#91 Athena Laz on the lucidity of dreaming with the land
“We’re so often taught this neuroscientific perspective, which is very meaningful and helpful, but it can often reduce dreams to day residue or emotional processing, an evolutionary advantage. Lucidity teaches us that dreaming is much more than that. Modern people are disconnected, in my opinion, from dreaming because it’s part of the cultural conditioning that we find ourselves in. Lucidity offers us an opportunity to expand our awareness, to walk through life more lucid, and when we begin to do that, what changes is the way you show up and recognise that you have a lot more choice than you may believe you have.
Choice begins to open up because the perception has changed, and if many individuals begin to do that, we see big change on a collective level. So the simple thing of practicing lucidity at night can actually revolutionise individual lives, and actually the collective. ”
We spend a third of our lives in the sleep state, and whilst neuroscience reduces dreams to an evolutionary advantage for day residue and emotional processing, the liminal state of lucid dreaming reveals a deeper active awareness our bodies tap into as we rest. How can lucid awareness help us connect to the spirit of the land so that we can deepen our understanding of its needs in the current time?
We bring onto our show Athena Laz, the bestselling author of The Alchemy of Your Dreams, The Sisterhood of Seers Oracle Deck, and The Deliberate Dreamer’s Journal . Her most recent book Women Who Dance in the Dark releases on September 16th 2025. Her books have been translated into more than 13 languages worldwide. Athena is an intuitive, psychologist, and dream teacher who helps thousands of people worldwide connect to spirit and the psyche & rediscovering the potent and sacred power of dream work. Her work has been featured by Today, Bustle, Mindbodygreen, Publisher's Weekly, The Shift Network, Cosmopolitan Magazine, the Sunday Post, Kindred Spirit, Watkins, NY1, and many more media outlets.
What we will explore:
Moving from trauma-based models in psychology to intuitive and lucid healing models which weave psyche and spirit together
Awareness as the greatest asset (when we expand the limits of our perception)
Awareness at the centre of dreamwork and lucidity
Losing sense of identity positively to shift perspective - dropping social categories, titles and labels in dreams to embrace the multidimensionality of our beings
Medial archetype as a guide for “bridge-makers” to lead on mediating inner and outer tensions, regardless of gender
Not trying to create harmony with archetype but equanimity and more balanced ways of being and coexisting that allow us to address shadows of our cultures
Excerpt from Athena’s new book Women Who Dance in the Dark on healing the split between the medial and wild within ourselves
Land as having memory and consciousness of how we treat and tend to its needs, and how that has changed over time under colonial regime
The land can speak to us through dreaming with the right timing and being in the right space
Art of lucid dreaming - tapping into the possibilities of lucidity in the sleep state e.g. meeting guides, foreseeing future, improving skillset, harnessing more-than-human abilities
Lucid awareness can help us connect to the spirit of the land and deepen our understanding of its needs
Dream practice as ritual in Indigenous cultures e.g. planning day according to collective dream
Western dream analysis and neuroscience reducing dreams to day residue and emotional processing as evolutionary advantage
Dreaming being much bigger than emotional processing - example of Pachamama Alliance starting with a dream by Lynn Twist in the 80s and is now one of the biggest foundations supporting Indigenous rights and Rights of Nature in the world
Athena’s lucidity tip: All Day Awareness - becoming deeply aware of our surroundings so that when we are aware in the dream space, we can be more intentional and in control with lucid dreaming
Addressing fear around lack of control in liminal state by becoming comfortable with the “unknown” to find out how familiar the lucid state is to the body
Resources:
Discover Athena’s work at www.athenalaz.com
Connect with Athena on Instagram: @athena_laz
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Mind Full of Everything is a podcast calling for the radical healing of the self and community to outgrow the broken dominant culture of radical individualism and disconnection from our place as interdependent beings, so that we can collectively re-envision a safer, healthier and equitable world. Each episode takes a healing-centric approach to explore the embodied ways in which we can collectively restore and transform our journeys as stewards of community and earth through conversations with writers, researchers, coaches and educators, as well as reflection episodes with the host Agrita Dandriyal on her journey navigating the world as a deeply conscious, culturally-rooted and relational being. Learn more here.
