13 Things you can do to shift in Lucid Dreams

Dreaming can be developed as a skill to sharpen aptitudes in waking life. Daytime experience is helping night and night is helping day. In practicing of raising consciousness in sleep states, you prepare for Bardo (in between life and death). Yet you do not have to wait for Bardo to put this into practice. Consider 13 things you can do to shift life course in Lucid Dreams: 

1. If you feel held back, change speed

2. if its about size, you can grow or shrink

3. If feeling stuck, free yourself 

4. If you resist something, let go

5. If you imagine self as human, shapeshift into another creature

6. If some creature scares you, transform it into a kind and loving creature (i.e. puppy) or something ridiculous

7. If you freel frozen, allow yourself to move

8.  If you feel uninspired, stagnant, engage your creativity

9. If you experience scarcity,  transmute the situation into abundance

10. If you are serious, allow yourself to laugh, be happy, experienfe aliveness

11. If you have problems, devise effective solutions

12. if you feel limited, stretch save yourself, escape chains that bind you

13. If its about monkey mind, focus on smthg long enough and it becomes effortless

Manage emotions differently

Notice when we acknowledge emotions and feel them in this moment, rather than resist, we do not trap this energy within ourselves. Instead, we clearly tune into vibrations of Higher Being from within the heart. Thus, denser energies no longer need to reside within us. We can integrate and/or let them go layer by layer or in whatever way resonates. As energies surface, we can embrace the wisdom they hold. Higher Self observes everything without judgment, resists nothing, feels no negativity. Negative emotion is a byproduct of a limited perspective not vibrating in alignment with Higher Being. We each have capacity to live in harmony with Spirit, the most expanded version of Self. Live mindfully in a permanent state of awareness. Image what unlimited freedom feels like. Be. Embody it. Let it in.

5 Reasons to Practice Yoga

As a yoga instructor and practitioner, my experience is clients generally come to yoga for 5 main reasons:

1)  Physical self-improvement

They are motivated by the prospect of toning the physical body in a gentle way. This may be an unconscious effort to appease or appeal to others or desire to meet the expectations of others.

2) Health

They are told practising yoga will bring them more energy, balance and overall well-being

3) Rehabilitation

They may have an injury and are working to regain range of motion, more mobility or stretch.

4) Personal growth

They may be on a spiritual journey, turning inward, sensing vibration, raising awareness, engaging in practices like mindfulness and meditation.  Yoga serves as a stepping stone to live life more consciously from universal principles.

5) Intuition

They come guided by something they cannot explain, a deep urge to let go of fear and inhibitions, or as a stepping stone to other things.

Restlessness is a sign of transformation

Notice at the perfect moment, light penetrates like a catalyst to clarify what disconnects from all that is real and matters in heart. By affirming our dignity and allowing others theirs, we are able to honor ourselves, connect as equals, move forward with insight.

Earlier in life, I often heard myself saying things like;

"Everything happens for a reason"

"It was for the best"

"It was a blessing in disguise"

(all of which were relevant in context...)

In passing, such phrases sound optimistic and seem harmless. Yet, with maturity, I realized I had been taught to dismiss very real concerns and feelings worthy of considerable attention. People would cross my boundaries, be hurtful, or behave in ways that went against my core values or intuition and I would be overly tolerant and accepting or too easily forgiving. Making light of difficult situations was a superficial way of glossing over issues. This felt better in the short-term, but ultimately, it solved nothing and left hidden issues to linger. In fact, as I go down the rabbit hole, it appears I mastered the art of pretending things were fine when they were clearly not.

Part of my awakening has involved recognizing I would hide or avoid anger that deserved to be felt and expressed, Rather than working through hard emotions or confronting unresolved issues, I used to simply downplay or dismiss them. Believing traumatic events must serve as “learning experiences” or focusing on the silver lining behind every negative experience, did not allow me to experience the fullness of the wisdom they held. Assuming I had a handle on it was how I hid from insecurities. It was a clever way I pulled the wool over my eyes until I was ready to go deeper.

I went through stages where I was convinced spiritual practices I engage in are always positive. Feeling detached also came to mean I was not fully conscious or present. I was very good at focusing on the positive or being overly optimistic. Had no idea I was projecting negative feelings. At some stage, it dawned positive thinking is not the way to overcome problems. Facing shadows is far more effective. Rather than attempting to “rise above” emotions, I learned to feel, heal and move through them.

Pride is difficult to detect in ourselves because it is a refusal to admit wrong or see a need to change. As the light of our dignity shines more brightly, we realize that we don’t have to be perfect. Showing vulnerability and humility invites stronger connection. We move from the superficial into soul-level relationships. We grow approachable rather than seem intimidating. We don’t see ourselves as better or worse than anyone else. We are the same.

It is freeing to hold ourselves with the dignity that comes from simply being human. We don’t need to achieve “greatness” to have worth and value. Greatness is innate . We might be inclined to seek excellence because it feels meaningful, energizing and expansive, but not because it defines who we are.

It dawns pride that drives us at certain stages of life prevents us from acknowledging our human vulnerabilities. When driven by shame or illusion of inferiority, its uncomfortable to say, “I’m sorry, I was wrong, I made a mistake.” When pride rules, we believe we’re always right or we fear backing down. This makes it difficult to know and sustain intimacy.

A self-centred culture teaches we must achieve self-actualization (enlightenment) to be truly happy. This quest also contributes to a tendency to avoid difficult or painful emotions. Rather than trying to solve problems in environments that cause suffering, self-centred culture teaches people that they alone are responsible for their destiny. At certain stages, maybe you relate?

What stands out is that negative thoughts and feelings serve a purpose. They do not exist so we avoid them. Rather, they point to a diminshed self image, deep hurt, sadness and that emotions that require acceptance and validation. Negative thoughts exist so we use those thoughts to propel positive actions. Simply putting on rose-colored glasses and ignoring deeper issues does not make them go away. Choosing instead to forge friendships, look people directly in the eye, be candid and share vulnerability, are keys to being more assertive, self-loving and decisive when it counts.

Ultimately, discomfort is a soul-level sign that something is not right and needs to change. If you think you lessen discomfort by simply avoiding it, or normalizing abnormal behaviour, situations causing distress will remain. Yet, to recognize the nature of our unconscious behaviours, is to see restlessness is itself a sign of our ongoing quantum transformation. We are catching up with the light.

The Point of Meditation

Notice meditation is about opening the sacred heart or Third Eye. This is not a vestige or organ living in the head. Its a blossoming of awareness that presents based on expanding consciousness. One aspect is not the part of you that identifies the "I" that associates you with the limited physical body. As we examine this first "I" more, it is a mosaic of childhood conditionings used to fulfill agendas that even this "I" does not understand. It does not know what it says and is completely unaware of what is beyond it. The second eye is an entity frozen in time, the Inner Child, the self you were long ago that refuses to dissolve, that runs the show to gain power or sensory gratification that it did not have as a child. It has many different agendas. It is anti-love, or resists love for it knows not what love is. This second eye arose from a sense of rejection. It was created in an environment that was not unconditionally loving. It may not know its gender or whether its alive or dead. Until this unfulfilled or empty ghost is flushed out and seen as it is, it cannot be dissolved. Until then, the second eye perpetuates itself through activities of the first "I" (unbeknownst to the first "I") that projects the second eye in the form of "the other". Things go on with the second eye that the first "I" doesn't know. The second eye enjoys the vex, suffering, self-defeat. To get beyond suffering, you cannot simply analyze the first "I" because the second eye controls the thoughts the first "I" is allowed to retain. The truth keeps falling away, yet it consistently slips away as the first "I". The key is surrendering to the Third Eye, pure awareness, love and the unborn, eternal Self. It sees all. As one turns inward, the first "I" comes to surrender to divine nature and the second eye can be fleshed out, cherished and integrated into the whole. The first outranks the Third Eye. Only as the rightful owner of the mind is allied with the conscious mind can all vexations and unconscious agendas be overruled and absorbed by the Divine. It is not "I" that actually lives within us but Supreme Reality, that which is beyond any name or form. We can point to it but it only reveals itself as we make our way through the winding web of illusions and love ourselves fully. We can surrender to it. If you are meditating and the mind refuses to be quiet, this is simply resisting the ever-present divine within you, the very life of our Being. To surrender through the act of silence can overcome the ani-love force that has created illusion, ignorance and the wheel of reincarnation. Liberation arises as one accepts oneself fully and knows one has been the divine all along.