The 'Lets Practice Waking Lucidity' Thread

[kulananda]

I like reading all your posts. Very thought provoking. Today was a very bad day at work for me, one of the worst. I totaly was out of my normal self. It was like i was in a type of nightmare. Got mad at my coworker and a customer. I was out of my usual self composure. When things got weird i did not even do any of my usual techniques to ground myself and check for lucid dreaming etc, i totally lost it. Am going over the day to see what triggered my unusual demeanor and do some healing work. I hope my boss does not find out. I question myself and what i really want from the job, from my life...do i want to get fired or quite? Am i looking for reasons to move on and start new chapter in my life? I do want changes and i want to be the one to make them consciously and willingly. Bad behavior is no excuss.

[juroara]

Ahhh those new things always sneak up on us! I think a lot of people forget to RC when ever they see new things, but that's always a good time to. I had inventory today at work. I started to laugh as I thought for a few moments that maybe this was all a dream, and how terrible it would be to wake up right here right now, and do inventory all over again! Let's just say I'm glad inventory really did take place in the waking

[Dannon Oneironaut]

Today was a very bad day at work for me, one of the worst. I totaly was out of my normal self. It was like i was in a type of nightmare. Got mad at my coworker and a customer. I was out of my usual self composure. When things got weird i did not even do any of my usual techniques to ground myself and check for lucid dreaming etc, i totally lost it. Am going over the day to see what triggered my unusual demeanor and do some healing work. I hope my boss does not find out. I question myself and what i really want from the job, from my life...do i want to get fired or quite? Am i looking for reasons to move on and start new chapter in my life? I do want changes and i want to be the one to make them consciously and willingly. Bad behavior is no excuss. Very good. All the more reason to be lucid. ANd it sounds like you are. Events happen in our lives that seem random, but if we are lucid we can see how we create those events. We can create them either lucidly or not, just like in dreams. Dream control is also life control. Asking yourself about why you are behaving unlucidly is like that pre-lucid questioning of reality in dreams. What is it that you really want? You want change? You will get it! Be clear on exactly what kind of change that you want, then create that with awareness. Any method of dream control can work also in life, but the results take a little longer, and of course it is hard to believe in some things like shape-shifting and flying in waking life, but it is not unheard of, just kind of unbelievable. Hypothetically, in order to be realistic, let us take an example of how we can chunk up to a realistic goal of lucid waking life control. For example, let's say that you want to be able to fly in waking life. Good luck! Let us assume that you are unsuccessful at this and you begin to doubt that it is possible (of course I assume that you doubted it all along, if not consciously then at least subconsciously). You can either give up on the whole idea of waking life control, or you can set more realistic goals. I do this by asking the question: "why?" "Why do I want to fly?" "Because it would be fun." "Why would it be fun?" "Because it would prove that something I thought was impossible is actually possible." "Why would it being possible be fun?" "Because I would expand my own limitations." "Why would expanding your limitations be fun?" "Because I don't like being limited by circumstances beyond my control." When you can no longer ask "why?" you have come to the core issue. This is the truth of the matter. You can try to go deeper by asking a different question, like "what?" "What can you do in order to expand your limitations? What can you do to take more control of your life?" "I can listen to what I really want instead of being distracted by my impulsive desires." "What is it that you really want?" "I really want to have my own space where I can be me." Once you come to another core issue then you can switch to the question "how?" "How do you get your own living space where you can be you?" etc. You see what I mean? All these desires are like dream desires that keep us hypnotized and unlucid. By asking ourself these essential questions we cut through all the unlucid crap and get to the core issues which are our true needs in this life. This is waking lucidity. Asking these questions to ourselves are waking lucidity reality checks. Because even in waking life we can be in unreality or in reality, it is up to how aware and honest we are with ourselves. Sometimes I think that we are all talking about different things!

[kulananda]

Great stuff Oneironaut. I can relate to what you wrote, really. I am familiar with that type of questioning and discovery.

[Dannon Oneironaut]

I forgot to include the very magic of the whole thing! When it comes down to finding what you really want, it is always something like this: I want to be happy. or I want to be free. And then this is where true lucidity happens! This is when you ask: "Can anything outside of me make me truly happy?" or "Am I not free already?" This is finding what you really need and want inside you, rather than 'out there' in the waking dream world. Trying to get anything out of this world to make you happy will only cause more suffering. ANything! If you are lacking something to make you happy and you look for it outside of yourself, you will only cause suffering for yourself and others. It is ALL within you. And this is what we discover during lucid dreams, and this is what we discover during waking lucidity. PS. I just realized that I am getting this thread confused with Stretch Your Thingy thread.

[Serenity]

All the same, it's wonderful to share this, Dannon

[Serenity]

Okay so today's report... The whole entire day was entirely out of normal (and thus, dream-like), so I pretty much had to keep all the senses "turned on." I was at a formal do with some family (supporting my BF's cousin), and there were many, many "DC's" around So I watched them and noticed them as if they were DC's. One lady even started talking to people as she washed her hands in the washroom I'd have to say that overall, today was fairly successful, about a 8/10. I didn't have any prompting to RC, other than just thinking about it. So, if today were like a dream, then I would have lost lucidity a few times but I would have gained it back without anythiing really strange needing to provoke it

[Serenity]

Had some really good intense moments of waking lucidity today. Again, my reminder to do this was spurned by not much more than just people-watching on the train. But today it actually felt like the way it feels for me when I'm lucid in a dream... it made me think of something... For me, when I become lucid in a dream, it's something that I have to consciously hold on to. By that I mean, using my dream body's senses, reminding myself that it's a dream as I'm going along and to try not to get too caught up in the plot, for I may lose lucidity by doing so (though that's not to say it is hard to enjoy a plot while reminding myself it's a dream... it's very easy in fact. What I mean more is.... there's a point just before discovering the lucidity that sometimes something happens and it sweeps me away, losing that moment of discovery and taking me back to a regular dream). What it made me think of was being on auto-pilot in waking life. It feels that way in regular dreaming, too. Just being on auto-pilot and watching the dream slide by, just like during the course of my waking day, reverting back to auto-pilot and vaguely watching my day slide by. I tried to be conscious of when I had "lost lucidity" today by getting swept up in what was happening; reverting to auto-pilot. I want to know how everyone else is doing Someone else post your efforts and observations

[beachgirl]

@Dannon: if reality is a dream, then does it make sense to look at our dreams to see what they are telling us? i am wondering because i had this very strange dream last night with many of my significant girlfriends over my life rotating in and out during a dinner party. Meanwhile, my partner was having dinner with his new girlfriend and feeling very divided about not paying attention to me. Then i got stuck in a garage and my father (with whom, IRL, i was estranged for the latter part of his life) tried to rescue me from a flood. I am wondering if this is worth "analyzing" or if in the Tibetan view, it's "meaningless". Do the Tibetans ever analyze their dreams? And of course the next question might be, to them, is reality "meaningless"?

[Dannon Oneironaut]

I haven't been doing so well on it. I have been busy moving, packing, unpacking, cleaning, getting an alignment on my car and tires rebalanced, paying bills, turning off utilities, turning on utilities. The only time I remember to be lucid lately is in the evening when I sit on my porch and relax,

[Dannon Oneironaut]

@Dannon: if reality is a dream, then does it make sense to look at our dreams to see what they are telling us? i am wondering because i had this very strange dream last night with many of my significant girlfriends over my life rotating in and out during a dinner party. Meanwhile, my partner was having dinner with his new girlfriend and feeling very divided about not paying attention to me. Then i got stuck in a garage and my father (with whom, IRL, i was estranged for the latter part of his life) tried to rescue me from a flood. I am wondering if this is worth "analyzing" or if in the Tibetan view, it's "meaningless". Do the Tibetans ever analyze their dreams? And of course the next question might be, to them, is reality "meaningless"? According to the Tibetan Dream Yoga, dreams have as much meaning as you give them. The meaning is not in the dream, but in you. Kind of like that the dreams are like Tarot cards and it is you that uses them to access your own intuition within you. And yes, they do analyze and interpret dreams for sure. They use them for healing, prophecy, etc... Reality, also, has whatever meaning you give to it. Wait, what is Reality? You mean the world? The Universe? Yes, it is meaningless. All meaning comes from you. That is the amazing thing! The past doesn't exist, the future doesn't exist, only 'Now" exists. Why? Because that is where YOU are. It is YOU that brings lucidity to dreams or waking. YOU are the only real meaningful thing. But of course YOU are not a thing, but everything. YOU give meaning and reality to everything that you contact. Reality is contagious. Meaningfulness is contagious. It is hard to put into words, I hope I did it justice and was understandable.

[juroara]

I want to know how everyone else is doing Someone else post your efforts and observations Well I realize now I really do not pay attention at all to people! It's a good thing that you are and I hope it makes you lucid. I'm good at observing my surroundings like it's a dream. But people? I still couldn't tell you what that stranger I met just a few minutes ago looked like Could be work. I have an attitude where I try to avoid costumers as much as possible. But, I think I'll try looking at strangers as if they are DCs! Sometimes I like to make my DCs lucid like me. Do you think if I observe strangers as DCs, a stranger will observe me as a DC too?

[Serenity]

One of the things I've noticed from my people watching is now strangers remind me of dreaming and cause me to RC. Which... is a really good thing for me, because I always, always have many DC's in my dreams. And until now, I didn't have a way to use them as a way of becoming lucid.

[BigFan]

Well, I was trying to be aware today, but, like you juroara, I have many reasons for ignoring customers and focusing on each one can get very tiring and I can't afford that. Anyways, two weird things happened today. First, I saw a cart moving on it's own across a parking lot and up a small hill. It's likely due to wind since we did have some high wind, but, I did RC incase. Second, some blood on my hand disappeared after cleaning it but I couldn't find the sour e of it, so, I RCd and no dream unfortunately, otherwise, my day was "normal"

[Dannon Oneironaut]

I got my car fixed today. It is funny going to the mechanic's garage in the South here. Such good ol' boys. I was wearing my japanese shoes with the separate toe on each one so they look like hooves and I saw them good ol' boys look at me very strangely. I wanted them to do a reality check. That made me become lucid, and I think that is why they fixed my car so good and so fast and for so cheap!

[kulananda]

Here is a link to an article on Tibetan Dream Yoga. http://www.tricycle.com/feature/3652-1.html?page=0,1

[kulananda]

My wife and I went to a street fair sunday. It is a great time to practice waking lucidity. Alot of DC's. I only noticed a few things that seemd odd. First of all, i tell myself i am dreaming and i know that i am dreaming. Then i think to myself , "whats odd here, what do i need to know etc," So there was a guy, so old you could not tell how old he was. He was playin one of those one man-band old-time things . It was straped to his back, harmonica his mouth, playing a banjo, and his feet were attached ropes that played drums and cymbols as he moved his feet up and down. It looked like he ws dancing. I droped some mone in his case. A lady politely asked my wife to move so this lady could look into a mirror. A swarm of bees were flyng in a tornado like motion and kept going higher. Alot of people stoped and looked at the bees as they flew up into the sky. I like looking at peoples t-shirts and seeing what they say.

[kulananda]

I had an awesome dream (sunday night, monday morning) but did not attain lucidity. I was with my old girlfriend. The dream lasted a few hours (dreamtime) and had quite a few different episodes. I enjoyed being with her so much in the dreamtime i did not want to wake up, nor did i realize i was dreaming until i attained waking consciousness.

[kulananda]

@Dannon: if reality is a dream, then does it make sense to look at our dreams to see what they are telling us? I am wondering if this is worth "analyzing" or if in the Tibetan view, it's "meaningless". Do the Tibetans ever analyze their dreams? And of course the next question might be, to them, is reality "meaningless"? Alot of people recieve benefits from interpeting their dreams. The trick is to make a distinction between just mental purging etc and dreams that have meaning. I'm no good at it. I treat most dreams as mental purging etc; except when i attian lucidity or "spiritual" dreams. So...i guess one has to set up the types of dreams one wants pay attention to. Program your self to deliver only those dreams that meet certain requirements. It helped stop alot of unwanted dreaming for me and it doesnt work all the time...yet

[juroara]

and I think that is why they fixed my car so good and so fast and for so cheap! Lol! Are you scaring people again? Second, some blood on my hand disappeared after cleaning it but I couldn't find the sour e of it That's pretty dream like if you ask me, and kind of gross. What if it wasn't your blood? A swarm of bees were flyng in a tornado like motion and kept going higher. Alot of people stoped and looked at the bees as they flew up into the sky. Nature is always great for waking lucidity. I love to watch the whirlwind of leaves as I eat my lunch.

[Dannon Oneironaut]

Lol! Are you scaring people again? I guess so, but, you know, they kind of scare me also!