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I cut out parts because i'm not sure if you are allowed to copy a whole essay from a book. So if there are any issues with that, I apologize, and feel free to remove it. [/b]
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Exercise 167 -- Lucid Dreaming:
Conscious Awareness of Your Dreams
One essential phase of sleep called the rapid-eye-movement (REM) phase is where
most dreams occur. Humans and lab animals that have been deprived of REM sleep
exhibit bizarre and often psychotic behavior. Researchers have found that your REM
dream state is predominantly the alpha and theta brainwave states (4 to 7 cycles per
second and 7 to 14 cycles per second respectively).
Dreams are ordinarily spontaneous and representative of subconscious meanderings.
They can also be a psychological release of tension.
[Removed: Biblical dreams as a reference to age of dreaming and symbology.]
[Removed: Record and review your dreams to compare them with life.]
[Removed: Defines what Lucid Dreaming is.]
The more mindful and fully conscious you are in your normal waking state, the easier it will be for you to master the lucid dreaming state.
Review “Exercise -- Mindfulness: Improving Your Conscious Awareness” to sharpen your lucid dreaming state.
[Removed: What lucid dreams are and what you can do in them.]
In dreams, you can even levitate or fly. So if you're ever in doubt of your dream state, try flying as a
test.
A Malaysian tribe called the Senoi revolves much of its culture around dreams. At an early age, parents question their children closely about their dreams. The children are taught early how to control their dreams and to bring about beneficial outcomes. By consciously manipulating their subconscious dreams, the Senoi manifest positive results in the waking world and resolve their daily problems more readily.
Technique #1:
One technique to achieving a lucid dream state is to ask yourself the question,
"Is this a dream?" or "Am I dreaming?" 10 to 20 times just before falling asleep.
The conscious repetitiveness of the question will eventually be submerged into the
subconscious dream state. Reflecting cognitively upon such a question in the dream
state will result in some form of conscious intervention and awareness, and hence a
lucid dream state will be achieved.
Technique #2:
As a variation of the former method, simply count and affirm just before retiring,
"I am dreaming, One" -- "I am dreaming, Two" and so on. Attending to the counting
process keeps your conscious awareness vigilant to what you intend to do. For those
people who tend to fall asleep rapidly, this method can have you counting straight
into dreamland.
Technique #3:
Another method is to reiterate over and over to yourself just before going to sleep,
"I am going to sleep now. I know that I will be dreaming. I will recognize that I am
dreaming when I am dreaming. Tonight, I will be consciously aware of my dream. I
will remember what I dream in full conscious detail."
Technique #4:
You can also use a stimulus response link. For instance just before going to
sleep, look at your hand while reiterating to yourself over and over, "When I see my
hand in my dream, I will know I am dreaming." One researcher used with great
success a mild electric shock to signal subject dreamers they were dreaming.
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