Calming phrases before evening meditation or sleep
Through most of my life I've used my thoughts to try to calm myself down before going to sleep at night, and before evening meditations. I thought I'd share some of those phrases here today.
In my teens
When I was in my teens and had too much energy, I'd lay in bed at night, unable to fall asleep, so I'd follow this pattern of thoughts:
Improvements to the holodeck
I've intentionally been sleeping a little more than necessary the last three nights, and last night as I laid in bed, I tried to just lay there and relax, but not let myself fall asleep. Every time I felt like I might lose consciousness I changed my position in bed to help stay awake.
A simple OBE recipe
After another near-OBE this afternoon (I got too excited, lol), I thought I'd share a simple OBE recipe here, in case I haven't shared it here before:
Two days of fun lucid dreams
The last few nights have been fun. I've been drinking a little red wine each night before going to bed, and the last two nights I've slept about 4-5 hours, at which point I feel awake enough to start the new day, presumably sleeping more soundly because of the wine. However, I then lay down, try to fall back to sleep, and also just try to focus on the present moment, and as a result, each morning I've had hours of fun, lucid dreams.
Partially asleep while driving and shopping
Today I was able to maintain a state of being nearly asleep while driving and then while shopping. I've done this before while driving; it helps make the time go by faster, especially when the ride is easy. (Yes, I know this can be dangerous, but I've managed to control it so far.) But today was the first time I ever maintained this state while doing something else, in this case, shopping at a WalMart somewhere here in British Columbia, Canada (either Quesnell or Williams Lake, I don't remember now).
A schizophrenia-like area of sleepland
Not feeling well (ongoing headache), I went to bed before 8pm last night. Somewhere during the night, before 2am, I was in a strange area of sleep consciousness where I'm wide awake, and I know I'm asleep and laying in my apartment, but there are other very real 'people' around that really aren't there. Call them hallucinations or schizophrenia-like experiences, but they are as real as this computer.
"He wrote the hell out of it"
Just laying in bed here tonight, falling asleep, when the thought/voice comes into my head: "That was the best song ever. He wrote the hell out of it."
I have no idea what that means. I don't know why I get these things, or how the brain works, but any time I'm not too tired and I can relax deeply without falling asleep, I get to "hear" things like this.
Regained consciousness, couldn't control snoring
In my latest sleep experiment, I was able to regain consciousness during sleep while suffering from sleep apnea (okay, snoring), but I couldn't alter my breathing enough to stop it.
Enhance your lucid dreams with a simple practice
As I noted in my last blog entry, I've been working on a method to enhance my lucid dreaming abilities that I read in a book titled The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep. Based on my own experience, I think it makes a lot of sense, and more importantly, it works.
The method I'm working on right now is the first of four "Foundational Practices" that the author introduces, and this first method is to practice dreaming during the day. Specifically, as you go through your daily routine, see all of your life as a dream. As the author states when talking about this first foundational practice:
"... throughout the day, practice the dream-like nature of life until the same recognition begins to manifest in dream. Upon waking in the morning, think to yourself, 'I am awake in a dream'. When you enter the kitchen, recognize it as a dream kitchen."
Trying for a good night's sleep
I haven't reported any OBE's or lucid dreams lately because I've been keeping myself a little sleep-deprived, and also drinking a little bit each night, in order to keep them from happening. Pretty shallow, I know, but sometimes you just need a break, and this is the only way I know to do it. The dreams still keep coming, but this approach seems to stop, or at least slow down, the OBE's and lucid dreams.
If you don't experience these things on a regular basis it may be hard to understand, but some times what you need is just a good night's sleep, with no special effects.
