From June 20 to 22, Rainbow Bridge Hawaii welcomed participants for the Healing Dreams and Lucid Transformation Retreat, guided by lucid dreaming teacher and author Dr. Clare Johnson.
Over the course of three days, participants explored lucid dreaming, dream healing, and personal transformation through workshops, group discussions, meditation, movement, and time spent in nature. Although the retreat has ended and participants have returned home, the weekend remains a meaningful part of the growing story of dream work at Rainbow Bridge.
A Place Designed for Dreaming
Rainbow Bridge Hawaii is an ecovillage community overlooking the Pacific Ocean on Hawaiʻi Island. The land includes tropical gardens, waterfalls, open gathering spaces, and a community of people and animals who live and work together.
This natural setting gave participants space to step away from their everyday routines and pay closer attention to their dreams, emotions, and inner experiences.
Much of the retreat centered around the Aesklepion Dream Temple, a space created specifically for dream incubation, rest, reflection, and healing. Inspired by ancient traditions in which people visited temples to seek guidance through dreams, the Aesklepion offered a quiet place for participants to sleep, meditate, and set intentions for the night ahead.
With views of the ocean and the sound of nearby water, the temple provided a peaceful setting for the retreat’s nighttime practices.
Exploring Dreams Together
Dr. Clare Johnson guided participants through a combination of dream circles, workshops, partner exercises, and experiential practices. She was the first person to earn a PhD focused on lucid dreaming as a creative tool and has spent many years teaching people how to engage more consciously with their dreams.
Each morning began with small dream-sharing groups. Participants were invited to reflect on what they remembered from the night before and explore the emotions, images, and themes that appeared in their dreams.
Throughout the day, Dr. Clare introduced techniques related to lucid dreaming, nightmare transformation, dream recall, and emotional healing. The retreat also included partner exercises that encouraged participants to listen closely, share openly, and approach their dreams with curiosity rather than judgment.
Dream work was balanced with activities that helped participants reconnect with their bodies and the surrounding land, including:
- Somatic and movement-based exercises
- Guided meditations in the tropical landscape
- Time for rest, reflection, and journaling
- Swimming and cooling off in the waterfalls and natural pools on the property
These experiences allowed participants to explore dream work not only as an intellectual practice, but as something connected to the body, the land, and everyday life.
Nourishment From the Land
Meals were another important part of the retreat experience. Participants shared fresh, plant-based food, including ingredients grown through Rainbow Bridge’s permaculture gardens and food forests.
The land is home to a wide range of tropical plants and fruit trees, including more than 30 varieties of bananas and plantains. Sharing food grown on the land helped connect the retreat’s inner work with the practical rhythms of community life, gardening, and caring for the environment.
Participants stayed in a variety of simple accommodations, including small cabins, camping spaces, and shared sleeping areas. The rustic setting encouraged people to slow down, spend more time outdoors, and connect with one another.
Carrying the Dream Work Forward
One of the central ideas explored during the retreat was that dreaming can be more than something that happens passively while we sleep. Dreams can offer opportunities for creativity, reflection, emotional processing, and a deeper understanding of ourselves.
For many participants, the weekend offered time to reconnect with their inner lives, explore recurring dream patterns, and learn practical tools they could continue using at home.
Rainbow Bridge Hawaii is grateful to Dr. Clare Johnson for sharing her knowledge and experience, to the resident community members who helped prepare the land and welcome participants, and to everyone who brought openness, curiosity, and care to the retreat.
As the participants return to their daily lives, the practices continue: remembering dreams, writing them down, asking questions, and remaining open to what the dreaming mind may have to share.
Readers interested in future retreats, classes, and land-based experiences can explore our upcoming events and workshops on Hawaiʻi Island.