Dream Yoga

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Dream Yoga Sample Session

www.dreamyoga.com

In a sentence or two, what are three fundamental issues that you are dealing with now in your life?

1. ____________________________________________________________________

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2. ____________________________________________________________________

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3. ____________________________________________________________________

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Now write down a dream you remember:

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What associations do you have to this dream?:

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If your dream had a name that was to appear on a theatre marquis, what would it be? Write it here:

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Write the date of the day that you remember the dream here:

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Dream Characters

Dream characters are nouns: entities (people, extraterrestrials, spirits, walruses, body parts), places (houses, cars, parks, outer space), and things (credit cards, toothbrushes, clouds, novels, water.) Just about anything can be a dream character, but dream yoga puts feelings (happy, sad, confused, guilty, angry, fearful, etc.) and actions (thoughts, riding, driving, surfing, climbing, coughing, etc.) in other categories. Which dream character would you like to learn more about? Which character in this dream would you like to interview? If there is an adversary or threatening character, consider interviewing it. If there isn't, choose an object - a house, car, tree, sky.

Enter the name of the character:

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Now you are going to imagine that you are this character. This is easy to do, since it was created by your own consciousness. Just pretend you are five or six and playfully become the character as if you are in the dream again right now - but not as you, but as the character!

Here are some suggestions:

Stay in role - be the character! Try to forget being the person you normally are.
Respond quickly and spontaneously without thinking about your answer.
Remember, there is no right or wrong answer.
Keep your answers short.

(Character,) what are you doing (in this dream?)

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(Character,) what do you like most about yourself (in this dream?)

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(Character,) what do you like least about yourself (in this dream?)

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In general, what do you think about your fellow dream group members?

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(Character,) if you could change (this dream) in any way you wanted, how would you change it?

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(Character,) if you could live this dreamer's waking life for him or her, how would you live it differently?

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(Character,) what aspect of the dreamer do you most closely personify or represent?

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(Character,) why do you think that you are (in this dream?)

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(Character,) why do you think this particular group of characters got together (in this dream?)

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(Character,) what recommendations would you make for beneficial changes in the daily life of this dreamer?

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(Character,) if you were this dreamer, how would you handle each of the three fundamental issues that this dreamer is dealing with now in their life, written above?

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Good job! Now choose at least two more characters from your dream and repeat the process. This is important if you want to get a feel for the transformative power of Dream Yoga.

Create Your Dreamage

A dreamage is a word we coined combining "dream" and "image." It is a rewritten version of a dream based on the consensus recommendations of the dream group members. A dreamage can only be created if you have interviewed at least a representative sample of the characters in your dream. For more information on interviewing a representative sample, see "interviewing your dream group members" in the Dream Sociometry page.

One question above asked, "If you could change this dream in any way you wanted, would you change it?" Look at the answers given by the different characters you interviewed. Do they agree on changes to be made, or do the changes contradict each other? If they agree, and no character has objections to the changes to the dream recommended by its fellows, then the dream may be rewritten in a way that reflects their consensus recommendations. This is called a "dreamage" and is used as a powerful pre-sleep suggestion to affirm higher level integration regarding the life issues which generated this dream in the first place. A dreamage functions rather like a homeopathic remedy.

To create your dreamage, copy and paste your original dream here:

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Now, carefully change the above dream narrative to reflect the consensus recommendations of the dream characters you interviewed. If there is no consensus, there can be no dreamage. Respect the disagreement. Don't force the conflict to resolve itself, because that is dishonest. Listen to your conflict, and it will tell you how it needs to be resolved.

Read over your dreamage before you go to sleep at night, putting yourself into it as if it is your dream. Do this several times. Feel yourself in the dreamage. Observe the impact this has on your sleep, your recalled dreams, and your waking life. E-mail your experiences to us at dreamwork@dreamyoga.com !

Much of the time you will discover that you are unable to create a dreamage, because there is no dream group consensus. In either case you may still proceed to the next, vital step in Dream Yoga.

Another question above asked, "If you could live this dreamer's waking life for him or her, how would you live it differently?"

Compare the answers to this question given by each of the dream group members that you interviewed. Write the name of each interviewed character followed by its suggested waking life changes:

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Which of these suggestions are you willing to act on today in your waking life? This step is essential, because this is how you demonstrate to your inner self that you are sincere in your desire to open a dialogue and really listen to your soul.

Operationally define each recommendation (suggestion). For instance, "meditate more" is vague. What do you mean by "meditate?" What does "more" mean? An operational defintion might be, "I will choose to sit, observing my breathing, returning my awareness to my breath each time I become aware that my awareness has strayed, for at least fifteen minutes every morning just after I awaken." An operational definition is measurable. That way you will know when you are making progress!

Write your operational definitions here:

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Create Your Waking Action Recommendations

Now choose a summary word or phrase for the first waking action recommendation and write it in the space to the left of the weekly calander below.

Summary Word        Today    Day 1    Day 2    Day 3    Day 4    Day 5    Day 6

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Keep the waking application with you throughout your day. Check off the recommendation when you have completed it. Make it a game that you play with yourself! How many can I check off today? Can I do more than yesterday? Can I reach 100%? How many days in a row can I stay at 100%?

Tell a friend or two what your action plan is. Ask them if you can report to them every day or so on your progress. Tell them that you do not want their approval, but you need an accountability structure and you need support and possibly some suggestions from time to time. Your friend will probably be flattered and you may inspire them to work on a dream and use you to help them make important life changes!

Remember that the goal is quality of application, not quantity. Make your goals simple and attainable. If you make them unrealistic, you will only frustrate yourself. Complete one recommendation well rather than five half-well! If you make a change, you will know it, and it really doesn't matter what other people think about it!

Finally, watch your dreams. Your dreams tonight will give you feedback about your application today. They will comment on your progress. If you are misunderstanding or overdoing it, your dream group members will cybernetically re-correct your course if you will use this guide format and listen to them!

Congratulations! If you have completed this sample session, you are a member of a very select, unique, yet universal community: the Dream Sangha! You are one of a growing member of people who are consciously using Dream Yoga to transform their lives!

To learn more about the structure upon which this process is based, please refer to our Dream Sociometry page which is one of the six levels of progressive involvement.