How to use your dreams and intuition to help you in your 'real' life

Sara-Jayne King interviews psychologist and dream guide Athena Laz about her new book 'The Alchemy of Your Dreams'.

- Dreams and also lucid dreaming can provide helpful information if you pay attention says psychologist and dream guide Athena Laz

- Her book 'The Alchemy of Your Dreams' provides exercises to help you achieve more in your waking life

---

We spend around one third of our entire lives sleeping.

While we need this time for rest and rejuvenation, many believe it can be used for something more.

Athena Laz has dedicated her career to uncovering the wisdom of dreams and recently published a book on the subject.

She describes herself as a depth psychologist, dream guide and 4th generation intuitive.

Check out the Alchemy of Your Dreams --》 https://t.co/8kd7PDBw3J pic.twitter.com/84BEFV8lM9
— Athena Laz (@Athena_Laz) September 3, 2021

Laz's book is titled 'The Alchemy of Your Dreams - A Modern Guide to the Ancient Art of Lucid Dreaming and Interpretation'.

All of your dreams are a gift, even the dreams that scare the light out of or rather into you. They are the treasures offered up from within your own psyche and spirit... 'telling you what you already know... what you need to know...'
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

"For anyone who has ever felt that their dreams have true import and meaning" says publisher Penguin Random House, "this book provides the exact tools needed to unravel their symbolism and harness their power to transform our lives."

Sara-Jayne King asks the "4th generation intuitive" about the link between intuition and dreams and whether we can cultivate this in ourselves.

I think you can. Dreams are really part of that work because dreams speak to us much like our intuition... Our intuition often speaks to us in a form that isn't direct - you might get information through images or symbols and dreams work much in the same way.
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

You might dream of a story that feels a little bit off-kilter and if you take the time to really dig in deeply... the more you do that for yourself, the easier it becomes to understand what your intuition is telling you and also what your dreams are telling you because they speak in a similar kind of language.
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

My entire family line from my mother's side is very intuitive... You can tell from the lives that they led. From my great-grandmother to mother, they all lived through wars. I think because of that they developed a very good sixth sense...
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

Laz recounts that since a young age she has had vivid dreams and felt very connected to them.

She believes that the kind of thinking that dismisses the importance of dreams is counter-productive.

My dreams have always been very meaningful in that I received really helpful information and so when I went and pursued my career of becoming a psychologist, I wanted to share that love of dreaming with the world.
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

I've spoken to people all over the world... Modern people are very disconnected from their dreams, specifically because of the kind of thinking where we've been told that our dreams are not really meaningful... that it's something that happens at night and you wake up to your real life...
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

The more attention that you pay to your dreams... the more you'll see how helpful your dreams are because you're paying attention to your psyche and what I believe is a greater non-vocal consciousness.
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

'The Alchemy of Your Dreams' contains exercises and step-by-step instructions to help people use dreams to transform their waking lives.

Laz says she'd like readers to approach her book with an open mind and practise the exercises for themselves.

The main thing with dream work is actually to take the energy... simply for five minutes in the morning to think about what you've dreamt about. If you do that simple action... you can uncover the greater meaning from your dreams.
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

I walk dreamers through symbolic dreaming, and then I take people into lucid dreaming which is an entirely different facet of dreaming.
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

A lucid dream is a dream where your body is still sound asleep but in the dream something triggers you to recognise it for a dream, so for all intents and purposes your consciousness has woken up to the fact that you are dreaming... but you're not actually awake...
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

There are techniques that people can learn to do that [to go back into the dream once they've woken up]... If you're dealing with something you're really struggling to resolve... you can force yourself back into a dream that can give you insight that you can't garner in your waking life.
Athena Laz - Psychologist, dream guide and author

Find out more about Laz's work on her website.

Scroll to the top of the article for the audio to listen to the fascinating interview