2Week #9 April 19th - May 2nd: Lucid Dreaming

This next 2Week will focus on the exploration of Lucid dreaming. Although this dream technique may take a much longer process than simply 2 weeks, we will start out on the path, and at the very least have a record of our dreams.

What is lucid dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is dreaming with consciousness. It occurs when the individual realizes that they are dreaming and can influence their own dreamworld.

"Empowered by the knowledge that the world they are experiencing is a creation of their own imagination, lucid dreamers can consciously influence the outcome of their dreams. They can create and transform objects, people, situations, worlds, even themselves. By the standards of the familiar world of physical and social reality, they can do the impossible."

Lucid dreaming has been reported for centuries, the first on record being Aristotle's On Dreams

Why lucid dream?

“Dreams are a reservoir of knowledge and experience, “ writes Tibetan Buddhist Tarthang Tulku, “yet they are often overlooked as a vehicle for exploring reality. In the dream state our bodies are at rest, yet we see and hear, move about, and are even able to learn. When we make good use of the dream state, it is almost as if our lives were doubled: instead of a hundred years, we live two hundred.”

How to do it?

All the quotations from this post, and our overall guide for this 2Week will be the book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. We strongly recommend you find this text to follow if attempting the 2Week with us. This presents a comprehensive step-by-step method for achieving lucid dreams. The following is step 1 through 5 as listed in the guide:

1. Keep a dream journal

Keep a journal in which you record all of your dreams. When you have collected at least a dozen dreams, proceed to the next step.

2. Catalog your dreamsigns

While continuing to collect dreams, mark the dreamsigns in your dream reports. Underline them, and list them after each dream description.

3. Classify each dreamsign using the dreamsign inven-tory

Next to each dreamsign on your list, write the name of its category from the dreamsign inventory. For instance, if you dreamed of a person with the head of a cat, this would be a form dreamsign.

4. Pick target dreamsign categories

Count how many times each dreamsign category (inner awareness, action, form, or context) occurs and rank them by frequency. Whichever occurs most often will be your target dreamsign category in the next step. If there is a tie between categories, pick the one that appeals to you.

5. Practice looking for dreamsigns while you are awake

Make a habit of examining your daily life for events that fit under your dreamsign category. For instance, if your target category is action, study how you, other people, animals, objects, and machines act and move. Become thoroughly familiar with the way things usually are in waking life. This will prepare you to notice when something unusual happens in a dream.

In this 2Week

• We will keep a dream journal and record all that we can remember from our dreams.

1. Ask yourself, "what was I dreaming?"
2. If you cant remember, then "what was I last thinking or doing"
3. build a story from whatever you can remember and title it
4. It needs to be recorded immediately after you wake up, you cannot wait or go back to sleep

• Read Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold
• Begin to look for dreamsigns!

Good luck, and sweet dreams!

Here's a link to the book: World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold