Meditation and frequency of LDs

[Taosaur]

Someone suggested a meditation experiment on another thread, and it seemed like a good idea, so here it is.

Before I found DV, most of my LDs came at times when I was meditating frequently. Other people on the board have also mentioned that meditation and LDs seem related for them. Not all meditators LD, and certainly not all LDers meditate, but it seems worthy of investigation.

The format that makes sense to me: everyone who wants to participate sets up a meditation schedule. Say, for one week everyone meditates for ten minutes every day. In my experience, morning is best--if I meditate at night, I'm too alert to sleep. Otherwise, keep your LDing habits the same--if you keep a dream journal, keep up with it, but if not, don't start one, just log how many LDs you have each night.

There are other variables and whatnot, but I need to sleep :) . I'll post more on this tomorrow.

It's a good time for me to do this, because I haven't been meditating for several months, and I'm LDing only 2-3 times a month, so any change will be noticeable.

Anyone who's interested, please post feedback and suggestions.

EDIT 10/19/04: Seems we're underway :D People can join in at anytime. Just keep a log of start time and stop time for meditation, and frequency of LDs. When you've got one week of data, PM me, and after we have enough people, I'll put it all together. If any has questions or needs help getting started, feel free to PM me also.

[nightowl]

Im interested somewhat. Meditation is just clearing the mind right? Its been sometime since i last attempted to meditate. How long do you want this experiment to go on? and what should one do after a week has passed? increase the 10 minutes per day to 15 or something?

[Jammy]

I could be interested to. Mind blank or like an active meditation including visualisation?

[Taosaur]

I was thinking simple breathing meditation--sit in upright, relaxed position and watch the breath. Whatever thoughts arise, just acknowledge them gently and return to the breath. It's the most basic form, and will provide consistency. Maybe if we do the experiment this way (and possibly extend meditation time for a second week, as Night Owl suggested), and people are still into it, we can see if visualizations effect LDing. I was actually thinking three weeks, getting up to 30 min a day in the third week, and then maybe one week with no meditation, but still logging LDs. Pro'lly best to go week-by-week, tho, to make sure people stay involved.

[bmx-life™]

Sounds like a good idea, im geting lazy I have on consistance when it come to meditation but I wana try harder. Its always good to start fresh!

[nightowl]

alright, sounds good to me, ill start tonight. BTW im going to do this at about 4:30 in the morning since I try the WBTB method sometimes anyway.

[Taosaur]

You don't need to meditate right before sleep. In fact, I find I can't sleep right after meditation, so I usually do it earlier in the day. I'm hypothesizing that meditating daily will increase LD frequency, not that meditation before bed will induce LDs. Still, if you want to do it that way, we can use you as one group, and I'll start meditating early in the day. We don't really need to be coordinated, so I guess people can start anytime.

[whoeverwearevox]

sweet, ya, i'm definately in!

i'll keep a log of the time i meditate each day and when

i'll also keep a log of LD's and just dream recall in general


alright :D this is exciting

[nightowl]

I regret to say this, but I'm going to have to pull out of the experiment for now. Numerous things suddenly popped up and i have to focus my attention on those. I'll come back when I have more time on my hands.

BTW, while I did do it(which wasn't much anyway), the only thing I noticed with my dreams was that I had no dream recall the next day. I dont know if meditation did that or if it was just one of those days where i dont remember them at all.

[Jammy]

have the project started already? Thougt it was going to be a kind of a kickoff or something...

[Sparky]

Sure, I'm definitely in.

Does it matter if its meditations like lovingkindness, walking meditation, etc. or just simple breathing/sensations?

[Taosaur]

From a scientific point of view, it might be better to keep it simple and uniform with breathing meditation. This form is also easier for people who haven't meditated before.

My view on the experiment is that people can start at any time, and we don't have to all be doing things at the same time, as long as we each keep records.

[Sparky]

Time meditated: 30 minutes
Lucid Dreams: 0

[Howie]

This sounds like an interesting expieriment Taosuar.
how long Do you suggest for meditating? 10 minutes envery time or what ever flows?

[b]Do You meditate?:

http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic....hlight=meditate (http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3908&highlight=meditate)

A little info on meditation from our members. :)

[Taosaur]

When I took a meditation class, the teacher had us gradually increase meditation from about five minutes up to one hour, adding five minutes every one or two days. For purposes of controlling variables, I would say take as many days as you need to work up to ten minutes, and start recording from there. If you want to meditate longer than ten minutes from that point, feel free, just record your start and stop time (this will give us both the length of meditation and what time of day).

I would recommend the morning as a time to meditate, but any time that you can find a quiet place and have time to relax is fine. In order for the information to be useful, please keep a log and send me the information after you have one week's data.

[Darkness]

Back to nightowl, meditation does not just mean that you clear the mind. I have read a book where a man says that instead of clearing the mind he fills it with a wealth of thoughts. He tried to improve his spirituality, creativity, peacfuleness. He did it all with visualising a variety of things. A toy chest, a candle, a flower opening up, a crystal. So no meditation does not just mean clearing your mind.

[eXistenZ]

The experiment suggested by Taosaur was interesting. Is there any result to share?

It seems an old thread, but maybe some relation between meditation and LD emerged. I'm a beginner lucid dreamer and I think that meditation might be an "entrance" to the LD world (even though I have very sparse LD experiences). The WILD method seems to me a form of meditation that leads to dream.

eXistenZ

[PhowaBoy]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been studying Mahayana Buddhist meditation for many years now, and in the tradition I’ve been studying, meditation is defined as familiarizing the mind with a state of peace. Contemplation is the aspect where objects such as anger, or scenarios of life to be worked on are brought into the concentration so as to analyze them from a peaceful and calm perspective. According to the Mahayana tradition, meditation involves sitting comfortably with the back straight but not rigid (to try and prevent mental sinking or dullness), and slowly relaxing all the parts of the body from head down to toes. Then to calm the mind, focus the attention on the breath. Keep your mind focused on the subtle sensation of the breath on the nostrils. If you get distracted, it’s OK, just bring your focus back on the breath. You can also visualize breathing in warm, cleansing white light, and breathing out tension and worries as black smoke which dissolves and vanishes. Continue to find deeper and deeper levels of relaxation, with periods of just sitting peacefully and enjoying the calm stillness.

I find that my thoughts, which are jumping around all the time, are pacified; and through the power of my concentration, I can control the world of my thoughts. I could see this skill as being useful in the world of Lucid Dreaming.

Any results?

P.Boy

[dreamdancer]

I have been meditating--using the breathing technique described as well as body-scanning--for over 10 years and meditate at least one hour per day. I would be glad to join the research team. Even though I'm a relative newbie on the boards, I have been lucid dreaming since the age of 5.

Are we measuring the quality or the quantity of the LD's? Juat wondered because I have had some pretty serious and intense LD's and vivid dreams on meditation courses that were way over the top of what I do on an average night.

[PhowaBoy]

Hi Taosaur,

I’m helping out in some research on ‘Mastering LD induction’ and we’re pondering the idea of how important suggestion is to get the mind to recognize the dream state. This idea comes from the HILD technique and requires you to try to get into a relaxed state as you plant suggestions to recognize LD’s.

I was thinking that a great place to reinforce the habit of reality checks would be during meditation, when the outside world is dissolved (for the most part), and the body is relaxed. Once in a deep meditation, try to reinforce the wish to gain lucidity in your dreams, and imagine yourself doing a reality test in the dream world. This technique may add suggestions to the subconcious to become lucid while dreaming, as well as reinforce the habit of doing reality checks while in a 'dream like' state.

Just thought I’d throw the idea at you.

Cheers.

[Lutch]

Hey i will help with your experiment, i did a 10 minute meditation the OM meditation (AUM), and i had an LD last night and considering ive only had a possible 2-3 over a year i think im making some good progress hahaha. It was may 8th.

[Lutch]

Thank you for hittin me with some knowledge, im gunna try it.