Dreaming for The Fun of It

Welcome back to 'This Dream is a Poem' where we explore dreams, writing, and the cozy places where they intersect. Today we look at dreams, joy, and how to have a lucid dream.

What did you dream last night? And how did it make you feel?

For most people, most of the time, the answer to that second question is more likely to be anxious or mad than it is to be happy or glad. That’s because statistically, negative emotions outnumber positive ones in dreams.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Take this description of a dream reported by Oliver Fox (aka Hugh Calloway) in 1902:

“Never had I felt so absolutely well, so clear-brained, so inexpressively free! The sensation was exquisite beyond words; but it lasted only a few minutes and I awoke.” (Quoted in Our Dreaming Mind by Robert Van De Castle)

This is an early description of a lucid dream, that is a dream in which you know you are dreaming while you are dreaming. Sounds pretty blissful, doesn’t it?

Fox was sixteen when he stumbled into the territory of lucid dreams. I was about the same age when I first ‘woke up’ within my dreams.

Like Fox, in my lucid dreams I discovered a depth of joy and bliss I hadn’t known before. Now, having experienced this state asleep, and after studying my lucid dreams, I’ve learned to access more joy in everyday life.

Lucid dreaming is one way to bring more joy into your life. (Photo by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash)

Join me for Joyful Dreams, Sunday in Amherst, Mass

• I'll be leading a workshop at the Munson Library in Amherst this Sunday, Sept. 29, 2-4 p.m., on the Yoga of Dreams. Join us and learn to use dreamwork to support your yogic or mindfulness practices & increase your capacity for JOY NOTE: We won't be practicing yoga postures, but instead will be sharing information on dreams and reflecting on yogic philosophy and mindfulness through the lens of dreamwork. Free admission with voluntary donations accepted. More info here.

Dream joyfully

In my books The Mindful Way to a Good Night Sleep and Dreaming on the Page I offer tips for how to have lucid dreams. I also provide instructions below, as a bonus to Member Subscribers.

But, you don’t have to achieve this relatively rare state of dream-consciousness to have joyful dreams. Simply by paying attention to your dreams and responding to their messages, you will begin to have more dreams of contentment, joy, wisdom, and even fun and laughter.

Last summer I taught a workshop on the Yoga of Dreams in The Netherlands.

It sounds crazy at first: You know that you’re dreaming while you’re dreaming. So, rather than just being swept up in the action of the dream, when you get lucid you can make choices and do what you want. For instance, you can hop a train in Duluth and travel directly to the Alps in the space of one breath. You might even do backflips even though in waking reality you can’t even do a somersault. 

Put simply, lucid dreaming is a hybrid state of consciousness in which you simultaneously enjoy the creative brain chemistry of dreaming and facets of your daytime logical thinking.

Here are tips to help you get started: