Hi Everyone. I’m catching up on a lot of things tonight and I thought sitting down to share about one of my new projects should definitely one of them. For over a year now I’ve been giving classes in NYC and talking about the art of lucid dreaming. One of the things that I’ve heard from a lot of people is that they enjoyed the workshops but were wondering if there was a way to follow up to make it easier for them to develop a regular practice. Even I’ll admit that there’s a lot of things to learn and process when it comes to delving into the world of dreams. One thing that I came to realize that it really helps to have other people to share the journey with. Even though dreaming is an amazingly personal experience we often are blind to many of the messages that come to us. Its amazing what a little shift in perspective can do to illuminate what our dreams are trying to tell us.
Sharing our dreams can be amazingly healing. One of the greatest benefits of becoming part of a dream meet up group is that you get to put yourself in the shoes of others. You get to see the real fears of people which in many cases are quite similar to your own. A friend talked to me the other day about how he heard 20 people talk about their dreams one day. He was amazed by how similar they all were! When we consider that we all feel the same emotions its really not that crazy of a thought. It seems like we are so separate but we are all working with very similar building blocks that make up our life experience. Once we realize that I believe it makes life a little bit more manageable. Its some what comforting to know that your anger is the same as some one else’. It may even look different when it is expressed in waking life or in a dream. We are all on a journey of learning and I think if we can be there for each other as we go through our own personal transformations then we will all be stronger for it.
I hope to see you at one of the upcoming Shamanic Dream Collective gatherings soon. Our next meet up is on June 22nd at 8pm at Golden Drum 97 Green St Apt G24 Brooklyn, NY. Until then, much love.
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!
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.
Here’s a nice article that appeared in the Times recently. It talks about how more and more people are taking notice of their dreams and talking about them with other people. Apparently they are the equivalent of book clubs at the moment in some places. I think it might be fun to get a study group together as well. Lets say meeting up once a month would be a good practice. Get back to me if you think you would be interested. When I’m not having workshops it would be nice to have a small community where we could share our journeys together. I had quite the experience today that I’ll share a bit of tomorrow. I was once told that if we are given gifts of knowledge from the divine and we don’t share them with one another we are like thieves. Dreams can be personal and difficult to talk about but I feel like there is a wealth of good that can come sharing them. So often we can’t even recognize our own patterns. Sometimes it takes another person standing at a different angle to recognize them for us.
I’ve been thinking about the apparent speed of dreams. When we are in the dream it seems to be moving just as quickly as our waking life. However, most of our dreams only last about 5 minutes when they can appear to last hours. So you can say that creativity is moving at a higher speed or frequency than the ordinary state of the conscious mind. Maybe remembering our dreams could be compared to getting off the highway. If you want to make a smooth exit with you car intact you need to decelerate gradually to make a safe and complete stop. If we want to retain our dream experience we need to foster an environment that allows our mind to retain our experience by realizing that we are going through a large shift in consciousness.
Maybe another way to look at it is thinking about our dream experience like an egg. When we wake up we decide the future of the egg. Does it splat against the alarm clock as we become startled and realize that we’re late for work? Does it land safely into a pile of feathers as we wake up with the awareness that we are awake and safe in our bed with plenty of time to get ready for the day? Does it land at all? Perhaps it remains suspended in air as we see it from all angles. Once I have fully processed, I would like to cook that egg and eat it for breakfast! Yum! We all need to learn how we can better guide this delicate transition along. Then we can begin to develop our dream recall in a very powerful way. The choice is ours.
Here is the third video from my Dream Signs series. The next time you’re in a lucid dream definitely try this one out. It’s one of those things that you just have to experience for yourself in order to really understand. I suppose that it’s much like lucid dreaming itself. You have no real clear idea of what it’s like until it happens to you. So often we have the intellectual understanding of something that we’ve never actually experienced. I find that I run into this situation a lot with my study of dreams. There is so much that I’ve learned about but have still not experienced. The interesting part is that as my practice has developed, the more I have begun to bridge the separation between concepts and the things that I’ve seen with my own astral eyes. I have continued to redefine what I think to be possible because of my lucid dreams. I believe that the same will happen to anyone who investigates this study for an extended period of time with a strong intention to develop their practice.
Continuing with dream signs, here’s another video that I made. I have to say that this of my favorite tests because it’s really easy and super reliable. Sometimes my hands don’t change shape enough by just using my will. Another quick option is to take hold of a finger and pull with the intention to stretch it. There have been times when I have to pull with considerable effort. Eventually you’ll stretch your finger to the point where you’ve convinced yourself that you’re in a dream. I haven’t tried to stretch other parts of the body but I imagine that it would work just as well. The other nice thing about this test is that you can do it through out the day with out looking too much like a weirdo. I tend to get some looks when I’m jumping in place on the subway platform to see if I’ll float in the air. Whatever seems to work for you.
Also try to think of a trigger that helps you to do reality checks. Maybe its every time you go through a door, or look at a clock, or maybe its bracelet on your wrist, or when you see your reflection, or when you see someone you know. There are so many but pick something that will naturally fit into your daily routine. Then when you have one stick with it! The longer you practice it, the more likely you’ll remember to use it in your dreams. Sweet dreamin!
I’m excited to announce the date of the new workshop coming up next week! The first one had a great turn out. I couldn’t have asked for a better response. This time around I’ve thought of some more ways to make things even more interactive. There will be more opportunities to imagine what it might be like in a lucid dream. My hope is that it will not only be a more engaging experience but also one where people can connect with lucid dreaming in a more personal way. There will still be plenty of tips and information to take home so you can get to practicing right away. I’ve also had some experiences recently that continue to reshape my idea of what our dreams our made of that I look forward to sharing. I am working on some new animations that will illustrate certain concepts better than I might be able to describe them with words. I would love to see you there. Below is the poster version without the text. If you have any questions always feel free to email me. matthew.canale@gmail.com Also feel free to check out the updated Dream Yoga page for more information. Sweet dreams!
So you’re chilling out talking to your friend at a diner. The waitress looks at you funny and you look away. When you look back she’s turned into a huge cockroach from Men in Black and she’s hissing at you from behind the counter! At this point you have some options. One, freak out and break through the glass window to your left and make a dash hoping that you can hop into your car and dash off. Two, you’ve totally fought off giant bug monsters before so you grab a butter knife and decide to take a stand against aliens who dare cross you at your favorite eating establishment. Three, you stay exactly where you are and calmly ask the over sized insect to sit and share some french toast. Now for most, the first two options seem fairly reasonable but the third sounds like suicide. However, when you’re dreaming, this is the best way to go.
A friend and I were talking about lucid dreaming the other day. He talked about how he would fly away from anything that came to attack him. I told him that although that might be fun, one of the only ways to get rid of these bothersome characters is to talk to them. Most of the time, these characters or spirits can be understood as elements of ourselves that are trying to be recognized. They are the things that we try to suppress that are just looking for a moment of our time. They’re like a neglected child just looking for a little attention from their parents. So why don’t we give it to them? Well, when you’re not lucid it’s easy to think that a monster is a real monster instead of projection of yourself. The other element that’s important to realize is that they can’t hurt you. Knowing this makes starting conversation much easier.
I had a dream a couple months ago where I took a train to Romania. I have never been there in waking life and have rarely even thought of it. None the less, I was there in Romania walking through some old cobble stone streets. I looked to my right and there was a monster made of logs stomping towards me. I was terrified and then I stopped and realized how strange this was and I became lucid. As I had the thought, “This is a dream!” almost simultaneously the monster stopped in his tracks. I looked at the monster who seemed harmless and asked him what he represented. He told me that he was my fear of the unknown. I responded by asking what he wanted to tell me. He said that when I got worried, I should tell myself, “Everything is going to be just fine.” I started repeating the phrase out loud in my dream and before I knew it I was crying uncontrollably. The log monster opened up his arms and I went up and gave him a great big hug.
This is just one example of what might happen when we confront our dream figures. The more scary they are the harder it might be to face them. However, the personal insight might be more healing as well. So next time, instead of using the old fight or flight response, try opening your eyes and take advantage of the power of lucid dreaming. This way we can move away from our instinctual reactions and move towards learning to be present and aware whether it is in our waking or dreaming life. Now go out there and meet some monsters! If they’re anything like mine, they give awesome hugs.
It has certainly been a long one. Tonight I learned how to use paypal. What’s that? The sound of clapping? Too kind! Really. I even made a new button just for info on the workshop. That’s how awesome this is going to be. It’s already earned its own button on the site. Yup that big green one that says dream yoga. Please note this as a mark of importance.
I’ve stayed up all night sending facebook invites and other such activities promoting a workshop on dreaming. Yes. I see the irony in this. Life is funny like that. Oh look! The sun!
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