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Hello Sivason, glad to be joining the class!
I'm excited about being able to use your lessons as my daily meditation practice and bridge it over to dream practice. I'll be beginning with your first level meditation tonight before going to sleep, in addition to reciting mantras/intentions before bed. I'm looking forward to posting and working with a teacher, and updating on all my progress. Let's see how the practice develops!
After finishing my first meditation practicing the level 1 technique, the first thing I'd like to comment on is how focused I was on each individual sound in my environement coming out of the meditation. Everything was sharpened, and the vividness increase - plus the added benefit of increased awareness and less mind chatter. I can see how these techniques definitely has potential to sharpen awareness. It's going to be interesting to see the effcts of holding multiple sounds in awareness in later lessons. I'll keep updatting as the dream yoga progresses.
Continuing with the meditation practice, and carrying sense awareness practice sporadically throughout the day. I noticed that on my morning drive, my mind automatically switched gears into focusing on single sensory items and transitioning between every so often. No LD last night, but I'm continuing to record normal dreams in my written journal. I'm interested in the SILD, and considering trying it periodically if I find myself with a brief awakening during the night (via using mantras etc. which I usually manage to get).
Basic Skills Lesson #1
Version 1: Listening to a Noisy World
Level 2 - Continuing on with the meditation practice. I noticed I was able to sustain awareness of 2 noises in the environment for a period of time, but was challenged when adding the third noise; this would cause me to lapse in awareness and become distracted in a shorter duration. However, I noticed that midway through the session (which is 30 mins at the moment) my mind began to catch on and was able to sustain the noises a bit more clearly. It was a strange experiene, but it was almost as though my mind was trying to organize the sounds in front of me spatially at times. It is strange to explain in writing, yet there where periods where I experienced the spatial aspect differently. The vividness of the noises as definitley reduced from that of the first level, but I will continue to practice for several days before working on to level 3.
I just wanted to update with last night's LD before beginning another post on Basic Lesson #1. I'll record the details of he LD into my journal. I practiced mantras before bed - setting intentions to wake up after every dream and remember them completely. I woke up roughly 3 times following dream during the night and attempted to hold onto dream image while merging back in. I believe it was after my second awakening that I used the technique, and found myself aware of being in SP. Remembering that I used to induce LDs all the time through this state, I simply relaxed and let my body go through the feeling of 'sliding' until it was freed.
It seems that many of my LDs of the past - more notably the higher level lucids - were intitiatied through SP, and it seems to be continuing to emerge during the night allowing me to enter - if this techniques goes along with Dream Yoga practice, I might consider delving into it more. The dream lasted roughly 45 seconds to 1 min before a false awakening where I had a very convincing Reality Check: triple checked my hands & did not become lucid as the correct # of fingers appeared at all 3 checks. So to conclude - the mantras seem to be working well, and focusing on remembered dreams intently while returning to sleep /w intention to become lucid seems to be working. Looking forward to bridge this into more Dream Yoga based practices. Input always appreciated.
Basic Skills Lesson #1
Version 1: Listening to a Noisy World
Level 2 - Quick update with today's meditation. It was a bit easier to hold 3 sounds simultaneously; while it took me hlaf the session to begin grasping it last time, I seemed to be able to do it for short periods right from the start today.Granted I couldn't hold it for extended durations. I'm going to continue on level 2 for another couple days before hitting level 3.
Basic Skills Lesson #1
Version 1: Listening to a Noisy World
Level 2 - Continuing now with staying on 3 noises simultaneously; it's a bit easier from the start with todya's meditation, however I could only hold for short durations (15 sec or so). By the end portion of the 40min session, I noticed my mind going for 4 sounds, and finding a way to perceive it. It became almost like listening to a musical chord while noticing each individual sound: all sounds came into one, yet I was a ware they were all separate. I could only hold 4 sounds for very brief durations of a few seconds. I'm going to start a bit with level 3 tomorrow, and continue with some of these practices as I move to basic skills #2.
Basic Skills Lesson #1
Version 1: Listening to a Noisy World
Level 2 & 3 - Beginning to be able to hold 4 sounds at the same time during seated meditation. This only lasts for a couple seconds, but I can see how my mind is trying to wrap around the skill. I'm also beginning to practice level 3 while walking outside. I'm able to hold 3 sounds for durations lasting maybe 30 seconds or so, lose focus for a bit, and quickly refocus. I'll be practicing these 2 levels, and possibly implementing some of the other versions over the next few days as I have some extra time to meditate etc. I may even begin BSL #2.
Basic Skills Lesson #1
V1 & 2; L 2&3: Working on holding 4 sounds for above 4 seconds at this point; 5 is very difficult to grasp onto. Beginning a bit of version 2 as well. I'm currently able to hold up to 5 sensations within my body at the same time for moderate periods of time (6 is difficult atm). I noticed my awareness began to work this out by connecting points internally, like a constellation of sorts. One way I could try explain it is that I perceived all of this within my minds eye, and understood it was an internal map of sensation within my body.
Homework Basic Skills #1
Bridging from the practice of the basic skills, I wanted to offer a meditation of my own that I've been thinking about. This came about since I was practicing version 1 & 2.
In this meditation begin by focusing on the heart: the feeling in the body as well as any sounds which may arise (this requires a very quiet environment - it may be heard as a low pulsing in the ears). Add onto these 2 awareness another autonomic function: focus on the sensation of breathing as well as the sounds. To bring this practice to level 2 & 3, focus sustain focus on the entirety of the breath with both auditory and tactile functions. To take it a step further, add in an additional sound (or more!) from the environment. I thought it was an interesting idea as the heartbeat and breath are always available for focus, and focus may be refined. Also, it incorporates sense work from the entirety of practice.
This post will cover the practices around last night's LD chain: the most vivid, focused, and lengthy lucid dream I've had. This LD chain spanned 5 lucid dreams (I will record them in my DJ). I am continuing with sense meditation during the day, as well as mindfulness of breathing. Before bed I am focusing on reciting a mantra: "I am awake in Dreams, My body wakes after dreams".
I woke in the middle of the night and began to focus all of my attention on the intent of becoming lucid in entering the next dream as well as recalling the previous dream.
I am lucid from the beginning, yet do a RC anyway. I decide not to fly or influence the dream too much; I remember a Dream Views Podcast discussing simply immersing yourself in the dream in order to practice stability. I begin anchoring into my pure awareness and senses and simply walk around for the beginning of many of the 5 lucids, exploring the environment. Practicing the sense meditation the past week and a half, I am beginning to see how critical it is to increase clarity of awareness, not only to initiate LDs, but simply to stabilize & increase vividness. I feel that the more mindfulness based meditations I've done for years help me with ignoring distracting thoughts however; I feel less impulsive than I was when I was a teenager.
Another technique I began using to chain the LDs was meditating through the voids (I huge barrier I had in years past yet didn't understand how to get thorugh). When the dream was beginning to feel as though it was going into void, instead of spinning, I would sit, close my eyes and begin to meditate, focusing on the mantra: "I am dreaming". This would lead to another awakening and another LD (not a very ambiguous FA but more of a continuation).
I know this post was pretty lengthy, but I had to share : ) All tips, comments, advice, etc are greatly welcomed!
Basic Skills #2
Diffuse Vision
Level 1. I wanted to begin work on diffuse vision while continuing practice of the Basic Skills #1 techniques. I wanted to post since I felt I grasped the aim of the exercise for brief periods of time.
I practiced diffuse vision today while gazing into my yard, holding the two posts of the window in my extreme peripheries. I completed relaxed focused vision/awareness and attempted to let my awareness settle into my peripheries (I assume this is desired at this stage). What I noticed for periods lasting roughly 4-5 seconds intermittently was that I entered a trance of sorts which I'll try to explain: it was as though my awareness was situated at the edge of a large convex lense, and I was aware of all points in the dome simultaneously without being focused on anything particular; it was as though a massive panorama view opened up all around me and my vision boundaries expanded. Just curious if this is on track. I'll continue to practice Basic Skills #1 as well as this technique for a bit.
Basic Skills #2
Diffuse Vision
Level 1. Yesterday, I continued to practice Diffuse Vision. I continue to maintain strong focus on the two edges of the peripheries and attempt to take in the whole scene while not focusing on one point. In addition I am doing seated BSL#1 and some mindfulness meditation. Yesterday, I sat facing a close wall with a curtain taking in two edge posts. What I notice is that at nearly 10 minutes into this exercise I begin transitioning into a sort of trance state like the one I mentioned above. I'm not sure If I'm supposed to be inducing this/if this is the goal or if I am not quite approaching the focus correctly. I'll continue to update how this exercise goes.
Updating with last night's LD. I used mantras once again as the primary induction technique. I'm going off intuition with this one as I noticed that act of combining this with strong will/intent during day meditation and night meditations has been correlated with lucidity. I'm tying it into the WILD techniques involving 'lay still and wait'. I'm currently trying a mantra "Awake in Dreams" which I use at the end portion of meditations as well as mantras before bed and during mid-night wakings. I did not go into a WILD directly, but became spontaneously lucid w/o a reality check midway through the dream.
As far as tying Dream Yoga practice to the dream itself, I decided from the inset to increase the dream clarity and sought to use tactile sense in order to do so. A tree was a main feature of the dream which I walked up to a consistently felt the bark of: it was rough with shallow, slightly curved, vertical recesses down the drunk. In addition I repeated to myself "Eric focus!" instead of simply requesting clarity from the dream. I wanted to put the belief into my ability and use my effort/will this time rather than request of the dream like I did for some many years in the past.
An unusual feature of this dream was the [B]whtie out[B] which occurred at the end of the dream. While I encounter black voids (black outs) in other dreams - which lead to FAs - I can meditate through them and appear in new dream scenes. During this attempt, however, I awoke to WL.
If anyone has any ideas as far as the white out - or any other portion of this LD report - feel free to comment!
Basic Skills #2
Diffuse Vision
Level 1 & 2
[In addition, I am continuing to practice BS#1 Version 2 as I feel the tactile meditations are useful to develop stabilization at the onset of LDs.]
Paying close attention to the visual field in level BS2 L1, I'm noticing that I seem to lose binocular vision while I go into the trance-like state I mentioned previously while maintaining awareness of 2 points on either edge of the visual field. Progressing to level 2 directly after level 1 and prior seated meditation, I quickly get into a trance-like state in which I have single pointed concentration on one area with what appears to be loss of binocular vision (I am looking from at the point from ~ 2 inches away - not sure if this is the aim). I feel I may need guidance as to whether I'm on track wtih visual distortions; at times I'm noticing the focused central item appearing as a hazy version of itself slightly to the left..
Basic Skills #2
Wandering Mind Recall
With wandering mind recall, I am focusing on a slight variation of a mantra that I use before bed as well as during mid-night awakening, yet with a light variation.
I feel that I see the purpose of the Wandering Recall after 2 practice sessions. It seems that you're building ability to lock on strongly to an intention - ultimately attempting to carry this into a lucid dream. We could say we're working with the subconscious, or priming the subconscious, but ultimately, it seems that we're building and sustaining focus of intention/thought which can be tied into incubation & WBTB.
I've noticed that I quickly go into a focused state with this technique. I also wanted to note that I notice a sensation in my 'heart chakra'. Although I've never really looked into chakras, I wanted to mention it since it seems like I elicited some type of response - like the mantra/thought resonated /w me.
I'm continuing to practice a combination of BS#1 as well. I plan to maintain a practice of just these techniques for most of the upcoming month.
You are on to something here. Re-explore this idea a few times. Good job. also, 5 sounds is very challenging for anyone (doing great)Quote:
Originally Posted by Oneirin
I got through post #9, but am off to Brazillian JiuJitsu class. I will try to read the rest very soon.
Basic Skills #2
Wandering Mind Recall & Be Here Now
Continuing with the Wandering Recall in evening set around an intention to LD. I noticed that in The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep, they discuss how they repeat prayers before bed intenting for or asking to recognize the dream state. I've taken a similar approach, and notice a clear 'emotion response' from the authenticity; I feel this allows me to stay focused for a while. Adding to my previous post, it seems that the Wandering Mind Recall may help us keep reference of our intention/focus as we enter into a WILD.
For the Be Here Now technique, I've noticed that approaching the meditation in this way encourages the mind to engage in a sort of "open awareness" meditation - focusing on sensory input. Additionally, thoughts "narrating" these experiences are not suppressed, so we can maintain a detached awareness of the sensory input as well as the mind's interpretation. I feel this may be good for entering into a WILD as well as not getting caught up in the mind's interpretation of sensory input while grounding into a lucid dream. A great advantage of both techniques is that ithey encourage recall following a focusing period which would be essential to staying on point in a lucid dream, and recalling events afterward.
Continuing to work primarily on the Tactile Awareness portion of BS#1 as well. Thanks for the input!
Updating with practices linked to a lucid dream last night. I feel a big contributor was the fact that I focused on a strong intention/building of confidence as my night time Wandering Mind Recall. I focused single-pointedly on my own ability and potential to lucid dream and made sure I really felt it throughout the meditation. I mentioned this practice in the previous post, and I'm going to continue! For this lucid dream, I used SSILD as my induction method. Some time into a dream, I found myself in a part of my home, and simply 'got the feeling' I was dreaming. I reasoned I wasn't, but decided to look at my hands anyway. I looked at the front and then the back - both of which appeared normal - yet I became lucid anyway :) . Still trying to work these RC details out as my hands can be pretty convincing in some dreams.
Once lucid, an interesting aspect was my recall of waking life practices. I remember thinking clearly "The dream is a bit unstable - I'm going to practice some of sivason's sense-based instruction and try to stabilize the dream". I found a nearby wall and was amazed at how incredibly realistic the sensation s were. Upon awakening, I touched the wall behind my bed, and noted that it felt exactly the same as in my dream (a rough/gritty texture). The dream 'whited out' after a short period after 30 seconds or so and I woke up. I seem to have white outs as opposed to black outs when waking up.
Basic Skills #2
Diffuse Vision - I'm beginning to practice this technique while going on walks with my dog. What I've noticed is that engaging this perception causes a flood of sensory input with any direct focus on one item. After reading some of "Dreaming Yourself Awake" last night, I realized something. I feel the technique may help by out-competing other stimuli which may cause the dream to weaken/fade. This focus on everything in the visual field allows an enormous amount of visual information to occupy attention, anchoring awareness, while preventing hyper-focusing on a single item, and thus losing stability due lack of 'movement' within the dream environment.
Basic Skills #2
Mantra Awareness & Mudra Awareness.
After practicing the mudra awarenss a few times, I noticed that my mind was beginning to be able to recreate the feeling of a finger opening - almost like the concept of the 'phantom limb' I've heard about in the med field. I feel that stretching the mind to be able to do this may be especially helpful in encouraging transitions from SP stages. Since I enter this state on many WILD attempts, it could be used along with the relaxation techniques I use while 'sliding out' of the body. This may help encourage the mind past sticking points etc.
With the mantra awarenss, what struck me is that certain tones had no influence/no impact on my emotional state, while others seem to resonate immediately. I noticed this reaction from the mantra tones arising in my heart chakra (as I noticed the reaction with other practices in the class). I'm interested to learn more about the chakras as the heart chakra is the predominant one I seem to notice.
BS#1 and BS#2 Update
Continuing to place the majority of my focus on Wandering Mind Recall, Be Here & Now, as well as increasing Awareness practice during the day. Occasionally doing Samatha meditation as well (mindfulness of breath). I am trying to focus on increasing the intention/prayer aspect of the Wandering Mind Recall to the point where I can consistently make a very powerful intention to be aware in dreams. I realize when I have a mantra that resonates, I recall very little distraction from the intent. This concept of strong intention is making more sense as I read more Dream Yoga material.
Mantra Awarenss is beginning to make more sense to me as I am reading Nomkhai Norbu's 'Dream Yoga'. He discusses how the Clear Light practices, and picturing a White Tibetan 'A' symobol (Pronounced Ah) in the center of the body before sleep is the most critical part of practice. i understand why the focus on our response to the mantras was introduced in this course. I am going to continue practicing the focus on this mantra as I sleep to delve into the mantra awareness a bit further.
Three lucid dreams throughout the night last night which I wanted to update with. I will update these dreams to my Dream Journal. I feel the strongest contributors to these LDs were: practicing All Day Awareness for the first time, Be Here Now Meditation late in the evening, Wandering Mind Recall on the mantra "I will be aware in Dreams", and focus on the Clear Light practice of picturing the Tibetan A while fall asleep. I focused on the main practices Nomkhai Norbu stressed in the beginning of his book 'Dream Yoga' and decided to integrate these with the course.
I woke after the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th sleep cycles coming out of LDs and recording the dreams. They became progressively more vivid throughout the night with increasing levels of detail and clarity. It was the first time I was able to change the dream scene by jumping through a 'portal', and was able to end up in the location of my 'Spiritual Teacher' in the dream (my current dream goal), although I awoke before getting the chance to approach and speak to her. I'm still working out dream blindness as well as practicing preventing waking fully. I'm glad for the success though!
I had another three lucid dreams throughout the night last night, waking up between them to record in my written journal I'm going to talk a bit about dream yoga practices I feel that may have helped induce lucidity, as well as some ways I bridged the practice into the dreams.
Throughout the day, I practiced a great deal of awareness, trying to maintain All Day Awareness, and simply be very mindful. I spread out open awareness meditations throughout the day as I wanted to see how much of an impact it has (I had about 2.25 hrs of meditation time). I incorporate the recall aspect from the "Be Here Now" practice. Throughout the day I would periodically recite a mantra: "I will be aware in dreams" which seems to be working very effectively. Right before bed I focus single pointedly this mantra, and do not end meditation until the intent is very strong. I Continue this technique as i lay in bed, and resolve to be aware of every waking period as well. I dropped visualizations at this point.
I am recording all the details to my DJ, but I wanted to speak a bit about the second LD as I got the chance enter a very focused meditation insdie of it. At one point, the dream began to feel as though it was fading, and I resolved to simply meditate as the void was maintain despite rubbing, spinning etc. It seemed as though there was nothing but my awareness and blackness. I just decided to focus strongly on this awareness within the dream. I was surprised at how long and stable the meditation was - my mind was very clear. During this period I experienced two high pitched long beeping sounds within my center of awareness. I'll also add that the meditation on physical sensations seems to be aiding as I rub my dream body to ramp up stability and clarity.
Two lucid dreams last night which I wanted to discuss due to the induction methods I used as well as meditations within the dream.
I used the Tibetan technique of visualizing a red Tibetan A in the throat while drifting to sleep following awakenings. I did this for 'clarity and awareness' as the Tibetans teach. It seemed to work effectively for me personally as I got a LD in each of this periods, yet none appeared to be a seamless transition of consciousness.
Next, I am using meditation more often as I find myself entering the void. It seems as though more dreams are not forming at this point, and I usually end up waking up. I am wondering if there is a very effective method for dealing with voids via dream yoga techniques.
BS#1 & BS#2
I am continuing with sets of practices from just these two levels currently; I want to really hone in a lot on the awarenss aspect before moving on to visualization too strongly. As I'm practicing All Day Awarenss and meditating a lot using the 'Be Here Now' recall system, I am beginning to see a spike in my awareness within dreams. Everything is beginning to 'click'. I've been doing research on awareness, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the brain, and how this system goes on-line when becoming aware within a dream. I'm seeing why mindfulness and self-awareness/situational awareness is critical to having consistent lucid dreams.
Continuing to experience increases in lucid dreams, with two additional LDs last night. I'm continuing with ADA throughout the day, Be here now meditation at night, mantras, and the Tibetan A visualization at WBTBs. I will start doing short visual practices with Intermediate #1 soon to hone in on color/shape visualization.
I'm learning to navigate the void as well since I need to find ways to make it through/encourage dream formation. I feel like visualization may really aid at this point. I attempted to visualize a scene as well as create a sense of 'motion' by imagining walking, and managed to end up in a dream scene for a short period of time coming out of the void.
Continuing with a great increase in lucid dreaming frequency and length, with another 3 last night. I feel that consistent practice of awareness throughout the day coupled with strong open awareness/be here now meditation at night has been a huge factor. Having the right mantra to use for my wandering mind recall as well will remain a staple in my practice
Within these lucids, the purpose of many of the techniques really hit at a deeper level. I really understood the purpose of the BS#1 skills as I realized it was critical to flood my awareness with sensory information in order to stabilize the dream and make it more vivid. I feel that my ability to do this was WAY better after the BS practices. As far as focus within the dream and pulling memory through, all of the memory components of BS#2 became very clear. I was amazing how this realization of the importance of the practices really hit once I was in the dreams themselves actively using them based out of intuition. It was as if I had 'extra tools in the toolbox' and knew exactly how to use them! I was able to stabilize these dreams for way longer, leading the third to me the longest LD I've ever had. I managed to successfully navigate through the void state as well which was a barrier for a while for me.
Continuing to experience a large increase in lucid dream frequency as well as duration with three more lucid dreams last night. I feel that a strong awareness practice throughout the day combined with a open awareness/'be here now' meditation is a huge factor. Additionally, a mantra paired /w wandering mind recall will remain a staple practice as its leading to a lot of progress.
What I noticed within the dreams was the influence that the Basic Skills really have on dream performance. I realized intuitively that it was critical that I ground into as many senses in order to stabilize and intensify the dream at certain points. It was almost as though I was tapping into these abilities I developed within BS#1. This led to what I would say was the longest LD I've ever had (LD3 of the night). The importance of the memory aspects of BS#2 became very apparent upon awaking as I was able to focus within the dream, yet engage memory once awake.
LD last night in which I had the chance to use 'Resistance to Shock' for the first time as well as some of the other intermediate skills. I'm not practicing these routinely atm, but I've been working with them, so I thought it would be great to update as they helped! I dealt with an LD in which I became really excited at the onset for the first time. Usually I'm very calm, but this time I realized I actually need to reduce the excitement and immediate thought "I need to use sivason's Resistance to Shock" I went into a very clear mind state right away, and it wasn't even necessary to 'watch emotions/thoughts go by like clouds' as the zen monks say. This was awesome for stabilization. It's just amazing to see how often material from this course comes into my head in a completely clear and rational exactly when I need it in an LD.
(More details related to imaginary body/limb movement practices during SP, but I'll update when there's a breakthrough).
I had the chance to practice a meditation during the void states in a LD the other day, and noticed that my ability to hold awareness through these states is getting stronger. When I wake up, I realize I have some recollection of awareness during non-dream states, but I'm not positive if this is just another period in the void - I still need more experience wtih this.
I upped my meditation time for weekdays recently, and have begun doing some of the visualization trainings, but will hold off on posting as I continue to practice. I will update with the final version of Diffuse Vision very soon as well.
Basic Skills #2
Diffuse Vision: L4
I noticed that relaxation was the key with this one, in order to simply allow all of the visuals to flood into my visual field without focus on one particular area. It was a bit difficult to maintain this approach throughout the full 10 minutes, yet when I did, I noticed that the movie started to take on a full vision, almost 2 dimensional type of appearance within my awareness/visual field. It was as though I was aware of everything that was going on without actually actively focusing on it. The scenes just encompassed my whole awareness. I would need more practice to sustain this lack of single focus with vision. I'm assuming that by reducing focus on one particular item, and allowing all stimuli to flood into awareness, this may be a tool for stabilizing LDs. This could help keep our awareness of the entire dream scene heightened without getting caught up with one item.
Intermediate Skills Lesson #1
Visual
Continuing to build my ability to expand the 'tiny flecks of color' throughout my visual field. I've never trained in visuals, so I feel like I'm going to need a bit of practice to really be able to get through step 6 effectively. Some colors come more naturally to me - such as green, blue, and white - but red is a bit difficult.
Fortunately, I found that I was naturally way better at the geometric shape practice than color practice; I am able to generate quite a few different shapes and manipulate them within my mind's eye.
I'm going to continue working on this for a while as well as strengthen at lot of the Basic Skills before working onto tactile.
Continuing practice of Be Here Now Meditation every day along with Wandering Mind Recall on Intentions every night. Continuing with holding awareness as much as possible throughout the day while performing Reverse Reality Checks as well.
With Intermediate Skills, I'm getting a little bit better and changing between colors in my visual field with eyes closed yet colors remain dull at this point. I will continue working on Basic Skills for another month or so before devoting a lot of time to visual work. I really want to get a solid & consistent awareness going, and carry it over to sleep, ingraining this in my subconscious.
Got the chance to meditate in my first lucid of the night last night :). The room in the dream was nearly pitch black and I was having a tough time gaining lighting, so I decided to sit and meditate rather than interact with the environment. I had an amazing experience , and was wondering if there were any lessons to be learned from dream yoga practices.
Within a few seconds of starting the meditation, my awareness shot through my head and into dim glowing golden light. This raising of my awareness out of my dream head was accompanied by a mild euphoric state. It lasted for a few seconds before the dream faded and I woke.
I don't really know what this experience was, or if it's common in dream yoga practices, but I wanted to include it in case anyone has some insight or is interested. Either way - it was something that's never happened in waking life meditation! It's like many dream yoga books say: spiritual practice in dream is 9x more powerful.
Continuing to put my time into Basic Skills #1 & #2, focusing on 'be here now' meditation and 'wandering mind recall'. I'm getting better at sustaining my mantras/attention before bed which I feel is really helping out with lucidity. I big advantage I'm noticing with this combination is my ability to hold awareness through void states when lucids begin to fade. I seem to 'catch on' to FAs pretty quickly coming out of the void as if a memory of my intent to stay lucid pulls through this period.
A bit of work on visuals, but still holding off until I increase practice.
Intermediate Skills #2
Tactile
Beginning some of the tactile practices following 'Be here now' meditations. I noticed I'm way more natural at tactile exercises that visual. In the first portion, simulating my hand opening felt fairly realistic in my mind after a short period of practice. I'm starting to get a bit better at the full arm, and other parts of the body, but it'll take a bit of work. Either way, I can perceive what it would feel like to move a 'phantom limb' at this point, yet I hope for it to become more realistic.
Over the next few months, I plan on continuing most of my practice (probaly 90%) with Basic Skills as my foundation, and add some of the Intermediate #1 on top.
Used Intermediate Skill: Tactile in order to initiate a lucid from a FA last night. I found myself in a bed in a room which my mind didn't register as another one at the time. I felt that it was simply the right time to try leaving my body as I still had the intention for lucidity on my mind. I began thinking about the practice as well as my post from the previous day, and imagined these 'phantom limbs' moving from my body. I thought back to the arm exercise and tried to re-create my practice from the day. Boom! Lucid next to the bed in a really interesting dark mansion setting.
Just wanted to update as it was a small breakthrough with this technique. I knew even in the dream that it still needs work, but hey, its functional.
I shortened my practice of the tactile and sound meditations from Basic Skills #1 for a while, but am seeing how are important they after spending some time in the void state following a shorter LD last night.
In the void, I distinctly heard the realistic sound of water running from a shower which was in the dream. I could really hold my awareness on this for a very long time, and the void persistent for probably a minute or so while holding the awareness. I was able to focus simultaneously on rubbing my dream hands. Being able to multi-task with this awareness was really helpful, and I feel that if I didn't wake up, I could have held strong enough awareness to enter the next dream scene with lucidity.
I've put less time into the visualization training so far than the other techniques, but after a few days of spending a bit more time on these exercises, I began seeing how useful they are for lucid entry into forming dreams (WILDS or DEILDS).
When trying to re-enter a previous LD scene, I noticed imagery begin to form, and my mind intuitively created a visual sense of a dream body as well as the tactile sense of the dream limbs moving/circling into the dream space (sky of the LD). This seemed to happen spontaneously as if knowledge of how to do it was prepped from practice of the day.
Intermediate Skill #1
I decided to practice the tactile exercise a bit more often as I've been able to focus on my dream bodymuch more easily during LD entries and stabilization the past couple weeks. I've actually noticed that the tactile feel of the body/limbs comes up spontaneously; it's almost as though my mind is building the ability to 'slide out' during some DEILDS, and focus more on the tactile feel of dream body rub downs for stabilization.
I've been combining the movement of 'imaginary/dream limbs' with certain energy work during the day. Since this visualization came way more easily to me, I started incorporating colors into the limbs. I noticed doing visuals (shapes as well as colors) is way easier for me when I incorporate it into a tactile exercise (rather than in empty space).
Continuing to place a slightly stronger focus on the 'recall' portions of 'be here now' and 'wandering mind recall'. I've noticed that my ability to recall dreams during micro-awakenings is increasing a lot, and I have many dream periods recorded throughout the night due to this. I've noticed that at this point, my mind goes through a similar 'scanning' process after a dream period, in a similar way that it grabs for memories during the recall portion of the two meditations. I'm going to continue to work on this recall ability, present moment meditations, single thought mantras, and some tactile field exercises from beginner and intermediate skills.
Updating with progress as I work with Beginner and Intermediate Sills
Continuing to have an increased number of lucids, mostly DILD. I feel that the 'be here now' meditation is really helping with developing the mindfulness in conjunction with awareness practice during the day. Many times, I'll simply be talking to a DC, or walking and thinking about awarness, and it'll hit me. While this happens toward the end of REM many times, I'm continuing to work on extending the dreams, or continuing through the void. I'm going to continue to work on 'coming in at the right time' with dreams, as opposed to the last few minutes of a REM cycle
Having a bit of success with WILD, although I maybe have one every 7-10 days or so. Tactile sense is helping me a lot with this as I felt it was a natural strength, and decided to work with it There's usually a period I can't account for, but soon 'find myself popping up' in a dream shortly after the WILD attempt using body feel as the anchor. Focusing on point int he body (Beginner skill) has helped with this as well as occasional body scans during 'be here now'. I do the microcosmic orbit meditation, and the beginner tactile meditation helped a lot with focusing on the points in the body throughout the orbit.
Although visualization exercises with colors was a bit more difficult, I noticed the other day that once I am on the verge of sleep when attempting WILD that I'm able to create vivid colors very easily. I can then work these into the shapes which I was naturally better at. It seems like if I practice more during waking hours, it'll be much easier when in the transition stage, or even in the void
Intermediate Skills #1
Visualization Training
I've been increasing the time I'm putting into visual meditation exercises. The difficult aspect is transferring three dimensional objects as well as colors from the minds eye into the visual field itself. Things I'm still working on improving with this exercise.
-Creating my visual field into a wide variety of single colors and rotating between colors. I'm getting better at this, yet trying to increase how vivid the colors are.
-Creating a variety of three dimensional objects in my visual field with clarity, creating multiples, putting them into color, and putting a single colored background (in that order)
I'm giving myself a lot more time to focus on this exercise to really hone it in. I've seen how useful it's been for helping me transition out of the void (a sticking point for me the past couple months). When doing into the void during LDs now, I can create the visual field into a color, and allow visuals begin to begin naturally. As I get better, I imagine I can start creating my own dream scenes from this stage.
I see the value for this visualization training for control as well as LD entry and want to improve it. It's also interesting seeing research showing how natural LDers tend to be great at rotating 3-dimensional objects within their mind accurately.
Intermediate Skills #1
Visualization
Continuing practice of picturing multiple 3D objects in my visual field. I'm working on improving putting color in the background with a bit more clarity while holding at least two 3D objects. From here, it's a matter of increasing vividness of of both color and shape before I complicate anything.
Tactile
Still remains easier than visualization, so I'm not focusing as much in this area. I'm re-create the feeling of arms moving & hands opening etc, although I could definitely improve on making it more realistic with time.
Intermediate Skills#2
I tracing energy movement through the points became a bit easier after practicing microcosmic orbit for a period of time. The 'simulated' swaying came fairly naturally, but I need to improve on actually feeling energy move under the skin and through the points etc.
Intermediate Skills #1 are becoming very useful in kick starting lucids as well as helping with conjuring.
Now when I find myself lucid in a dreamscape, yet my dream body seems to be 'locked' (probably due to brain sensing REM atonia) I can begin to move 'phantom limbs' and feel them moving outward. I then am able to see my arms and hands appear in the LD, and slip into the dreamscape.
I'm noticing that having items appear with intent is becoming easier, and I'm assuming it has to do with meditation exercises engaging the visual cortex. Since I'm getting better at rotating 3D objects during the meditations, working my way through 2 at a time and increasing vividness, I'm seeing that this is probably assisting me with visualizing new objects appearing in the dream.
Pretty excited about my first seamless WILD transition last night using some dream yoga techniques! Although I've had quite a few WILDS since I started practicing LDing, there's always been a period of time which I couldn't account for; I'd either suddenly find myself fully awake in a dream scene following an attempt, find myslef having an OBE type transition after a short lapse in awareness, or go through my own 'sinking' technique and experience a short lapse in a awareness before lucidity.
In this attempt, I was aware of hypnagogia setting in, and focused solely on the image. My mind entered an absorption similar to that of the 'be here now', locking into the moment. I was thrown out of the experience, but regained focus. It becomes clear how techniques like be here now, thought suppression, and even immunity to shock can greatly aid in these types of transitions if developed.
I was able to stay aware as the item formed, bring out a phantom limb into the scene and begin engaging tactile sense of the couch. I simply immersed myself more until my dream body drifted into the scene!
Awesome experience, although definitely a much shorter lucid. Definitely increases motivation for practice!
Advanced Skill #2
Immunity to Shock
I've been working on this skill for quite a few weeks now, and noticed a bit of an improvement in regard to adrenaline suppression. For my routine, I typically wake up at 6:30 and immediately walk into a cold shower. The approach is more of an awareness of the sensation of 'cold' sweeping throughout my body, and nervous system responding a bit, all without becoming mentally over involved. I simply remain aware in a non-attached meditative state of experiencing 'cold'; no elaborations. Repeatedly approaching like this has definitely increased my ability to regulate excessive responses. In this period, I haven't had any quick awakenings due to excitement or other emotions, so it's working for now! (although it's typically not too much of an issue for me)
Basic & Intermediate Skills
I've been spending more time lately on night vipassana meditation, which shares many commonalities with the 'be here now' meditation. I've been putting more focus on 'wandering mind recall' afterward, and have noticed that the more time/focus I place on this, the more my recall improves. Right after, I move into a combination of the tactile and visual Intermediate #1 exercises combined with a mantra I use for LD induction right before bed. I've noticed that with this combination, I get spikes in lucidity, and have fortunately been having multiple LDs on most of the past several night. In this combination, I imagine 'phantom arms' coming in front of my field of vision while levitating in a lucid dream. I feel and visualize hands and arms raising in an ethereal blue shade, while repeating "Tonight I'm lucid in the dreamworld": a mantra that 'holds weight' for me. The trend seems to be that following a very brief WBTB - along with with doing my own version of SSILD combined with body sensation as I drift into dreams - I have many lucid dreams in which my awareness simply raises as my arms come in front of me, and I say "I'm lucid" as I reach lucidity.
As far as 'mudra awareness', I've found a particular mudra with my thumb and index finger connecting in a circular shape and fingers extending which tends to center/calm me and ground my awareness automatically. I plan to use this mudra for stabilization in an LD, but haven't done this yet. The approach of simply staring at my hands for stabilization when I feel that I need to has been helping with dream extension however.
I got the random idea last night to try casting a fireball in a lucid after being inspired by one of sivason's summer 2016 dream competition journals. I remembered back to his use of the 'energy flow simulation' for his lucid, and tried hurling a huge fireball at a tree...but absolutely nothing happened hahaha. Need to work a bit more on 'energy flow simulation' as I've only been practicing this one sporadically.
Congratulations Oneirin! Your dedication and focus is paying off. Must be amazing to consciously transition from being awake to a dream. Keep it up!
Thanks Soleen! I really appreciate the support and encouragement. Dream Yoga has been an awesome journey so far, and some of the experiences have been simply amazing. I feel that the exercises in sivason's course are worth the investment for anyone dedicated to LDing. If you ever feel like you want some assistance, or just want to chat, feel free to PM!
Thank you so much Oneirin! How is your dream yoga practice going? Are you still practising? I really want to join the class, but i am flaky and if i register, i will expose my flakiness to everyone here when i post for the first month and then slowly fade away. Looking through your workbook really inspired me to start a journey of my own. I joined this forum about a week ago and had my first lucid dream after 5 months last night. So i just wanted to thank you and the others on this forum for contributing to this community. It is so refreshing to meet like-minded people who understand when you talk about your other reality. Look forward to more interactions.
Happy dreaming!
Still practicing every day! I'm going to post a bit longer of an update this weekend as I've been getting some cool lucids that incorporate the 'Visualization' lesson. It's been interesting playing around with techniques while trying to pull certain things off, and coming to find out first hand why they're part of the course. Spending more time reading sivason's dream journal is really deepening my understanding of the techniques, and it's building all the time.I can understand your hesitancy to join the course; I'm going to PM you with extra links/info you'll probably find helpful. Congrats on your first lucid btw! Many more will come.Quote:
Originally Posted by Soleen
Basic Skills
I recently got back into practicing some sense-based meditations now as I've just gotten back into the ADA practice. I notice that I'm able to hold a few different from varying sensory inputs at the same time at this point. I feel that practicing this tech in the past helped me hold multiples of 1 sense at a time, and the ADA is helping me to hold multiple senses.
I'm practicing more vippasana before bed (similar to 'be here now') and have noticed this tends to correlate with lucidity.
Intermediate Skills
Visual Working mainly on colors and 3-D shapes. I'm trying to get to the point where I can rotate more vividly. This will take time. This is helping me a lot with lucids! Roughly once a week or so, I'll find myself in a void state, yet now I can turn my visual field into a color, then in a short while begin to progressively visualize a dream scene I want to go to. I've noticed that I can successfully land into another lucid scene with this tech rather than slip into non-lucidity :). I've noticed the visualization is way easier to pull off in these void states than in seated meditation.
Energy Flow Simulation I practice this one a bit every day, more so on weekends. I need to work on vividness at this point, but can slightly feel sensation if I really focus.
Tactile I've been combining this one with 'mudra awareness' occasionally. I'm focusing on my right arm predominantly right now, and am able to fairly vividly feel and say the phantom limb come in front of me while seeing the hand open and close while feeling it. I then work through a mudra where I progressively touch all my fingers to my thumb one at a time. It's becoming way more realistic now, and I want to try stabilizing with it down the road.
The tactile exercises have become more prominent in LD induction for me lately, and help a lot after WILD attempts. I tend to become aware of buzzing in the head, and continue to practice sliding out at this point with more success using 'phantom limbs'.
Advanced Skills
Immunity to Shock Continuing with cold showers first thing in AM. I actually like this as part of my routine now, and am getting much better at flicking off the part of my mind that really resists before hopping in. I notice a mental command helps override it. Also getting better at simply watching the sensation.
I had the chance to use two of the advanced skills last night in order to transition into a dream during the WILD process. I finally became aware of the dream quickly forming in front of me after holding still and remaining aware for about an hour (it took a while!). I got excited because I knew this was my chance to 'walk in'. I've never had a problem with excitement collapsing a dream mid-way, but this time I felt that the dream would not solidify unless the whole concept of 'Immunity to Shock' kicked in. I kept my cool and just focused on the figures. I got distracting thoughts that were telling me I would slip out, and the only way to deal with it was to simply 'suppress' them. Mindfulness or the vippasana approach weren't of much use at this point as I was in a position where I couldn't let the thought distract me from pure concentration. It happened quickly, and I kind of did this whole process intuitively, but knowledge of these techs I feel actually allowed me to 'walk into the dream' successfully. It was awesome!
I still need to practice the "suppressing emerging thoughts' exercise more, but I'm able to apply it when I need it at this point, which is good to know!
I've been focusing more on Vippasana and 'be here now' style meditations lately. Also, I've been incorporating a bit more tactile exercises and have become better at recreating/imagining the tactile feel of hand mudras, actually feeling as though fingers are progressively moving and touching in front of my field of awareness. I'm becoming better at actually visualizing the phantom limb as well.
I want to improve in this area, so I'm going to focus more on tactile exercises for the next couple months along with 'be here now style meditations'.
I'll post how this is influencing dreams as well as lucidity!
Updating with current tactile exercises.
I've been using a combination of the Tactile Beginner Lesson meditations in conjunction with the 'be here now' meditation. I'm essentially practcing awareness of body as well as the 'space of the mind' (shamatha practice). I begin increasing the amount of points I can hold in awareness while reamining aware of my thoughts entering my mind as well as the presence of gravity [you can even consider this as another suggestion for the 'homework' in that lesson].
I've been practicing the the Gravity RC for nearly two weeks, and plan to stick with it for the full 3 months necessary to see strong results. I'm going to continue to build my capacity to incorporate body awareness/gravity awareness into all of daily life as well as my meditations, so the tactile work is really helping to integrate this.
I've had a drop in lucidity due to the tech change, but have been having a lot of levitation and flying dreams with control. It seems the body awareness is really carrying over even at this point. Continuing to focus on recall for this period as well.
I'll keep updating with Gravity success and how tactile work is playing out in dreams!
Continuing with tactile exercises/body feel along with be here now meditations. I'm also incorporating
as well as experimenting with different mantras as opposed to typical WBTB tech.
I'm focusing more so on Tactile: stage 5 of The Basic Lesson #1, completing body awareness to begin night meditation, and progressing to body awareness as well as awareness of 'space of the mind'. It's very natural to be aware of gravity through the whole process, and I'm building ability to perceive any "physical sensory impulses" coming in.
Occasionally, I'll incorporate earlier stages and try to hold fully body/gravity awareness along with the mind (in a non-judgmental/'be here now' style).
This mind/body awareness is definitely carrying through the day, and tendency to be very aware of gravity as well as my entire body feel is becoming more of my daily experience.
At this point, I keep experiencing dreams where I'm walking, thinking about when the gravity awareness will kick in and make me lucid. I'm using prospective mantras for this. Continuing for a while to see if this tactile/gravity awareness will carry over :).
It's been a while since I've formally been trying to LD, but still having spontaneous LDs here and there. Been doing a whole lot of meditation (similar to the "Be here now" technique) which I believe is helping to have spontaneous LDs. Resistance to shock is something I'm continuing to become interested in via cold plunging and heavy squat sessions. I'm going to work on building dream recall do kick back lucidity to where I once had it. Will be begin weaving mantras in as well.
I decided I wanted to work a bit more on visualizations in order to increase dream vividness and control in general. I circled back to the visualization training and for the past 2 weeks roughly have been putting in some practice during formal meditation sessions.
I'm currently getting better at shifting the full visual field between different colors, yet need to work to increase vividness. I'm playing around with shapes as well, and I'm beginning to be able to visualize two identical shapes, yet of different colors, facing toward one another. This visualization isn't very vivid yet and gets more difficult when I try to change the background as well.
I noticed that visualization has been great for transitioning out of "black void" states that I end up in from time to time when the dream imagery begins to fade. Sivason mentioned tactile simulation/visualization is great great for the initial stages of WILD when in SP, and I've noticed that visualization in particular has been really helpful for me in jump starting the visuals for the next dream scene
Last night for example, I was was in the void (which sometimes knocks me into non-lucidity) and was able to create the next dream scene by imagining first green, then a bush/tree. I'm going to keep working on these skills and try to get to more advanced summon abilities (direct field of view). There have been huge increases in vividness when generating out of field of view items though!