Dreamer

I have been a Dreamer for as long as i can remember. For me, awareness in dreams has been my main form of meditation, if you want to call it that. My dreaming goes in cycles, as well. By journalling, you come to recognize your personal dream cycles and patterns, as well as the language of your Self. 

I have catagories of dream, that i use to help determine at what level i am Dreaming. These may be different for everyone, because each person will have individual nuances to their way of working with energy and intent. Each level of dream has/is a specific frequency of vibration, and as you move thru these, it is like getting an energy tune-up. You will be unable to reach a level of awareness that your system cannot adapt to, or raise itself to............there are also very dense levels, and they can be hard to move within, and hard to keep your intent, becaseu, like this phys. plane, things are slow to take form and to manifest, and its easy to get caught up in the process, and forget you are dreaming. i liken this to our collective dreaming experience of the world in existence....we are on a quite dense level of interaction and thus we ahve forgotten we are 'dreaming'. 

after working with dreams for a while, you will start to familiarize yourself with these energetic 'tones' of awareness, and soon be able to move within a vast network of channels and freqeuncies, etc, depending upon your own vibration and your intent....the more energy you can carry and transmute, and the higher and more charged your intent, the deeper you can go into the fabric that is everything. Like someone else mentioned, it can be scary and intense or too exciting when you first learn to 'wakeup' in Dreaming, and that can foil your efforts till you familiarize yourself with it. next comes learning movement within this realm, and this can take many different forms. everyone has their preference. next comes learning to maintain clarity and enhance clarity of consciousness. The above post mentioned SPINNING which is a technique i use as well; it re'collects my energy and gives me cohesion when i feel im starting to unravel and fade because i cant hold the vibration. You must be able to keep your sense of Self amid higher energies, or you can become overwhelmed. this is ok if you are seeking a healing or merging experience, etc, but to learn to navigate further and further, one must learn to bypass the desire to bask in the energy, and learn to circulate that energy thru their system in order to resonate with the 'environment' one is in. after stabilizing at that velocity, you raise yourself more. The environment and mood etc will depend upon the rate of vibration, and that is another way to track where exactly you are at and what sorta realm you are moving within. if you continue to go deeper there will come a point at which it is too painful/intense/ to hold consciousness, because your system cannot yet hold the energy you need in order to stay coherent in that specific 'tone'. 

I have found that I become depleted and weak for a little while after an experience where i have stayed 'too long' at too high a rate for me to transmute.......(i hope im making sense in this post)..... 

These are all things that i have learned thru my experiences. The best way to start to practice is, as stated elsewhere in the thread, your intent and dedication and energy. Journals are, for me, something i couldnt do without when it comes to dreaming. Has anyone seen 'butterfly effect'... where the guy reads thru his old journals and taps into that 'moment', thats something i use my journals for, going back to a specific dreammomentvibration, becaseu it exists still, and it will go on existing, and has parallels, just like this waking consensus reality. To use your past dreams as portals into specific states is a great meditation tool as well. Once you are able to induce the Lucid Dreaming more or less at will(this will go in cycles too), you are ready to take serious study of the activities you participate in on that level. Just like when we are awake in this phys. reality and must make choices with what we want to use our energy on, the same takes place in Dreaming. you have, as paul would say, a quantitative amount of energy, and when it is 'spent' for the time being, your will be unable to hold conscious awareness......so what you do in your dream after you reach awareness is important to your developing skill. if you waste the energy in habitpattern reactions, which are just as common on the dreamplane as 'here', you lose energy. When you spread your focus too thin or get carried away by details, you can lose energy. 
Whenever you make a truthrealization however, you tend to get an energy boost. Learn to work with your environment and its energy and quality of energy. determine what you want to get out of the situation, and the whole practice, and devote your energy to the things that will most help you actualize what you are trying to do. Some people thrive in certain energies that others dont. find the atmosphere and experiences that resonate with you, and act according to your SelfsTruth. If you can maintain Integrity of Self you can Dream higher and deeper than you ever thought. Its all about the energy and intent, and focusing that energy in the proper channels of the moment. 

I like to have variety, so sometimes i set myself a specific goal or objective, and try to fulfill that creatively in the dream...other times i just follow whatever dreamwave that i find myself in and play a very receptive role. If you want to set a task for yourself, you can try writing it down, in words that are recognizable and powerful to your subconscious, and meditating on it, then putting it under your pillow. If you can awaken then, you will remember your task and decide whether you want to engage with it. 

Another thing that someone pointed out is the times at which we sleep. when you are already rested, you tend to dream mo;re lucidly, becasue your body doesnt need that extra energy to refuel itself and take care of itself physically, which means that awareness is available to your dreamingbody. try taking naps in the afternoon or whenever, and record your experiences. see whether there is a difference in quality between those dreams and your nightdreams. 

Dreaming is the most natural connection we have with our own spiritual nature. It is there to be developed and used for a reason. Now that the taboo of dreams etc is lessening in our cultures, more and more people aer 're-membering' and reconnecting with that essential part of our existence. 

I hope i havnt rambled incessently here, or spoken in terms that dont make sense. everyone has their own way of speakingthedream, so i hope i have been somewhat clear! 

This info is solely from my experience. 
Im always looking for new techniques and ideas and perceptions on these processes....and thought books and the like are great for familiarizing yourself with the territoryand possibilities, they cant make your Dreampractice for you. 

SmilingDreams, 
puella /Charleen Johnston
(Re: Lucid Dreaming Sat, December 18, 2004 )