Rewilding the Dream with Laura Smith-Riva

What if your dreams weren’t symbols to decode… but living encounters?

Celebrating seven years of Dream Journal episodes, host Katherine Bell welcomes natural dream work practitioner, artist, and druid priestix Laura Smith Riva for a fascinating conversation about rewilding the dream, animism, and reconnecting with the living intelligence within dreams and nature.

Together they explore how dream figures can be experienced as relational beings, how ritual and creativity help integrate dream wisdom, and how fear, vulnerability, and imagination open doorways to transformation and healing.

You’ll hear powerful dream stories, live listener dream exploration, and practical guidance on how to begin working with your own dreams.

✨ What You’ll Learn

• What “rewilding the dream” means

• How animism changes the way we understand dreams

• Why dream symbols may be experienced as living encounters

• Techniques used in natural dream work

• How ritual, art, and creativity help integrate dream messages

• How dreams support healing, intuition, and imagination

• Ways to start your own dream practice

⏱ Chapters

00:00 Rewilding the dream: animism, dream wisdom & spiritual awakening02:06 What is druidry? nature spirituality, animism & learning from trees07:22 Natural dream work explained: why dream symbols are living experiences12:06 Sacred dream encounters: fear, transformation & emotional thresholds16:36 Dream rituals & creativity: using art, altars and symbolism to integrate dreams31:50 Listener dream analysis: how dreams reflect memory, ancestry & emotional healing47:15 How to start dream work: practical steps, courses & following your dream intuition

🔗 Learn More & Connect

Laura Smith-Riva is a Natural Dreamwork Practitioner and Priestix of the Green Mountain Druid Order in Vermont. She works with dreamers from many parts of the globe and in her personal work is interested in the connection to the natural world through dreams and vision work and offers expressions of her journey using art, poetry and prose.

Visit Laura Smith Riva’s work:👉 https://laura-smith-riva.com

Explore Experiential Dream Work:👉 https://experientialdreamwork.com

👍 Support the Channel

If you enjoy conversations about dreams, spirituality, creativity, and personal growth:

✔ Subscribe✔ Like the video✔ Share with a dream-loving friend✔ Comment with a recent dream or insight

 

Find a video clip of the conversation @ExperientialDreamwork on YouTube on the “Dream Journal shorts” playlist. Click here to watch the latest short:

Find the video recording of this conversation @ExperientialDreamwork on YouTube on the “Dream Journal podcast FULL LENGTH VIDEOS” playlist. Click here to watch the latest show:

This show, episode number 350, was recorded during a live broadcast on February 14, 2026 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.

Here are links to some other Dream Journal episodes you might be interested in:

Dreams and the 12 Steps w Guest Laura Smith-Riva

Finding Sacredness in the Mundane with Andrusa Lawson

Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Erik Nelson for answering the phones.

SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at katherine@ksqd.org. Follow on LI, IG, YT, FB, & LT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com.

The Dream Journal aims to: Increase awareness of and appreciation for nightly dreams. Inspire dream sharing and other kinds of dream exploration as a way of adding depth and meaningfulness to lives and relationships. Improve society by the increased empathy, emotional balance, and sense of wonder which dream exploration invites.

A dream can be meaningful even if you don’t know what it means.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM. Catch it streaming LIVE at KSQD.org 10-11am Pacific Time on Saturdays. Call or text with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or email at onair@ksqd.org. Podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms the Monday following the live show. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page can be found at ksqd.org/the-dream-journal/.

Closed captioning is available on the YouTube version of this podcast and an automatically generated transcript is available at Apple Podcasts within 24 hours of posting.

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