00:00:00 Archita : Have you ever woken up from a dream and thought, why did that feel more real than my actual life? Sometimes dreams aren't just random brain noise. Sometimes they are the nervous system speaking in symbols, the spirit translating what the mind can say out loud. Tonight we are exploring what dreams might be trying to protect, reveal and heal.

00:00:35 Archita : Welcome back to our room. A space for the conversations that don't rush you. They return you to yourself. I'm Arcata and today I'm joined by Doctor James Lewinski, a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine and the founder of Opus Total Health. We are talking about dreams, spiritual development and health, and how the body and the inner world might be having the same conversation just in different languages. By the end of this episode, you will have a calmer way to listen to what your dreams might be pointing toward without turning it into fear or overthinking. So Doctor James, welcome to our room. It's such a pleasure to have you today.

00:01:21 DR. James Lovinsky: Thank you so much for that introduction. It's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for having me on your show.

00:01:28 Archita : Thank you for being here because a lot of our audience, you know, is very curious to know more about dreams. And I am one of them. So without wasting any time, let's dive into it. So Doctor James, before we go, big picture. I'd love to start human. So when you were in that tech life, stress, chronic pain, all of it. What was the first sign that your body was asking you to change?

00:01:56 DR. James Lovinsky: Well, I started having a number of physical symptoms. Um, I was suffering from many symptoms of burnout. Um, some of them were things like, um, getting dizzy when I stood up and having trouble keeping weight on and, um, headaches and pain from, you know, sitting in front of the computer for long hours and things like that. Um, but one of the main symptoms that stood out to me was that I started having nightmares, just frequent stressful nightmares. Um, and that was a big tip for me that something wasn't right.

00:02:35 Archita : Um, that, uh, that might resonate with a lot of our listeners today. And this really sets the tone for this conversation. And honestly, it was, uh, it's, it's quite common. It, it happens a lot with all of us. So that always bracing feeling, so many people know it like your life is happening, but your body is living in defense mode. So yeah. And moving on. I'm curious. Yeah. Moving on. I'm curious to know what's a misconception you see a lot when people talk about dreams and spiritual development, especially when they are also dealing with health stuff.

00:03:18 DR. James Lovinsky: Well, one of the main things that I've learned through my studies and my personal experience is that there are different types of dreams. I think that, um, my understanding is that some dreams we have sort of our everyday run of the mill dreams and you can tell that these dreams, you can tell these dreams because a lot of times there's some content from your recent daily life and it's kind of mixed up and jumbled. And these types of dreams, I think, often come out of the body and the mind. And, you know, it's your, your physical organism is trying to process and learn and make sense of experiences that you're having in your day to day life. So lots of times, you know, maybe you're working on a big project at work and you have a sort of strange mixed up dream. You know, that's a mix of whatever's going on at home and the project that you're working on and, um, you know, some something that happened to you when you were a kid or something like that, and you wake up and you think, oh, that doesn't that's, that was strange, but it makes sense why I had that dream. You know, it's just my body's processing or, or maybe you're learning some new skill and you wake up with a big twitch because you know, your body is, uh, strengthening the pathways and your, you know, working on that skill and learning it. And then I think that there is a whole nother set of dreams that are the sort of spiritual dreams that I'm talking about. And those kind of dreams are more, you can tell that that's that kind of dream because there will be, uh, what they call sort of archetypal symbols in those dreams. And these are the type of dreams that, you know, Freud and Carl Jung and many spiritual teachers have talked about. And, um, you know, they're differentiated because they're often quite vivid. Um, sometimes they can be, you can have the same dream, you know, night after night or several times it's almost the same. And there are often, you know, there's content in the dream that feels, it feels extremely powerful to you and kind of comes out of left field. You know, there, there are characters in the dream or things happen in the dream that are not things that are happening in your regular life.

00:05:44 Archita : Yeah. That that makes so much sense. So it's, it's not a random versus supernatural. It's more like symbolic information from a deeper layer. And what I can get out of what you just described is that the first type of dream is everything that's already happening in our life. And, you know, like in a way, the dreams, our dreams are trying to tell us what to learn from it. Or maybe, um, you know, what to, uh, not. And the second type of dream that you just described, I think it's like the universe is trying to nudge us in certain directions through these subtle signs. So yeah.

00:06:24 DR. James Lovinsky: I think that's absolutely right. That's absolutely right. And I found, at least for me personally in my life, um, the second type of dream, the, the dreams that come from our higher self or from God or from, you know, higher intelligence, those types of dreams I have found, um, come in sort of three forms. They sometimes we get warnings, um, sometimes we get warnings if we're about to head down a dangerous path or if we're doing something in our life that is, uh, damaging us, you know, in a deep spiritual way, some in some way, you know, we're compromising our values, compromising our soul for something in our day to day life, making a deal with the devil, as some people might say. You know, we might get some stressful dreams about danger. Um, to warn us. And then there are some archetypal dreams that are like, um, it's like a spiritual message and, and an education and a kind of positive way, but these types of dreams are not telling us to do a certain thing. It's more giving us some information to help us grow. And then the third type that I've encountered is, um, a confirmation that we're headed in the right direction after we make our own choice. So say we have some big decision to make and we're wrestling with it and struggling with it, and we start getting these archetypal warning dreams that, oh, there's some danger here. We need to pay attention and then say, we, we make a decision. And it was a difficult decision, and we made a decision that we resonate with and feel good about. And then suddenly we have a very positive dream about our ancestors, or about some adventure or a beautiful trip or some new place that we're going to. And that's the kind of confirmation dream that that God or the universe is saying, you know, you, you made, you passed the test, you made a good choice. And, um, you know, keep going with, keep going and, uh, keep learning and keep exploring.

00:08:34 Archita : Um, and it's, it's really so fascinating to know that, uh, something's something like dream that we brush off every day can mean so much to us in the, you know, higher sense. And we human beings are not even, most of us, uh, certainly are not even capable of discerning our dreams. So let's stay with that for a moment. So moving on, when someone's. Yeah. So when someone's physical health is struggling, pain, gut issue, chronic stress, how do you see that showing up in the dream world?

00:09:14 DR. James Lovinsky: Well. If it's merely a physical problem, um, oftentimes people will have, will have dreams that are stressful, um, especially from, from gut problems because the gut, you know, there's sort of a second brain down there and it's a very much an emotional brain. Um, so we might have emotionally stressful dreams and a lot of times gut problems can be rooted in, in our day to day life and in, um, difficult emotional situations with other people or, um, you know, something traumatic that happened to us. Um, so we might have, you know, difficult, recurring stressful dreams. Um, and that can be a, you know, basically the body is in pain and, um, it's trying to make sense of what's going on and, and find a way to resolve it. And usually you can tell that it's this type of dream because when you wake up, you wake up with a clear physical sensation or you wake up kind of with a jerk because your body jerked or something like that. And, you know, just an example from my own life, um, of this sort of thing. When I was in the tech world, before I went back to school, I was having, um, these type of recurring stressful dreams, you know, every, every night or, you know, a few nights a week. I was having dreams of, you know, fighting basically, you know, fighting for my life, protecting my family from monsters or, you know, protecting myself from monsters or trying to get away. And I was trying to fight. But, you know, I it wasn't effective. And I would wake up sort of out of breath and rolling around and stressed out. And, you know, that was just a big sign to me that, gosh, you know, whatever I'm doing right now, it's, it's not really working and I need to make some changes in my life. Um, and I, I found that, you know, somebody that I was working with at the time encouraged me to keep a dream journal. So what I did is I just got a little notebook and I put it next to my bed. And I started when I woke up and I remembered a dream I would write it down. And what I found is that that trained it trained me to remember my dreams more. And, um, you know, I would write the dream down. And at first it was just, you know, write down the content of the dream. And then I started sort of having a almost like a dialogue with it. So I would write down the content of the dream, and then I would write down my thoughts about it, and I might ask myself some questions about it and dwell with that during the day. Or I might write a little bit about the characters in the dream and think about how I would talk to the characters if it was real life or what I would do to resolve the situation if it had continued. Because oftentimes with these types of dreams, you know, you wake up right in the middle of the action and it's unresolved. And that's part of what's going on. You have this unresolved situation that's causing stress in your life. So by working with the content of the dream that can help you resolve the problem that you're having in your, your real life. Um, so for me, what ended up happening is, you know, this all culminated with basically one of those big archetypal dreams. I had a sort of Pandora's box dream for people who are familiar with the story of Pandora's box. She's trying to keep this box shut, and she opens it up and releases all the troubles of the world. And, um, so I had a dream that was similar to that idea. And that was what precipitated for me, making big changes in my life. And going back to school. I, I realized that I was, um, heading down the wrong path. And, um, so that's, that's just an example. And, and sort of like something that your listeners can work with. Keep a journal by your bed, write down the dreams that you have and you know, talk to, talk to somebody you trust about it or, you know, look up symbols in a book or online or something like that.

00:13:15 Archita : Mhm. That is, that is really interesting. And especially, uh, the practice that you just described, I think it would help for a lot of our listeners as well. So thank you for sharing that. And it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's like the spirit can land because the body isn't feeling safe enough to rest. And hence, uh, you know, it leads to restless sleep or waking up tired or vivid dreams. So definitely.

00:13:44 DR. James Lovinsky: Yes.

00:13:46 Archita : Yeah, that's definitely right. But, uh, what tends to happen when someone is growing spiritually, becoming more sensitive, more aware, but their lifestyle is still loud, fast, and stressful. How does that class show up?

00:14:02 DR. James Lovinsky: Well, that's I think that that's part of the journey that we go to go through every one of us. If we're on a path of spiritual awakening, we, we start the journey asleep and we have little awakenings. And that's part of the process and a stage that any seeker goes through. Um, and, you know, at that stage, there's this tension between our desire to wake up and our sense that something's missing and, uh, something is not quite right or, you know, we have some mission that we need to do that we're not doing, or there's something that, um, we are doing that we shouldn't be doing that, that we need to make some changes in our life. Um, but at that stage, we often, you know, we're sort of happy where we are in a lot of ways and we're having fun and we kind of want to continue. Um, but there's a part of us inside that keeps nudging us and asking us to. Uh, listen. So it's, it's an invitation to consider that maybe there's more to life that you. Um, there's more to life than what you're doing. And, and you have, um, space to grow and. Um, I think that that's, that's what that stage is about. And each person gets to make their own choice about how, how they want to, um, respond to that call. You know, the call to adventure, I think is one of the ways that it's been put sort of in. You know, Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung and that Western archetypal, um, tradition. So and you see it in a lot of stories as well. I think if you look at old traditional stories in any culture. Um, but basically, you know, for, for a lot of people, we wrestle with it and, um, dreams are one entry point. So I think that, um, oftentimes, uh, somebody who's in that stage is a younger person. And, um, I guess I would just encourage anyone in that position if you are having those feelings and you're starting to have dreams that you're struggling to understand and feelings that you're working with, um, you know, read stories, talk to people who you respect, who have wisdom and can give you some guidance. And, um, you know, working with your dreams is a great way to sort of, you know, uh, many traditions say that we're, we are in the end, we are our own best teacher. So one of the ways that we can work with our inner teachers, uh, through dreams. Yeah.

00:16:52 Archita : Um, that, that perfectly. That perfectly makes so much sense. It's all a part of the journey. So. Yeah. But if if a listener is hearing this and thinking, oh, that's me, what are a few signs during the day that their system is asking for grounding?

00:17:11 DR. James Lovinsky: Sure. So, um, I think that a physical symptoms can be a, a big, um, indicator, a big, a big sign. Um, and sometimes, sometimes we start getting physical symptoms or feelings, you know, in our body before we really are sick, you know, before we have a problem. If we ignore them, then they can become a sickness. Um, but, you know, aches and pains, headaches, um, just vague, vague feelings, um, can all be signs in our body that, you know, something, there's something going on. Um, uh, we can pay attention to other signs in our life too, like interactions with other people. You know, arguments or difficult situations. Sometimes coincidences can be a big signal of this sort of phenomenon. Or, you know, of the call to adventure. Strange coincidences where, you know, suddenly just the right person shows up at just the right time with just the right answer to your question. Um, and, um, you know, sometimes things that seem like just a complete disaster, you know, at the time, we really want something and nothing's going our way. And it feels really frustrating and awful, and we just kind of shake our fist and wonder, oh, gosh, why, why are the fates against me? And then, you know, maybe in the future, when we look back on that seeming disaster. We may thank God that that happened to close a door. That we were not meant to walk through. Um, and send us down a different path.

00:19:03 Archita : MM. Definitely. So your body is not being dramatic. It's communicating in a way. And if dreams are part of that communication, then we need a way to respond that's practical and not overwhelming. So, uh, if someone wants to work with dreams as part of their healing without spiraling, what's a simple approach you actually trust?

00:19:31 DR. James Lovinsky: Well, certainly what I mentioned earlier, um, about journaling and writing down your dreams and then, um, uh, writing down your thoughts about it and sort of dwelling on them and working with them. Um, there's a, a tradition that came out of, um, Carl Jung's work called sandtray therapy. Um, where basically you have a small tray, you can fill it up with sand and you can collect small figurines. You know, Lego people or, uh, wooden, small wooden characters, animals, people. You know, any sort of children's toys, basically. But then you can use the sand tray to re construct the scene from your dream. And the small characters represent the different characters in your dream. And that allows you to sort of move things around. You know, if there's an unresolved dream that keeps waking you up, you can play with different ways that the dream can play out. And that sense of curiosity and play, um, is what I think that it's important to foster a sense of carefree curiosity play. Um, in order to get through some of these difficult, painful moments. Um, to get past the the fear and the stress of the unknown, um, and get us sort of back into the flow of life. So sandtray therapy is a great way to do it. Um, another, um, technique that I've used and that I've experienced with, um, experimented with, excuse me, is using something like tarot cards, um, something that has some archetypal significance and symbols and, um, it doesn't have to be tarot cards. It could be, you know, a different tool from a different, um, culture or spiritual tradition, but something similar that has, um, archetypal significance, um, that you can basically pull out. Again, it's similar to this entry therapy. So, you know, you pull out cards that represent different aspects of the dream. And in order to do this, you know, usually you write about it in your journal? Think about the the what the dream signifies and what sort of energy is stuck. And then you can use the cards to um, understand it and move through it. Um, and a third way that I think that works quite well sometimes is to basically take your journaling about the dream or take your memory of the dream, turn it into a story and, um, play with different endings of the story. And what I found personally and what some of the people I've worked with have found is that, um, the energy and the light in your life that's stuck will start to shift and you'll find that the events in real life will begin to change because your understanding of circumstances begins to evolve. And, um, then you can move forward with your life.

00:22:48 Archita : I love how practical and grounded those approaches were. And thank you for sharing such great advice. I'm sure it has helped a lot of our listeners because surely it has helped me. And if if there's something that I could take out from today's conversation, it's this. Your dreams aren't just stories, they are signals. And healing happens when you respond with grounding, not fear. So Doctor James, thank you so much for this delightful conversation and for sharing such meaningful insights about dreams. A lot of things have become so much clearer now after having this conversation with you. I'm sure our listeners feel the same way. So, Doctor James, for people who want to learn more about your work or explore integrative healing with you, where can they find you?

00:23:41 DR. James Lovinsky: Oh, that was a wonderful summary, Arteta. Thank you so much. Um, my, um, I would say the best way to get in touch with me. You can find me on, on Twitter on X, um, at James Lavinsky like my full name. Um, I don't post that much recently. I have small kids and I'm busy with my business, but you can DM me or, you know, I have some old threads on there about gut health and different things. You can find me on Instagram at James Lavinsky. Um, I have a website jjames levinsky dot com. There's a contact form on there. You can get in touch with me that way. And then my, my clinic website is opus Totalhealth. That's the clinic where that I own and work at in Rhode Island. So those are all great ways to get in touch with me.

00:24:28 Archita : Perfect. So we will make sure those links are easy to find by mentioning them in our show notes so that our listeners can reach out to you whenever they want. And if something in this conversation met you gently, maybe take one minute to write down one dream, one feeling, one place in your body that's asking for care. And if you want more conversations like this, human grounded and healing aligned, follow Aura Room Inside the Healthy Mind by Avik Podcast Network, where we have shared thousands of episodes across a global audience. And the intention is always the same help you come back to yourself. I thank you for being here. We will meet again right where the noise gets quieter.