I’ve been interested in Lucid Dreaming and Dream Yoga for years but sadly I have not managed to get into the necessary habits and routines long term. Having lurked on here for a good while. I’m making this account in hopes that when I make another effort hopefully a few months from now the online support here will assist me to finally get going if fate permits. I’m not doing it now as I am already focusing on other things.
Currently one of the things I am focusing on is getting into a meditation routine this new years. I’ve even bought a Zafu to make use of. However, I’ve found that I’m way to stiff to sit properly in one of the meditation positions. I’ve had to put another pillow on top of the Zafu in order to sit down cross legged and even then its a struggle. I have to force my back upright. Currently I am sitting for 5 minutes and I do feel I am gradually getting used to it. Still I wonder if anyone has found anything useful to help them in developing the ability to sit better.
Obviously Full Lotus is years away but I would like to progress towards say the Burmese position.
Thanks for reading
Some Interesting Links
Ru (Confucian) Meditation for sleep:
I’m not using the methods in the above link, but I am aiming to follow the book Silent Illumination: Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening by Guo Gu:
A few months ago I found out there is a word ‘Pellucid’ which apparently means more brighter than lucid, translucently clear or admitting the maximum passage of light.
Not sure if everyone will agree I would suggest we change the term Super-Lucid Dreaming to Pellucid Dreaming. It just sounds nicer to me.
Welcome to the community. Meditation is a great topic for discussion and there are a lot of folks here who should be able to share their experiences with it, and it’s relationship lucid dreaming. I don’t know anything about Zafu cushions, but I use a Muse headband to help me meditate and it has been helpful, though not a magic bullet. It has helped me to monitor some of my activities and sometimes a fun activity. I am not one of the power meditators here, so it’s more like bicycle training wheels. Hope to learn more about your experiences.
For stiffness issues, try meditating in a chair-- that’s not cheating, by the way. Then graduate to a kneeling bench, and if you gain more flexibility maybe a big cushion like a gomden rather than a zafu. Find a way to sit comfortably for at least 20 minutes, and build the length of your sessions from there. There is also nothing wrong with many short sessions, but longer sessions will build confidence and help you settle.
I was reading you and thought about another member here, who has created a topic that you might relate to, and feel the connection
Here, inspired in Andrew Holecek’s latest published book “I’m Mindful now what?” (page 115 - “The posture of meditation is modified with the nocturnal practices, as we transition from sitting meditation into lying down. This is a fully sanctioned posture in the Sattipatthana Sutra and invokes a different quality of mind than sitting. By lying down, you’re taking the posture of an infant. It’s a relaxed and accessible position conducive to learning.”, I would invite you consider doing your meditations lying down because it is the best for the dreaming lucid. If you ever thought about practicing astral projection, here’s another thread with many possibilities, knowledge, wisdom and recommendations:
I practice Astral Projection daily, lying down, and it’s a wonderful relaxed way to connecting with the astral realms as well as a good practice for Lucid Dreaming.
From my experience I share that thinking about doing these practices takes a lot more effort than to just do what I can everyday, with the conditions that I have. It all seems much more complicated than doing it! This morning, for example, I was with several scheduled things and feeling some pressure to fit my Tummo practice into it. Before doing it, it seemed like a heavy thing to do. When I got to do it… it was SO wonderful. Everything was just so easy, full of light… when a few minutes before everything was just so heavy around it. So, when you feel the pressure, just do it, in that moment! Even if it’s just doing some breathing exercises.
Practicing daily, even if it’s just 5 minutes, gives me the steadiness needed to when conditions are not so great to be doing it naturally because of previous training. I was thinking about it this morning while practicing. I know my favorite exercises and they are already in my system because of the daily practice, so if comes a time when I have less time, I just do the ones that I feel are the most powerful to me.
And, to rap all this up, I quote AH:
“So where does effort apply? In creating the proper environment or conditions, for openness and relaxation to arise.”
Infinite Blessings and Love on your path and meditation
Probably Andrew’s lucid count, from his “Lucid dreaming Workbook.” Simply count your breaths with “1…I’m dreaming…2…I’m dreaming…” in whatever rhythm feels right for you. Andrew says to do it very quietly and mindfully. I find that I’ve become conditioned to go fairly deeply towards sleep fairly quickly when I do this, so it’s something good to incorporate into your falling asleep at bedtime and throughout the night. Good luck!
Aaahhh… this is a great practice for me to experiment in the dream itself… thank you for sharing… I’m on my record of eight LDs in a month… (it happened only another time before in October 2023 and we are still on the 24th) tonight I had two, and on both, as soon as I noticed that was in a dream, it collapsed quite easily. Will try this technique, even though all these dreams have been quite spontaneous…
genius.
at the moment, what I’m doing is:
Sleeping with ear plugs (not tonight though, could it be that the quick collapse was because of that?);
Kubera Mudra;
Saying in the hypnagogic state “Why am I such a radiant bright light, opened to living my full potential?”;
Connecting with my inner fire (my Tummo practice is daily for three months now).
This morning I did my first Tummo 9 breaths exercise on a Swiss (Pilates) Ball!
My body was SO grateful (since I’m meditating more, my body is so grateful for creative possibilities that help him being happy) and thought of you @Athernium
I’ve been meditating on and off for about 7-8 years now. I’ve always struggled to get into doing it consistently for a long period of time (“Persistently Consistent” is a good phrase to describe what I have yet to achieve).
A couple possible reasons for this could be Boredom as well as simply leaping to the latest shiny new technique. One thing I’ve noticed that when trying a new technique (or picking it back up after a time of inactivity) the first few times it appears to work great. I finish feeling incredibly relaxed and calm. Over time though I increasingly struggle to hold my attention on the object until it can feel I spend most of the time lost in thought.
So this means I do not really have a go to practice. The most common ones I have used over the years are:
concentrating on the breath
Body Scan
(more recently) Loving Kindness
Currently my intention is to follow the practices from the book “Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening” by Guo Gu (who was a student of Sheng Yen who it seems played a major role in spreading Chan/Zen to the west) though currently I’m practicing sitting in a cross-leged posture (explained in the first post).
Finally I have done meditation lying down, usually in bed, as part of my bedtime routine and a body scan. Though Yoga Nidra could probably also do wonders for me then.
All very powerful tools!
Sounds like you have a good foundation.
Have you read this book?:
Short, sweet, and potent book covering the stages of Shamata, highly reccomend if you havent read yet.
Absolutely!!! This practice is one of my favorites, especially before sleep, and especially if you are having trouble settling the mind or body.
@Mayra has some fantastic videos on this posted in the forums
Master Holecek says one of his favorite meditations is the Dzogchen single breath practice. 1 fully aware inhale and exhale.
Takes less than 30sec.
And you can easily perfume your entire day with these ‘treats’
