Lucid Dreaming Workshop

(SCROLL DOWN FOR CLASS READINGS)

This workshop starts on MONDAY the 17th of january, and will take place every MONDAY at 8 PM at 196 manning st. (W. of Bathurst and Dundas) for ten weeks.

My name is yehuda and i will be "facilitating" the workshop. To tell you the truth, i am new to the world of lucid dreaming myself, and am not an expert on the topic. the structure of the course is very flexible, and on the first day we will decide exactly how structured people want the course to be, and what topics in particular you want to look into. i envision this course as a discussion group for aspiring (and experienced) lucid dreamers, to exchange advice on remembering dreams, intitation and controlling lucid dreams, websites, books and reading on lucid dreaming, practicing lucid waking life, and the phenomenon of shared dreams and out of body experiences. we will try to answer the question "what are dreams?", examine different school of thought about dream interpretation, and look at the history of lucid dreaming. really, what happens in this workshop is very much up to what the participants decide they want to learn and do. thats about it for now. if you have any questions or ideas, fell free to email me at yehuda@anarchistu.org. im looking forward to dreaming with you!

yehuda

Here are some great Lucid Dreaming Websites to check out

http://www.ld4all.com this is a great site for beginners. it has an extensive section on what lucid dreams are, how to increase your dream recall, and how to realize you are dreaming once you are. there are also a large number of forums where people can post questions, tips and stories about lucid dreaming.

http://members.aol.com/dreamartscience a womens personal lucid dreaming website, full of her tips and stories about lucid dreaming.

http://lucidcrossroads.co.uk/how.htm a place for lucid dreamer from around the world to meet up and plan dream experiments and shared dream meetups.

http://www.soulfuture.com/dreams/dream_interpretation_tutorial.asp

CLASS READINGS

OBE/Astral Traveling

I first heard of “out of body” experiences through friends talking about this book written by Robert Monroe, and for the longest time it seemed to be the only book about HOW to do “out of body” work until the new agers became involved and started calling it “astral travelling” It doesn;t matter what you call it I suppose, it is the same thing. Anyway, after doing some searching for the purpose of gathering information for our next class, Monroe still seems to cover the basics, and although there is some information on astral planes and such, for the purposes of doing astral travelling, it is not neccessary.

Here are some sites I have found: buy the CD! http://www.astral-projection.org.uk/ a treatise on astral projection http://www.spiritual.com.au/astral.html Robert Monroes site http://www.monroeinstitute.org/ some history on astral travel http://www.rotten.com/library/occult/astral-projection/ courses on astral travel? Http://www.astralprojection.ws/ about.com site http://paranormal.about.com/od/outofbodyexp/ lucid dreaming, astral travel, auras http://www.worldtrans.org/travel.html and for a chuckle http://www.lucid-dreaming-kit.com/lucid-dreaming/?afl=INTGGL

The Trigger of Relaxation Robert Monroe's out-of-body research from http://www.near-death.com/experiences/triggers12.html

Robert Monroe (1915-1995) was the pioneer in the investigation of out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and the author of the ground-breaking book entitled Journeys out of the Body. His record of out of body experiences in places unbound by time or death has comforted millions of people who have encountered paranormal incidents. Unpredictably and without his willing it, Monroe found himself leaving his physical body and traveling via a second body to locales far removed from any physical or spiritual reality he could comprehend. In the ensuing years, Monroe and his group began work on means and methods of inducing and controlling this and other forms of consciousness in their laboratory. As specialists in creating patterns of effective sound, they used this base for their research. Their efforts gradually produced significant results, and attracted International interest among people from all walks of life. In 1974, he founded the Monroe Institute and began conducting learning seminars in self-control of human consciousness. Three patents were issued to Monroe for the methods and techniques so generated, and the trademark, HEMI-SYNC, also became broad public knowledge. Other works by Monroe are Far Journeys, and Ultimate Journey. In his book, he describes a technique for triggering out-of-body states. Here is a brief description of the technique: (1) First lie down in a darkened room in a relaxing position. (2) Loosen your clothing and remove all jewelry. (3) Enter into a very relaxing state and consciously tell yourself that you will remember everything that happens at this time. (4) Begin breathing through your half-open mouth. (5) Concentrate on an object. (6) When other images start to enter your mind, passively watch them. (7) Try to clear your mind and observe your field of vision through your closed eyes. (8) Do nothing more for a while. (9) Simply look through your closed eyelids at the blackness in front of you. (10) After a while, you may notice light patterns. (11) When these cease, a state of such relaxation will happen that you lose all awareness of the body. (12) You are almost in the state where your only source of stimulation will be your own thoughts. (13) It is this relaxed and refreshed condition where out-of-body journeys are triggered. (14) To leave your body, think of yourself getting lighter and of how nice it would be to float upwards. (15) With sufficient practice Monroe claims that a wide variety of experiences. There are a wide variety of psychic and spiritual states that can result from leaving the body consciously. The traveler can find him or herself in either formed states (those containing objects) or amorphous states when leaving the body in this way. One type of conscious transition occurs when the traveler simply disconnects the inner spiritual self from the physical body, and moves out and away from the physical body consciously. This disconnection happens frequently in near-death experience where the injured person moves a short distance from the physical body and observes it. This method of slipping out of the body has little drama associated with it except for the fear aroused in the individual who does not understand what is happening. Robert Monroe describes his experiences as follows: In 1958, without any apparent cause, I began to float out of my physical body. It was not voluntary; I was not attempting any mental feats. It was not during sleep, so I couldn't dismiss it as simply a dream. I had full, conscious awareness of what was happening, which of course only made it worse. I assumed it was some sort of hallucination caused by something dangerous - a brain tumor, or impending mental illness. Or imminent death. It occurred usually when I would lie down or relax for rest or preparatory to sleep - not every time but several times weekly. I would float up a few feet above my body before I became aware of what was happening. Terrified, I would struggle through the air and back into my physical body. Try as I might, I could not prevent it from recurring. (Monroe, 2-3) The traveler can also move directly into a visualized space that is very much like a dream environment maintaining continuous awareness of the transition into this space. Though the experience talks about being in a light sleep when the transition took place, I have had a very similar experience where I was awake when the image I was perceiving turned into a three-dimensional space which I then entered via spiritual travel. Sometimes the traveler's transition to formed environments will involve dynamic movement, and the traveler will enter the environment soaring above fields and cities, taking in vast panoramas. In many cases, the body image of the traveler is more or less identical to his physical body but this is not always the case. A common experience is for the traveler to become a point of consciousness or a unit of awareness with no sense of a body which takes up space. Here the traveler identifies him or herself as pure observer or witness, and is more of a disembodied set of ears and pair of eyes. Sight and hearing are the two senses that usually dominate during spiritual travel. Moving consciously into amorphous states is more difficult to describe. These states are usually areas of intense experience where the dominant reality is that of light, sound, vibration, motion or emotion. Going from a waking state or semi-waking state into an amorphous state is usually the most dramatic kind of spiritual travel experience. In one type of amorphous transition, the traveler suddenly senses a powerful vibration or sound and is caught up in that energy. This is sometimes accompanied by a feeling of being drawn or propelled by this vibration at tremendous speed through a dark space. This experience seems very similar to the descriptions of the tunnel associated with near-death experience. Numerous people who came very close to death (no heartbeat or respiration) have near-death experiences where they have described different types of sounds or vibrations which propelled them at seemingly great speed through a dark tunnel or corridor. Sometimes, there is a feeling of being catapulted out of the body. In these cases, the vibrations usually start at a low pitch and continue gaining in frequency and power until they become almost explosive in their intensity. In other cases, there is the feeling of the inner sounds or vibrations but not the experience of movement and acceleration. Often, such static experiences involve hearing spiritual music or sounds, and can be quite ecstatic. The above mentioned inner sounds along with inner lights can sometimes act as a means of transition between waking experience and some formed inner world. Here is a transition involving inner light which starts from a waking state, moves initially to an amorphous state of energy and movement, and then to a formed state of stability. This stable state is usually a quasi-physical environment. Sounds which occur during conscious transitions out of the body are usually very powerful, and may result in the obliteration of the body image. I have found the nerves which inform the person of his body's weight, size and position in space seem to largely quit functioning when the sound occurs. Some of the sounds which occur are of a spiritual or mystical nature rather than transitional sounds that carry the traveler to a different place. These higher spiritual sounds are of a heavenly nature and are ecstatic beyond description. They are therefore one of the final destinations of spiritual travel rather than a means to some other place. Some sample sounds one may encounter are the sounds of a speeding train, a loud buzzing, a flute, or the sounds of nature like the roar of a waterfall. These sounds or vibrations are of such intensity that they seem to pass right through the body, overpowering the other senses. Here we have an example of change of identity during spiritual travel where the individual literally merges with the sound.

This report illustrates conscious transitions out of the body which may occur spontaneously, due to an accident or injury, or as a result of deliberate action and intention. The key here is that there is no loss of consciousness during the transition between the waking state and the spiritual travel.

WHAT IS ASTRAL TRAVEL from Sylvan Learining http://www.paralumun.com/astralwhat.htm Astral travel is often known as out-of-body experience. It is the conscious separation of the astral body from the physical body. This results in an altered state of consciousness. There are a large amount of techniques that can be used to achieve this including meditation, trance and imagination techniques. A large amount of people who experience astral travel report that the experience happened from a vantage point such as high in the sky looking down. A number of controlled tests have taken place which support the excistence of astral travel. Astral travel has also been reported by some people who have had a near death experience. Some people who have had this type of experience have reported watching their operation and recalling conversations among hospital staff. The astral body is often reported as being joined to the physical body by a silver cord - an etheric umbilical cord. Some people believe that if the cord breaks while in astral travel you will not be able to return to the physical body. ARE WE JUST DREAMING Are we really just dreaming? The answer seems certain to be no. Characteristics of dreams are that they are unlike real life. Dreams are often vague, hard to remember in full and fade over time. The character of astral travel is that it is real. The experience is easily remembered in detail and the experience does not fade over time. Also astral travel can happen while the person is awake.

ASTRAL TRAVEL TECHNIQUES Start by pining a length of rope to the ceiling above you. Have it hanging within arms reach so you can easily reach up and touch it. Reach out and touch it frequently until you are used to where it is in your mind. By being able to reach out and touch the rope you used to the spatial coordinates of where the invisible, imaginary rope is. This grows both in your mind and hence as a thought form, making it easier to imagine yourself reaching out and climbing the imaginary rope. You do NOT have to actually visualize, or see, the rope at any time, just know where it is supposed to be. Reaching out and pulling on this imaginary rope shifts the bodily awareness induced point of consciousness out of the body with a natural action that puts direct pressure on one point of the etheric body. The Technique Using a meditation technique of your choosing place yourself into a state of deep relaxation. Reach out with your imaginary hands and pull yourself hand over hand up the invisible, imaginary rope hanging above you. Try and imagine the feel of a rope in your hands. You will feel a slight dizzy sensation inside you as you do this. This is caused by exerting dynamic pressure on the etheric body. The dizzy sensation comes from the etheric body loosening. This feeling of vertigo will intensify the more you pull on the rope. Just keep climbing, hand over hand, ever upwards, and you will feel the heavy sensation come over you. The pressure you are exerting on your etheric body will force you into the trance state. Ignore this when it happens and concentrate on what you are doing. Keep climbing and you will feel your chakras open in response to the pressure. Next you will feel the vibrations start, your whole body will seem to be vibrating and you will feel paralysed. Next you will feel yourself coming free of your body. You will buzz slightly as you feel yourself coming out of your body. You will exit your body in the direction of your imaginary rope and will be hovering above your body. You're free at last.......Robert. The Moving Anchor. After meditating into a state of total deep relaxation, imagine an object about 6 feet in front of your eyes (assuming that you are lying down). Now feel this object pulling at you like a magnet. Once you can see the object clearly in your minds eye and feel the pull of the object on you, begin to move the object slowly towards you. Just a small amount at first. As the object moves towards you feel the pull getting stronger. Now move it back again (the pull gets weaker as you do). Now repeat the process moving the object closer each time and feeling the pull becoming stronger and stronger as the object comes closer. Once you are comfortable with the movement of the object begin the process again, only this time the movement of the object should be a fluid motion, and as the object moves to and fro it should be like a wave. You should also feel this wave on yourself as the pull gets stronger and weaker and stronger again. Finally as the object virtually reaches you the strength of the pulling force combined with the wavelike motion will simply pull you right out of your physical body.......Robert. All that is needed is for you to focus on your breathing. When you breathe in, notice it. Notice how the air feels on the tips of your nostrils ... and then again, when you breathe out. It's important that this be done during an activity .. @ work, shopping, daily activities, etc. .... not in isolation. Do not train your breathing. Just let it flow and watch it ... then start to focus on the gap between breaths. After a while, you'll begin to notice a certain distancing effect .... almost as if your own activities and the things around you are a drama that you're watching. You're not really a part of it, although you are acting through the part. It produces a sense of separateness, that is similar to the point in time right before an OBE occurs. I like this technique because it's very simple to do, and it isn't a solitary technique ... it's meant to be attempted at various times throughout the day. It also helped me learn to passively watch my mind's hynogogia before falling asleep (like "watching" my daily activities), while keeping another portion of my attention awake and aware enough to successfully achieve an OBE....James. Using this method, however, will safeguard your trip, because a spiritual traveler will come and guide you. Make sure that you have twenty minutes undisturbed. Lie down, sit in a good chair, and close your eyes. Take a few deep breath, to make sure you are breathing calmly, and that your heart beat at a relaxed pace. Now, concentrate on your third eye, just above your nose, between your eyes. Take a deep breath, and while breating our, sofly sing Huuuuuuuuu. It`s sung like the man`s name, Hugh . Sing as long as you feel comfortable with each breath, but don`t run out of breath. Be relaxed. Sing this for a ten to fifteen minutes, then sit quitet, and look in a relaxed manner for the light in the third eye. Do this EVERY day, until one day, something happens. This ensure you that you are getting some soul travel experience, and not astral, which is both limited, and not so secure. You may get your first obe in the Dream state, and the man that comes to guide you, may be invisible at first, but he will be working for your benefit, with your first Hu.....Lisa. During sleep a 'scene' will appear. 'Will' yourself into the scene, and go....Submitted by Craft. Hi my name is Matt and ive been Astral Projecting ! Its so easy . All I do is point my nose to the ground think of where i want to go and all of a suddon iam there ! Ive been doing this for a long time now . I dont know how it works and iam only 10 years old but i love astral projection . But i have to be carful some times because my power of Astral Traval will take me over ! Some times my power will work atomaticaly , it will work even when i dont want it to it just happens . Well any way thanx for your time and support.