Spiritual practices to do while asleep?

[mewtwo]

So as some of you may know i have narcolepsy whicth is a condition charecterized be excesive daytime sleepieness. I was wondering in my 8 to twelve hours of sleep i get each day is there any practices in the chinese tradition that one can do in there dreams? I know of some in the tibetan and hindu tradition but of none in the chinese tradition.

 

Thanks

[Starjumper]

While going to sleep tell your spirit guides that you want to go to night school

[Sloppy Zhang]

Well ld4all.com is a great place to start learning lucid dreaming techniques. The forum has a lot of good tips, info, and suggestions for things you can try.

 

The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep is a very good book that I picked up after it was brought up in a discussion here a little while ago. Very good book and has techniques to integrate with the chakras as well as some meditation exercises- it pretty much teaches you how to integrate lucid dreaming into whatever work you are presently doing.

[Starjumper]

The site onLucid Dreaming looks interesting.

 

Well ld4all.com is a great place to start learning lucid dreaming techniques. The forum has a lot of good tips, info, and suggestions for things you can try.

 

The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep is a very good book that I picked up after it was brought up in a discussion here a little while ago. Very good book and has techniques to integrate with the chakras as well as some meditation exercises- it pretty much teaches you how to integrate lucid dreaming into whatever work you are presently doing.

 

That's very nice to hear about Buddhism once again, but the question was:

 

"... is there any practices in the chinese (Taoist) tradition that one can do in their dreams? I know of some in the tibetan (Buddhist) and hindu tradition but of none in the chinese (Taoist) tradition.

 

Thanks"

Edited July 15, 2010 by Starjumper7

[Gjeken]

Why care which tradition it comes from?

Just do what works and The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep is a great resource.

I doubt there is much difference between traditions anyway in this area, all you need to do is maintain your awareness during sleep which will happen naturally if you meditate regularly.

[thelerner]

Also not Taoist , sometimes I'll do a practice of reviewing my day visually in detail and without emotion. I'll use meals as anchors to make sure I don't skip parts. I think the practice has many benefits.

 

Likewise there is a guided meditation called Evening Inventory Meditation, available as a free podcast in Itunes. It does something similar w/ a long 'letting go' period that sets the mind up for sleep.

 

 

Taoist stuff..I went through Michael Winns Taoist Sleep practice years ago. They recommended sleeping on ones side, one hand tucked under the head, the other on the stomach. What I remember most is that you can give yourself gentle suggestions, but at the end you need to be in a state of acceptance.

 

 

Michael

[devoid]

Hi mewtwo,

 

I have two things to share with you: One is an experience (which I have had a couple of times) where it was like I was awake, yet meditating while sleeping, all night - I have been able to do that a couple of times, but only when having done lots of energy work throughout the day combined with the "Sunset and Sunrise Circulation" descriped in ["Book 2: Daoist Qigong" from the book titled Qigong Empowerment - A Guide to Medical, Taoist, Buddhist, Wushu Energy Cultivation by Master Shou-Yu Liang and Wen Ching Wu] for a couple of days (every dawn and dusk). The method (which is Taoist! ) is not described as being intended for what you were asking, but that was a nice side-effect which I experienced. In case you're wondering why on earth I don't do this all the time, I can tell you that I find it difficult to stick to the dawn and dusk schedule with work, family, kids around demanding my attention at the oddest of hours

 

Apart from that, I can also (as many others in this thread) suggest that you consider lucid dreaming - I read books about this by William Buhlmann (Adventures Beyond the Body) and Robert Bruce (Astral Dynamics) which both acted as eye-openers for me. Both authors build a lot on the use of 'affirmations' (essentially 'suggestions' in a sense of clinical hypnosis) which I guess is very much in line with what thelerner was referring to above.

 

I hope you will soon be able to turn your ailment into a benefit!