The Monday Night Sangha Newsletter

Just yesterday, I had the immense pleasure of attending a workshop in Washington, D.C., led by Bonnie Buckner herself. Hearing her speak about how we can use active imagery to resolve imbalances in our energy fields, and ultimately, our lives, felt like a profound validation of what so many of us are seeking right now: a return to our natural state of balance.

Bonnie is the founder and CEO of the International Institute for Dreaming and Imagery.

In her book, The Secret Mind, she reminds us that our dreams are not random fragments of the night, but profound, direct messages from our soul, speaking the ancient language of symbol and metaphor. When we experience recurring themes or wake up with a lingering sense of heaviness, it is often because a dream has left us with unresolved energetic tension. Bonnie’s beautiful insight is that we do not have to wait to fall asleep to finish the conversation. Through the intentional practice of active imagery, we can consciously step back into those spaces during our waking hours. By engaging with the images of our inner landscape while wide awake, we can gently untangle the energetic knots, heal the imbalances in our lives, and guide ourselves back into a state of true, natural harmony.

Here is an example:

Recently, during a family gathering, I mentioned that I would be attending Bonnie's workshop. Hearing this, a family member shared a frustrating, repetitive dream that has been bothering her: she is walking, and her shoes keep falling off. No matter how hard she tries to put them back on, she can't, leaving her feeling deeply stuck and anxious.

To resolve an energetic knot like this, a dream practitioner would work with the dreamer to uncover more details—exploring the specific landscape, the texture of the shoes, and the exact feelings at the root of the repetition. Yet, even on our own, we can begin the healing process in waking time. By sitting quietly and reliving the somatic experience of that moment, we can choose to pause, face the frustration, and consciously work with the image—perhaps finding a new way to lace the shoes, or discovering what happens when we step forward unburdened. While it sounds beautifully simple, facing those exact feelings while wide awake creates an immediate, powerful shift in our energy fields.

If you are curious about unlocking this language of your soul, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Bonnie Buckner’s The Secret Mind. Like any practice, working with our inner landscape requires us to build a new muscle—one of paying attention, remembering, and learning to understand the unique symbols our subconscious uses. By consistently tracking our dreams, we begin to identify the recurring patterns and unresolved issues that are quietly calling for our attention. Using the waking dream method to consciously re-enter these landscapes allows us to address unfinished business directly at the source. It is a beautiful, empowering path to healing, offering us a practical way to clear the energetic blockages of our past and step into a life of conscious, radiant balance.

“We are not hypocrites in our sleep.” William Hazlitt