Thread: Is lucid dreaming a useful tool to help develop Mindfulness?

Patjunfa:

Given that LD'ing is fueled by self-awareness, which in my mind is effectively mindfulness, I could see how extensive experience in LD'ing might lead to a greater presence of mindfulness in waking life. By the same token, though, I don't think that someone interested in developing mindfulness in waking-life would choose LD'ing as their primary path, because the LD process would be far too subtle and take a very long time compared to what can be done in waking-life.

Also, given that the bulk of initial dream yoga work is done while awake, with the result of that work being mindfulness in dreams, I'm not sure you are making the right assumptions about the practice. As you research it, you might discover that dream yoga develops mindfulness in pretty much the same manner as any other discipline; it is what it does with that mindfulness that sets it apart from the rest: dream yoga is a first step toward sleep yoga (essentially constant mindfulness/self-awareness straight through the night, with an ultimate goal of doing the same straight through the death process); if you can sort out sleep yoga, then you might be able to glean how dream yoga can be used to develop very high levels of mindfulness/self-awareness.

By the way, your questions seem excellent; at a glance I can't think of anything you've missed.

Good luck!