I J o D R Abstracts of the 35th Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams June 16 - June 20, 2018 Scottsdale, Arizona, USA Content This supplement of the International Journal of Dream Research includes the abstracts of presenters who gave consent to the publishing. The abstracts are categorized into thematic groups and within the category sorted according to the last name of the fi rst presenter. Affi liations are included only for the fi rst author. A name register at the end is also provided. Contents: 1. Keynotes content (often referred to as telepathy, clairvoyance, and 2. Morning Dream Groups precognition) can appear in nighttime dreams. The effects were robust and did not vary signifi cantly when experimen- 3. Workshops tal controls were tightened or when the site of the experi- 4. Clinical Topics ments was changed. 5. Religion/Spiritual/Culture/Arts 6. Education/Other Topics Sleep, Memory, and Dreams: Tying it all together 7. PSI Dreaming Robert Stickgold 8. Lucid Dreaming Boston, MA, USA 9. Research/Theory 10. Posters In this keynote, I will review studies demonstrating the explic- it incorporation of waking learning experiences into dream content, and describe how it is modifi ed in the process. I will then present fi ndings indicating that such incorporation is accompanied by enhanced sleep-dependent consolida- 1. Keynotes tion of the learning task and discuss the implications of this correlation. Finally, I will discuss the extreme diffi culty in as- signing causality between waking events, dream content, Dream Incubation and Creative Consciousness and subsequent task improvement. Fariba Bogzaran Berkeley, California, USA Avatars in the Virtual Reality of Dreams Dreams by their nature and construct are creative. What Katja Valli is the relationship between dream incubation, dreams and Turku, Finland creataive consciousness? In this presentation, Fariba Bog- zaran will address four areas of her inquiry in relation to The simulation theories of the evolutionary function of dream studies. Her integral approach weaves multiple ways dreaming suggest that, in our ancestors, dreaming about of knowing through science, art, methods, and practice. particular types of events might have enhanced the neu- rocognitive mechanisms involved in recognition and avoid- ance of threats or social perception, cognition, and inter- 50 Years of Dream-ESP Experiments: Some Su- action. How much empirical evidence do we really have prising Evidence to make such claims, as opposed to conceiving dreaming non-adaptive in the biological sense? Stanley Krippner Oakland, CA, USA This talk will review 50 years of formal experiments that test- ed the possibility that deliberately programmed anomalous International Journal of Dream Research Volume 11, Supplement 1 (2018) S1 I J o D R 2. Morning Dream Groups Experiential Dreamwork: Mining Dream Feelings for Waking Life Gold Katherine R. Bell Dream Watsu - Water, Waves & Dreams Santa Cruz, California, USA Bhaskar Banerji In this morning Dream Group, we will focus on the feelings in Berkeley, California, USA the dreams and what they reveal about the dreamer’s wak- ing life situation. Since dreams arise from the deepest part What exactly is Dream Watsu? Watsu is a form of aquatic of our limbic brain which is associated with feelings and vis- bodywork that incorporates unconditional holding with slow ceral sensations, mining dreams for feelings can cast light gentle movements in warm water to induce whole body on how we are processing (or not processing) emotions in healing and relaxation. Water has often been considered by waking life. This work is based on Experiential Dreamwork, many dreamers to symbolically represent the unconscious which is derived from Embodied Dreamwork. itself. In Dream Watsu we apply the container of Watsu, After a brief introduction to the technique, I will invite 2-3 developed by Harold Dull and associates in the 1980s, to people to share dreams during the course of the hour. As we dreamwork. In this dream group we will shift our attention to explore each dream, we will pay particular attention to the dreams in which liquids and watery settings play a central dreamer’s feeling in each moment of the dream. Does the theme in the dream. We will enhance this collective shar- feeling make sense to the waking mind given the dream sit- ing by being immersed in the element of water itself, and uation? Is the feeling familiar or is it new? These feelings can thus allow the element to speak through us regarding the be a guide to explore what resonates with the dreamer about signifi cance of such dreams. Furthermore, we will explore waking life situations. For example, a horrifying scene which ways of working with dreams in pods of three using simple elicits only casual acknowledgement during the dream may fl oatation techniques that mimic the sensation of being in suggest that there are diffi cult feelings that the dreamer has a womb-like, half awake, half asleep state. Be prepared to learned to repress. Similarly, we often turn away from invita- soak, participate and play in this highly experiential dream tions to moments of joy and connection by either reverting group. Watsu has been used to treat all kinds of physical to some busy habit or interpreting such invitations as being and mental ailments but is rarely applied to dreamwork. I of great danger to our safety. would like to borrow elements from this aquatic therapy and Proceeding only at the pace of the dreamer, and ready see how they can be applied to dreamwork. to drop any suggestion that the dreamer rejects, I will invite a) Welcome and introduce participants to the process – each dreamer to take a moment to breathe into any dream provide overview. moments where the feeling doesn’t match the situation and b) Start out with 5 minutes of Aqua Yoga warm up exer- to allow new feelings to arise... and it may not always be cises to help participants become more embodied. what is expected! This simple yet profound technique can c) Break- up larger group into 3 person teams. also apply to any dream moment where there is a sudden d) In each team, one person plays the role of Dreamer – shift of perspective or other discrepancy, and thus can be the other 2 are Floaters used with almost any dream. With great love and tender- e) The Dreamer becomes horizontal; the two Floaters, sit- ness, such “discrepant” moments can be mined to reveal uated on either side of the dreamer, keep the dreamer waking life blind spots, often leading to profound and last- afl oat with their hands, one under the back, another ing breakthroughs. Because insights are rooted fi rmly in im- under a leg. ages presented by the dream, the dreamer need not share f) The Dreamer then tells their dream – dreams with wa- out loud (or even be consciously aware of) any waking life tery themes and imagery, symbols, metaphors are en- associations and indeed may treat the whole group experi- couraged/preferred. Floaters attentively listen. ence as an interesting symbolic exercise while still gaining g) When the Dreamer has fi nished, the Floaters ask clari- the benefi t of touching into the full range of feelings that fying questions related to the dream. are being offered by the dream. Thus confi dentiality is main- h) Then Floaters ask the Dreamer if they want a verbal un- tained, and the dreamer remains the ultimate authority on packing or an experiential interpretation of the dream. the personal meaning of their own dream. i) If the Dreamer chooses Verbal, then the Floaters engage In the model of Experiential Dreamwork, dreams bring im- in an “If-It-were-my-dream” unpacking of the Dream. ages and feelings which specifi cally highlight areas where j) If the Dreamer chooses Experiential, then the Floaters the dreamer has become disconnected from their limbic/ take turns swishing the Dreamer around in the water, feeling self because of trauma or the need to be successful letting the felt response to the dream fl ow through or safe in the world. By opening up places where the dream their movements. One Floater leads, the other assists. does not make logical sense, we discover and start to elimi- Floaters allow their impressions of the dream to be ex- nate these blind spots. By explaining my technique as I go, pressed via their aquatic swishing movements. participants will learn to identify discrepancies in their own k) The Dreamer being the ultimate authority on their dreams and open up previously hidden feelings that should dream, than shares any new insights/feedback regard- help them with waking life diffi culties. If the dreamer agrees ing their experience that have emerged on account of (and if time allows) we may act out the dream moment to the process post-swish. The Dreamer may wish to cre- make the feelings more viscerally vivid to the dreamer. ate a movement based on their experience to embody the dreamplay itself. The Dreamer can request as- sistance from the Floaters in creating their movement should they wish. S2 International Journal of Dream Research Volume 11, Supplement 1 (2018) I J o D R Dreams, transformation symbols, chakras and of all dreams is decided by the dreamer and no one else. It meditation is not necessary for dream group participants to be familiar with the Seth Material. The dream group will be experiential Ann Bengtsson and not didactic. The purpose of this morning dream group Drammen, Norway is: 1. to acquaint attendees with the concept/experience of In this morning dream group, I will describe what a chakra the Inner Self and to use specifi c exercises and incuba- is and show the relationship between transformation pro- tions derived from the Seth Material, that will be useful cesses in the chakras and specifi c transformation symbols and practical illustrating change.