Aloha, steeming dreamers! I have lots of updates to share with you from my recent July newsletter at mindfulluciddreaming.com. As always, comment, vote, and share, and come back again later. I'm looking forward to connecting with you.
JULY 2018 NEWSLETTER
Check out what we've been up to
Announcing that our study of 121 oneironauts, which was conducted at a series of the Dreaming and Awakening workshops, is now in press.
How do you develop the right mental set for lucid dreaming? We think gaining a more lucid understanding of how science-backed induction works will help you transcend beyond fumbling around in the nonlucid dream state. Let's discuss...
(Above) The setting for the May 31-June 8, 2018 Dreaming and Awakening program on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Lucidity Institute's Dreaming and Awakening Retreat
We spent 8 days and nights with an international group of oneironauts under the guidance of renowned expert, Stephen LaBerge.
Teachings in Tibetan Dream Yoga
Chogyal Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist, joined us from Nepal as a participant. While learning to apply Western lucid dreaming techniques to advance his own practice, he also shared his wisdom in the yogas of dream and sleep with us. Here he is guiding the class in a mantra meditation (below).
For those that missed out, we got to film a dialogue between these two masters of lucidity. You can preview clips from the interview here: Part 1, and [Part 2](https://www.facebook.com/chogyal.rinpoche/videos/2100081853607227/].
Lucid Dream Therapy workshop
Is galantamine or Wake-Back-to-Bed appropriate for clinical populations? Can patients with severe mental illness or psychotic disorders safely lucid dream? How do I minimize sleep disturbance from induction techniques in patients prone to insomnia?
Dr. LaMarca gave a 2 hour training to mental health professionals on how to adapt research-based induction protocols for clinical populations at the International Association for the Study of Dreams conference in Scottsdale, AZ this past June.
We hope to see these topics expanded upon in more continuing education opportunities in the near future.
Next Meetup: Aug 11
Lucid Dreaming By The Sea: The art of intention and remembering
The shoreline-as a metaphor for the meeting of two states of mind-conscious and unconscious, is the perfect spot for nautical talks of the lucid dream space. SoCal oneironauts are invited to Cardiff by the Sea for a beach meetup centered on the theme of what to do in lucid dreams.
April Meetup
We met with a fun group of dream characters at Rooted Kava Bar to discuss Lucid Dreaming Archetypes, Symbolism, and Self-Integration.
We shared dreams and wisdom as a group, and enjoyed casual conversation about oneirogenic supplements and other tools for harnessing the power of lucidity whether awake or asleep.
March Meetup
We did a 2 hour workshop at Sojourn Healing Collective to train in skills for inducing lucid dreaming and using dreams to foster a more whole and healed sense of self.
With so much to learn and discuss, a 2 hour meeting seemed too short! We will continue to seek means of integrating formal skills training opportunities into local meetups or online.
February Meetup
Our group explored the "nature" of reality at Mission Trails Regional Park. The hike and sharing circle was inspiring, leaving us all looking forward to meeting many more lucid dreamers in the local community.
.
Pre-sleep treatment with galantamine stimulates lucid dreaming: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study
Our study of 121 oneironauts collected from our Dreaming and Awakening workshops is now in press. It will be published in the journal PLoS--which is open access so it will be available to the public. We are grateful those who participated in the workshops and experiments who made this study possible. The way to continue charting a path toward better access to the lucid dream state is through experiments such as this one. We are looking forward to developing more opportunities to participate in research on lucid dreaming. In the meantime, you can participate in Lucidity Institute experiments such as this one here by submitting 4 dream reports online.
And now, a little more about an induction skill known as the...
Re-Reading State Test (RRST)
Don't know what is the Re-Reading State test (RRST)? Well, you should! When done right and incorporated into your repertoire of induction tools, it is the one reality test that can help you get lucid more reliably than other means of testing whether you are awake or dreaming. If you don't know what it is yet, read this post:
To Lucid Dream Test Your State By Re-Reading
RRST Challenge Question:
Here is a tricky question that should challenge even the most advanced oneironauts. The RRST is a daytime skill practice. It can be practiced whenever you remember to check in with your state of consciousness, when the thought occurs to you that you might be dreaming, or when you encounter dream-like phenomena in the waking state. But you don't necessarily set the intention to practice the RRST in the dream state. Why not? Why would you only intend to conduct an RRST while awake, but not necessarily while dreaming?
Let's start with the context when you are practicing the RRST while awake: If you truly are awake--there should be no true indications that you are dreaming--AKA there are no "dreamsigns." Yet, you hold similar logic in the nonlucid dream state that prevents you from becoming lucid. Thus conducting a state test as reliable as the RRST to help confirm that you are awake is rather helpful here. In short, the RRST improves your accessibility to remembering how to challenge the deeply rooted assumptions that you are awake, and your rationale for 'How do I know I am not dreaming?'
Contrary to what most people say, the way the RRST actually works has little to do with just creating a "habit that carries over into the dream state". LaBerge and company emphasize this actually has do with increasing accessibility to memory for remembering you are dreaming. Accessibility and availability are psychological terms regarding memory retrieval. Of course, for a memory to be accessible, it has to be available in the first place--meaning you first must have a solid understanding of the concept of "How do I know I am not dreaming right now?"
Now let's look at the context in which you would perform an RRST while dreaming. Since you truly are dreaming, there are many true indications that you are dreaming--meaning your dream is fraught with dreamsigns. At this point, you are already considering that you are potentially dreaming. Essentially, there is no need to elicit another dreamsign by reality testing because ideally you would have already recognized one of the many dreamsigns around you. In fact, conducting a state test at this point can actually undermine your lucidity. Here, it is better to focus on recognizing the dreamsigns that are already present and trusting your lucidity, as opposed to conducting a state test that has a chance of resulting in a false negative.
Admittedly, it is still possible to overlook dreamsigns and the RRST can be a useful back-up tool for becoming lucid in such cases. Still, it may help to tweak how you focus your mind’s intentions in a way that could be more productive--namely, by focusing more on dreamsign awareness, and letting go of the notion that you have to reality test in dreams to get lucid. Understanding these concepts more thoroughly will help you keep evolving as a lucid dreamer.
These concepts get easier and easier the more you are exposed to them and put them into practice--just like learning any skill. Need more guidance? There are more opportunities to connect in this private Facebook group or on Steemit.
Want to learn about the original study on the Re-Reading State Test? Better yet...why don't you participate in the experiment yourself? Lucidity Institute is planning to extend the results with a larger data set. Your participation will help continue carving a path toward solving the induction problem, and giving more people the chance to experience the state of lucidity.
If you'd like to participate in the Re-Reading State Test experiment, please download and print the following PDF to complete the experiment.
Mindful Lucid Dreaming, Online Workshop
Developing a relationship with a skilled teacher can be instrumental in maturing a lucid dream practice. This quality of learning isn't something you can find through self-help books, cookie-cutter online courses, peer-based forums, or within the echo chamber called the internet.
We have been beta-testing an 8-week intensive group course with live and interactive features that you won't find in any other online lucid dreaming course.
Below, a screenshot of the mobile application for Mindful Lucid Dreaming, online workshop.
Feedback thus far has been beyond positive and we couldn't be more excited to extend our training to the online world so we can enrich the lives of people from their very own homes.
We will be recruiting for our next beta group in the coming months to test the feasibility and scalability of our software and systems. This is a chance to connect with Dr. LaMarca and team more intimately while learning the most cutting-edge, science-backed methods for inducing lucid dreaming.
The course is designed to be integrated into your day-to-day routines. So for example you can listen to lectures on your way to work, while at the gym, or substitute some of the time you spend on your usual social media networks with commenting on the posts about your classmates' lucid dreams on our software platform instead.
You would be a good candidate to beta test if you can devote at least 2 hours per week to the course material, in addition to the 4 live, interactive video sessions online that take place over the 8 weeks.
Interested? Let us know by completing this online form.