When you hear about the existence of such type of yoga as yoga of dreams, which promotes self-knowledge in a dream, many questions arise. What is the nature of sleep? What kind of dreams are there? How can you use them for self-actualization? How to realize yourself in a dream? Let’s try to reflect a little on these topics.
How do we perceive our dreams?
Sleep is a universal phenomenon, everyone needs it. Our feelings after waking up depend on various factors: on the mood in which we went to sleep, on the time of awakening, on the duration of the dream itself, on the season.
When we are awake the world appears to us to be consistent and continuous. In a dream, everything is different: events can jump from one to another, and although inside a dream everything seems real and understandable, we lose the sense of reality when we wake up.
Dream is a fragmented and inconsistent state. Therefore, most of us regard the state of wakefulness as the only correct perception of reality and a way of conceiving the Universe. The dream state is perceived by us as something frivolous, a kind of fantasies and illusions. As a result, we consider the time spent in a dream wasted. You can often hear the phrase: “You sleep a lot, you will sleep your life through!” Therefore, many people consider dreams to be a secondary part of wakefulness, and try to reduce the time spent in it, although they know about its great importance for restoration of vitality.
What kind of dreams are there?
We know from our personal experience and other people’s stories that dreams are different. Sometimes dreams can be kind of monotonous with protracted events. Sometimes there are beautiful, inspiring, vivid, even sensual stories. At times, there are scary and incomprehensible dreams or nightmares. There are a lot of variations of dreams.
For example, an allegory dream is something that needs explanation. We are not always able to understand the language of dreams. But these dreams can point us to some signs or carry a secret meaning. After waking up and analyzing them, we can find clues to their interpretation.
At times, there is a dream-warning and a dream revelation. We are seldom aware of ourselves in a dream, and we are not able to penetrate the reality of our dreams. When we wake up, we can be scared of such a dream, or we can take it as a guideline for action.
Sometimes it is even difficult for us to understand what exactly we dreamed of, but we feel the presence of something Superior in this dream. As if the highest levels really opened to us in a dream, which gave an impulse to a superconscious understanding of the world.
Sometimes external factors can affect the quality of our sleep. It can be anything: strong impression, fear, feelings of passion, excessive eating before going to bed.
Dream and wakefulness are different facets of the same reality
In the yoga of dreams, as in any other type of yoga, the subjective feelings of an individual serve as the basis. Yoga recommends being equally attentive to all processes both in the waking state and in the state of sleep, and not trying to artificially reduce the sleep time. Because a dream, like any other our manifestation, is also a way of self-knowledge. You travel to another space and time without leaving your bedroom.
Our Universe is very multifaceted. Its nature is the Superior reality, the ultramundane Absolute, which we do not see as it is hidden from us by Maya. Maya is something that makes us see reality in a distorted form, because of that we perceive the one as the multiple, and take the false for the true. We see separate objects and phenomena, as it seems to us, of animate and inanimate nature. But yoga tells us that everything is animate around us: from a great tree to the smallest grain of sand. Everything is the body of the Absolute covered with a “veil” of Maya.
We perceive objects and phenomena of the world around us with the help of our senses. However, information comes to us in a truncated and inaccurate form due to the action of Maya. Then, the information gets even more distorted at the moment of interpretation in mind. Therefore, we cannot perceive this world as it really is since we do not see all of its facets. In order to fill the perception of the missing facets of reality, we have been given a dream space, where we can get what eludes us in a state of wakefulness. Thus, we compensate for our ignorance.
Sleep is divided into two states: sleep with dreams and sleep without dreams, which replace each other throughout a sleep. We also cannot always recognize them when we sleep, but after waking up we can say: “Today I had a dream” or “Today I did not have a dream.”
All these three states are equal, and we need them to look at the unified reality from each side and compose a complete picture of the world based on the information received.
What does the dream state give us?
We have a lot of limitations in the waking state: physical, sensual, intellectual. In a dream, we are free from any shackles. There are no conventions: we can fly, walk through walls, transform into different characters.
For example, now we are on Earth. Could we be on the Moon the next moment? No, we couldn’t. But in a dream, we can do it. We have no inconveniences such as a spacesuit and acclimatization. It is a dream! If a tiger is chasing us in a dream, we will be able to run faster and escape it. It is unlikely to do that being awake, while, in a dream, we can succeed, as there are no physical limitations.
We also have no sensory limitations in a dream. When we sleep, we can perceive what is happening more sharply than in ordinary life. In dreams colors can be richer, sounds clearer, emotions and feelings can be of a wide range. The world of feelings in a dream is exceptional and unique.
Moreover, a dream helps to feel the ability to concentrate. If in the state of waking we see a cup, then we see both the table on which it stands and the hand that holds it. In a dream, we see only a cup. We have a different feeling of concentration: some things seem more intense and richer than in reality when we are sleeping. This is a certain level that can be reached, and practice will help us with this.
During our sleep, we can receive great insights, as we have a different level of understanding and awareness. We are not able to understand a lot of things in reality, but in a dream, things that are difficult to understand and explain in reality become intuitively clear. For example, if we think a problem over and meditate on it for a long time the solution can be revealed in a dream. Everyone knows the case of the Russian scientist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev – he dreamed of a table of chemical elements, on which he had been working for several years.
The goal of the yoga of dreams is the comprehension of the Higher Self or the Absolute and gaining unlimited Freedom. To plunge into this state, it is necessary to clear the mind, calm it down, regulate it and then tune in to the wave of the Universe. Maybe then we will receive revelation. The Yoga of dreams contributes to this. Non-verbal knowledge received from the Higher Self is easier to get in a dream, when our physical body and everyday problems do not distract us.
A dream is a great tool for working with your fears and converting your karma. If we did something in the past, then we can reap their fruits in a dream too. Since for the Higher Self, these states are equal to each other.
You can work karma off in a dream from the moment when you realize that you are sleeping. You understand that you have a dream, and at the same time you do not wake up. You have an opportunity to experiment with the Universe at the level of the space of dreams. You can work karmic situations off, otherwise, you would have to experience them at the waking level. Many nightmares or bad dreams are a way to work off negative actions done in the past. If we consciously experience all those emotions that come to us in a dream, or we change the story of the dream in our favor, then being awake we do not have to experience such a situation, or it will unfold in a more easy form for us. Dream and wakefulness are facets of the same reality. Therefore, having worked some situations off from the position of one facet, we work it off from the standpoint of the oher.
The next step is to control a dream. During a lucid dream, we have an opportunity to change the unified reality. We can create the world and events in it as we want using the principles of Yoga. We lay the foundation for some event in a dream, then it influences our waking state. Why is this possible? There is only one reason. We have the will. The Absolute created the entire Universe with the help of the will. We are able to do everything similarly to the way the Absolute does with the help of the will.
In a dream, you can experiment with your manifestations. During lucid dreaming, you can create a dream script you want, and to do this is much easier and faster than changing the Universe in the waking state. For example, you have a nightmare, and if you understand that this is a dream, but at the same time you do not wake up, then you can change the course of events and turn the situation in your favor. You can reduce or increase objects, multiply them, or transform one thing into another. If a villain is chasing you in a dream, you can diminish him or turn him into a frog. There are a lot of options. The main thing is awareness and your imagination.
You can also practice yoga while you are sleeping. For example, you can go to the seashore and meditate at sunset, do Hatha yoga poses that you can’t do in reality, or practice Mantra yoga. Mantras also help us to deal with nightmares. In a dream, you have the opportunity to create different bodies for yourself, to explore your subtle structures: channels and centers, to see and feel them.
How to approach dream yoga practices?
The Yoga of dream is a very interesting and exciting type of yoga. But we need an excess of prana and vitality to practice it. Any type of yoga can serve this goal: Hatha, Kriya, Mantra, Pranayama. The amount of free prana that you will feel in the waking state will lead you to the clarity of consciousness. You can meditate before going to bed, clear your mind, so that you can see your dreams clearly. You can also create a strong motivation for yourself to remember the dream, and when you wake up in the morning, write it down immediately in your dream diary. It will become an essential tool for self-actualization.
You should also pay attention to nutrition: you should not overeat before going to bed. It is recommended to choose the most acceptable diet for yourself.
Also, the Yoga Nidra, which works with the borderline state between sleep and wakefulness, can help to approach the Yoga of Dreams. Practices of the Yoga Nidra by Open Yoga School are placed on the Nidra Vidya YouTube channel.
The Yoga of Dream accelerates a person’s progress on the way of their spiritual development. Dreams can help to reveal superpowers, intellectual and spiritual abilities; to know the Universe; and to solve many life problems. We often say that we do not have enough time for ourselves. But a dream is exclusively for us. If we learn how to work with our dreams, we will get one more opportunity to find time for ourselves and devote it to self-actualization.
Let dreams become an exciting trip to the land of self-actualization!
Authors: Yulia Namrata, Olga Belous, Evgeniya Agni
Editor: Anastasia Andreichenko, Maria Gayatri, Evgeniya Agni, Olga Belous, Mirra
Editor-in-chief: Anastasia Andreichenko
Translated by: Ekaterina Spiridonova, Inna Tofanchuk, Tatiana Atishaya
Project curator: Kerigona