Dream yoga / sleeping qigong

[johndoe2012]

Wondering whether any bums have experience in dream yoga or sleeping qigong?

 

I did dream yoga a couple of weeks as per "Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep". I managed to remember almost all of my dreams and when I think back now I can see my nighttime activities somehow made everything feel more connected.

 

However I couldn't manage to get into a lucid dream, probably because my awareness without the monkey mind chatting is still too weak. Also, I didn't get enough sleep which was tiring overall.

 

What are your experiences?

 

Also, have you tried to fall asleep in a qigong state and maybe getting to a lucid dream?

 

This thread was originally started in the Training Goals thread.

Edited October 27, 2010 by wtm

[Aetherous]

There are lots of tips on lucid dreaming online...

 

Years ago, I thought this website was good:

 

http://ld4all.com/

 

Thanks for bringing this up, because I've been wanting to get back into this again. I've only had a couple of real lucid dreams, so it's something to work on.

[Bum Grasshopper]

Have a look at this free e book by michael Raduga

[John Zen]

I've had some experience with lucid dreaming.

 

I try every day to do reality checks to ask myself whether or not I'm dreaming. I get lucky every once in a while and ask myself if I'm dreaming while I'm in a dream, and even then, I'll have to get lucky to answer the question right. Logic does not rule in the dreamworld, so answering the question becomes difficult. "Check your hands, how many fingers do you have? Six, good, just as I suspected", and suddenly I've missed an opportunity to become lucid. Everything that you experience is an expression of the subconscious, an expression of your emotional self. Emotion, not logic, rules the subconscious.

 

I believe, in my experience, and like Freud, that the person's subconscious is the person's sexuality. The images and experiences we feel in dreams, and even the emotions that we experience in our waking life, are expressions of sexuality. But this paragraph is a digression...

 

Lucid Dreams are pleasant side effects of a cultivated awareness. You ought to not strive for lucid dreams. They are fun, but not a goal in and of themselves. You ought to aim to cultivate the ever-present awareness within you through meditation, and if you begin having Lucid Dreams or Out-of-body experiences, then you can take those as sign-posts that you are on the right track. Continue to keep a journal of your dreams and of your waking experience, and this will help cultivate your awareness and help you become lucid, if you wish.

 

===========

 

I will talk more in depth about your last question, whether I have tried to fall asleep in a Qigong state in order to become lucid. Yes, I have, but it is hard. It was an out-of-body experience, which is different from a lucid dream. In a lucid dream, you find yourself in a strange, foreign place. You normally reach this while you are already asleep.

 

For a week, I would wake up with an alarm set for 5 hours after I fell asleep. I'd walk up, get some water, write down any dreams I've had, then I went back to bed. One night, I was laying back in sleep, and regulating my breath. After a time, I felt very light. Then, suddenly, I became disconnected from my body, and I was able to walk around my room, like a spirit, through walls. I flew through my roof and over my town.

 

Entering sleep while in a state of qigong will only get you an OBE, not a lucid dream, although LDs and OBEs are two sides of the same coin. But still very different.

 

I have had different experiences, tried using different vitamins or supplements to regulate my sleep and dreaming. But I have given those up. I'd feel like I'm cheating. I just try to practice awareness as often as I can every day, clearing my mind, and I sometimes find myself lucid while dreaming.

[Sloppy Zhang]

There are lots of tips on lucid dreaming online...

 

Years ago, I thought this website was good:

 

http://ld4all.com/

 

Thanks for bringing this up, because I've been wanting to get back into this again. I've only had a couple of real lucid dreams, so it's something to work on.

 

Great site.

 

One recommendation I have for that site, since there are lots of different things it presents, is to find the method(s) that appeal to you, and that you feel you can most readily implement in your life. Techniques that you are comfortable with are going to be much easier to work with, and are going to get you results much faster.

 

Have a look at this free e book by michael Raduga

 

That looks awesome, thanks!

 

I've had some experience with lucid dreaming.

 

I try every day to do reality checks to ask myself whether or not I'm dreaming. I get lucky every once in a while and ask myself if I'm dreaming while I'm in a dream, and even then, I'll have to get lucky to answer the question right. Logic does not rule in the dreamworld, so answering the question becomes difficult. "Check your hands, how many fingers do you have? Six, good, just as I suspected", and suddenly I've missed an opportunity to become lucid. Everything that you experience is an expression of the subconscious, an expression of your emotional self. Emotion, not logic, rules the subconscious.

 

I believe, in my experience, and like Freud, that the person's subconscious is the person's sexuality. The images and experiences we feel in dreams, and even the emotions that we experience in our waking life, are expressions of sexuality. But this paragraph is a digression...

 

Lucid Dreams are pleasant side effects of a cultivated awareness. You ought to not strive for lucid dreams. They are fun, but not a goal in and of themselves. You ought to aim to cultivate the ever-present awareness within you through meditation, and if you begin having Lucid Dreams or Out-of-body experiences, then you can take those as sign-posts that you are on the right track. Continue to keep a journal of your dreams and of your waking experience, and this will help cultivate your awareness and help you become lucid, if you wish.

 

===========

 

I will talk more in depth about your last question, whether I have tried to fall asleep in a Qigong state in order to become lucid. Yes, I have, but it is hard. It was an out-of-body experience, which is different from a lucid dream. In a lucid dream, you find yourself in a strange, foreign place. You normally reach this while you are already asleep.

 

For a week, I would wake up with an alarm set for 5 hours after I fell asleep. I'd walk up, get some water, write down any dreams I've had, then I went back to bed. One night, I was laying back in sleep, and regulating my breath. After a time, I felt very light. Then, suddenly, I became disconnected from my body, and I was able to walk around my room, like a spirit, through walls. I flew through my roof and over my town.

 

Entering sleep while in a state of qigong will only get you an OBE, not a lucid dream, although LDs and OBEs are two sides of the same coin. But still very different.

 

I have had different experiences, tried using different vitamins or supplements to regulate my sleep and dreaming. But I have given those up. I'd feel like I'm cheating. I just try to practice awareness as often as I can every day, clearing my mind, and I sometimes find myself lucid while dreaming.

 

Great post!

Edited October 28, 2010 by Sloppy Zhang

[Mal]

I try every day to do reality checks to ask myself whether or not I'm dreaming. I get lucky every once in a while and ask myself if I'm dreaming while I'm in a dream, and even then, I'll have to get lucky to answer the question right. Logic does not rule in the dreamworld, so answering the question becomes difficult. "Check your hands, how many fingers do you have? Six, good, just as I suspected", and suddenly I've missed an opportunity to become lucid.

 

I like to reality check light switches, and I've also though "oh yes, I forgot that one is broken"

 

and one day I really hope a reality check fails when I'm actually awake

[John Zen]

 

and one day I really hope a reality check fails when I'm actually awake

 

I would certainly hope not!

[Sloppy Zhang]

I like to reality check light switches, and I've also though "oh yes, I forgot that one is broken"

 

and one day I really hope a reality check fails when I'm actually awake

 

I would certainly hope not!

 

Why not? I think it'd be pretty cool!

[John Zen]

Because I'd rather be a sleeping automotron than have to deal with being Neo, with all of his responsibilities, being the one and what not... :-D