Thread: Meditating into sleep when you first go to bed

Originally Posted by sivason

I think we should all explore sleep and meditation for more reasons than just lucid dreams. I meditate myself to sleep every time I sleep. It is a ood thing for health and well being. I am sure it has a positive effect on lucidity also, but it is just my opinion.

I very much agree! You suggested that some meditations might be more effective for this than following the breath. I'm interested, how do you meditate yourself to sleep?

Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

I have found that meditating on a lotus at the throat chakra leads to more vivid dreams, better recall, and being aware of awaking from dreams. It is definitely a beneficial practice.

Is this something anyone can helpfully learn? Do you know any good sources for learning this? I meditate quite a bit, but am unfamiliar with chakras and visualizing lotuses in them

Originally Posted by Rallan

Is this something anyone can helpfully learn? Do you know any good sources for learning this? I meditate quite a bit, but am unfamiliar with chakras and visualizing lotuses in them

Of course! It's actually even referenced in the WILD section of LaBerge's ETWOLD. It helps to be good at visualization: basically, just practice looking at an object for a while, then close your eyes and try to see it in your mind. Try to manipulate it (zoom in, out, rotate, view it from different angles, and so on), once you get to the point where you can bring up the image without much effort, then you can imagine it floating into your throat area, and you're basically then doing this meditation.

Originally Posted by Rallan

Is this something anyone can helpfully learn? Do you know any good sources for learning this? I meditate quite a bit, but am unfamiliar with chakras and visualizing lotuses in them

To do it in the way proper to authentic Tibetan Buddhism or Vajrayana, very difficult. To the extent needed for lucid dreaming, dead easy. If you struggle with visualisation, simply take an apple or any other commonplace object and train up your skill by repeatedly looking at it, closing your eyes, and picturing it in your mind's eye. For the actual method, I would refer you to ETWOLD as FryingMan said, or Dreaming Yourself Awake by B. Allan Wallace, or The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep. Also check out our very own Sivason's Dream Yoga class!

Originally Posted by Rallan

Is this something anyone can helpfully learn? Do you know any good sources for learning this? I meditate quite a bit, but am unfamiliar with chakras and visualizing lotuses in them

You train visualization by visualizing. Take some objects from around your house, take a good long look at them, then close your eyes and visualize them. Once you can do that, do it without looking at thdm beforehand. Once you can do that, switch to visualizing people and animals, then people and animals doing different actions, and finally a full landscape. Congratulations, you now possess good visualization skills.

Expect this to take anywhere from 1 week to a couple months depending on how good you are. Once you can do all of these exercises, try developing sound and touch. Learn to V-WILD. Learn to do controlled hallucinations. Learn some energy work or something.

.. I must be sleepier than I thought cause I wrote almost all of that without thinking. Yeah I'm going to bed.. soon..