dream a little dream: a mindful moment
When was the last time you let yourself dream?
Dreamers get a bad rap in modern society.
When I was a child, I had a vivid imagination. I had an imaginary friend who was more real to me than my flesh and blood friends. I had a make believe family of twelve siblings in a game called “Baby” I played with my sister whose adventures were so legendary I chronicled their hijinks in a handwritten book at age nine. I made up lyrics to my brother’s piano compositions as I dreamed of being a star on Broadway while I did chores or swam laps.
I lived life in my head.
I don’t remember when I learned that dreaming was bad and doing was better. I know that by the time I got to high school, theater was only “for fun,” writing “was work,” and dreaming was “for losers.”
Our society rewards the doers and stereotypes dreamers as having head in the clouds, being somewhat irrational, needing a good dose of reality.
I believe that we desperately need to dream to keep hope (and our spirits) alive.
I am fascinated by humans and understanding us. That’s probably why I work so closely with people as a human movement specialist. Every day, people come to me for help with moving better. Many of the people I see are “doers” who have forgotten how to dream. They’ve forgotten how it can feel good to move freely in their body or simply to exist without discomfort.
And I understand, because I have lived this, too.
I equate “doing” to survival mode. I equate “dreaming” to practicing mindfulness.
Mindfulness + self care are luxuries. When we’re in survival mode, we don’t have the luxury of optimizing self care. We’re just trying to fight to see another day.
After the trauma or stressor is over, our bodies and brains keep the memory and habit of how we needed to be to survive. That’s how mindfulness can help retrain the brain from surviving to living (and dreaming).
For a long time, I forgot how to dream.
Today, I’m grateful to be learning to dream again.
One of my big dreams is to help others access 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 wherever they are.
Over the last month, I’ve been sharing about the Yoga Warrior competition. If I win, my dream is to use the Yoga Journal feature to highlight body size + ability diversity in yoga.
I plan to use the $10K cash prize to fund my efforts to make mindfulness tools accessible to all (like through my free daily text message! Text MINDFUL to +1-480-531-9810 for a daily mindful minute prompt).
I’ll also donate a portion to Love Your Brain yoga, a 501c nonprofit that has supported me + so many others in the TBI community.
These are my big dreams.
If you want to support my dreams, you can vote for me daily in the competition!
Votes can also be purchased + benefit the Veterans Yoga Project, a cause close to my heart as a military spouse!
What are YOUR dreams and how can I support your dreams?? I’d love to hear!
If you aren’t sure, keep reading because our mindful minute is all about dreams!
Dream a little dream
Today’s mindful minute is a simple tool to dream a little dream.
Try it, right now. Whatever you’re doing, take one minute to do this exercise.
Remember that you can always download the slide and save it to your phone (when we’re stressed, we will not naturally remember to be mindful!).
Today’s mindful minute exercise is to practice a unicorn dream.
Now that you have practiced the tool . . .
What do you notice?
Try to answer without judgement. Whatever you notice is simply what you noticed; it’s not right, wrong, or indifferent.
Can you make a reminder to yourself to do this once a day this week??
For more support in creating a mindfulness habit, text MINDFUL to +1-480-531-9810 for a free, daily mindful minute prompt!
before you go, will you support my dream?
I am in the running to be the next Yoga Warrior!
This Thursday at 7pm PST, the Group Winner will be determined and advance to the quarterfinals. I am currently in first place in my group, and set to advance!
Thank you for support in getting me this far!
Originally I was selected for this competition based on my platform of wanting to make yoga + mindfulness accessible, particularly for those with movement challenges after illness or injury. I currently do that with my daily mindfulness text, this blog, and my Instagram and TikTok content. I have big dreams of doing more to help others, and I’d love your support!
Here’s how you can help:
vote for me!
If I win, I’ll be featured in The Yoga Journal + win a $10,000 cash prize to support my work.
Would you be willing to vote for me?
If so, you can cast a FREE vote daily. The content ends at the end of April, with a cutoff each Thursday!
You can also pay for additional votes, with 25% of the proceeds going to The Veterans Yoga Project (a 501c nonprofit).
You can vote every 24 hours, so set an alarm or reminder to optimize your voting potential!
Please consider sharing my voting link with your friends, family, and anyone who may be willing to vote for me.
