Here is how I see the whole business. The imagination is a very powerful tool. When we are dreaming, it is the imagination that is at work with the outside world blocked off. We use our imaginations all during our waking life as well. We all have caught our selves day dreaming. That’s the point. You just snapped out of a dream. It lasted perhaps only seconds, but it was still a dream.
We have several day dreams in the course of a day. We can learn to harness this power, that is to say we can train ourselves to control our imaginations so that we can LD at will during the waking state, and many other feats as well.
We simply have to train our imaginations do to do two things. One is to imagine what we want, for example, close your eyes,and if you like to fly, then imagine yourself flying . Try to hold that thought of flying and imagine yourself doing it. Time yourself to see how long you can hold on to your conjured up imaginary dream without other thoughts distracting you. Most likely it won’t be very long. With practice you can extend your dream time period.
The second thing you need to practice to do is to lose consciousness of the waking world around you so that you will not become distracted from your dream. This can be quite scary, because you need to allow yourself to let go of reality. To accomplish this you need to close your eyes and truly convince yourself that you are totally enveloped in your dream and that the outside world does not exist. This is a little frightening at first but you will get used to it and achieve it as you progress . A small egg timer or alarm clock may be used to wake you out of the state if you wish. It’s best to practice when you are alone in a quiet peaceful environment.
We have several day and night dreams that we don’t remember. Try to start remembering your day dreams during the day and simply be cognizant of them.
This method works for me and I wanted to share it with you. Happy dreams .
The topic of daydreaming is mentioned (albeit briefly) in Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Apparently, sleep cycles (and in particular the induction of REM every 90 minutes) actually continue during the day, as well as throughout the night. Every 90 minutes, even while awake, people experience a “shift” in their brains where (to my understanding) priority changes from left to right, and they unwillingly experience a moment of wandering imagination, or a “daydream”. I know you’re talking about intentional daydreaming, but I thought it worth while to mention this anyway.
There is another point I wanted to raise, though. You explained that with practice it’s possible to strengthen daydreams and reduce distraction from the real world - but I think there’s still a limit to how far you can take this. Dreams have the benefit of providing your imagination with direct access to your sensory receptors, allowing it to simulate actual sensations as if the equivalent real-world event was taking place. This is something I believe the waking imagination can never achieve, allowing (at best), an experience more akin to watching TV than embarking on a real adventure. Perhaps a deep level of trance could unlock this otherwise dormant feature of the waking mind.
i really don’t think i day dream, i can be constantly fantasizing and detached from reality, but I never actually enter a dream…
there are times where i hit a gap of consciousness and i’m like “whoa, what was i thinking about?” but … i don’t think that qualifies as dreaming in any conventional sense, i never see things and go somewhere else.
I only have ‘real’ daydreams when I have slept really bad last night. I’m completely shut off from the world and I ‘see’ the stuff that I’m thinking about in my head
I believe it’s just hypnagogics (yes, I spelled it wrong but you know what I mean).
I also had one time during meditation that I reached a sort dreamlike state, is was doing the stuff I tought about and I saw it in my mind…
just wanted to say that I think it’s just hypnogogics actually
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