You Must Be Dreaming

For the past 6 - 8 months or so, I've been practicing a type of yoga called "Dream Yoga."  It's a Tibetan practice intended to transcend Karma.  Karma is the result of, not only your daily choices (as you sow you reap), but also of your experiences of past lives brought into this world.  Amazingly, Karma is also created in the dream state.

The states of consciousness are (1) waking, (2) dreaming (3) deep sleep and (4) self or soul or oneness.  Obviously when you are awake and making choices, you are creating Karma and you are aware.  No one knows what happens in deep sleep, so it is safe to say there is no Karma there and of course if you are "one" as self or soul, you are not creating Karma.  

In your waking state, you can make the most nourishing choice in any situation and that's going to minimize and ultimately transcend Karma.  In a dreaming state, however, you are running amuck in an uncontrolled and unconscious fashion.  Those sleeping dragons or unconscious choice-makers that we talk about in the Elemental Cleanse go nutso!  You may experience wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony. So the big question is, "how do you minimize the Karma in your dreams?"  That's called dream yoga.  It's a fun practice that helps you to have lucid dreams or dreams where you are conscious and can consciously make a more nourishing choice within the dream.  

I love the practice because not only does it transcend Karma, it also provides deep insight and meaning into your dreams.  We like to believe that our dreams mean something.  The Tibetans believe that dreams are mean nothing unless they are done with consciousness.  It also improves your sleep.  If you have a hard time sleeping this will help.

Here's the practice:

• Women lay on your left side. (this has to do with the lunar and solar energy channels of the spine)
• Men lay on your right.
• Recapitulate your day.  That means quickly walk through the events of your day with witnessing awareness.  Be the observer.  Don't attach to the drama of the day.  Simply watch it like you would a move.  This should only take 3 - 5 minutes.
• Tell yourself that you will remember your dreams.
• As you go to sleep, picture a white light, an angel or a goddess within your heart.  Whatever you picture, make it bright and luminous.
• With your attention on that image, allow it to expand and fill your body and beyond. 
• You will fall asleep having that image.  If you wake up in the middle of the night, do the visualization again and go back to sleep.
• If you wake from a dream or in the morning when you wake, write down any dream that you remember or any flash of insight. 

now here's the interesting part....

During your day, tell yourself that you are a dreamer in a dream.  Look around the world as if you are living in a dream.  It's so cool.  You will notice amazing and wild things that you have never noticed before!  I love this part of it.  I even make a game of it with my kids.

There's more to it, but this will get you going.

Om Shanti,  Pamela