Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming is one way of working with hypnosis. The purpose of depth in hypnosis is to allow a person to experience desired changes in his inner world as vividly as possible, with that sense of reality that we ascribe to the outer world, and most people with untrained minds are able to experience intentionally only while dreaming. Why?
Because when one's brainwaves lower in frequency, an individual with an untrained mind will find it challenging to go deep and maintain awareness and will have a tendency to fall asleep. An individual with a trained mind, through meditation, self-hypnosis or a variety of esoteric mind-training techniques will be able to access deeper and deeper levels of the mind while maintaining awareness. The entire process involves the ability to shift one's awareness fully and completely from the outer world to the inner world.
In esoteric terms, this also involves a shift in dimension of experience, from physical dimension to a variety of non-physical dimensions, sometimes in shamanism referred to as non-ordinary realities.
There are many ways, some simple some complex, of inducing lucid dreaming. I prefer simplicity. One easy way of getting into a dream state intentionally is by "pretending" that you are dreaming. Hypnosis is all about "pretending". As you pretend that you are dreaming, an images from your subconscious will emerge into your conscious awareness. All you need to do to get into a dream state is allow these images to take you deeper and deeper. At this stage, you may pick an image and just surrender to it, follow it with your awareness.
You may also repeat to yourself a phrase "I am dreaming" or "I am awake in a dream", not only at a time when you are about to fall asleep, but even throughout the day. The reason for this repetition throughout the day is to condition your subconscious mind. You may remember from the previous newsletter that most of the content of your dreams will be based on what you experienced throughout the day.
You may also want to perform "reality checks" throughout the day, by asking yourself a question every few hours "am I awake or asleep?". This practice will condition you to remember to ask yourself the same question while you're asleep and dreaming. Any unusual experience in your dreams may alert you to the fact that you are dreaming. For example, if you are flying in your dream, this may be an excellent reminder that you are dreaming. Since I fly a lot in my dreams, this way a way that I became lucid - as I began to fly I realized that I was dreaming.
It is a good idea to pick a symbol that will remind you that you are dreaming. You may simply fall asleep with intent that you will dream a particular symbol and when it appears in your dream you will become aware that you are dreaming.
Once you become lucid in your dream, you may find yourself at the borderline between sleep state and awakening - sort of with one foot in each world. To stabilize dream state and remain lucid, you'll need to remember to focus again on some element in your dream, so that you can remain engaged in your dream world as opposite to waking up. You may also keep on repeating a phrase "This is a dream. I am dreaming".
One symptom you may experience when suddenly shifting awareness to the physical world, while your bodies is still asleep - is sleep paralysis. It is a normal experience and it will go away so there is no need to panic. When you are deeply relaxed and entering deeper levels of the mind, and the world of dreams, almost all voluntary muscles in your body will become paralyzed. Here is a wonderful opportunity for you to shift your attention to your dream body and go exploring the world of lucid dreaming.
If, on the other hand you desired to fully awaken, just lay down relaxed, shift your awareness to your physical body until all the sensations return to it - just as it happens every morning when you wake up.
Other symptoms you may experience in this borderline state between physical dimension and the dimension of dreams is body distortions, vibrations or shaking of your body. Any of these symptoms are simply signals that you are ready to get into your dream body and go on your lucid dreaming adventures.
While you are in a state of hypnosis, while you are dreaming - you are free of all constraints of time. You can use your lucid dreams to develop skills and abilities which may take you years to develop in the outer world, in only minutes of dream time.
The whole point of being lucid in your dream is that you can control your dream, that you can use this wonderful state to gain new learnings, master new abilities and engage in whatever experiences your heart desires. You can explore new roles. You can test different idea. You can meet with those who can teach you abilities you desire to learn. You can enhance your sexual experiences. You are the master of your dreams.
If you are working with any specific hypnosis program, here is your opportunity to fully engage in desired experience, to fully experience the reality of your goal. You may work on your body in your dreams - if you need healing, you can heal it. Even if you don't experience instant changes in your physical body, you can replay the imagery and feelings you experienced in your lucid dream, just as you would bring forth memory of past experience and relive it while you are in a state of hypnosis - until the change becomes manifested in your physical body.
As you practice dreaming lucidly and working on changes you desire in your dreams, you may notice even dramatic changes and improvements both in your work with self-hypnosis and in areas of your life you worked on changing in your lucid dreams.
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c) 2004 - 2009, Dr. Laura De
Giorgio, www.hypnosis-kids.com
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