• Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views




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    Thread: Greetings!

    1. #1
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      Greetings!

      I joined the forum today and wanted to drop in here and say Hi and throw out a little background on what's drawing me to lucid dreaming.

      I've meditated on and off (more off than on!) since the early 90s. The last 14 months I've taken a more serious and disciplined approach. Basically a daily practice with a few months drop off during the summer. For me I can say the state of being is vastly different between daily practice and sporadic or no practice.

      I've known about lucid dreaming for some time, but never paid it much attention. I've recently become much more interested and even intrigued by the possibilities. I view dreaming as just another aspect of being that exists below conscious awareness. Since meditation enhances and expands awareness and I'm exploring that territory of mind, I'm thinking LD dovetails nicely on a conceptual level and I'd like to explore the possibilities further.
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      Wow that's awesome man, I've been wanting to take a more disciplined approach to my meditation practice, I would love to hear more about what that's been like for you

      I'm excited for you, lucid dreaming is an amazing tool for exploring consciousness. Have you read the Tibetan yogas of dream and sleep yet? I bet you would love it if you haven't.

      Welcome to the forum!
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      Thanks for the welcome!

      I haven't read that yet (I've made a note to self!) but I do understand there's a long history of lucid dreaming associated with contemplative practices.

      My practice is mindfulness and mostly of breath but at times I shift to a more expansive mindfulness of awareness. It's kind of dynamic and depends on how I feel during a given moment of a sitting. I also compliment formal practice during the day whenever it occurs to me with mindfulness of daily doings. Walking, driving, cooking, eating, shopping, house chores, shower, shave, conversing, listening, whatever...

      As far as what it's been like for me? In essence an easier relationship with experience. Much less stress, worry and negativity. I don't take things personally. More presence in the now. I can hold many more perspectives on a given event, so I have a choice when assigning affective value and meaning. The mind is much less apt to get lost on a runaway thought-train, so the space between stimulus and response has much more clarity. It's almost like how the mind is when, say, you get into a car accident where things seem to move in slow motion. I have more clarity of thought and perception and more time to consider before reacting. And that space is mostly free of the clutter the mind tends to conjure, so the more pertinent and objective aspects tend to jump to the foreground.

      I've heard it put this way: The mind is like a pond. Toss a pebble in a turbulent pond and the ripples are hard, if not impossible to perceive. Toss a pebble into a calm pond and the ripples can be observed radiating across the entire surface. Signal to noise ratio. It's not boosting the strength of the signal but reducing the noise.

      I don't do anything fancy or fantastical either. I don't have a teacher or guru. I don't do retreats. I simply sit for 30 minutes every night between dinner and bedtime.
      Last edited by JustASimpleGuy; 01-09-2015 at 01:31 PM.
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      Wow that's neat! I'm really happy for you
      I would love to get to the point of having greater clarity in my daily life. You're a step ahead of the game in terms of lucid dreaming. Meditation and increased awareness help a lot, as you probably know.

      I think that meditation in general is a great tool for anybody that wants to learn how to lucid dream or to simply be lucid in their waking life as well. Thank you for reminding me about how wonderful meditation can be
      I hope to see you around!
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      I'm mostly in Lurker mode right now, perusing the forum with some frequency. Mostly reviewing the various guides. Right now I'm focusing on building a good foundation. For me that means being more aware of directing my awareness to all the mundane stuff I do outside of formal practice, building a dream journal and mixing RCs into my day.

      I'm actually pleased with dream journaling thus far. I started daily last Friday night and have 19 dreams recalled & recorded. I slip off to sleep with the intention of recall and find myself waking up 2 or 3 times a night. I remain still with eyes closed and recall kicks in, and after a minute or two I turn on the light and start recording in my journal. So far it's been about 1/3 short and/or fuzzy dreams or segments and about 2/3 more extensive, robust and detailed dreams.

      I'll probably approach this like meditation. That is it's a process and just work it and don't get too caught up or anxious about a destination or discouraged about progress or lack thereof. I've always appreciated the concept of a journey, and in fact that seems to be somewhat of a recurring theme in many of my dreams.
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      Quote Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy View Post
      I'll probably approach this like meditation. That is it's a process and just work it and don't get too caught up or anxious about a destination or discouraged about progress or lack thereof.
      Welcome to DV! I will second AnotherDreamer's recommendation of The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep. It's the book I return to most often, and is the dream yoga book I feel has the most substance. It's a bit of a step up, however, so I would also recommend getting Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge. I would say it is a must-read for any newcomer to the practice. It's available as a PDF online.

      Sounds like you are really doing a great job developing recall. It is a mental muscle, and it will get stronger with time. Whenever you decide to leave "lurker mode," check out the DVA:

      DV Academy

      Let us know how you're progressing

    7. #7
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      Will do on all three counts (The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep, EWOLD & DVA).

      I actually downloaded the EWOLD PDF a few days ago and skimmed through it, and I've been surfing through DVA (WILD, DILD & Dream Yoga) and also read Puffin's DILD guide this morning. Turns out the way I've been incorporating RCs into my daily routine has some commonalities (outside just doing RCs) with Puffin's guide on SAT.

      I also notice some of the takeaways from sivason's lessons on Dream Yoga are similar to some of the fruits of my meditation practice. I was also surprised to read about diffuse vision! Never knew it was a formal technique but it's something I've done for almost as long as I can remember! Even during mindfulness meditation with closed eyes it's a feeling or state of being I attain when I practice without an object of focus. I also use it as a relaxation technique at work. Just sit back and with eyes open let my vision 'un-focus', leading me to a very detached and relaxed state. Just a minute or two is quite refreshing.

      Right now I'm in absorption mode. I've implemented a couple of very basics foundational practices and I'll start to get a better feel for what other techniques best fit into my current trajectory. I don't want to get overwhelmed with too much too soon, so for the time being I intend to focus on DILD. Seems like the best place to start my journey.

      Long story short, I can relate to and feel comfortable with quite a few of the concepts I've found here. That's encouraging!

      I am also impressed with the quality, depth and articulation of knowledge expressed by forum participants!

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