually happen over night, and it does not always work for everyone.

I have had only a hand full of experiences where I was aware that I was in a dream, most of them were when I was in the presence of the dead.  For me, this is when it seems most apparent.

Spiritual Suggestion:

There are many books you could buy that would help develop the ability to be lucid while you dream. You may want to experiment with it and have some fun. See if you can train your mind to listen to you rather then it leading the way all the time.

Lets keep life as light and as fun as possible. This is just one example of the little things that make the biggest differences.

What happens while we sleep?

You would think that while our body is at rest and sleeping, not too much activity would be taking place; nothing can be further from the truth.

While we are “sleeping” there are many different things that go on. The physical body rejuvenates itself; the muscular structure, the organs, the immune system, even on a cellular level, all of it. And even though the body lies sleeping, repairing itself, the sub-conscious mind is fully awake and charged.

When do we dream?

The whole process of falling asleep is interesting. There are several stages one will go through before they begin to dream. First you will fall into a deep sleep. Your heart rate, body movement, respiration and brain wave activity are calm and slow. From there, you come to a more aroused stage. This is called the REM. It is at this stage that we will dream. This stage comes and goes through out the sleep cycle, lasting anywhere from a few minutes to up past an hour.

What happens physically while we dream?

During the REM stage, the eyes move back and forth from side to side. The brain waves are more rapid, the heart rate rises, and breathing becomes irregular; yet the body lies very still with little or no movement. It is funny how, while the sub-conscious mind is alert and active, the body lies very still and basically motionless.

Why do we dream?

Some believe we dream to filter out or process our daily events. Some feel we play out our fantasies. Others feel we use dreaming as a way to problem solve. I say it is all of the above and more. There are many reasons why we dream. Our sub-conscious never sleeps. We think of it as the “secondary state” when in fact, it is always “awake”. (24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days out of the year)

While we are awake and using our focused mind, our sub mind is recording everything that goes on, even the stuff that we don’t pay attention to or may not notice at all. The sub-conscious is like a central data base system of files and recordings. While it takes inventory of everything going on around you, you’re usually focused on other things.

The sub mind has the ability to multi-task, and it uses the sleep state “dreaming” as a means to journey; it teleports from different areas of the mind in seconds.

A person can have several dreams through their sleep cycle and each one will most likely be different in nature.

Examples are listed below:

First dream: You could dream about the keys you lost, or missed placed. You may actually dream where you put them. (This would be a trouble shooting – problem solving dream.)

Second dream: You could dream about swimming in a nice warm, clean lake. You may dream this if it was winter outside, you love to swim, but the lakes are all frozen over. (This would be a fantasy dream; acting out something you wish you could be doing.)

Third dream: You could dream that an elephant was sitting on your head. You may dream this if you are feeling mentally crushed, or you might be having a headache. (This kind of dream would be symbolic.)

Fourth dream: You could dream of a loved one that has passed. This may happen if you were missing them and just wanted to be on their presence, or you may have had an actual visitation with them. (This type of dream would be mystical.)

Any one of these four listed above could be a reason why we need to dream. There is still so much about the dream world that we don’t understand, and probably will never.

Our sub-conscious mind is very powerful. The sub mind uses dreaming as a tool. It is a pathway for our spirit to roam free. It is the realm that connects the dead with the living. We can choose to play out our fantasies in this safe place. It uses our imagination and all of its resources to create scenes that seem like they are from a movie. It can lay out all the events that happen on a daily basis, sort through them, and process them on a deeper level. It can even travel to places or see people both alive and passed.

Spiritual Suggestion:

When you make yourself aware of your dreams, you can learn a lot about yourself. If you take the time to record your dreams in a dream journal or interpret them with an interpretation book, you will understand your true thoughts and feelings. It can also show you how some issues may be lingering and need some attention. If you’re lucky, you might be able to see your lost loved ones from time to time.

I am thankful for the “dream world”. I try to pay close attention to the content and activities in my dreams. I love when I am able to recall a dream that was fun or playful. I love the ones when I see my father even more. But the ones I love best are the ones that I am free. The ones where I go from place to place, staying only long enough to say that I was there.