I awoke in the dead of night.

Yanked from a deep slumber, I stumbled to the bathroom, felt dizzy, and lost consciousness.

When I regained consciousness, I was face down on the floor, a pool of blood radiating outward from my head. For some reason, I was laughing.

The laughter subsided when I took stock. Something was seriously wrong. What was wrong, I would soon realize, was a food-borne bacterial infection that I’d contracted from eating undercooked chicken.

Two weeks later, still in the grips of infection, I retreated to my parent’s cabin in West Virginia. Set in the dense woods, the little chateau promised a serene setting for my recovery.

It was also ideal for lucid dreaming, or bringing conscious awareness to my regular dreams. On this trip, I had a specific goal: to heal myself through one of these lucid dreams.

I turned to my books for ideas. Light, I found, was a common element in many documented healing dreams. “In various colors and in various forms,” writes author and lucid dreamer Robert Waggoner, “this inner light is a common feature for lucid dreaming.”

At the cabin, I was keen to harness this curative light. I was cautiously optimistic. In a prior lucid dream, I’d shouted to “see my inner light!” and an angelic sunbeam had burst through the clouds. Perhaps, I thought, I could summon the light to banish my illness.

Here is my account of a dream I had on the third night at the cabin:

“I become lucid in my childhood house and consider flying past my parents to draw a reaction. Instead I float into the backyard, look at the sky, and chant: ‘I summon my healing light!’ Instantly, sunbeams crack through the clouds and I sense a palpable energy. Within moments, the clouds give way and I’m bathed in total luminosity! All is white. I lose perception of time, but eventually the white fades to black and I hover in a void. Then I see spiraling specks of light as I gently spin.”

The experience invigorated me. “I feel stronger, more vital, both mentally and physically,” I jotted the next morning in my journal.

Of course, I had questions. What was the actual healing mechanism involved? Was my experience merely an amplified placebo effect, or did it reach deeper? Are these healing powers accessible through waking consciousness, or only through lucid dreams? What other methods might stimulate lucid healing?

I’ve since answered the last question. When I began writing this article, I had an experiment in mind: to transport myself to a healing dimension by jumping through a mirror or TV screen in a dream. Screens and mirrors, by the way, make excellent portals in dreams.

Waiting on the other side of the portal, I imagined I would find a comforting pink cloud or an ethereal whiteness. Or, since dreams draw from real life, maybe I would arrive in a cramped waiting room with 30 pages of medical forms and an expired insurance card.

After a week of fruitless attempts, I dreamed:

“As I pet my childhood dog, Lucas, I hear a noise in the next room. I open the door and, to my astonishment, see another version of Lucas lying on the floor! As a wave of anxiety courses through me, I have an epiphany: it’s a dream! Settling my nerves, I approach the hallway mirror. I pause at the sight of my face, which glistens with sweat and bulges unnaturally to one side.”

Then I recall my goal:

“’Take me to the pink healing dimension!’ I announce, and dive through the mirror. Darkness envelops me. I have but one sense: an awareness of my body. Soon the void transforms into a pink gas, and I watch it curl and wisp through my outstretched fingers. This is exactly how I pictured it. I wallow in the mist for at least a minute…”

The next day I felt deeply contented. Although I can’t provide data from the lab, I know that a positive change occurred.

With the right effort, I believe these dream healing experiences are open to anyone. Here are a few tips to heal in lucid dreams (and even regular dreams) based on what has worked for me:

>> Visualize the dream beforehand, picturing a healing light or mist. These forms of healing energy are common to many dreamers.
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>> Vocalize your intent to heal. In both my healing dreams, I carefully worded my intention to see a bright light, visit a pink healing dimension, and so on.
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>> Believe that dreams can actually heal. “It seems necessary to open up to the experience and trust in it as you seek healing,” writes Waggoner.

We all fall ill from time to time, but most of us don’t think of dreams as a cure. This is, in fact, a limiting belief. For those willing to transcend it, a new dimension of healing awaits.

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Author: Brian Stanton
Image: Unsplash/Jaime Handley
Editor: Travis May
Copy & Social Editor: Travis May