Are You Dreaming, or Awake? Can You Tell?

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Have you ever had one of those moments where you’re not quite sure if you’re dreaming or awake? Sometimes it can be hard to tell.

If you’re the type of person who is always seeking more purpose and fulfillment in life, then you might find yourself having these types of experiences more often than others.

But what does it all mean? Are you just dreaming, or are you actually onto something bigger?

Let’s break the experience down into the different brainwave states.

You’ve been told that your most “conscious” state is the beta state; that’s the one where rational thinking and logical decision-making takes place.  It’s the one you are in when you are taking your written driver’s license test, or are working on a spreadsheet at work.

When you lay down to rest, your brain switches precedence to other states: the alpha state (daydreaming is a good example), and perhaps on to theta, that magical place where you’ve got one foot in the waking world, and one foot in the dreaming world.  Sounds might drift in from outside your window, and yet things inside your head can be wonky, with swirling colors, dancing peacocks, or episodes of flying.  If you hang out long enough, your brain will move further into the delta state, where you are full-on into your “dreams”; and external, physical sounds are generally filtered out.

It would be great if all of these occurrences fit into nice little boxes like we’ve just described, but that’s not actually the case.  You’ve only been TOLD that it’s the case, and so–like nearly everything you’ve ever been told about your Earthly existence–it becomes fact for you.

Your most natural state, however, is closer to the You that exists in the Theta and Delta states.

As Seth says, the physical You that you know is “the dreamer that that larger part of You sends out to dream.”

So…are you the dreamer, working on that spreadsheet?

You are.

Wrapping your head around the fact that you are actually walking around in a dream can be a tall order; especially since we’ve been conditioned with so many limitations suggesting otherwise. But this is where the fun starts!  Because now, you can adopt the idea that ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN DO IN A DREAM, YOU CAN DO IN YOUR PHYSICAL REALITY.

…I yelled that out loud, didn’t I?  I did, because it’s pretty darn exciting to contemplate.

So how do we hone these skills?  It starts with challenging the conditioning a tiny bit, with something you’re all familiar with:  lucid dreaming.

There is nary a reader of this blog who hasn’t experienced lucid dreaming at least once in their lives.

In a lucid dream, you essentially “wake up” in the middle of your dream, and realize that you can control it.  If it’s icky, you can wake yourself up back to your “normal” physical surroundings.  You may shake your head and look around groggily, double-checking that the guy that was chasing you through the tar pit that held your feet glued to the ground isn’t still pursuing you.  Or if you are really unlucky, you can wake up just after a wet dream, sad to see that the object of your desire isn’t really sitting on top of you.  (That’s when you long to go back to sleep and finish dreaming. Sorry about that).

The idea of realizing conscious awareness in your dream is the key to blurring the lines between your “waking” state and your “dreaming” state.  Here’s one way to practice lucid dreaming; it starts in your waking state, while you’re going about your day.

At least a dozen times per day, stop right where you are and ask yourself, “Is this real?”

The process of doing this sends up a very valid question in your mind, for you are reiterating the point that everything you see around you, no matter how solid it appears, is just as much an illusion as the environment in any of your dreams.

This simple exercise will also carry over to your dreaming state.  Soon, you will also wake up in your dream, and ask yourself the same thing.  “Is this real?”  You will then be able to direct your actions while in the dream state; exploring new worlds, meeting people who died long ago, and experiencing new inventions* not yet introduced on your waking timeline.

How soon can you blur the lines between waking and sleeping?

For me, it took 2 days.  It really depends on your current beliefs about your reality.  If you still hold limitations about the solidity and permanence of your physical reality, then it may take you longer to rewire yourself.  Yet each time you practice, you give your Higher Self more latitude to work with you.  You’re setting the intention to explore consciousness in new ways.

When lucid dreaming becomes a daily practice, you will notice that sometimes you aren’t really sure which reality you’re consciously operating in.  Since there are no boundaries to any reality, there is nothing to fear.  You’ll bring dreamlike qualities into your physical existence, and your dream world will appear even more physical to you than it does now–by including more of the props and people that you interact with in your waking state.

Try it out, and watch out for tar pits!

 

author: Kimberly

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* Here’s a drawing of a pair of shoes available for sale in a world I recently visited.  The top of the shoe changed configuration with the click of a button, displaying a dozen different variations.  It’s like 12 different pairs of shoes!