New to this FORUM -

[MarvinBarrow]

Hey All. This is my first day visiting DV. I registered immediately after finding this place. Looking forward to reading about others' experiences with lucid dreaming. Some stuff about me: Several years ago, I had a 6-month period of Lucid Dreaming, mainly during nightmares. Out of the blue I somehow was able to 'know' that I was having a dream, and developed the ability to pull myself out of those horrible nightmares and awaken. since that 6-month period there was no more lucid dreaming. Until about 2 months ago. (oh.... correction I had 2 other lucid dreams earlier this year) The lucid dreaming ability returned in mid-May this year. I think it was the result of a period spent meditating 7 or 8 hours a day for 11 days. During this 11 day period the nature of my dreams started changing and my behaviour in the dreams changed radically, I became more confident, cocky, honest, unafraid of people's opinions, and I spoke my mind without hesitation. But also, I've started having lucid dreams again, and have been able to wake myself up out of 5 lucid dreams in the last couple of months. I no longer have nightmares (since about 1 year ago, but that's another story). Even when potential nightmares happen, I think my reaction to the situation stops the dream from escalating into a nightmare, because, in the past I used to freak out at the slightest threat. This reaction seemed to escalate the dream into the worst case scenario; nowadays within the dream I try to stay calm and hold my ground (more so in the non lucid dreams) and this seems to cool off any threats. Not sure how that works really! Anyway I'm experimenting and have come here to perhaps share ideas, to find out what others do and which techniques I can work in the hopes of getting some level of more awareness and control within the dream state. It's great to find a place to be able to talk openly about this subject. No questions for now... just introducing myself Marvin

[~Dreamer~]

Great to have you on DV, Marvin! It's pretty common for people to stumble across lucidity during nightmares. It's nice to be able to turn them around! Wow, was this on a meditation retreat? That is some heavy duty meditating! I'm not surprised you gained some extra awareness in-dream. The MILD induction method might suit you - that can involve some meditative daytime practices. Good luck!

[MarvinBarrow]

Oh that's surprising, I didn't know that fact about nightmares. Interesting (more reading to do then). The meditation I did was a home-made modified version I did for myself. I modeled it after Vipassana Meditation, which is usually 10 days long ( In a retreat) with many hours of meditation each day. I couldn't afford to travel to do it so I tried it myself at home and watched the guidance talks on You Tube at the end of each day. Vipassana definitely messes with your awareness of reality as do other types of meditation so far as I know. After the dream shifts I did some reading up on this on the Internet and watched You Tubers talking about their own experiences. People experience OBE's, altered states of awareness, the disappearance of the sense of self or of the sense of a physical body, intense emotional responses, Kundalini awakenings etc etc. And, it's not uncommon for people's dreams to be affected and for people to start lucid dreaming during or after this intense meditation period. Although I don't know the scientific explanations on the subject of meditation, it seems that certain states of awareness experienced during and after meditation can cause you to start questioning long held assumptions about the nature of reality. It doesn't surprise me that if this type of 'doubting' gets into the subconscious, it could easily lead to 'questioning' what appears in the dream state; perhaps that might be one angle. Thanks for the 'MILD' link, I browsed it already, very interesting stuff here, lots to digest, so I will continue reading.

[~Dreamer~]

Something else to check out is sivason's Dream Yoga course in the DV Academy. It's a long-term program, but it sounds like the kind of practice that might interest you. Hope to see you around! Happy dreaming.

[MarvinBarrow]

thank you, just been looking through the 'Dream Yoga Basic Skills' #1, and it is very similar to the meditations I was doing, and clears a few things up for me as to why the lucid dreaming started up again. Will take a look at this and post if and when results come. Thanks again 'Dreamer'

[~Dreamer~]

No problem, I look forward to following your progress! Let me know if you need a hand with anything.

[MarvinBarrow]

Ok, thanks. And yes I definitely will have questions at some point, so I will ask.

[Kaizen]

Greetings oneironuts,I have also just joined the DV forum. Marvin,I had a similar experience to you during my 10 days of silent meditation at the Vipassana retreat centre. During my time of solitude i found that the dreams I had where intensely vivid, fractally complex,deeply profound and border line prophetic. I'm pretty sure there's a direct correlation between meditation practice and lucid dreaming,being that they both gravitate around bringing more present moment awareness to your life. Anyway,I look forward to connecting,learning and sharing with you guys. Love and Light

[MarvinBarrow]

Hey Kaizen, Wow, so you got to be at the retreat.. Were you aware of the possible effects before attending? I had no idea about the dream altering thing. The meditating has had a lasting effect on me both in and out of dreams. In 'reality' (lets call it that), my senses have really amplified and I feel so much more on my skin, inside my body, hearing etc, all sorts of weird sensations. I'm lovin' the effect on the dreams, and am looking forward to experimenting with MILD and yoga techniques. Look forward to connecting too. I guess both Dreamer and you are right about the heightened awareness increasing the chances of lucid dreaming.

[Kaizen]

I was aware of the profound effects that the Vipassana meditation had on waking life consciousness,and heard a few stories of people having "crazy dreams"..although that didn't accurately describe the transcendental states which I experienced during my nocturnal slumber. Here's my hypothesis: When the mind has minimal to no stimulus from the external world for an extended period of time, various karmic traces and random thoughts which are normally processed during the hynogogic and REM states are minimized or eliminated entirely... Thus freeing enormous amounts of psychic and mental energy that would usually be expended in futility. Tp compound this is the fact that you are performing a deep mental and emotional surgery during the meditation, "cleaning out the closet" in a sense, you are bringing up and eradicating old habit patterns and deep rooted Sankaras. I believe that the source of our dreams are coming from the abyss of our mind and being, not just the surface layers where the majority of them come during our day to day life. This is due to having a concentrated,clear,empty and transparent canvas...all opaque and irrelevant thoughts removed. Like a clear quarts crystal that has been polished,the light of pure conscious awareness can shine through with effortless ease. We are able to easily reflect the Divine source,The all Encompassing Light,the God Head. We become it.We ARE it. And this is realized on a microcosmic level. The universe is a fractal. And what have fractals taught us? The microcasm is one and the same as the macrocasm. These are just some of my thoughts “Removing old conditionings from the mind and training the mind to be more equaimous with every experience is the first step toward enabling one to experience true happiness.”- S.N Goenka

[~Dreamer~]

Welcome, Kaizen! It sounds like you might have some of your own insights to share, as well as hopefully picking up some new ideas and techniques from DV. Great to have you both on the forum, I can't wait to see how you progress!

[MarvinBarrow]

Wow Kazien... your thoughts on this are way beyond anything that could have possibly crossed my mind on this subject. So my understanding of part of what you're saying is that the 'Isolation' from the everyday distractions equals far less thought material created leaving far less 'stuff' to process during REM??? Interesting. As for the cleaning out of the closet, if that is what was happening, it definitely has made a big difference in how I 'think' in the dream state, there seemed to be much more easy decision making or 'less doubt' in my dream behaviour. I'm still amazed at how our dreams are affected this way... on waking from dreams I often laugh or am pleasantly surprised how dreams panned out. Can't wait to see if I wll eventually be able to actually manipulate part of a dream. Would blow my mind.

[Kaizen]

Exactly.The less residual thought material we have to decipher/proccess the more profound and transcendental our dreams become. My theory at least.