Are Dreams Our Emotional Body?

Quest for Lucidity General Lucidness
1

moved from dream journal forum :moogle:

Hi Everyone:

New to forum. Going through an emotional cleansing and man is it uncomfortable. I thought, since we are really spiritual beings, why should it be so difficult and painful to heal our emotions? Surely getting lucid and feeling great joy and love should do the trick. I recall having many lucid dreams before supressed emotions bubbling up, became my main focus these days. In many of those dreams, I always felt amazing and was able to bring that amazing energy back with me to the waking world, thus enabling me to have great experiences. It’s not easy being in emotional pain 24/7 and trying to focus on lucid dreaming, however, I’ve tried. About a week ago when I was diligent with my RC’s I did become lucid. However, the dream became sexual and well you know what happens when it becomes that intense. I woke up. Also it was with the same sex, so it was frighteningly unappealing.

Now I decided I would saturate my subconscious by reading the lucid dreams of others, surely that would get the idea of lucid dreaming deeply engrained within. As I read, and I intend to read everyone of them. I notice a certain theme.

The dreamers become lucid and start enjoying the usual - unusual things. Then gradually they come upon fear. Yes they seem to finally come face to face with our deepest fear/pain. Everyone at that point becomes so terrified, they look for a way out and eventually end up waking themselves up.

Now, we can’t keep doing that. That is the painful enotions we have all suppressed for far too long and it is the energy that creates any problems/mediocrity in our lives. So how do we eradicate this?

I’ve heard that we’re supposed to embrace the image with love in order to dissolve it. I did do that once with someone I know, however, in real life the situation still continues. Anyone with any tips as to how we can permanently dissolve these painful parts of us? After all, I believe lucidity is the tool for healing.

Thanks and I look foward to all suggestions.

2

Also, people tend to be very destructive in their dreams, even suprisingly, lucid dreams. Can it be said, that this is the Ego dreaming? And that somehow the goal would be through lucidity, to heal the Ego? Did I explain that right?

3

When you are talking about the Ego, are you referring to Freud’s concepts of the Ego, Id and Super-ego? Then I am not sure about what you mean in trying to heal the ego?

I have seen some dreamers use lucid dreams to over come their fears in the dream. I am not sure how effective it was to their waking life - and I am not even sure if real studies have ever shown that the two can correlate. But I agree, that fear can take over in the dream and we tend to be more destructive when we are afraid.

But, its not true for everyone. I remember WS dreaming about a large cat or something like that which was confronting her and she turned it into a little cat and then played with it?! I would have to find the link for you.

4

Hi Carnun:

I take it that the Ego is that voice that for most of our lives don’t really know exsists. It’s like in the movie “Revolver”. When the guy says “You’ve been listening to that voice for so long, you think it’s you”.

The voice that says no or casts doubts or that is angry or scared. We don’t realize that within us exists apparantly the pain body. Best described here:

The Various Parts of ‘You’ Following the theme of “if I create my own reality -then why would I create THIS?!” - today let’s focuson just who is doing the creating in your life. As you undoubtedly know, there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye.

You exist on many different levels simultaneously. The personality of “you” - everything you know about yourself and the world around you; in fact all you’re aware of, is really but one part of the total “you”. Just like the deceptively simple-looking exterior of an automobile hides the complex engine inside, so you, too, have a lot more going on ‘under the hood’ - than meets the eye.

A lot of your ‘action’ takes place out of sight, out of mind. On a physical level: when you look at your body, it doesn’t appear that complicated. Two arms, two legs, a torso and a head. No big deal. The real complexity of ‘you’ takes place inside your body,not on the outside. It’s the same way with your mental and emotional ‘bodies’. The thoughts and emotions you manifest belie all the inner workings it took to bring them tothe surface.

For example, the anger you feel when someone cuts you off in traffic - is that really coming from ‘you’ or is it from some other, hiddenpart of you? Your physical body works because there are so many parts working together almost flawlessly.

Our emotional body so often doesn’t ‘work’ because the parts that make it up aren’t working together flawlessly. In fact, I dare say there are parts of you right now that want something entirely different than what YOU want. If part of you wants one thing, and another part wants something else, then obviously you’ll be pulled in different directions, and can easily end up where you don’t want to be.

The rest of this article reviews the four main parts of ‘you’ - that contribute to your conscious thinking and feeling.

  1. Inner child.

With its own thoughts and feelings, making its own choices and decisions, your inner child exists as a very real entity - alive; living right now. At this very moment, your inner child is doing something. Maybe it’s looking at you. Maybe it’s absorbed with its own little world, living out its fears as it stands on a rag tag little stage. Maybe it’s taken its worn out scripts, its little props, and set up camp on your stage. The more painful your childhood, the greater the likelihood that your inner child wants to be a partof your world, rather than staying in its own. That’s because the abused child always wants to somehow try to ‘make it right’. The more fear and pain you faced as a child, the more likely it is that you still feel that fear and pain now, and it’s affecting your reality. In addition, the less you want to take responsibility for your own life now, the more likely you are to shove your inner child ‘out in front of you’ - so that they are facing the big bad world instead of you. MAYBE YOU’RE BORROWING THE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS OF YOUR INNER CHILD AND USING THEM AS YOUR OWN. (Sorry to shout.)

  1. Inner adolescent.

Quite separate from your inner child, you also have an inner adolescent with its own thoughts and feelings. Your inner adolescent is up to something right now. (Most likely whatever it was up to yesterday, and the day before.) It exists right now as a living breathing entity. The more traumatic your teenage years, the greater the chance your inner adolescent may be screwingup your life now. Again, not because it’s bad and wrong, but because it still wants to ‘get it right’. And need I remind you how stubborn, how ‘set in their ways’ adolescents can be?

  1. Inner parent.

As a grownup, part of us becomes what may best be described as an inner parent. A living breathing part of you - and right now thinking its own thoughts and feeling its own feelings, and for many - oh so eager to point out your flaws and mistakes. The ‘critical parent’ instead of the ‘nurturing parent’. The inner voice that criticizes you - the one that sounds eerily similar to your parents - often is the voice of your inner parent. The one that comes down hard on you, the one that has no problem kicking you when you’re down.

  1. Ego.

Your ego functions as the ‘delivery system’ between you and your world. As the brain sees through the physical eyes, so your conscious mind sees the world through your ego. The job - the only job - of the ego, is to deliver information about the world to us. It’s the messenger. The errand-runner. The delivery boy or girl who delivers the ‘facts of life’ to our mind. The ego is born weak, as you were born weak. By letting it do its job, the ego strengthens and matures and you become more aware of yourworld and what’s going on around you. The ego delivers the ‘content’ - and we supplythe ‘context’. Problems develop when we demand the ego do more than it’s designed to handle. For example,when we refuse to think for ourselves, when we refuse to make choices and decisions, we’re then forcing our ego to do our thinking for us. The ego is not equipped to do our thinking for us. When we make it do our job of interpreting the data it delivers, it stays weak. In its weakened state, ego becomes negative. Our own ego becomes bitter and resentful of us, because we force it to do our thinking and feeling and evaluating. Ever known someone who’s always in a bad mood? Ever wondered why? You can bet it’s a weak, negative ego that’s running their show. Ego, child, adolescent, and parent all exist right now - each in their own unique world inside of you.They’re all part of your personality, and they all exert influence on your life. Each of these four can be ‘personified’ - meaningyou can visualize them in human form. Each has a voice - and each wants to be heard. In a sense,they may be clamoring for your attention right now. These are the four ‘constituent’ parts of you. They deserve to be heard. The more you deny them, the more they will fight to be noticed. You function as a synergy of all your various parts. It’s as if all these constituent parts of you resemble a flashlight, and you are the light that emerges from those parts. A weak battery or a faulty switch can produce dramatic results in the light of the flashlight. A bitter ego, a scared inner child, a panicked inner adolescent, and a critical inner parent can produce some pretty unwanted results in your life, too.

The good news in all this - you can change andheal and grow these parts of you, so that you’re’all on the same page’ - working together to helpyou get what you want.

5

Hi Carnum:

Hope that last post wasn’t too uninteresting. So yes, who is it that prevents us from becoming lucid every night, the way we’d like to? Is it the Ego that wants to stay in control? Is it that there is so much heavy dark feelings that to feel the joy of dreaming becomes not easy?

I remember once a few years back, when I was much happier, I was dreaming and I was on a motorbike with my back to the back of the driver. As I realized that I was dreaming, I became very excited and decided to fly upwards. As soon as I did, the drive pulled me back and I woke up. So what part of me would stop me from being happy and stop me from being lucid, thinking and aware? Is it Ego? That pained part of me? From what I can recall, my life did take a turn for not the very best then.

And then when I do manage to become Lucid, where is Ego then? I do hope I’m not coming across too strange. I’ll think about it some more and hopefully delve into it more. The thought now comes is Ego, the Mind? In either case, how to become and feel whole???

Yes, so it would be interesting to know if the dreamer that changed the big cat into a little cat, noticed anything different in their waking life or emotions.

Maybe I will just have to accept the fact that I will have to do the painful work of emotional healing while awake. Ewwww Yech. But I don’t lose hope, I’ll keep reading other peoples dreams and hopefully I will get lucid and stay calm and aware enough to heal the fragmented parts of me, so I can have FUN and ENJOY LIFE AGAIN!!!

Thanks for sharing with me.

6

Hi Expanding Awareness,
:welcome: to LD4all :smile:

like your nick by the way :wink:

yes, indeed it is hard to focus on dreaming when you are in emotional pain 24/7.
In that state, I believe, nothing is easy.

See, the thing is people tend to get incredibly addicted to their feelings, just like drugs. It doesn’t matter how positive or negative they may be.

When you feel a certain feeling, your brain produces certain (well call them) packages, the cells are feasting upon those. Same thing happens when someone injects heroin into his blood stream. Those packages are released for the cells to enjoy. But the next day, the cells are going to demand getting those packages,
so if you were feeling sad and lonely and miserable, you sent out those packages to the cells and the next day, they’re going to DEMAND them. This translates into “your emotional drive”, you feel it’s natural to feel this way, you are so mislead by the illusion of this process that you actually believe you ARE your feelings.
In actuality, the thing that happens is that the cells are requesting the packages you gave them, and they need more and more in order for it to be as effective.
That’s why you bring these emotions back to the surface, to calm down your addiction. Just like a heroin junky is shooting heroin to cool his addiction. It works exactly the same way.

To release those feelings isn’t that hard a thing to do .

You need to realize the perfection inside of you and simply let go of your feelings.

Let go, hold them in your hands and drop them to the floor.

I highly recommend meditation since low brain activity tends to create new neural pathways and develop your brain causing you to be much more strong while facing these mental/emotional addictions and helping you realize the beauty and power you are.

about love,
"
Once gazing upon true love, a blindfold is removed and you see the splendors of
the universe.

You are the purest light and forever will you shine like the sun in perfect
balance and harmony.

You are one with the one and the all,

for love is truly the fabric of this universe
"

yes,
love is powerful but realization of love does not come from intellectual knowledge and/or attempts to bring it about.
Realization of love becomes your nature as you decrease your entropy, thus become love.
when I say love, I do not mean the love two partners or friends can share, neither do i refer to the love a mother has for her child.
Love is everything.
True love is unselfish and shines to all directions at once, like the sun, without noticing who and what is in the way.
To truly realize love, one would have to clearly see the perfection laid in front of him. The perfection, beauty and harmony of all that is.

Upon this kind of true realization, i doubt it is possible to have any negative emotion.

Speak for yourself.

Firstly, it is irrelevant what other people are experiencing.
To be truly confident and happy with yourself, you need to believe in yourself in a way that if the whole planet would tell you to alter your thoughts, you would take no notice of it at all.
Not everyone are experiencing fears in dreams although it is very common, to each his own. That is also irrelevant.
You can read other people’s dreams to inspire you and/or whatever it is you gain from it. However, do not implicate any of it on yourself.
If the whole human kind is experiencing something in their dreams, it does not mean you should too.
You, energy, vibration, have NO limits. The only ones present are the ones you set up for yourself. So the next time you read someone’s dream and think about how he emotionally reacts to it, know that it is his own way and nothing more. It does not matter if you think all the people on the earth are experiencing that. The point remains the same.

I would have continued this a bit further but I must go, so here’s a couple of nice quotes. I hope this helps you and feel free to comment or ask questions

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals. - Henry Ford

Happiness Is A Choice. - Barry Neil Kaufman

Too Many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death. - James F. Bymes

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose site of the shore. - Origin Unknown

7

I don’t believe that we live in a vacuum. Whenever I hear that “happiness is a choice you make, not an emotion you feel” I get an image of standing in the middle of Cambodian killing fields and choosing to be happy, or being one of those Congolese women who are so thoroughly raped that they become incontinent, and choosing to be happy. Which is kind of disrespectful of the dead, and kind of invalidating of the living in pain-- so what if their being oppressed and tortured? Happiness is a choice, right?

No, I believe we are each positioned in a bigger scheme than our personal paradigms. Although, admittedly, paradigms can seem pretty darn big from the inside. Case in point: lucid dreaming creates a vivid virtual reality… I wouldn’t say that it allows people to escape, but it does give the illusion of an alternative “bigger scheme”, one that’s more positive. The results of such an illusion, at least, are real: you get energized from this positive environment.

So, yes, it does the trick, but… it’s a trick. The dream can make for a deeply cathartic vacation, but we can’t live there. It’s a little less pleasant, but far more effective, to take something back from our time there (like empowerment to take action,) instead of using our time there for a few precious moments of escape.

Unlike what some Disney movies will tell us, a dream is not a wish our heart makes. At least, it’s not only that. It can also be the less poetic “filing system our brain uses,” and when files come rushing in, of painful events, then the SC would be going against its nature to leave such files in the slush pile. Ergo: nightmares, even lucid dreams that take a turn for the Shadowy.

But it really hasn’t worked for me, to “heal” by eradication or permanent dissolution, like you seek. To transcend emotion is to reject a vital organ. There will always be pain, but personally I’ve found it more effective to process the pain.
Process is very different from wallowing, resignation, or masochism-- although the line can be perilously blurry-- and it’s worlds away from denial, which is what I see purported in most spiritual transcendence.

Meaning that you and somebody else decided to work through individual issues by this LD method, with support from each other… Or, that you tried to dissolve somebody else’s directly pain-causing habits, and change the situation, with wishful thinking and love? :confused:

8

From my own personal experiences, I would have to agree with you here and say YES! The waking world is the place we have to do the emotional healing! BUT… saying that, dreaming is a powerful tool to help you reflect and pin-point what needs healing… and to some extent how.

I know that this is a Lucid Dreaming web site, but our non-lucid dreams are just as important. It sounds like you want to have fun and enjoy your life, but you are not sure what is holding you back. Is this just a lucid dream thing? Or can that dream about the motorcycle also reflect something a little broader of your life?

Also, try to focus on ACTUALLY having lucid dreams, instead of focusing on why you can not have them. But focusing on the why not and not the how to, can only reiterate the concept in your head that you can not have LDs. (I hope that sentence makes sense?)

And yes… like what has already been posted… emotional periods can make LD more dificult. I find it effects my recall and my motivation. Basically you are not left with much emotional energy to do much else.

Thanks for posting BTW. A very interesting read! :content:

9

today i was in a post office and a little girl made eye contact with me
i looked deep into her eyes and then we hugged

but part of my mind wasn’t sure if it was okay to do that, and so my mom was there and she spoke those thoughts out loud

that’s how dream characters may operate, if you have thoughts contrary to what your true wishes are, they will find themselves manifesting as actual characters or objects or situations within the dream

now about the narrator, one time i figured it out, i slipped out of roles in dreams, and so i noticed that the thought that was thinking the dream into being, went from person to person to person at a poker table, and one of them was an actual narrator and it was something like "hey this isn’t you , " and “i am not you, you are not my mind or my thoughts” but it was yet responsible for some of the content of the dream

and i had the ability to leave

so i did and i wanted a wife so i asked this woman to marry me, of course she said yes, but then another part of her personality said “BUT…” and something about “her kids”

you seem to have the right ideas but for my mind, there is way too much writing and explanation about intricacies, rather than leaving large open fields for us to ponder actual questions and let us become a part.

(* i really did meet a little girl at the post office today after dreaming that, but she looked different, and i met her at a different place than situated within the dream, but my doubt was there too “I love so purely, yet, what if they think this and this and this about me…”)
(*in “real life” i told a troubled teenager once, “you are the only one that ever judges you, period!”)

10

Hi relv:

While I appreciate where you’re coming from, I’m not sure how old you are, but after a certain age, supressing your emotion is not a viable option anymore. I never knew that just denying and letting go of the past, emotion, mental and physical abuse was not enough. When children are beaten, insulted and told not to do the natural thing, which is to cry. The emotion only goes underground and it is from those painful emotions that they are constantly creating. After all, what we think, we create, YES. However, the coupling factor in creation, you might even say the main and most necessary ingredient is Emotions. That is why so many people waste so many years positive thinking and not really achieving their hearts desire. I’ve come to learn, that it is Spirit(Mind) and Soul(Emotions) is what we really are. More than anything we are Sentient beings. Not something they teach in school, for it’s easier to control people through their minds, to perpetual their socieyt, when people are emotionally broken. Yes, when you are emotionally wilted, you’re constantly thinking, doing anything not to feel. Yet, that is the beauty of life. The fact that we are sensual beings. I love what I read on a forum:

So I did dedicate myself for the past week to doing a lot of crying. Still spent a lot of time running, however, I feel a little better. I’ve come to realize I just can’t clear a lifetime of supressed emotions, quickly. But as I cry one layer off, the next becomes easier. I did quite a bit yesterday and today I feel a lot better. But I still feel in my body a lot more to clear, but again, at last, I’m feeling better.

I also realize upon reflection, what a great person, or shall I say the life force that created and sustains me is. To have gone through so much and still end up being a relatively sane, kind, compassionat person, never wanting to throw my anger, pain and frustration out on others, while holding on to all these painful emotions. So I’m gentle with myself, giving myself the time to cry it all out. I endeavour my best not to run away when the feelings become too overwhelming, but no one likes to feel pain and again, it’s like an onion, layer by layer. I surely hope your life has been so good that you should never have to go through this. However, please do take the time to be silent and really feel what you are feeling, now. As opposed to having your mind trick you into ignoring your feelings, for they will pile up and you will have you deal with them, eventually. Now that I understand, I would strong urge people to be true to emotions, making them priority numero uno. Now I don’t want to turn this thread into a depressive one. So let’s get back to my great, great, love - Lucid Dreaming.

I was thinking. It would seem to me, that I the Dreamer are dreaming and that the objects, people, etc., is representative of my mood/issues. Whatcha think?

11

I apologize, I forgot. I’m glad you like the nck and thanks so very much, for such a beautiful and warm welcome. It’s something my heart needed and appreciates.

12

Quite an insightful reply. Though, I can’t recocile the worthiness/necessity of large amounts of pain. I somehow feel that on this journey, Lucid Dreams/Lucidity is our way out so to speak. You’ll have to admit Planet Earth in all it’s magnificent splendour has far too much abject misery. In lucidity there is almost like access to Eternity - access to overabundant beauty, joy, love, strength, power, etc., Things that we can bring back to the waking word in order to only better it. So while it can be seen as a form of escape, I don’t think too many have thought of wonderful opportunity to escape the so called “Matrix”, or at least make it better. Somehow the Creator made this wondrous planet to be enjoyed, but something went amiss. Knowing that this would be the case, this “Way Out” was a calculated addition to our experience. When you have a good Lucid Dream, isn’t that like touching “Creation” and all that one would think it entails?

Again, you asked whether it is healing for oneself or someone else. From what I can glean, I am the dreamer and all else is an aspect of my emotional/inner self. If that be the case, I would gestimate that naturally, or maybe I’d like to hope, that it might heal another person especially if that person is close to you and you have deep issues with. What’s your take? Oh, yes, and again thanks for such an insightful reply. Wow this place is full of great minds. I’m feeling really good.

13

By no means that I suggest that you should deny or suppress feelings.

By the way, age has nothing to do with it, and if anything, it gets easier to suppress emotions as we grow older. but this is also not true, because each path is completely unique. There are no rules

anyway,
there’s a big difference between suppressing emotions and letting go.
While it’s very important to FEEL your emotions, most people tend to overtake their emotions and ride on them, as negative as they may be. All emotions should be experienced but in their high aspects, not in the low, dramatic sense.
Sadness can be a very beautiful thing if it’s experienced correctly and released when appropriate. However, most people ride it until they suffocate. Not because they want to , but because, as I explained, they are addicted to it.
It’s a physical thing…

Anyway, suppressing emotions isn’t where I aimed at.

But experiencing them in a full , precise manner and letting them go when you’re over with them.

14

Hi Eyelids:

Very interesting dream. I’m pondering it. It reminds me of a dream I had, but I won’t write it down as it’s vague and I won’t be able to express what I’m feeling.

As for too much writing. You’ll have to excuse me. It’s just my way of putting forth my ideas/feelings in hopes of doing it clearly. I had no idea that it might obstruct deep pondering. Please don’t feel that way. I need you to think and put forth your ideas. There is always your point of view, your aspect or even your agreement that might benefit myself or others. Thanls. Now I retire to let my emotions flow and clear out some more. I’m at least feeling clearer now to be able to focus on reality checks often. I find they really do help. Oh man, oh man, oh man, do I long to get lucid or what?

Talk to ya’s soon.

15

Yes, I understand. That was my problem. I never wanted to acknowledge my sadness, so I pretened for far too long. I pretended I wasn’t hurt, or dumb, stupid and ugly, like I was told. I kept putting on this foolish facade of happiness while supressing my anger. Denying myself true happiness as my anger turned into inner self rage. I’m so glad though, I know now, it’s okay to experience them fully, precisely in private and let them go. Ahhhhhhhh. Thanks. I so long for all of humanity to be freed from this scourge of self hate and pain.

Also, I’m sooooo looking forward to lucid dreaming again. I love this forum, I feel I’m going to have spectacular lucid dreams very soon. Yipppeeee!! I’m off to read some more dreams then I’ll do some clearing.

Many lucid dreams to you!!

16

it is about Quality of statement

usually what you want to say is very simple,

almost as if it is a question,

now sometimes you really need to write a lot (as i often do )

i noticed in your posts they had really good ideas, but they seemed a little obscured, so i offered that suggestion because i would love to see the style and awareness you have refined to an extent that is more “user -friendly” while still being fully immersed in an even greater Quality,

(anything i would write after this “Quality,” would be wasted effort because my mind showed me this is the shut-off point!)

17

While I appreciate your point of view, I must remain true to myself. I endeavour to the best of my ability to explain what I am feeling/thinking. Quality is really a judgement. We really musn’t judge one another. We take what we can use, contribute to, hopefully in understanding, dignity, respect and love or we move along. Nevertheless, I understand what you’re trying to say.

Yeeeee Haw To Lucid Dreaming!!!