My fellow acupuncturist, dreamworker, and NUNM grad Joseph Fiala joins me to talk about dreamwork in his clinical practice, in his personal life, and in nurturing the thoughts we choose to grow in the gardens of our minds. I loved hearing his enthusiasm and wise insights, and I'm guessing you will too.

Click Play to listen now.

I met Joseph when we were both students at the National University of Natural Medicine. I remember his wife Emaline Gray telling me about a dream she'd had of an ear over Frankfort, Kentucky, and the name "The Light Clinic." More than 10 years later ("the algorithm" doing what it does best), Instagram suggested to me that I follow an account called "The Light Clinic." I recognized the name from Emaline's dream and, sure enough, the account was for the integrative health clinic in Frankfort that she and Joseph had founded just after graduating. Even better, I discovered that dreamwork has become a significant part of their practices, too.

In this episode, Joseph and I talk about exploring dreams with our patients. Both of us engage in dreamwork during acupuncture appointments, often while doing "hands-on" work like CranioSacral Therapy. You'll also hear us talk about:

- a big dream that connected Joseph's dreamwork training program, his Chinese Medicine practice, and his shift into more groundedness and embodiment

- dreamwork as a transformational tool that complements what we practice with acupuncture and herbal medicine

- "following" a dream in the physical body

- using a Qigong practice of shaking to move the emotions that arise in dreams, and to help unwind long-held patterns

- how I've seen Classical Chinese Medicine symbols of herbal formulas and the Five Elements in dreams

- the importance of "ritual," or bringing the dream into the physical, external world by acting on it somehow (with an example dream from a friend, who acted on her dream by riding in an elevator...)

- and the potency of pairing dreamwork with one more of Joseph's passions: thought training to intentionally cultivate the thoughts that support the way we want to feel

Click Play to listen -- and then I'd love to hear from you.

Any dreams come to mind? Have you ever felt a dream move through your body? What do you think about the idea that dreams help us recognize our complexes, and then we can take other actions to shift them? Comment on the show notes: thedreamersden.org/27