Spirit guides are not the same things as ghosts (earthbound souls). What we refer to as ghosts are confused and often times, they don’t even know that they are dead. They continue to wander around in a type of purgatory because they don’t know how to cross over. Often it’s the devastating emotional circumstances that surround their death that keep them stuck. True spirit guides respect you and your right to choose your own path. Real spirit guides are wise, compassionate and often amusing. If you are ever aware of a spiritual being who does not respect you and others, it is not your spirit guide. Tell any less evolved beings to leave and call in your real spirit guide. You can simply ask, are you my true spirit guide.

Spirit guides are souls with the intention of offering support and guidance on the spiritual path to those who have chosen to experience life in the physical realm. Whenever a soul incarnates into a physical body there is a great amount of insight lost about who that being truly is. Your spirit guides can keep you tuned into your souls divine plan because they never lose sight of the path. In fact they can often see many things that are approaching before they happen. They will always respect your free will and offer you guidance based on the direction that your life choices have taken you in. They can help you to recognize signs and interpret synchronicity from the universe which can indicate what choices are serving the highest good for all parties involved. If you decide any course correcting is needed they can help support the steps needed to come into alignment as well.

Whenever you engage with a spirit guides, angel, ascended master god or goddess, or the Holy Spirit realize you are touching the face of the One Most High. While it is possible for humans to go to God directly in prayer and meditation, s/he often invokes helpers to work directly with us. All beings were created to with specific gifts, talents and skills. Each being (including you) has a purpose, part of which is to help bring balance and harmony to the universe. Many people may not be able to connect to the idea of gods, goddesses and other such concepts and therefore it would be entirely appropriate to refer to this presence as Infinite Intelligence. This simply acknowledges that our own perspective is limited, yet there is a higher intelligence that is available for us to access which can lend us greater understanding and awareness at all times. You may chose to call on any force in the universe within or without that resonates with your belief systems.

How does one connect to Infinite Intelligence (spirit guidance)?

• Intention. Set the intention that you wish to connect to the benevolent beings who will guide you towards your highest good and the good of all that is. Question your perceptions and be open to believe that there is more to see than meets the eye.
• Get into the vibrational alignment. In other words tune in. As previously mentioned this presence that we refer to as Spirit Guides exists on a higher dimensional plane of existence. In order to receive the insight and inspiration that is available to us it’s most imperative to raise the vibration. For the most part being in the range of your joy and following your bliss naturally will set the mood for receiving clarity in all forms.
• Plants have a wonderful way of fortifying our connection with energetic realms not of our own. Inherently they are able to boost your energy to bring it closer to those of Spirit, Loved Ones, and Angels. Below you can see a list of the herbs and essential oils included in this month’s Spirit Medicine kit if you wish to work more intimately with these tools.
• All the chakras are infinitely important in establishing a healthy transmission back and forth. Try a guided meditation that is meant to open, clear and balance your chakra’s and stimulate your senses.
• Spirit guides come to us in many ways. Spend time in silence, meditation and just listening. In those moments of complete stillness, you will receive messages. Guidance may come as images in your head (clairvoyance), a feeling (clairsentience) a sound or voice (clairaudience) or even just clear insight and knowledge (claircognizant). They also come through in dreams, numbers(1111, 1234, 777, 333, 444, 555) are all angels codes, books, smells, songs, electricity(turning lights on), mind to mind communication and so much more. You may see a feather to indicate the presence of a guide. Even animals, insects, and plants can be a form of spirit guidance. I have had angels show themselves to me on a perfectly clear day in the form of a rainbow before. The possibilities are endless.
• You can try automatic writing, by meditating and asking your spirit guides to come through you. Automatic writing is the process of writing material that does not come from the conscious thoughts of the writer. The writer’s hand forms the message, and the person is unaware of what will be written. It is sometimes done in a trance state. Another way is instead of going unconscious while another entity writes with your hand you could listen and write what you hear. In this way, you are simply listening to what is being said and writing down what you hear. To accomplish this it is best to be in a meditative state. This is an intuitive process and there is no right or wrong way to do it.
• Keep a journal. Write down everything you see, smell, feel or hear, because these are intuitive messages from your guides. You guides can also send you so much creative inspiration which can be applied to every day problem solving or used for art, music, writing or other creative projects. They may guide you to meet someone or to a specific opportunity that can open up your path for you in countless ways.
• Follow the impulse. Once you receive the gentle nudge from the subtle realm respond appropriately. As you make discoveries about yourself, take action. As you receive answers to your prayers, take action. Find ways to change that will bring you closer to the truer part of yourself and your soul’s purpose where happiness and fulfillment lies.
• Create an altar or place where you can go to feel the presence of your guardian angel. Put objects that remind you of your soul’s desire on the altar. Write letters to your angels and add your letters to your altar. Pray here. Listen for answers. Light a candle and find a feeling of peace. Make this place a living presence in your life.

This month the resonance.apothecary tool kit will be focused on our most highly requested topic, Spirit Medicine. A beautiful blend of oils, herbs and roots for use in development personal spiritual advancement via Clairaudience (clear psychic hearing), Clairsentience (clear psychic feeling), and Clairvoyance (clear psychic vision). Even if there is no specific communication intention, carry the items with you or keep them in the home, office or car for when you need a quick cleansing. This will help you tune into the signs that are always around guiding you on your path. Herbs and essential oils are inherently looking to work with you on improving your psychic abilities and have a host of other benefits.

• Mugwort was considered the ‘universal herb for divination and prophecy’ throughout the ancient world. Dedicated to Artemis and Diana, Mugwort was used for healing, psychic powers and lucid dreaming.
• Ginger turns your body into a conduit through which spirit energy is able to flow. It warms the body and makes it visible to those trying to connect from the other side.
• Gotu Kola prepares your mind to be able to decipher the messages you are receiving. The information that you get from spirit is overwhelmingly powerful. Gotu Kola allows your brain to handle the immense load, process it, and send it to where it needs to go to be manifested.
• You may be receiving, hearing and seeing messages but if your mind is not at ease you may not be capable of separating out the actual message that is delivered with that of the messages from your own ego. Skullcap puts your mind at rest and lets the information flow organically and the messages to be understood as they are intended.
• Ginkgo deals specifically in your clairvoyant center, where you will see the message. This herb will allow the image to be very clear and lucid.
• An herb that relaxes your nervous system while simultaneously giving you a little boost of vigor. For the throat chakra, peppermint has the ability to clear blockages and open your ability to communicate.
• Spearmint can come in most handy when the body is going through a purge, specifically of the throat or upper chakras. It helps to rejuvenate the system and clear out any remaining energy that does not belong

This months Spirit Guidance kit has been designed to be used during ceremony, ritual, petitioning or praying to the spirit guide, angel, or god(dess) of your choice. It has properties that will assist you to call upon your helpers to hear your prayers and offer you guidance, insight, help and wisdom for the direction that is needed. It is perfect to incorporate to any drawing down ritual, while you petition your prayers or whenever you are feeling lost. It helps us to connect with the channels of Divine communication via the assistance of the Angelic Realms and entrusted Spirit Guides in a safe and protected manner. It invokes your Guides and allows only messages from the Light and for our highest good to be received. The vibrational medicine tool kits contain tools you need to make an offering, blessing, prepare your space for ritual or align you with your highest state of being.

As a subscriber, you will receive a kit each month, focused on a new theme. You will be billed $40 monthly (plus $5 shipping & handling) on the date that you subscribe.
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HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE

Carl Jung called this shadow work. He said we never see others. Instead we see only aspects of ourselves that fall over them. Shadows. Projections. Our associations. Shadow work is one of my favorite practices to share. I have found it to be one of the most challenging, yet simultaneously the most rewarding of the many types of healing modalities that I utilize on my path to Enlightenment.

This work is for anyone who truly wants to come to know all aspects of their invisible self. Both their light and their darkness. What I have found is that by embracing the darker aspects of our psyche, we in fact become more open to receive light. We begin to uncover more of our hidden gifts and talents. The unconscious mind, as many refer to it, is in fact a gateway that opens up to the infinite possibility of all that we have the potential to become. But before we can access that windfall of inspiration and abundance of Source Energy, we have to face what many refer to as our own “demons”. This is why many stay clear of this type of work. Mainstream religion and dogma teach that our demons or darkness should be cast away, banished, or exorcised. As if it is somehow a source of evil that can affect us outside of our own will.

This week I will focus on what the shadow self is and how we have come to cast such darkness about our true nature. We all have aspects of our self that we wish to see grow, mature and evolve. Far too often however instead of showering these aspects of our self with love and acceptance, so that they may come more fully into light, we have been taught to cast them away or suppress them to please others and gain more acceptance. Maybe we grew up in a home where talking about feelings frustrated or annoyed our parents. We may have been told that crying is a sign of weakness. So in order to create a scenario where we can receive more love, we slowly begin to suppress that side of our self that wants to express emotion.

Another example might be that we were teased when we were younger by other kids for openly expressing preferences for the things we liked. However if these preferences do not align with mainstream ideas we may have been taught similar to with our parents that in order to be more accepted we should hide these preferences. In order to make more friends we then begin to assimilate the preferences of what all of the other kids liked.

Unfortunately not many of us were taught to have a strong sense of self. So these types of experiences where we reject aspects of our self in order to be loved and liked continue to accumulate far into our adult life. All of these abandoned, rejected and banished aspects of our soul that have not been receiving love and acceptance create a shadow in our psyche. They create what we refer to in healing circles as an block(or resistance). You see, there is no true source of darkness. There is only being in alignment with Source(light) and being in resistance to or the absence of light(what we call darkness)

From the perspective of the quantum universe we create our reality from our subconscious mind. The subconscious is hundreds of times more powerful than the conscious mind. So that being said, it is only natural to then understand that these suppressed aspects of our psyche that reside in the subconscious would play a huge role in the world that is reflected around is. They create what is often referred to as energy patterns. These energy patterns become a powerful point of attraction. In other words, the people we encounter who we have resistance to, are actually projections of our own shadow. Being in resistance to any aspect of our true self drains our life force energy. These experiences take us out of alignment with our Higher Self and Source energy. This is why it feels so draining to be in these types of interactions.

The goal of working with the shadow is to integrate and come to know and accept all of those parts that we have attempted to hide or run from. To make that which has been operating at the unconscious level conscious. Some may not be aware that these aspects even exist. However these aspects are always trying to become noticed. The higher self will always orchestrate opportunities for us to come to know ourselves more deeply, in truth and for the purpose of nurturing wholeness. It is always up to us if we chose to answer our own soul’s call and turn inward Shadow work if practiced properly can help us to create not only more compassion for others but also for ourself. It helps us to change our views, perspectives and beliefs. It asks us to embrace what we consider to be our weaknesses and turn them into strengths. When we work with the shadow we begin to reclaim the projections we put on others. We turn inward and begin to gently listen and heal those aspects within ourselves instead of casting someone else as the bad guy and us as the helpless victim.

With continued awareness and healing done within we will no longer need to attract into our experience people who trigger those energy patterns. We will notice that the people who we attract into our lives are whole and healed as well. No longer looking to blame their parents, others, or the world for their misfortune. We will be able to look back with compassion on all of the experiences that we chose to have(consciously or unconsciously) and see that there was a lesson and purpose in it all. Within shadow work the practice of forgiveness helps to fully empower us.

Through this month I will be teaching the step by step process of going deeply into this work. This week the homework is as follows: Take a few minutes of quiet time somewhere where you can connect to your higher self and ask for the support of this work you are about to begin. Set the intention that you will begin to call back all aspects of your soul that you have misplaced, rejected, suppressed or abandoned. Understand that people along the way who have caused you conflict have provided your soul a unique opportunity to learn more about your own personal truth.

Connect to a situation(or situations) in your life where you have been in discord with someone. One quick and easy way to locate those unclaimed aspects is to look at where and how you are judging others. We will being to recognize that judging others is a shadow aspect of how we are judging ourselves. Ask questions inwardly such as, Why am I so irritated or annoyed with that person? Where does that live within me? What frightens me about that person? Who do they make me think of? Some other questions that you want to ask are, Why is this so bad? What does this mean to me? When was the last time that i felt this way, When was the first time that I felt this way? Begin to write down what comes to mind.

The ultimate turning point in shadow work is when we recognize root or the core belief that has created the shadow to begin with. Once we have identified to core belief that we are holding that has created a shadow we can easily become aware of how this is creating resistance within us to Source. Often what happens when we start to ask these questions, we can be brought back to a time in our childhood where we can identify the original “trauma” that created the personality split.

This might be a bit hard to grasp so for now you will have to just trust me. In truth, time in not linear, everything is happening simultaneously. What this means in terms of healing the past is that you can actually connect to the parallel aspect of yourself that is experiencing this “past trauma” and envision a different outcome. What happens when you do this is that you experience the healing benefits now. Truly this work because all things exist in the present moment. I wont get into the quantum physics of why this is so. However all you need to do is keep an open mind.

When you do identify the time/space where you began to create a split in your psyche between good and bad, dark and light, you want to visualize yourself with the understanding that you have now. We will discuss more of the healing techniques in the upcoming weeks. For this week, focus on identifying those shadow aspects of yourself that have been projecting onto others. The patterns should be fairly obvious. Because we are holographic by nature, we manifest the same patterns in various areas of our lives, work, home, relationships, etc, Start there.

Happy Winter Solstice. What a beautiful time for diving deeply in labyrinth of our own soul.

And as always please check in with your own intuition about when and how much of this work is appropriate for you to start at this time. Self care is always the highest focus.

Namaste.

“How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also If I am to be whole” ― C.G. Jung

There are many theories about what the dream realm actually is. Many believe that it is simply the subconscious mind; it is a microcosm of you. In that case, everyone or everything you encounter in the dream is somehow a creation from your mind. There are others who would argue that dreaming is part of the collective mind, meaning you are connecting to others in your dreams. Nevertheless, the experiences that you have when you are in the dream realm will help shape your own point of view.

Again, creating the intention about what you wish to happen in the dream is crucial. Recite your chosen goal in your mind before sleep. When lucid, repeat the phrase often “I’m dreaming.” These two simple tricks combined can have a considerable impact on your dream life. Its important to learn how to maintain the lucid state. Sometimes in the beginning, you may get so excited to realize that you are awake in the dream, that you startle yourself awake. Try to focus on something very ordinary in the dream if you feel this happening. The other thing is sometimes you may only be half lucid, at which time the dream may be very hazy yet you have an awareness that you are waking up inside of your own dream. If this happens ask for clarity immediately and affirm “I’m dreaming.” There is much more fun to be had in lucid dreams I’m going to suggest a few ideas to you now.

One of the simplest and most obvious things that you might do within the dream is to create every detail of your ultimate happy place; a positive environment where you can go at any time, during waking life, lucid dreams and meditation. You have no limitations in this realm so your imagination can do anything you like. You can fill in magical landscapes with fantastic colors. You can build huge skyscrapers as tall as the moon. Just manipulating the environment all around you is so much fun. Discover your telekinetic power to shape and manipulate water. Create magnificent water sculptures. Play around with manipulating objects.

Once you have created the ideal scenery you probably want to test your powers to move around. The good news is that again there are no limitations. Obviously everyone in the dream realm at some point will leap off tall buildings and practice flying. Fly up to cloud level and observe the world below. The rules of gravity do not apply here. If you think yourself in a specific place you will instantly be there. This is the land of your unconscious mind. You get to create a world and then fly up into the sky and stand back to admire your vision. Its surreal. The next thing that is beneficial to do in your dreams is to interact with dream figures. You will come in contact with figures and you might want to ask them who they are. Sometimes when you meet someone in your dream, they will acknowledge that, yes they are a part of your mind and your creation. You will run into people who say that they are an abandoned part of you. I have had dark figures in my dream who I spoke with, only to learn that they were aspects of myself that were suppressed in my subconscious, who wanted to be integrated back into my conscious awareness. I have felt new gifts and creativity emerge or found that challenges just work themselves out after I have had these types of dreams. Other times I have spoken to figures and they have let me know that they were not a part of my subconscious and that I was the one who was in their dream. Sometimes I have encountered people in the dream that I know were not asleep at that time. One theory to explain this is that there is a part of us that is always in the dream world. In general, I like to ask other dream characters questions that are on my mind. The answers that I get are always interesting and insightful. Often in the dream I will go to a beautiful garden and and specifically meet up with spirit guides, angels or deities. Or I will even interact with the deceased. If you chose to experiment with this, I would ask them if they have anything important they want to tell you.

Mutual dreams are when two people have the same dream. This is a state of dream telepathy Mutual dreams can be planned where two people actively work toward achieving one dream scenario. It is a way to improve communication and build trust. Mutual dreams can also be spontaneous. You find out that a friend, a significant other, faraway relative, or someone has had the same dream on the same night as you. Not much study has gone into the phenomenon of mutual dreams, but these are more likely to be a possibility when there is a very strong bond that exist between these two people. I have tried to practice this technique but have not yet been successful.

Another very well known thing that you can do in the dream is to experiment with dream healing. This is a beautiful method for connecting with aspects of your body that may need specific support and you have not had any clarity around how to treat them. I have had solutions presented to me for healing very often in these types of dreams. Focus on the part of your mind or body that you want to fix. Experience that improvement in the dream world. Take note to how this translates in the waking world.

I have also read that healing for others can be done using this method. Meaning just as you could send loving and healing energy to someone in the waking world, you can also do the same in the dream world. If we all learned these methods imagine the difference this would make in our ability to become more self sufficient. We would all be able to awaken our bodies innate ability to heal itself. Your body is able to communicate to your mind through dreams. The dreams can alert you that something is not quite right with your body even before any physical symptoms show up. Dreams of this nature may provide you also with valuable insight for action to take once you are awake.

There are so many more ways to explore the dream realm. One that might not be obvious is just simply allow the dream to take you on an adventure, without attempting to control any aspect of it whatsoever. Simply remain lucid and open. This can be a beautiful journey where you are simply going with the flow. I hope these methods and ideas have inspired you to look more deeply into a world that many have written off as simply not worth exploring. Many of the greatest discoveries of our time came first in the form of a dream. As Edgar Cayce said, dreams are today’s answers to tomorrows questions.

“People think dreams aren’t real just because they aren’t made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories

I don’t know anyone who isn’t fascinated by dreams. People intuitively know that their dreams have meaning. We all love to share the stories of the seemingly random and bizarre events that occur in our minds while we are asleep. But where do these visions come from and more importantly how do we determine the relevance that they have on our day to day lives. Lets examine several different theories, dating back to Ancient Egypt, in order to get a better understand on the various ways that dream work can be utilized.

Dream interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to dreams. In many ancient societies, dreaming was considered a supernatural communication or a means of divine intervention, whose message could be unraveled by people with certain powers. In modern times, various psychologist have offered their own theories about the meaning and purpose of dreams as an examination of the unconscious. My own personal take on dreams is a combination of all of the above. I believe dreams can be highly prophetic and full of insight and at the same time meaningless and trite. I believe dreams manifest for infinite reasons, similar to the way that we have thousands of thoughts passing through our minds throughout the day when we are awake.

One of the earliest recorded collection of dream symbols, used for interpreting dreams, was an Egyptian papyrus text. It displayed images which were a reflection of the belief that a god named Bes was responsible for dreams. The Ancient Egyptians saw dreams as omens, prophecies, and warnings. They had specific priests called, the Masters of the Secret Things, who were very knowledgeable in the teachings of The Book of the Dead. And they believed that often Gods would visit them in their dreams.

Ancient Egyptians held the belief that in dreams our eyes were open. This may have been a reflection of the fact that during the later hours of the night, when dreaming is frequent, this is the time when the pineal gland is most active. Their word for dream, rswt, is connected to the root meaning, to be awake and was represented with a symbol of an open eye. The Egyptians had many advanced practices used by seers for remote viewing, shape shifting, bending time/space, and exploring the afterlife and multiple dimensions. All rightful kings must be initiated into these practices for conscious dream travel between worlds.

For psychologists, dreams are considered a way of communicating with the unconscious. Like his teacher Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung believed that dream images reveal something about yourself, your relationships with others, and situations in your waking life. In working with his clients, Jung placed more confidence on the meaning and interpretation that was given by the dreamer themselves. He felt that we all possessed the necessary tools to interpret and unlock the cryptic messages in our dreams. He practiced this by encouraging the clients to speak openly about whatever was going on in their lives. The meaning then would be based on personal judgment and whatever interpretation felt right to the dreamer.

There is a significant difference between a symbol and a sign in Jung’s view. A sign merely points to something. For instance, a red stop-light points to the idea that we should stop our car; the green light points to the idea that we should go. “These lights are not symbols, because a symbol, “according to Jung, “is a term, a name, or even a picture that may be familiar in daily life, yet that possesses specific connotations in addition to its conventional and obvious meaning. It implies something vague, unknown, or hidden from us.”

Jung developed a theory which claimed that, when there is an imbalance between the conscious and unconscious minds, a neurosis occurs. This is considered to be a fragmentation of the personality, in the sense that the psyche is split into two opposing energies which refuse to be reconciled. As compensation for the imbalance, the psyche will attempt to balance itself by providing clues, or possible solutions to the problem through dreams. Jung’s work proved that if the dreamer can understand and apply what the dream is saying, the imbalance will be corrected. He offered many case studies where dreams would give him an idea of the problem of a particular individual, and how to proceed with treatment. He claimed to help many of his patients in this manner.

So far we have discussed individual dream yet sometimes, a collective dream, may appear, which contains symbolism that is relevant to a specific homogenous group or perhaps even the entire human population. Jung once visited a tribe called the Elgoni in East Africa. They told him they distinguished between big dreams and little dreams. Jung described the former as collective dreams, which arise from the collective unconscious; the latter to personal dreams, emanating from the personal unconscious. Collective dreams contain symbols which are common to all human beings. For example the idea of a common myth or archetypes might commonly manifest in these types of dreams. We can plainly see there are striking similarities between the religious mythologies of different races and cultures, even between those which are separated by thousands of miles of ocean, Jung believed that these shared narratives were accessible to individuals through the use of dream work.

When examining symbols and signs that come up within the dream its imperative to look for ideas that are recurring. Its also very important to record any feelings or emotions that come up within the dream. For example, I had a dream last night that half of my hair was falling out. Typically hair in a dream is associated with vitality, youth, or life force. Losing ones hair might symbolize a loss or a fear of loss of someones vital energy. However, by utilizing Jung’s dream interpretation methods, observing my feelings and emotions, and examining my own waking life, I came up with an different meaning. In the dream, as soon as I noticed that my hair was falling out, I grabbed a pair of scissors and gave myself an asymmetrical haircut. Then I stood in the mirror for a few minutes after admiring how great it looked. My own interpretation of the dream was that yes, challenges are coming up in my life, but that I am listening to my intuition and responding quickly by taking inspired action. And that is certainly how I feel about my life at the moment. I hope these ideas help you when examining the content and the meaning behind your own dreams. Enjoy.

I also suggested last week, that you start to write down any details from in the dream and any feelings or emotions that come up for you, in a dream journal. These are all key symbols that will help you understand the messages that are coming to you as well as distinguishing what the origin of the communication is. Next week we will focus on the symbolism that comes up within the dreams and how to interpret the messages that come through to you. We will identify ways to discover if you are engaging with your subconscious, your higher self, experiencing past lives, hypnagogia or other common occurrences in the dream realm.

This week I would like to focus on some techniques for actually becoming lucid within the dream. There are many methods that can be utilized but I am focusing on those that resonated most with me and that I have personally had the most success with. Not all of these methods work for everyone so feel free to focus on what intuitively feels right for you.

Just to give some context, we all know those people who say they never dream. This is simply not the case, everyone dreams. Laboratory studies have shown that we experience our most vivid dreams during a type of sleep called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. During REM sleep the brain is very active, the eyes move back and forth rapidly under the lids, and the large muscles of the body are relaxed. An interesting correlation has been found between those people who tend to respond more easily to sound when they are asleep and wake up more frequently with those who have more dream recall. I always joked about how I slept so lightly that I could literally hear a mouse moving around(true story). This end up being a blessing for me in terms of dream recall. In other words, those of us who are light sleepers, also have the tendency to remember more of our dreams. This is not to worry, those who sleep heavily can simply set alarms to wake up throughout the night, in order to increase the opportunity for the brain wave needed to stimulate dream recall, More on this later.

The first technique for Lucid dreaming is done through Suggestion. This is what we have set up the groundwork for last week by beginning to set the intention that you are going to have and remember your dream. You will be taking this suggestion one step further by setting the intention to become conscious within the dream.

The Technique:

Clear your mind. Relax.

Repeat to yourself the following: Tonight in my dreams, I will realize I am dreaming and become consciously aware.

You can also fill in the blank with a sign or omen which is either common and unusual in your dreams. This serves as a trigger for you to be aware that you are in a dream. For example, if you have a friend who frequently appears in your dreams you would use the suggestion: Tonight in my dreams, when I see ___________ (deceased friend) I will realize I am dreaming and become consciously aware.

Self hypnosis is another powerful way to incubate lucid dreams. I would group this in with Suggestion technique. Like meditation, it draws on the same relaxation response that helps calm your body, reduce stress hormones, and focus your mind on affirmative thoughts.

However, hypnotizing yourself is different from meditation because it uses auto suggestions to plant specific thoughts and affirmations. As mentioned above the technique of using the suggestions before going to sleep in this way, you can essentially hypnotize yourself to improve your recall, program your dreams and increase your self awareness, teaching you to habitually recognize when you’re dreaming and thereby trigger lucidity.

Carlos Castaneda Technique: Finding your Hands

Using the Carlos Castaneda approach consistently each night before sleep is how I had my first lucid dream that wasn’t by accident. I believe it works by establishing a stimulus-response link. Practicing repeatedly develops the association between the stimulus ( your hands) and the response (This is a dream).This method is discussed in the book The Art of Dreaming.

If you are not familiar with the work of Carlos Castaneda he was an American writer and anthropologist who wrote a series of books that described his training in shamanism, particularly a group that he called the Toltecs. His primary teacher was a sorcerer named Don Juan. He wrote, “Dreaming is the vehicle that brings dreamers to this world, and everything sorcerers know about dreaming was taught to them by us. Our world is connected to yours by a door called dreams. We know how to go through that door, but men don’t. They have to learn it.”

The technique:

Sit in your bed, and become mentally relaxed. Stare softly at the palm of your hands, and tell yourself, “Tonight while I am dreaming, I will see my hands and realize that I am dreaming.” Continue to softly look at your hands and mentally repeat the affirmation, “Tonight while I am dreaming, I will see my hands and realize that I am dreaming.” Allow your eyes to cross and unfocus. Remain at peace and continue to repeat slowly. After about five minutes or once you feel too sleepy, end the practice. When you wake up in the middle of the night, gently recall your intention to see your hands and realize that you are dreaming. At some point in a dream, suddenly your hands will pop up in front of you and you will instantly make the connection, that this is a dream. Try to stay calm, now you can begin to explore the dream realm.

Stephen LaBerge’s MILD Technique

MILD stands for Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams or “Mnemonically Induced Lucid Dream”. This technique makes use of your ability to recall your intentions in the future (prospective memory), making you more likely to remember to question your dream state. Over time, as your prospective memory improves, you’ll notice more consistent results, not only in achieving lucidity, but also in remembering actions and plans you have for your dream adventures, and even having an easier time remembering to wake up in the middle of the night. Dr. Steven LaBerge created this technique and wrote about it in his book, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Since he first wrote about this technique lucid dreamers have developed several variations. The technique:

Get into the practice of memorizing your last dream in detail.

When you spontaneously wake up at night or with an alarm simply, lie in bed and recall the last dream in detail. You’ll want to take some time to recall your dream and imagining it with you lucid.

LaBerge suggests that you take your recalled dream and clearly imagine that you have become lucid at an appropriate point.

Visualize yourself becoming aware in the remembered dream.

Next, intend to become lucid in the next dream by suggesting, “Next time I’m dreaming, I want to recognize I’m dreaming”

Do the above until you feel determined. Expect to become lucid and aware in your next dream as you fall back asleep.

LaBerge also recommended that lucid dreamers conduct a reality check to verify that they were dreaming. A reality check could be something as simple as levitating or flying. If you can do these actions in the dream state, then obviously it is a dream.

Paul Tholey’s Lucid Mindset

Paul Tholey developed an idea to achieve awareness in dreams,“If one develops a critical frame of mind towards the state of consciousness during the waking state, by asking oneself whether one is dreaming or awake, this attitude will be transferred to the dreaming state. It is then possible through the occurrence of unusual experiences to recognize that one is dreaming.”

The Technique :

Throughout the day when confronted with an odd event, ask yourself, am I dreaming or not? Then ask, how do I know?

Make it an everyday practice to do this reality check. One common one is to try to levitate.

Eventually, this may transfer over to your dream state and when you wonder, am I dreaming and do your reality check, you will find yourself levitating, and realize that you are in fact in a dream. Nap to Lucidity Technique

This is one of the techniques that I have the most consistent success with. Many lucid dreamers (and confirmed by the Lucidity Institute), the Nap to Lucidity Technique significantly increases the probability of a lucid dream.

The technique

Wake about 90 minutes before your normal waking time.

Spend the next 90 minutes reading or thinking about lucid dreaming, then return to sleep with the intent to become lucid.

This is also the best time to utilize the aid of the lucid dreaming pills that you received for those who purchased the kit.

I have also had much success with waking up at 4–6 am specifically. Many spiritual teachings claim that the period between 4 and 6 am is the best time to for lucidity, creativity, meditation. This is because this is the time that the pineal gland is most active(more on this in future workshops) In addition, there are several brain entrainment audios avaiable online and for purhase that can be utilized as this time to assist with stepping into your dreams consciously. I also recommend usng any type of herbs or supplements that help with brain function as this increases the presence of serotonin. Like with all things, for some people lucid dreaming will require much practice and persistence. For others they will be able to achieve the desired results with very little effort. So try to do one of the above practices consistently. Utilize the essential oils, stones included in the kit as well the increase the results. In general I have been getting phenomenal feedback about the results of those who have been using these items.

Also, consider what you might like to do in a lucid dream. If this is your first lucid dream, remember not to get too excited once you become lucid, since this normally will wake you up. If you start getting excited look at your hands or the ground or focus on something boring in the lucid dream to stabilize it. We will talk much more about some of the things that you can do once you have become lucid within the dream in upcoming weeks. Have lots of fun. And good luck with all of these techniques.