Thank you again to everyone who came to the workshop the other night. I was in a yoga class the last week and in tree pose and a thought popped into my head. Usually ideas come in and out and just like a dream they disappear before I have a chance to write them down. That’s my signal that it probably wasn’t a good idea to begin with. However this one stuck around till after I got out of class. The idea was to create this piece above for people who come to my workshop.

The symbol is the Tibetan letter A. It is used for visualization exercises in the Tibetan dream yoga practice. In dream yoga, the symbol represents the natural non dual state of the mind. During meditation the practitioner is to look at the symbol while meditating without shifting his or her gaze. It is also recommended not to think about the A, but to simply allow it to be within one’s awareness. Once the image is clear in one’s mind, they are to close the eyes and visualize it. The next progression is to visualize being the symbol itself. After this is achieved, one should try to release all images and simply become the essence on the A itself. It is good to give yourself enough time at each step.

It is also recommended to use the A as a point of focus as you are falling asleep. It is said to rest at the throat chakra and is to be visualized as a red four pedaled flower that faces up to the sky with the A in the middle. There is a mantra that corresponds to the four pedals. RA, for the pedal facing front, LA to the left, SHA to the back, and SA to the right. This practice will bring about peaceful dreams and more restful sleep.

It has been noted that my design has a certain Looney Toons feel to it. I was actually thinking about that while I was making it. I’ve always been a fan so I thought why not add a hint of that Merry Melodies flavor. I hope this brings your practice many fruitful experiences. That’s all for now folks!

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Eve will be at the workshop on Thursday at the alignment center talking a little bit about her Elixirs and the ability of herbs to aid in our dream practice.

By Eve of Eden’s Elixirs

Since a young age, I have witnessed firsthand how beneficial it can be to harness plant intelligence in one’s life. I was raised very unconventionally in a household whose belief system was very earth-based; we never to the traditional medical doctor, and instead found all remedies through plants and a plant-based diet. Growing up with this truth has inspired me and made me passionate about sharing my knowledge and experience with botanicals. I craft herbal elixirs as an effort to a promote longevity, vibrant health and a deeper awareness of the human experience. I’m looking forward to sharing my Lucid Dreaming Elixir at The Lucid Dream workshop.

Eve will also be selling her elixirs at the workshop and talking more about how they can aid in our dream practice.

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People told me to go see Inception ever since the trailer came out. “There’s this sweet movie about lucid dreaming you gotta check out!” I like to know as little as possible about a movie before going to see it. This instance was particularly difficult because I had a lot of people who wanted to tell me how awesome it was. Luckily I dodged the spoilers and reviews and got to see it with fresh eyes. I have to say I was really please with the movie. I think it did what it set out to do really well. It also made the subject of lucid dreaming open to millions of people. A movie about dreams has a great potential to be very ungrounded and difficult for many to relate to. It was definitely nice knowing about different levels of consciousness and lucid dreaming going into it. One criticism I have is that Inception only scraped the surface of how we can potentially manipulate our dreams. I think Nolan was really trying to satisfy the imagination of people with the more surrealist scenes earlier in the movie. The cafe scene and the building folding were really spectacular cinematic experiences. That alone, for me, was worth the price of admission. There are also some great homages to M.C. Escher showing some great ways to play with dream space. I think it’s pretty tough to make an entire movie with that same type of visual candy but I couldn’t help but wish there was a little more.

I also was disappointed that the main form of attack in the movie were guns. How uncreative! You could create a wall or just travel to another country with a thought. I was also kind of hoping for some flying sequences but no dice on that one. Flying is one of the most common and amazing elements of a lucid dream and I just kind of assumed that it would be part of the movie. At the same time, I understand that having gravity work in a more realistic way is important in making the movie less fantastical. As with many of Nolan’s movies, I think it was a deliberate choice not to have people flying and manifesting things to happen at will. Knowing his style, he also likes to use as little special effects as possible. It makes his movies more believable to people who might not be as familiar with the subject. Instead, I think he did a great job of letting his concepts and story line satisfy the imagination of the viewer.

It is very easy to have a movie about dream become labeled as science fiction. Instead, it has been categorized as more of an action adventure and a drama. Because of this, I think that Inception will give lucid dreaming more respect and make people think about it more as a part of reality instead of fantasy. I definitely encourage anyone who hasn’t seen the movie to go out and take a look. I’ll be talking more about it in my workshop next week. Until then, sweet lucid dreams.

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All I can really say is that I’m consistently creating things that leave me scratching my head and I like it. In a sense I really have been here. After meditating about the piece for a little while, I really feel like this is place where I’ve been. The longer I worked on it, the more I felt this to be true. A place from my imagination perhaps, but when I was working on it I knew where everything was spatially and the sensations around me. I pictured being under one of the large leaves laying on the cool pavement while the telephone wires buzzed above. I was in the backseat of the car looking through the front window at the legs of a big yellow floating monstrosity. He seemed harmless enough. The way I see it, this place that I’ve made is real in the same way that my dreams are real. Yes, I don’t experience either with my physical body but when I’m in the act of dreaming or painting I am having the experience of being there in that moment. It’s been a great project for me. I can’t wait to go somewhere else!

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