Dream Practice, Calmness

Taoist Dream Practice:

The practice of Taoist Dreaming is a deep and vast topic.  Here are a few things to think about as a start to this practice.

  1. Clear the sleep debt. Part of the practice is to walk the balance between consciousness and unconsciousness.  When we are too tired, we fall immediately asleep into unconsciousness.  So, it is important to clear the sleep debt, even if it takes weeks or months.
  2. Take deep breaths in front of your bed, set an intention through a dream affirmation, such as: I wake up refreshed, I maintain awareness in my bones, I continue deep abdomen breathing through the night, I remember my dreams, I learn a lesson in my dream, or my body rests and repairs itself.  Also, we can say “I wake up at 4:45 am” or another specific time.  Even, “I am awake in my dreams.”
  3. Practice dream recall, write it down, try to relive the dream and see what is valuable in the dream.
  4. Look for parallels between your waking life and your dreaming life.  Try to make the veil thinner between the two, as if it is one life.

This can be an intense practice, I’ve been working on it since 2005 and my progress has gone forward and backward. Start slow and just have fun.  First, clear the sleep debt!

Ways to stay calm: breathe into the abdomen, maintain awareness of hands, feet, and bones, maintain a long-term perspective, increase the pause between stimulus and response. 

#calm #taoism #meditation #mindfulness

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