Thread: Exoyo and the Yoga of Dreams

Basic Skills: Lesson 1
Tonight, I decided to do the 'noisy world' variation during my meditation. I ended up noticing about 3 sounds that I did not originally notice, but these sounds were constant (ex. electricity buzzing, fan, etc.). Of course there were other noises like brief loud bits on a TV in another room, or light switches down stairs, or my cat messing about. I wasn't sure whether to count these noises, as there were infrequent and often varied, and some of the faint ones, like light switches or steps in other rooms, were faint to the extent that I didn't know if I was actually hearing them. So in terms of constant noise, there were few noises to keep note. As a result, I think I will do the sound variation of lesson one in the afternoons rather than before bed, and the touch/mixing it up before bed. I will post my progress tomorrow!

Basic Skills: Lesson 1
I did only the tactile sense today, perhaps because of lack of discipline, as I didn't meditate earlier. Even so, I have made progress with respect to sensory awareness. While meditating before bed, I focused on the pain from blisters on my foot, my back pain, and the feeling of me breathing. I noticed those immediately. I began to divert attention elsewhere; I felt the cushion beneath me , pressing on my legs and bottom. I thought this to be a fairly obvious sensation. I moved to pulse. It was difficult to pick up at first, but after some focusing on my left wrist I could feel it. It felt very strong now that I was aware of it. I tried to do the same focus on my right wrist while keeping attention on my left wrist. I couldn't feel a strong pulse on my right, and it seemed to be out of sync with my left. That was odd. I moved attention to my left index finger and thumb, and felt a very strong pulse. When doing the same with my right, I then could feel a pulse that was in sync. Occasionally it felt out of sync, but for the most part the pulses stayed together. While focusing on my fingers, I felt a tingling feeling, like when you cut off circulation to a limb. The feeling stayed in the very tips of my fingers. I ended here, as I felt tired. I thought I did quite well in this meditation, as when my thoughts strayed, I gently brought attention back, which is good for me as I generally snap attention back very abruptly. I also noticed during my meditation that this exercise was not only highly interesting, but also rather fun and calming. I will write again tomorrow.

Basic Skills: Lesson 1
Not much of particular interest has occurred since my last entry. One thing to note, however, it that while meditating on sensory awareness, the back of my eye lids eventually fill with all sorts of oscillating colors and such. Is this of any significance? Another thing is I've been finding it difficult to focus. Perhaps I should meditate for longer before moving to particular sensory awareness. Also, sivason, what do you think of using isochronic tones or binaural beats to aid in focus during meditation? Is that a no-no as it may create dependency, or is it perfectly acceptable?

Use any sounds or beats you wish. try variations and see if you notice any subtle differences. I do not personally use anything like that, but it is not harmful. The bit about the pulse is a good observation. We ignore it our entire lives, but if you take the attention to notice it, it can be very obvious. I also have that tingling at the tips of my fingers. Likely every one does, but again, they have failed to notice it.

The colors are very significant. You will learn about them and what to do with them in later lessons. good work so far.

I think I have progressed a bit, now many of the less obvious sounds and feelings can be more easily picked up. I can also keep about 4 feelings/sounds in my head at the same time, though sometimes it feels a bit difficult to keep 3. Something else worth noting, when I try to focus on specific parts of my body in attempts to find unnoticed feelings, that area will feel tingly.

First, a quick apology: My life became kind of hectic and I was not able to keep up with lucid dreaming and meditation. So I'm sorry that I left this without saying anything. My life has become calm again and I'm back into lucid dreaming and meditation. I'm starting back with the basic skills of this class since it has been a while.

Last night, I took a shower and meditated before bed. During meditation, I focused on sounds and body awareness. I still have the skills that I developed from prior mediation and dream yoga work. I found it was not too hard for me to keep track of 3 sounds or feelings at once. While I focused on three or more sounds/feelings at once, I would occasionally get these brief moments of complete stillness. The stillness was very peaceful and relaxing. I'm not quite sure how to describe it because it was such a unique feeling. Perhaps it will make sense to you though.