High time I found a group of like-minded folks!

[SidneyLouis]

Greetings all, I'm new to the site and forum, but not so new to the world of lucid dreaming. I first ran across the subject during extracurricular studies in my high school years thanks to Stephen Laberge's writings, and I've had an interest ever since. I go through phases of greater and lesser involvement with my dreams and lucidity, but I've never delved too deep into any specific techniques other than MILDing my way through my days. I have enjoyed the organic ebb and flow of my lucid dreams for years now, and I've been feeling the drive to ramp things up lately. Dreams and their relationship with and integration into waking life are very important to me, and I'm eager to take a more active role in developing my lucid dreaming practice. This dovetails quite nicely with floatation tank practice, which I have the insane fortune to access through my job. I'm interested in mapping intra-conscious strata in the tank and in lucid dreams, and to find the ways that these approaches can complement each other. Fun fact about me: I have a MILD-related tattoo on my wrist that has surprised me on more than one occasion I look forward to learning much from my fellow oneironauts on dreamviews! Cheers

[gab]

to DreamViews! That sounds so interesting, can you tell us more about the flotation tank? And what's your tattoo? If you have any questions, just ask. Happy floating

[Patience108]

Ya all sounds very interesting SydneyLouis It would be great to hear more and especially about the bit ; "mapping intra-conscious strata in the tank and in lucid dreams, and to find the ways that these approaches can complement each other " Thanks And welcome

[OneUp]

Welcome to the club SydneyLouis, this is a great place. And by the way, we are automatically friends now considering we have Lucid Dreaming related tattoos. I have "Are you dreaming?" tattooed down my left forearm in a futuristic font and it serves the same purpose as well as serving as a reality check and also keeping me mindful and aware. See you around, OneUp

[DreamSwimmer]

Hi SydneyLouis! Welcome!

[SidneyLouis]

Thanks for the welcome, gab! Ok, as far as the float tanks are concerned, here's some basic info: float tanks are used to restrict sensory input for a host of physical, physiological, psychological, and emotional benefits. I've stuck some more words about them in here -- Spoiler for more words about float tanks!: Floatation tanks, also known as sensory deprivation tanks or isolation tanks, serve to facilitate the experience of REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy/Technique). The inside of the tank (or pod, or room, or cabin) is regulated to block out light and sound, and the bottom is filled with a depth of about a foot of water saturated with Epsom salts. It's more buoyant than the Dead Sea, so that you float right at the surface of the water. The temperature of the water is regulated to hover at what we call "skin-receptor neutral" (93.5 degrees Fahrenheit or thereabouts) so the sensation of temperature is attenuated. So, you restrict and/or abolish the senses of sight, hearing, gravity, touch, and temperature. The tanks were initially developed by scientists to explore what exactly happens to the body and mind when deprived of senses; some posited that the brain would shut down, while others suspected we are a bit more complex and exciting than that. Over time, an industry has developed to bring the tanks out of the labs and into spas, homes, sports training facilities, and other fun places. Floaters find a myriad of benefits, including simple stress relief through relaxation; pain management; PTSD relief; memory work; exploration of non-ordinary consciousness and meditative states; creative assistance; and more! I mainly use the tank as a way to observe my inner workings and examine the seams between panels of my created reality. The insane fortune I mentioned above comes from my work in the industry. We build float rooms and operate a local float center, so I am able to maintain a regular floating practice. As far as my tattoo is concerned, it's "dreaming" rendered in Sanskrit (svapnaM) on the outside of my wrist. I placed it there to help me stay in the reality-checking groove, but it's surprised me by working in a way I hadn't anticipated. Starting a few weeks after I received the tattoo (I've had it for many years now), I will occasionally look down at my arm and notice a clean wrist. "Odd," I'd think, "I have a tattoo on that wrist, but now it's bare -- oh, I get it, I'm dreaming!" and with that, I'll achieve lucidity. Instead of it functioning purely as a waking life mnemonic aid, it has become a within-dream reality check machine!

[SidneyLouis]

What's up, Patience108? So in brief, my examination of my mental processes has led me to see the mind as a loosely federated nation of conscious "states'; alternately, I see the mind as a committee of sorts. Various modules run their processes and share information with each other in a manner that leads to the emergent property we call consciousness. The reporter, or homunculus (whom I call the idiot king), in other words the "I," I see as a spokesperson who often is not privy to the actual decisions and workings of behavior, thought, and emotion. Floating in the tank, "dipping the well" in hypnagogic exploration, meditation, and lucid dreaming are ways of seeing the mind work from different perspectives than normal, waking mind. Kind of like being able to step around the spokesperson and watch the members of the committee do their work. Now, floating and lucid dreaming are fairly different in a number of ways, so I'm interested in comparing notes between what I experience in these states in order to kind of triangulate. I want to see if my hypothesis is just a fun illusion, or if it has legs. Cheers!

[SidneyLouis]

Hey OneUp! So yours is on your left arm, and mine is on my right. Makes me think we should assemble a Voltron-like team of inked up oneironauts I appreciate the welcome.