I want to share something with everyone. In any case, you have a behavioral addiction. You must seek behavioural addiction treatment in order to receive support and direction on your road to recovery.  Additionally, I have been experimenting with these past few mo hs with extraordinary results, that I think everyone can do and benefit from or at the very least, add a whole new dimension to your dreaming! (and if you do not remember your dreams, but want to, it can help with that too).

Recently, I came across a site on my internet travels that spoke about dream programming. This person was a clinical psychologist and somewhat of a mystic who taught a radical approach to healing and therapy (after some googling, I found the original link here http://babiesneedmothers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=18) *Note- I have not bought the program, I only used Doctor Mckenzie’s basic idea, of which there are lots of people talking about, and used it for my own application.*

It was the first I came across the idea that we can actually program our dreams and hook in to the collective unconscious (of our subconscious being a part of) and answer questions in our life. From grand, spiritual questions like what is our purpose in life, to material decisions like how to lose weight or find the woman or man of your dreams. Literally anything you can think of (and a lot that you haven’t), you can dream of.

I have always been interested in dreaming, achieving lucid states (conscious awareness that you are in a dream), astral projection, pretty much everything to do with this fascinating state of consciousness. After coming across this site and trying it out for myself, the results have been incredible and even when it doesn’t work, I almost always remember my dreams fully. So I wanted to share this method in case anyone else was interested but didn’t know where to start. Once you get the basic idea, you can make your own program and do whatever works best for you, juts like this paystubs generator.

Step 1: State your intention

This is the most important step, and the most work you have to do. It only takes 1 to 3 minutes before bed, and then you go about business as usual (I find sleeping on your back does definitely help induce dreams/lucid states).  It sounds simple, and it is.

 A sample statement: “Tonight, I intend to find out what my purpose is in life. I want to know deeply and truly how I can best serve the planet, what my innate skills are, and what direction I should take in life. I want to dream, vividly, about all aspects of my life purpose, and I want to be shown exactly what steps to take in life, whether it be furthering my education, starting a business, travel, anything at all that will help me discover my inner strengths and abilitites, much like carefully analyzing every detail on my paystubs.  What are my natural talents that I can best serve with? Upon waking, I will remember my dream fully. I will remember every detail, every image, every symbol, and I will be able to interpret it perfectly to understand its meaning. When I awake, it will be at the end of my final dream, and I will know exactly what my purpose in life is. I will awake at ___ and be refreshed and fully rested, and I will take a few minutes to lay and remember my dream. “

That is just a sample, and it can be less structured, but it is good to be as direct and tangible as possible- the less lofty the better. It does not have to be something so complicated (though it is an awfully important question!) as life purpose, it can be a decision to stay or leave for university, to quit your job, how to progress in a relationship with a lover (or potential lover), anything you have been mulling over for awhile but are not sure of. Part of you knows exactly what course of action to take.

Step 2: Reflection

If you have put a strong energy in to your intention, most times you will awaken from a dream and be thrust back in to the waking state. In such cases, the dreams often come back powerfully and with strong imagery in your head, and you can remember it almost fully. Do not write it down yet; just lie there and think about the dreams. Play them through in your head, state it aloud (helps for remembering), try and go deeply in to it as there are often dreams within dreams.  If you do not wake while fully remembering (which happens) just relax in bed and breathe deeply in and out, and try and remember parts of it. I find clearing my mind helps, and often if I don’t remember it, or only pieces, it will come back fully or partially if I wait a few minutes in bed.

That’s it! That is all there is to it. Now, I am sure that Dr. Mckenzie’s dvd program covers a lot more, and he spoke of relaying your dream to a trained dream psychologist, but this is something that I know can help anyone with any issue in their life and in the very least, add some fun to this nightly routine. Of course, this is a much more holistic approach, and requires more work on your part than just going to a doctor or psychologist, and many people are not yet confident in themselves enough to trust their own intuition and subconscious. Of course, if it is a serious, life threatening medical issue, definitely seek professional help! Dr Mckenize, perhaps…

Something that is very important to remember is that almost every time, the dream at face value has nothing to do with your intent! You will likely wake and be baffled by recalling a vivid dream about something that has apparently no relation to your actual question. That is okay, and happens to me most often. These dreams are often very symbolic, and there is an underlying message or theme running through it. Be creative, think about the meaning behind it, and once you have done that, stop thinking about it. I have had a number of times when I am at work, or going for a walk, that the dream comes flooding to me and suddenly something clicks, I start laughing aloud and it makes total sense.  It is remarkable when that does happen, and you tie it all together.  It would almost lose its fun if it were easy and straight forward, like a cosmic entity appearing in front of a chalkboard: “Hey there, astral traveler. You asked life purpose? Alright, well lets get to it! Take out a pen and paper”. The interpretation is half the fun.

Another very important caveat; sometimes you will be truly baffled to the meaning, and it won’t make any sense. Try as you may, you just can’t seem to understand what the talking dog at the opera has anything to do with what direction to take in life, but that is okay too! I have had tones of dreams that after much reflection and careful analysis, are absolutely nuts and make no sense to me whatsoever. When this happens, I often state the same intent over the course of the next few nights and one more than one occasion, you get deeper and deeper to the root, to the centre of the onion, and all the previous dreams eventually make sense.

Dream programming does take a certain suspension of disbelief. Some people do not believe in the Jungian idea of a collective unconscious, or that we are all connected on a basis outside of the material world, or that when we dream we connect to a realm outside of our own brain and can communicate with Higher Intelligence. For those, you can instead look at the remarkable power of the subconscious mind. Chances are YOU, the “you” that regulates your heart beat, and your antibodies, and your repressed desires and fears knows exactly what action in your life will be best to take.  Our subconscious is much smarter than we are.

At the very least, even if you find this ridicoulos, or if you try it a few times and it makes absolutely no sense, stating an intention to remember your dreams will almost always yield a vivid recollection of some or all of your nightly visions, which is a lot of fun in itself! Dreaming is like going for a ride in the rollercoaster of the astral world, and can sometimes be uplifting, exciting, terrifying and shocking. Almost all of us have woken from a dream and felt the emotion it caused carry with us from the start of our day, with us recalling certain parts that stuck out. It can also be a great way of deciphering what your emotional state is, and what is really going on inside you. If you think you are a happy, healthy person but you keep dreaming about shooting up your workplace with a machine gun, chances are there is some inner conflict and you should probably look for another job or relieve the tension between you and your coworkers. It definitely adds a new element of excitement to sleeping, and doing this short exercise before bed has added a whole new element of enjoyment and mystery to every night’s sleep. Happy dreaming!

Please feel free to add your own personal experiences with dreaming, dream programming, lucid states, astral projection or anything you would like to share!