Dreams: awaken a sleeping facet of your life

Sorry about the horrible pun.  Today's post is about dreams - keeping track of them and directing them.  I'll mention lucid dreaming a bit, but mostly to emphasize that you can do a lot of neat things without it.

Dreaming is cool.  It lets you become far more immersed in adventures you wouldn't want to have in your waking life than any material technology (such as a video game) does, it gives you insight into yourself and your relationships, and it takes place during time that you can't use for anything else.  Personally I think that every parent should encourage children to keep track of their dreams from an early age, but it may be awhile before we get anywhere close to that in this society, because the importance of having an inner life is very downplayed.  As a consequence of the outward emphasis of society, some of us don't even realize that an amazing world awaits them between their ears.  Some people even think that they don't dream most nights.

This is not true unless you are a very bizarre mutant.  You dream or go into some form of inner activity that we might as well call dreaming at least once during every sleep cycle.  If you believe that you don't dream, consider that, since dreaming does not have consequences outside of your mind, it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between not dreaming and forgetting that you have dreamt.  So the first step is to get those dreams into your consciousness.

Some basic exercises to stretch the muscles of your imagination

This is taken directly from the current draft of the book I'm writing.  The book is an introduction to the basics of astrology, but it includes some imaginative exercises to help personalize the symbols of the astrological language. It also includes some basic new thought stuff.  That last part is what I've posted here.  While I do not claim that the methods are my intellectual property, the way they are presented here in the quoted content is.  Please do not copy and distribute it; rather, link to this post.  [begin quoted section:]

"If you think you don't know how to get into a meditative state, you're probably wrong.  Just in case, though, here's the skeleton of a method used to teach autogenic training:

Inducing Relaxation

Sit or lie somewhere comfortable where your spine is straight and your breathing flows easily.  If your head is supported and your neck can take a break, you can relax more easily, but you are also more likely to fall asleep.  Try this with several different positions and see what works for you.  Rest your hands on your lap. 

If you're right-handed like most people, say to yourself, "My right arm is feeling heavier."  If you're left-handed, tell youreslf your left arm is feeling heavier.  Repeat this to yourself at least six times, then say, "I'm calm and relaxed" to yourself.