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Awaken The Writer Within

Aware Dreaming

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AWARE DREAMING

To encourage aware dreaming (and relieve insomnia) set up an internal dream sanctuary. Furnish it with things conducive to peaceful sleep: scented oils, soft lighting, music or silence according to your preference.

Imagine the softest of beds – perhaps a fluffy cloud which gently rocks. Spend some time imagining this sanctuary in every detail, so you can go straight there when you close your eyes. The process can be enhanced by music designed to slow the brainwaves – such as the Delta Sync Sleep System CDs from LifeTools.

Again, the intention to engage with your dreams is conveyed to the psyche because you have backed it up with appropriate action. The psyche will respond. Affirm your intention verbally, repeating a phrase such as ‘Tonight I will remember my dreams’. Strengthen this affirmation by writing it down. Place a hand on your chest or abdomen and experience its weight and warmth. This helps to anchor your affirmation further. Don’t be discouraged if results are not immediate. The most effective strategy is calm persistence. It will bring results eventually.

CASE STUDY

Karen had been going through a stressful period and this had affected her sleep patterns. She had not remembered any dreams for a long time. She started to work on an internal dream sanctuary, and also bought some sleep-inducing tapes. She slept soundly the first night she tried them, but remembered no dreams. The second night she spent time affirming an intention to remember her dreams. She dreamed of the Grail Maiden, and woke up feeling extremely calm.

Once you are in touch with your dreams, the next step is to indicate what it is you would like to dream and remember. Answers to questions and solutions to problems can be sought, including questions about your writing. With practice you can dream about your characters. Sometimes the next chapter or story gets acted out more or less in total – an amazing experience.

There are hypnotic suggestion tapes designed to achieve this level of engagement with dreams. I recommend Dick Sutphen’s Dream Solutions and Paul Sheele’s Programming Your Dreams, available from New World Music and LifeTools respectively. However, to reiterate, the most effective technique by far is perseverance.

CASE STUDY

Sheila had been keeping a dream journal regularly for many years, and had noticed how certain themes recurred. She had also noticed that high and low levels of dream activity tended to go in cycles. She had learned to wait calmly for the next high activity period, and not panic when her dreams seem to have disappeared. Since working with the group she has also reached the stage where she can get her writing questions answered during those active periods, and this is proving very helpful. She has found the hypnotic tapes particularly useful in getting the most out of this process.

Lucid dreaming

Lucid, or conscious dreaming takes the process a stage further by enabling those who practice it to know they are dreaming. The dream can be manipulated to suit specific purposes. For example, you could get the characters of your story or novel together and direct them in a specific scene. It takes dedicated practice to achieve this degree of facility. There are special exercises designed for the purpose. There are also devices, such as sleep masks which respond to the rapid movements made by the eyes when we are dreaming. A buzzer is activated which, eventually, is perceived by the dreaming mind and recognised as a signal that dreaming is taking place. Further information about this, and about lucid dreaming in general can be obtained from LifeTools, and awakenedminds.com.

Opinion is divided as to the merits of lucid dreaming. Some see it as a tool for inner discovery, others feel that conscious intervention interferes with the processes of the subconscious.

CASE STUDY

The idea of lucid dreaming appealed to David greatly. He bought a book on the subject and tried the exercises nightly for nearly three weeks before he started getting results. However, he has found his lucid dreams quite boring. The stories his characters acted out were less interesting than those he has arrived at by other means, such as timed writing and themed Scrabble. Zubin, on the other hand, reported some impressive results – mainly with regard to colours and images which he describes as ‘amazing’. He feels the process has enhanced his painting and sculpture rather than his writing, but believes the effects will be transferred to the latter eventually.

Checklist

We can learn to interact more fully with our dreams by:

  • setting up an internal dream sanctuary
  • making our intentions clear
  • choosing the way that is right for us
  • persevering.
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