Before we do a thing we first intend to do it, before action comes intention.
It's a fairly simple idea but before we go to bed, even if we're thinking "I want to have a lucid dream tonight" our head is also usually filled with a massive amount of other thoughts, sometimes just in the the background. Your intention to LD is mixed with a bunch of other worries, thoughts, ideas etc...
It's easy for our intention to LD, no matter how strong, to get lost inside that storm.
So here is a little exercise that might help, it'll only take 5-10 minutes but I think it's well worth it.
First of all make sure this is what you do before getting into bed, while we are falling asleep our mind wanders too easily and intention requires some focus.
If you know breathing meditation you already know how to do this first part but for everyone else; sit comfortably, close your eyes and follow your breath. If you'd like you can count when you breath in, and count when you breath out. If thoughts emerge, gently refocus back on the breath. Relax as much as possible, your goal is to clear your mind by following something simple such as the breath. Here we are not worried about doing full on meditation, we're simply relaxing and letting go of any worries or concerns. Take at least 5 minutes to do this, or just whenever you feel that you have relaxed enough and your mind feels more stable. It may not be 100% stable, but it is now a lot more stable than before.
Alternatively you can use any other relaxation / mind clearing method you want. You could even just stare at a wall. =]
This next part is the more important one.
You could think of this as analytical meditation, use thoughts and reasoning to work something out. In this case what we need is to form an intention to lucid dream tonight by sorting out mentally exactly what that actually means. The following example should be enough to illustrate the process, you can use the same steps or come up with your own, think and reason:
Take a few moments to let it sink in.
You can end here (it would be helpful to come up with your own list since it's your own logic that's required) or follow on to really question why it is you want to lucid dream and what that means to you.
This might seem like a silly exercise, but think about the times when you faced a decision that you had to think about. You used your mind and really analysed the problem, you might have weighed the pros and cons or you may have used simple logic such as "well I need to do this today so I don't have to do it tomorrow" or "if I act quickly I'll get ahead of other people". After you have done this you had very clear intention and direction for your next course of action.
Same here, reason it out, why are you trying to lucid dream? Why are you doing it tonight of all nights? Why don't you want to just leave it till tomorrow? What do you feel you need to do to LD tonight?
If your intention is built out of thin air, it'll only be as substantial as air.
Take some time and build it on a rock solid foundation.
It's a fairly simple idea but before we go to bed, even if we're thinking "I want to have a lucid dream tonight" our head is also usually filled with a massive amount of other thoughts, sometimes just in the the background. Your intention to LD is mixed with a bunch of other worries, thoughts, ideas etc...
It's easy for our intention to LD, no matter how strong, to get lost inside that storm.
So here is a little exercise that might help, it'll only take 5-10 minutes but I think it's well worth it.
First of all make sure this is what you do before getting into bed, while we are falling asleep our mind wanders too easily and intention requires some focus.
If you know breathing meditation you already know how to do this first part but for everyone else; sit comfortably, close your eyes and follow your breath. If you'd like you can count when you breath in, and count when you breath out. If thoughts emerge, gently refocus back on the breath. Relax as much as possible, your goal is to clear your mind by following something simple such as the breath. Here we are not worried about doing full on meditation, we're simply relaxing and letting go of any worries or concerns. Take at least 5 minutes to do this, or just whenever you feel that you have relaxed enough and your mind feels more stable. It may not be 100% stable, but it is now a lot more stable than before.
Alternatively you can use any other relaxation / mind clearing method you want. You could even just stare at a wall. =]
This next part is the more important one.
You could think of this as analytical meditation, use thoughts and reasoning to work something out. In this case what we need is to form an intention to lucid dream tonight by sorting out mentally exactly what that actually means. The following example should be enough to illustrate the process, you can use the same steps or come up with your own, think and reason:
- I'd like to lucid dream tonight
- How?
- By realising in one of my dreams that I'm dreaming
- How?
- By becoming aware in my dream
- How do I become aware?
- By staying mindful of the fact that I might be dreaming
- How do I stay mindful?
- By knowing exactly what my goal is and keeping that in mind
- What is my goal?
- To realise I'm dreaming, to pay attention
Take a few moments to let it sink in.
You can end here (it would be helpful to come up with your own list since it's your own logic that's required) or follow on to really question why it is you want to lucid dream and what that means to you.
This might seem like a silly exercise, but think about the times when you faced a decision that you had to think about. You used your mind and really analysed the problem, you might have weighed the pros and cons or you may have used simple logic such as "well I need to do this today so I don't have to do it tomorrow" or "if I act quickly I'll get ahead of other people". After you have done this you had very clear intention and direction for your next course of action.
Same here, reason it out, why are you trying to lucid dream? Why are you doing it tonight of all nights? Why don't you want to just leave it till tomorrow? What do you feel you need to do to LD tonight?
If your intention is built out of thin air, it'll only be as substantial as air.
Take some time and build it on a rock solid foundation.
via Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Attaining Lucidity http://ift.tt/Uo1ANE
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