Thread: Mindfulness

Originally Posted by TDHXIII

I thought that lucid dreams were "rush experiences" because when the dream is over, all that's left is your memory of it. But i had forgotten that even life is the same way.. Every passing moment was my next memory.

I feel like this perfectly describes what I am experiencing right now.

I've learned a lot from this post. This goes hand in hand with self awareness as well as ADA. I'll definitely try to put this in practice (or just put it in my long list of commitments I've stopped).

Thanks.

Yes this is a perfect description of mindfulness.

Something that may or may not be entirely true.. One thing for sure, it has changed my way of practicing Lucid Dreaming.

I used to practice lucid dream by writing DJs, Reality checks, mantras etc... but non of these worked for me.

I was really disappointed that I was not able to lucid dream. But until I started meditating and being aware of my present. This significantly helped me achieving lucid dreams. Now I don't write DJs and I don't do any reality checks.

So yeah...i'm just saying that I agree with you.

Originally Posted by yj1214

I used to practice lucid dream by writing DJs, Reality checks, mantras etc... but non of these worked for me.

I was really disappointed that I was not able to lucid dream. But until I started meditating and being aware of my present. This significantly helped me achieving lucid dreams. Now I don't write DJs and I don't do any reality checks.

So yeah...i'm just saying that I agree with you.

Thanks for the input. Good to hear that you had success with mindfulness. All the more reason I'll stick with it. Not entirely sure about doing mediation for now, but I'll start with mindfulness and random RC's and I'll see what comes up.

Just a quick progress-tracking post..
I've tried being mindful for the past 2 days and last night I had a really vivid dream alongside a feeling of "being there". I also feel like my awareness had a boost, but I haven't been lucid yet. Still, good to see that changes are already taking place. I should try WBTB soon to see how it would go out.

The effects so far have been very similar to ADA, but it's only that ADA stresses me to no limit while with this I'm pretty relaxed. I should be hitting the jackpot sooner or later. One last issue I'm thinking of is self-awareness, since when I focus on the present I feel like I'm not reflecting on myself a lot. This will have to wait though because I want to see how being simply mindful affects my dreams.

Now i'm starting to feel some results!

Yesterday morning, i was laying down on my bed extremely sleepy and i went into a thought-wandering state, which is like a very light sleep. During the dream i was having, i was able to recognize that something was weird and i was able to become lucid, even though i woke up immediately after that.

And last night, i finally had the time to WBTB. I woke up for it and stayed awake for roughly 5 minutes, in which i was attempting to be mindful while paying extra attention to my environment. When i slept, i had a dream about SP, a dream in which i was RC'ing (In a strange way which didn't actually work) and finally, a lucid dream.

Because it was a few hours ago, and that i went into a false awakening after becoming lucid which made me lose that lucidity, i don't remember too many details. One thing i'm sure about, is that i was lucid. I'm practicing mindfulness and random reality checks since i posted this thread. There are days in which i'm not mindful that much.

Just had my third lucid dream. The unusual parts are that I've started gaining lucidity with no clues. If memory serves me right, I noticed that something felt off, and immediately figured out that it was a dream. No RC's happened this time. This must be the effect of high awareness or better self-awareness. I'm gonna stop reporting here after this post, though I may report when it starts giving me frequent ld's. As the last thing I'm going to say, it all depends on how much effort you're willing to put into this. The days that I was mindful for a part of the day, I had vivid dreams and sometimes lucids. I'll be trying to do it for most of the day though, as that could make the effects even stronger. I didn't have the chance to WBTB, but I'm sure that makes it even more likely to make you aware of your dreams.

And as you may have noticed, i've been going at this for a week.. Persistence is key for all LD methods.

Mindfulness is awesome!

There's a difference between becoming absorbed with your thoughts, following link after link down various thought chains, and mindfully acknowledging your thoughts and becoming aware of them and not getting lost in them.

Mindfulness encompasses both the mental and physical. It is a release, a letting go, an opening up to the present moment, it is the opposite of an intense "scrunching up your forehead" type of concentration.

By including attention to your thoughts, emotions, reactions, and the like, that's how you figure in the "self-awareness" aspect of it.

My favorite description of mindfulness is simply "paying attention, on purpose." There's more to it of course, but that's the general gist.

IMO, ADA focus too much on the low level sensory input, on trying to observe all (minute details) things at once. It is exhausting, as most people note.

I think focusing on one thing at a time, mindfully, is the way to go. By learning to live mindfully, both your waking and dreaming life become incredibly enriched.

Nice explanation! And great evolution in your understanding since your last thread! And since you started meditating.

Here is a simple understanding of what it means and a way to look at it that might help you let go even more:

Imagine what it would be like to experience the world without using a language.

That's all! Make an intention to start feeling the now more and more, and over time, you'll get an idea of what it's all about.

Language is what enables us to communicate and express our mind and human intelligence in a more complex way. But it's also what makes us anxious about the past, worry about the future and why we forget the simplicity of life and even dreaming.

Take a moment to notice these phrases:

"I am so bad at this", "I give up", "He/ She is much better than me"

or

"F*ck I am AWESOME!", "I love life!", "Wow I have improved SO much!"

It's not the words themselves that have the power, it's the feeling itself.

So focus on having the right feeling and the right thoughts will come, and focus on having the right thought and the right feelings will come.

Or just simply focus on the NOW.

Peace!