Empower Your Dream Time | VictorSchueller.com

The following is a guest post by Adam Palmer of Astral Zen.  Please join me in welcoming Adam!

My college teachers always said I was a dreamer – ironic really. Dreaming is one of the greatest gifts we have available to us. We spend a third of our lives asleep, yet so little is known about sleep and dreaming. As we grow older, those long, vivid, childhood dreams start to fade to the point that we hardly dream at all. The good news is that we can reverse this, and we can do it quickly.

Why would you want to?

Don’t for one minute think that the dreams you have right now are all there is to dreaming. Imagine your own private universe, more vivid and realistic than this. Imagine a launch pad to alternate realities, unlimited potential and freedom. Imagine flying to the moon or diving to the depths of the ocean. We live in an immensely powerful dynamic multi-dimensional world. Remember when a good quality VHS was the best we had, and then contrast that to ultra-fine HD. This reality that you’re used to is the VHS – there’s so much more out there.

Now, I won’t lie – more advanced dreaming techniques take practice and patience.  The good news however, is that within just a couple of days, you’ll start to notice a big difference.

I’d like to set you off on the first few steps of your journey.

Step #1 – Stop destroying your sleep

You need to be doing everything you can to create favourable sleep and dream conditions. There are three main changes that you can make for the most profound impact –

1. Coffee, sugar, cigarettes, alcohol and most recreational drugs dramatically affect your dream sleep. Although many report vivid or bizarre dreams, it’s usually down to something called “REM rebound.” You’re not actually building on your dream or sleep quality, and you’re not going to be able to advance in dreaming whilst under the influence! Best avoided as much as possible.

2. Most pharmaceuticals interfere with dream and sleep to some degree, even if only subtly. Of course, I am by no means suggesting that you stop taking essential medication. If you do however take any medication that may not be strictly necessary, it may be worth considering a discussion with your doctor about stopping.

3. Mental stimulation comes in all forms, now more than ever. Try to avoid cell phones, TV, PCs and laptops for at least a couple of hours before bed. Reading a book in bed is the best way to prepare yourself for a sound sleep and clear dreams.

For some, these steps may require some significant lifestyle changes. I’m personally terrible when it comes to using the laptop in bed. It’s not an all or nothing decision – anything you’re able to do will help.

Step #2 – Dream Diary

Now you’ve set yourself up for a great natural sleep, it’s time to start getting those dreams back. Believe it or not, you do dream – you just don’t remember it any more. When you first wake up, either during the night or in the morning, don’t move a muscle or open your eyes. Run through everything you can remember about your dreams in your mind. Don’t worry if you can’t remember anything other than a vague feeling or emotion – that’s absolutely fine. Just mentally re-experience it as clearly as you can. As soon as you’ve got it straight, get it straight down in your dream diary. Feel free to include images as well as words.

As you’re about to sleep that night, take a few minutes to read through your dream diary. Try to re-experience the dreams, feelings and emotions in as much detail as possible.

Just keeping up this quick and easy practice will result in a huge increase in your dream quality and memory within a matter of days.

Step #3 – Lucid Dreaming

Your mind is clear, and you’re dreams are increasing in quality and quantity – it’s now time to go lucid. A lucid dream is a dream in which you know you are dreaming. Once that happens, you can do absolutely anything you want. Conjure up situations, fly, travel, explore and learn. As you wish it, it unfolds. Lucid dreaming in itself is a massive subject, but once you’ve hit one – believe me you’ll know it. Here are my top 3 techniques –

1. As you’re falling asleep, focus your mind and mentally repeat, “I am lucid dreaming.” Don’t just say the words, actually imagine it and put life into it. If you wake up in the night, don’t just roll over and go straight back to sleep. Get up for a few moments, go to the bathroom, take a sip of water, and start the repetition exercise above.

2. Throughout the day, perform “reality checks”. Try to push your finger through your opposite palm and try to pinch your nose and at the same time breathe through it. If you do this enough times during waking, you’ll find yourself doing it in dreaming, and guess what – it’ll work! You’ll then immediately realize you’re dreaming.

3. As you re-live the dreams from your dream journal, imagine yourself as fully lucid and aware within them.

Again, it’s not all or nothing. Any practice you’re able to do will be beneficial in increasing your chances of getting lucid. With practice, you’ll come to realize that dream and sleep isn’t just 8 hours each day written off – quite the opposite in fact. Sweet dreams!

About Adam: 

I’ve been consciously practising lucid dreaming and exploring the out of body state for over 10 years now. Now I want to help others share the experience.

Please take some time to leave your thoughts below on Adam’s piece, and please visit Adam at his site, www.Astralzen.com.

Photo: By Massimo Barbieri (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons