How to not have animal dreams

[Kanano]

I've read a few things here about people having dreams they didn't want to have, like something stupid that happened during that day, or something similar. You know, something they didn't give a damn about and certainly didn't want to dream about. I've found a way to not have these kinds of dreams and instead have more meaningful dreams. I don't know if other people do the same, but I'll just go ahead and post it. I play video games during the day, like Batman or Aliens vs Predator etc. These games are fun, but dreaming about them isn't. You know, inane crap like this: I was playing Aliens vs Predator with a guy, except it was real. I was an Alien, he was a Marine. There was something about reading a forum where people were giving love advice that I could see while playing. I found him in a corner next to a building and tail whipped him, he didn't do anything so I moved and did it again, then again until I killed him. We ended up in a construction site later. I killed him, then he killed me, then I respawned near where he had killed me at, and went to go kill him. I said "This is my thanks to you Sega" I walked over a fence and saw him run past, he was wearing a grey spotted army uniform. I tried grabbing him as he ran past but couldn't. He ran to a group of other Marines. I turned into Batman at this point, and went to attack them, I started doing combos on them. I got my combo yellow and went to use it but Batman jumped instead. It ended there. I REALLY hate dreaming about stuff like that, it makes me feel stupid, and writing it down is a chore, but I do it anyway so my dream recall doesn't suffer. I eventually developed this technique out of frustration. I call it Dream Releasing. What I do is, after I've layed down, I'll focus my mind, and envision the thing I want to release, like AVP. Then I keep repeating the words "No AVP" or "No Aliens vs Predator" or "I do NOT want to dream about AVP tonight" over and over again. The words aren't enough though, I have to throw myself into it, really want it, like when you really want something or pray really hard for someone. After a few minutes, I will literally feel the thing I am trying to release, start to dim in my mind. If I keep doing it until it's barely there, I will not dream about it at all that night, not even a tiny bit. This actually helped me keep my mental sanity for awhile too. I'll explain: See, I'm bipolar, so I have depression. Thoughts about death/ suicide were common for me before I got on an antidepressant that worked. I mean, I wasn't a suicide risk or anything, the suicide thoughts were very light and just something that goes with having depression. I've never tried it. Now, the thoughts about death were far worse, as were the dreams. I had really sick, twisted, disgusting dreams about death for so long. Some still make me nauseous. One in particular I had, I didn't just wake up feeling sick, I woke up with my head really messed up. Like, fuzzy, and my skin felt harder and hotter and I couldn't feel emotions normally. Only lasted a day though thankfully. I didn't really know what to do about them and was frankly starting to become scared of dreaming until I discovered this. After I discovered this, I did it every night I could, and if I did it right, I had no dreams about death. There was one time I screwed up and only did it halfway before falling asleep though. I had a dream about a woman who had died, some people had built a house for her as a memorial, and they'd sit in the living room with her dead body and watch tv with her to keep her company. I felt that she was dead in the dream as I was looking through the window, but I HAD done the releasing part way, so she was moving around like she was alive and I couldn't really think of her as dead. So yeah, it definitely works. Now that I'm on a good antidepressant, I don't need to release death anymore, but I still do it for other dreams and if I do it right, I never dream about anything I don't want to. Oh, and before anyone says it, this is NOT like the "Don't think about an elephant" thing. The wording's different and you do it a different way. I actually tried the don't think about an elephant thing in place of this just out of curiosity and the thing I was trying to release became stronger in my mind. But yeah, when I do this, I dream about meaningful things, things I feel, things that have depth, not the games I play. It also works in waking life if you want to put something out of your mind, but not as well. Anyway, try this out if you're tired of having animal dreams, and I guarantee it'll work for you. It's worked for me every night that I've tried it.

[zebrah]

I'm a little bit confused by this thread. What does this have to do with animals? I understand not wanting to have boring dreams but things you do while awake often show up in your dreams. It is really hard to avoid that. Although I could see this working on specific thing like AVP.

[Kanano]

Because animals only dream about what they know, that's why they're called animal dreams. Like this quote: Codi: "So you think we all just have animal dreams. We can't think of anything to dream except our ordinary lives." Loyd: "Only if you have an ordinary life. If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life." ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams While people will always have animal dreams technically, this will prevent you from having really boring ones. You'll be able to have dreams that will be worthy of asking people to interpret it in the interpretation forum.

[zebrah]

But I have flown and done all kinds of amazing things in my dreams. You can't dream of things you don't know something about. I have seen flight and felt motion so my brain can create a flight experience. Dreams are made by our brains and if we don't know it we can't dream it. So then all dreams are "animal" dreams.

[espsika]

Zebra; What about premonitions in dreams. What do you have to say about it. I had premotions in my dreams

[no-Name]

Zebra; What about premonitions in dreams. What do you have to say about it. I had premotions in my dreams that's completely unrelated. try again.

[zebrah]

Zebra; What about premonitions in dreams. What do you have to say about it. I had premotions in my dreams I've had two dreams that could be called premonitions but they are most likely just a coincidence.

[Kanano]

I think you're missing the point Zebra. This is a method to remove things from your mind you DON'T want to dream about, so you can have more meaningful dreams. Yeah, all dreams are animal dreams, I already said that, but there's two kinds of animal dreams, ones where you dream about something stupid, like playing a game, the other's where you dream something meaningful, like about love etc.

[LxANN]

I like the creator of this forums idea, expect me to try it out. I going to have to give him my credit. He made some really good points. But as always, not everyone's gong to agree with the topic. And that's human nature.

[Mellie]

Your specific gaming dreams occurred because you are so constantly involved with the matter; you play video games, probably to an extent where it becomes a primary focus on your mind. I think it is an indicator that you need to stop playing games so excessively; rather than you having to do a ritual every night before you go to sleep.

[Kanano]

Regardless of what you think of my daily habits Mellie, this method can still be used by anyone, to remove anything from their mind and I posted it to help people do that.

[zebrah]

I haven't tried this yet but I almost think it would cause me to have dreams about what I'm trying not to think about. I'd be thinking about not wanting to think about something which could make me think about it. Once I decide to try this I'll see how well it works.

[Robot_Butler]

This is a great meditation technique. I've heard a couple different varieties of this. In one, you review the day's events in your mind as you are lying down for sleep at night. You go through sequentially, in reverse, letting go of each event as you think about it. I'm not sure, but I think this is described in Rinpoche's Dream Yoga book. I know I used to do it when I practiced Dream Yoga. "Letting go" helps break the karmic cycle. The Monroe Institute has something similar called the Energy Conversion Box. Any thought that is bothering you or occupying your thoughts goes in this imaginary strong box with a heavy lid. Once you dump everything in there and close the lid, you turn the device on, and it coverts all the negativity and stress into positive energy. These are just different ways of visualizing the same basic concept. All the unimportant, but stressful, crap we worry about on a daily basis can stick with us. Identifying it and letting it go can help free up our attention for more important things.

[Kanano]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that Zebra, I know what you're talking about but this is not like the "Don't think about an elephant" thing. I say "No AVP" or "I do NOT want to dream about batman tonight" not, "Don't think about batman" If you do that then you WILL dream about the thing. I tried using the don't think about an elephant thing and the thing I was trying to release got stronger in my mind. And yeah, Robot Butler, that's basically what I do too. My method's very basic, but it does get the job done if you do it right. If you try it and it doesn't work for you, then you either did something wrong, or didn't really want to release the thing as much as you thought you did.

[Mellie]

Regardless of what you think of my post, Kanano, don't vent about your life on this forum.

[Kanano]

Right Mellie, posting a meditation technique that helps shape the way you dream so people can try it is considered "venting my life" Are you brain dead?