Quote Originally Posted by ThreeCat View Post
Also, I happened upon a site discussing yoga nidra a while back (I can PM the link if anyone wants it). Yogis seem to maintain ... that yoga nidra involves going PAST dreaming, and then entering NREM and then delta. I was wondering if you could speak this Sageous, as it seems to contradict what we've been taught about sleep cycles. Also, is it possible to continue onward after a dream has ended, without waking up and without losing consciousness? If so, a lucid dream could be a possible platform from which to enter NREM and delta (especially if it's one of the first LDs of the night). I myself have entered REM and had a lucid dream within the first 20 minutes of the night, which leads me to believe there is something in all this "go past dreaming to enter delta" talk.
I've found over the years that many aspects or potentials of Dream Yoga and Sleep Yoga seem to contradict what we know about the sleep cycle. I have a feeling that, when we add waking-life self-awareness to a good night's sleep, "regular," predictable REM and NREM periods often get tossed out the window (mostly because they simply no longer matter?). There are some things we can do nothing about, it seems (i.e., I've never managed to get a REM period to last more than 2 hours without waking up), but there are others -- like experiencing dreams immediately upon falling asleep -- that confound or perhaps rewrite the dreaming rulebook. It could be that, with a little conscious effort, REM can be conjured upon request.

So yes, as I mentioned above, it is certainly "...possible to continue onward after a dream has ended, without waking up and without losing consciousness." It takes a little effort, especially very late in the sleep cycle, when you are, yes, at the sweet spot for LD'ing, but also at a stage where your body is very interested in waking up. But I recommend making the effort; some of my most exciting and creative moments came in these moments of "extension," whether that extension happened with REM or NREM... I'm not sure whether it was because of the necessary upgrade of my focus and imaginative input just to maintain the moment, or if it was my unconscious offering up tings I never would have encountered during normal sleep (especially in NREM stretches). Also, as you've probably figured by now, I recommend exploring Delta when you can; and yes, if you manage a proper LD right at bedtime, you ought to be able to hold onto your self-awareness as you move (quickly) from that moment of serendipitous REM to naturally-scheduled Delta. Once you are lucid, you are no longer "going past," or rather subject to, the various periods of REM, NREM, and Delta, but are simply a witness to the changes of a night's sleep as they pass by your stable consciousness.