Welcome back!
The Original Presence Shift Introduction that follows — often completed on Day 4 of The 7-Day Presence Shift Starter Program — introduces a real-time example of me (Dr. Sullivan) shifting out of a highly stressful experience — a recurring nightmare.
By navigating through the steps with me, you’ll learn a key shifting strategy that can be applied to any sleep difficulty that may arise in your life. If you’re a new subscriber, or haven’t begun your 7-Day Presence Shift Starter Program yet, you can access it here anytime.
Like so many people, I’ve had issues with sleep over the years.
Whether it’s difficult falling, staying asleep, or falling back to sleep — if you’re struggling with it, it gets in the way of feeling like you’re living a full life.
Negative self-judgment and feelings of helplessness have haunted my sleep whenever I felt overly stressed and vulnerable.
It’s been painful at times.
Today, we’ll prepare to shift out of this highly stressful experience — a recurring nightmare.
In my recurring nightmare, I sensed that I had done something wrong, but only vaguely knew what it was. I started thinking that I deserved whatever pain and terror were waiting for me.
It felt so real, and its effects ARE real.
Stress coursed through my body.
I’m captured by negativity.
It’s unconscious and I can’t control it.
I felt like a failure, and I felt lazy and trapped — as though I’d reached some point of unsurmountable regret.
Unless I woke up, my nightmare continued to loom larger.
Old pains surged inside me.
Memories twisted into horrors happening around me or to me.
I’d wake up to my mind spiraling and my heart racing.
It was terrifying.
Fear lingered as I lay awake.
In the past I was unable to quickly identify the nightmare for what it was — bad fiction and reruns of the past: artifacts of a fear-based mindset that can get created in countless different different ways for each of us.
Not being able to identify the nightmare as it occurred made my nightmares more powerful.
They impacted my day and other parts of my life too.
I clearly had to learn to deal with my nightmares.
Nightmares are a vivid expression of a process we each constantly experience throughout our lives.
They blend psychological history with current emotional state.
They arise when you sense social or physical danger, historical feelings of fear, vulnerability, stress, anger, or shame.
Whether you’re experiencing a reality-based fear or the blended fear of a nightmare, your mind perceives an elevated threat.
As your life starts feeling more dangerous, your dreams do too.
Once you’re headed in a stressful direction, the momentum can be difficult to turn around — whether you’re awake or asleep — unless you know how to shift.
My recurring nightmare forced me to figure out how to notice moments of stress or fear emerging — and then to shift my state of mind and body into peace in real time, often while still half asleep.
Until I began to shift intentionally, my mind was amplifying those negative feelings and bringing them into my dream life.
Now that I know how to shift out of them, nightmares are fascinating to me.
In The Original Presence Shift, we explore how your mind can melt your feelings (and others) into presence, whenever you choose.
Shifting out of nightmares taught me that the moment you notice fear emerging is the best moment to begin a Presence Shift®.
The moment that fear emerges is a critical inflection point in your mental and emotional life.
If you can notice fear emerging and then shift away on demand, you’ll be able to learn to shift to and from any emotional state.
Again, that’s why we confront ‘the fear response’ in the Shift Starter Program.
Together, we’ll complete The Original Presence Shift audio that I personally use to get myself back to peace when nightmare fear visits.
It works very well.
As soon as I began using this particular Presence Shift® strategy, the frequency of my recurring nightmare diminished significantly.
That’s because when you have less fear, your stories and projections (i.e., your nightmare’s food) have less stress to feed on — and to feed back to you.
When I stopped fearing the nightmare, the nightmare stopped showing up.
Mostly…
I got sick recently.
UPDATE NOTE: This event occurred a few years back now…
I was a bit over-stressed and worn-down and the nightmare returned for a one-night performance — a reprisal. When the nightmare woke me, I decided to record what turned out to be The Original Presence Shift from bed — as I shifted into a peaceful, present state of mind.
My voice is a bit raw and slow because I recorded while laying on my back at 3:00 AM. But shifting through fear together — using The Original Presence Shift recorded during my genuinely stressful life experience — is an ideal way to experience it together.
The Original Presence Shift audio is about 9 minutes long.
It covers each detail along the path of shifting from fear to presence.
Because of the nature of the content, I recommend listening to The Original Presence Shift as you’re getting ready to go to sleep.
You can choose to read or listen to The Original Presence Shift. But in this case, I recommend that you close your eyes and listen as you explore your inner world.
Take your time when you complete The Original Presence Shift.
It is not meant to be entertainment.
It’s meant to help you develop your mastery of your inner world.
Be patient with the process, with yourself, and with me, as we navigate our inner world’s together.
You may want to set an intentional mood in your space before you begin The Original Presence Shift audio.
Make yourself a warm drink.
Light a few candles if that relaxes you.
Settle into a comfortable couch, or a favorite seat, or your bed.
Prepare yourself to explore your inner world and shift your mind and body into a deeply peaceful state.
I’m thrilled we’re in this together.
Paid Subscribers can complete The Original Presence Shift anytime.
Free Subscribers can use their single-use option to unlock enjoy this Paid Subscriber content.
Stay present,
Sean
P.S. — Apply now if you’re interested in learning about Shift Therapy® LIVE events.
BIG DISCLAIMER: The Presence Shift®, Shift Therapy® and Shift Therapy® LIVE provide wellness content. They are not intended as medical advice, or as a replacement for professional mental health advice or services. We, and Dr. Sullivan, can’t ever respond to you with personalized psychology feedback or advice, and we do not provide any mental health services here. We teach presence shifting — shifting yourself into a better state of mind with mindfulness.