Today’s subject matter has brought much interest to me about dreams.  This thought goes along the line of C.G. Jung’s book, Memory, Dreams; Reflections is where it has inspired me.  Freud’s book, “Interpretation of Dreams,” was great, however, Memory, Dreams, Reflections for me brought it into play in my dream life.  So how do vision, memory, and serenity come into play in the dream world?  Vision, as simple as it is, is the basis of all things in the dream world.  Dictionary.com has defined vision as the act or power of seeing with the eyes; sight or within the dream state: an experience which a personage, thing or event appears vividly or creditably to the mind; How about memory? Memory is This faculty as possessed by a particular individual; The mental capacity or faculty, of retaining facts, events, impressions.  Lastly, serenity. The definition of serenity: The state or quality of being serene, calm or tranquil(1, 2, 3)
in this week’s blog, I will be diving more into aspects of my introduction, which should be an interesting journey. 🙂  So here we go…

VISIONS

In my introduction, I have mentioned that I have had the uncanny ability to remember dreams since the age of 5 and I could recall them.  One of my dream recollections was at the age of 5.  I was in a supermarket in the produce aisle and I was levitating over the fruit section.  In this particular situation, I was picking up fruit and throwing the fruit at people.  It was entertaining to me.  As my dream journey developed,  I began to have greater development in my ability.  At the age of 16, I saw my first relationship develop(though I won’t go through all the details of this instance) from the time it began to the time it ended.  Other instances were certain situations ranging from meeting certain people to have the ability to sense various situations that those close to me were experiencing.  The prediction of my first relationship is as simple as it got.  I’ve had a variety of dreams ranging from falling dreams to sexual dreams.  These types of visions may or may not hold to their form.  Drawing on Freud’s thoughts of dreams are experiences from the previous days can be true since, through dreaming, we allow for the decompression of that day.  I remember the moment I had an interest in dreams.  It was in middle school I was in the library and saw a book on sleep.  As I was reading a book(I don’t remember the title), this analogy stuck out to me.  The book mentioned that we are carrying a backpack and each day represents a brick.  So, how do sleep and dreaming come into play?…. Well, for each day, we do not get enough sleep. Those bricks build and our bag gets heavier and heavier.  What sleep and dreaming allow us to do is each night we remove a given amount of bricks.  For me, it brings up a point regarding insomnia as well as Restless leg syndrome(RLS).   So what are these and how do they affect one’s dream and vision?  Insomnia is a condition defined by night time and daytime symptoms. Nighttime symptoms include persistent difficulties falling and / or staying asleep and / or non-restorative sleep that one in 10 people suffer from them and Restless Leg Syndrome is a neurological disorder and those who have the condition those who have this have experienced A strong urge to move the legs, which may be irresistible. Uncomfortable sensations in the legs. Words used to describe these sensations include: painful, creeping, itching, pulling, creepy-crawly, tugging, or gnawing.  In the RLS group, 3% are affected by this disorder (4, 5).

I am not familiar with RLS. However, I have had bouts of insomnia.  In regards to insomnia and dreams and OBEs, the experience my experience was rather sparse, meaning certain situations within that dream state or OBE had affected the duration of how the dreamer or the person of that particular experience can interact.  I think this is due to the dreamer being in a constant twilight state so consciousness is skewed, and that person is unable to focus or they have not entered the full REM stage of sleep.  For an OBEer in the waking state because of the fatigue of the brain, it is more of a challenge to gain such experience.  How does this affect a person’s vision when it comes to dreams?…. In my early 20’s when I was working at a local shop and for some reason one day I was unable to sleep for three days and I was very sluggish.  On one of the days of my insomnia, I had a dream regarding a female(non-sexual) and we were on a beach playing in the waves and writing something in the sand which I could not read and then I woke up.  This went throughout the night, much like you would experience with a skipped CD or DVD.  Second and third days, my dream was rather hazy for me and all I could make out was a silhouette of the situation, and nothing much from them a few years later, the outcome of the dream did come to existence.

Memory

Memory within the dream and OBE states are interesting.  Memory has increased for me during a lucid dream and/or an OBE state.  I cannot explain the outcome.  The only thing that I can say through my experience is all of your senses are heightened.   I will cover my various experiences in the serenity section of this blog, now back to memory.  For those just experiencing or working towards a lucid dream and OBE, give it time to develop.  Recollection will come in time. One of the most challenging aspects of my dreams was remembering events.  I’m not one who writes things down and with my varied interests in subject matters, I’ve had friends surprised and/or amazed at the information that I can retain, yet when it comes to simple matters, I have a difficult time recalling.  For example, the information taught when I was going through my Physical Therapy Technician course when it came to the Anatomy and Physiology course which was tough.  In addition to studying, I used the five steps in the “Benefits of Dreaming” on my page to remember those sections for that day, Relax, Dream with Purpose, Being present in your dream, Questioning your dream, and listening to your dream.

So, how did I use these steps and go into lucidity?

1. Relax – I kept this one simple for my Anatomy and Physiology(A&P) course. I imagined an energy ball above my head(a.k.a. the 7th crown chakra) and as I inhaled, I felt the energy relaxing me.  As I exhale, imagined the ball increase to the next spot, which is the third eye(this is 6 of 7 of the chakras from the top) that energies your body.  For this exercise, I’m just using a neutral source.  I would repeat this method until it engulfs the entire body to the ground(a.k.a. 1st chakra – Earth chakra).  From the remaining points of the third eye is as follows:

5.Throat

4. Heart
5. Solar Plexus(abs)

and

2 Sex chakra.

Spend a few moments at each of these points until you feel relaxed.  It will take some time to get the feeling of this technique.  What you should feel is a sense of lightness. One could spend 30 seconds one could spend 1 hour; this will vary from person to person.  Like stretching a muscle, some areas will take longer.  This could be because of the everyday stresses we gather throughout the day or longer the years we spend being stressed.  In this situation, breath into the given areas until you feel as relaxed as you can.  When I first did this, I could feel my mind racing and I could feel the stresses that had gathered through my body.  At first, this startled me.  The feeling you feel is normal think of it as detox.  People detox when they go through AA, though most don’t detox the spirit.  I struggled through this for a good while.  This is neither good nor bad; this is a feeling that you should be aware of.  I’ve fought this feeling for many years and it drained me both physically and spiritually.  Eventually, when I arrived at a calm state, I was able to manage these stresses.  Each level will vary and this will teach you patience.  For those who wanted to learn patience, this is a good exercise. Once this is mastered you can do it on the fly.  For those just learning, do it in a quiet place either when you nap or sleep.  Just a little F.Y.I. : A nap is 45 minutes or less and sleep is anything over this time.

2. Dream with purpose – I went into my dream each night, learning what I wanted to learn, for example, the skull.  This did a few things. It allowed for that energy to be present.  When the time is right, things will start falling into place.  You could have someone who happens to be available to help you with your situation.  Everything could go wrong in your day; however, that one situation works out as planned.  You can call it God’s timing, luck, &t. Accept it and keep your awareness up as well.  However, don’t get too cocky in this state.  I’ve had many situations backfire on me because of this so stay within yourself.
3. Be present – This experience is like any other experience.  For me, my dreams are just as real as my waking state.  Remember….your brain cannot differentiate between a dream state and waking state. If you have to remind yourself that you’re dreaming, do so.  This is just like any other classroom though it’s literally on your time so be in the here and now.  In my situation, with my A&P dream, I interacted with my dream as I would normally in my waking state.
4. Question your dreams – This can coincide with #2: Dream with purpose though it does not have to. This is where you can ask your dream anything. I asked my dream the best way to remember.  Your answers will not come to you like a normal answer, which is why the final step is important.
5. Listen to your dreams – Your answers can come to you in any form. It can be something your friend says or does.  It could be a t.v. Show you are watching.  My answers continually come to me.  The day I completed my Physical Therapy Tech(PTT) course, these shows came up: House, Bones, and Monk(which I still watch).

These are the things that your dreams manifest.  There’s always going to be those who doubt.  People have various awareness, and within those who are aware of each person’s lives in each of these planes of understanding: Conscious,  Subconscious, Unconscious, and Collective Unconscious.  So, who is in these planes?

The way this will be explained is not defined as consciousness as related to the physical that “this person does not know.”  The way it is listed in the form of awareness Collective being the highest level.  Those who live in the Conscious are everyday people, both religious and non-religious people who are just there.  Subconscious – These are those who are aware of various aspects of life, such people such as religious practices, all therapists, and those who study psychology and philosophy.  Unconscious – These are those who can release themselves from that of religious practices and/or therapist practices however, can draw upon the practices.  Those who live in this state are such people such as Shaolin monks, Qi Gong masters and/or masters of the martial arts, or those who have trained themselves to reach these levels.  Lastly, the Collective Unconscious- This step encompasses all that the Unconscious in addition to knowing and having the ability to transition to each level.  This will be different from person to person and each will reach their own time.  However, this last transition is very difficult to reach because it is the most unstable of all awareness, and due to the unstable aspect of this level, it can camouflage itself with the characteristics of the previous 3.  Those that have reached these levels are Jesus, Mother Theresa, Buddha, Gandhi, and the like.  If you call these states total enlightenment or not, the characteristics which they possess are by knowing how, where, and when to bring light to situations that will bring us to the last aspect of lucid dream and OBEs.

 Serenity –
This is one of my favorite aspects of dreaming and OBEs.  This stage is also the most humbling and where you’ll find the most growth in your journey.  Secondly, this will be the shortest of the three sections.  With all experiences, I have had many good and bad experiences regarding dreams and I’m not talking about nightmares.  Depending on where you are in your understanding staying peaceful and having a pure heart is the most important.  Though it is nearly impossible, one can always try and this goes beyond people saying, “All I have to do is be a good person.”  It goes beyond this mindset.  Even good deeds would not prove a pure heart.  So how do you get there?…. Now the fun. You’ll have to find it. 😉

I had a little fun on December 5, 2012.  I was running some errands on this day, and on my way home, I was feeling a bit rushed and as I took my exit, there was a car in front of me with the license BSERENE…like I mentioned humbling.  Call it coincidence or not I just smiled, relaxed and took a few deep breaths and just drove on.

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References:

1. Dictionary.com(2012)Vision

retrieved on: December 8, 2012 from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vision?s=t

2. Dictionary.com(2012)Memory

retrieved on: December 8, 2012 from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/memory?s=t

3, Dictionary.com(2012) Serenity

retrieved on: December 8, 2012 from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/serenity?s=t

4. Stanford Hospital and Clinics(2012) Insomnia

retrieved on: December 9, 2012 from: http://stanfordhospital.org/clinicsmedServices/clinics/sleep/sleep_disorders/insomnia.html

5. Stanford Hospital and Clinics(2012)Restless Leg Syndrome

retrieved on: December 9, 2012 from: http://stanfordhospital.org/clinicsmedServices/clinics/sleep/sleep_disorders/rls.html