how to remember your dreams

How to Remember

Dreams

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How to Remember

Your Dreams Paul M. Sheldon, M.A.

www.limnosophy.net [email protected]

[email protected]

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HOW TO REMEMBER DREAMS Start with getting a good night’s sleep! •  Drink enough (not too much) water. •  Enjoy full-spectrum light, outside, for at

least an hour each day. •  Eat a simple diet of natural foods – not too

many processed, sweetened or stimulating foods.

•  Enjoy moderate exercise—move your body! •  Have a regular dreamstream ritual.

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To begin remembering your dreams here are three basic myths:

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Myth #1: Dreams are merely a distraction – “day residue.”

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Truth: Most people’s dreams are merely a distraction because they do not pay attention to them.

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Myth #2: You should try to control, change, or manipulate your dreams.

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Truth: Trying to control, change, or manipulate your dreams can make dreaming hard work.

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Myth #3: To get value from dreaming, you should try to interpret, analyze, or understand your dreams.

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Truth: If you try to interpret, analyze, or understand your dreams, you may only distract yourself.

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Dreaming is natural; it happens all by itself. When you approach dreaming, let go. Let the dreams do the work.

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DREAM OPPORTUNITIES FROM OWL:

*How To Be Free In Your Dreams

*How To Feel Good In Your Dreams

*How To Make Friends in Your Dreams

*How To Speak Up In Your Dreams

*How To Understand and Realize Dreams

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DREAM STEP #1 a) Keep in mind that you are interested in remembering your dreams. b) When you first awaken, don’t move. Just notice how you feel. c) Talk about dreams with your friends and your daily contacts. d) Ask three other people if they remember their dreams, even if you don't remember yours, yet.

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DREAM STEP #2 a) If you wake up at the same time using an alarm every morning, set the alarm for half an hour earlier. b) On the days when you don't have to get up, go in the other direction: wake up without an alarm -- whenever it happens naturally -- The later the better.

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DREAM STEP #3 Keep a pad and pen next to your bed. Begin writing down how you feel as you wake up in the morning. Write down anything that you think or feel. Don't try to remember dreams; just be aware of how you feel.

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Choose a “dream buddy” to share dreams with. Schedule time to meet with your dream buddy once each week. Share your dreams with each other.

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Through contact with OWL you will learn an entirely new way of thinking about and experiencing your dreams: DREAM INITIATIONS-- a series of simple exercises to help you begin having dreams that work FOR you, not against you.

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HOW TO BE FREE IN YOUR DREAMS! Introduction Through contact with OWL you will learn an entirely new way of thinking about and experiencing your dreams. Your Dream Guide will give you a series of simple exercises to help you begin having dreams that work FOR you, not against you. Each simple OWL initiation presents one Dream Opportunity.

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IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER MY DREAMS. WHEN I REMEMBER MY DREAMS, I REMEMBER MYSELF.

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Remembering dreams is like reweaving the fabric of your life: seemingly unrelated or unraveled parts begin to fit together.

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At Level One of each initiation, all you are asked to do is NOTICE your Dream Opportunities.

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At this level, you are not trying to make very detailed connections between your dreams and your waking life. Instead, you are being shown how to NOTICE that many of the opportunities, which are there during the day, also occur in your dreams.

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At Level Two, you will learn to IDENTIFY your basic Dream Opportunities. When you learn this skill, you are learning something you can use for the rest of your life.

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At Level Three, you will learn how to CHANGE your dream opportunities while you are awake. Remember, DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE YOUR DREAMS WHILE YOU ARE ASLEEP--that makes dreaming hard work.

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ABOUT THE BASIC EXERCISES

There are many ways that you can do the basic exercises: You can just answer all the questions silently in your own awareness. That means it will only take about five minutes a day to complete the questions.

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Or you can spend up to half an hour a day writing out the answers and recording your experiences in detail.

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If you wake up in the morning without a dream, DON'T MOVE YOUR PHYSICAL BODY. Notice how you feel and any thoughts you may have.

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Then, MAKE UP A DREAM that might have led to those feelings and thoughts. Then answer the questions for your made-up dream!

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You can answer all the questions in one day, about the same dream. Or you can spread them out -- answering just one or a few questions each day.

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Typically, if you take longer to complete each level over time, you will have a deeper and more profound experience of the Dream Opportunity -- taking a week to complete all the questions for each level is not too long.

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Or you can respond to all the questions in one day -- it's up to you!

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Whichever way you choose, you may be surprised at how powerful these questions are. They will stay with you during the day.

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You may find yourself going over your dreams and the questions just because it feels good.

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Thinking about the questions, your answers, and your dreams probably feels good, because they are about you; you will be paying attention to yourself.

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Remember, there are no right or wrong answers; there are only your answers. Just noticing your answers will begin to make a difference in your dreams,

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NATURALLY

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Do the exercises on days that you have remembered or made up a dream.

How to Be Free in Your Dreams

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When we say BE FREE, at the simplest level, we mean ACTIVE or PASSIVE, FREE or RESTRAINED, CONSCIOUS, or UNCONSCIOUS, AWARE or UNAWARE of yourself, as the dreamer.

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Think about your dreams without any constraints or restrictions at all, just total freedom.

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Think about trying to identify your dreams by how free you are.

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For now, just NOTICE your sense of freedom in the dream – active or passive, free or restrained – and any other ways you may feel FREE or CONSTRAINED.

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Your opportunities to be free will come from noticing in this way.

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Remember or make up your dream. Remembering may be easier if you write it down. Then, with each dream, for the next week, answer these questions:

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1.  Are you as the dreamer active or passive in this dream?

2.  Are you free or restrained in some way? 3.  Do you have the starring role in this dream

or a secondary part? 4.  Do you like the way you are in this dream? 5.  Are you participating in this dream or just

observing? 6.  What is the main form of activity in this

dream? 7.  List all the different roles (ways of doing

things or talking or moving or acting) in this dream. Choose the one you like the most.

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Waking Questions: 1. Is your role in this dream similar to your

role in waking? 2.  Pause for a moment:

Think about your level of freedom in work, play, and relationships.

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In level one of this Initiation, you have learned how to consider dreams in a new way.

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A useful thing to do is teach someone else what you have just learned. Talk with someone at work, someone at home, someone at a party, or someone you meet outside about dreams.

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Use the “meter rule” – anyone within one meter of you is the person with whom you can talk about dreams.

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You'll probably notice that they are like you were before you started this initiation process -- they will want to know what everything means and why.

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If they say they don't remember dreams, perhaps introduce them to OWL's "How To Remember Your Dreams." You don't have to be an expert to talk about dreams.

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In these first steps to being free in your dreams, you do not have to do anything else. You don't have to understand your dreams, interpret them, work with them, or try to make them significant. They are your dreams. Let them be.

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For many who haven't remembered dreams in years, the increased intensity and excitement they get from remembering dreams is very valuable. It's like watering a fruit tree--now the tree can begin to flower and perhaps even bear fruit!

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As you begin to remember more and more of your dreams, just get to know yourself as a dreamer. You may be surprised at how much intensity and truth you've been holding in. Exciting things may start to happen.

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Dream Opportunity Day Sometime during the week, take a Dream Opportunity Day:

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Make up an exercise that you think would help you have the dreams you want.

Previously, you followed the OWL exercises. On this day, be inventive and make up your own.

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It can be anything. The kind of exercise is less important than doing it, because it is the doing that really helps you pay attention to your dreams.

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Dream Opportunity Day Once again, the exercise can be ANYTHING. If you want, you could eat banana ice cream while standing on your head and that would be a good Dream Opportunity exercise. You'd probably remember it!

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Before you move to Level Two, take a look back and review what you have learned. The opportunity to be free--to take action, to move--is important not only in your dreams, but also in your waking life.

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To begin with, it is necessary for you to NOTICE how free you are, what role you play, and if you feel restrained or limited in your dreams and in your life.

Think about how this opportunity is involved in EVERY aspect of your life.

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How’s your DREAM LIFE?

How to Feel Good in Your Dreams

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Remember, at Level One, you are not trying to make detailed connections between your dreams and your waking life. Instead, you are being shown how to NOTICE that many of the opportunities, which are there during the day, also occur in your dreams.

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As you try to understand what is meant by

feeling, think about the entire dream without words or movement or any picture at all— Just imagine that the dream is a feeling— like being pinched--you feel it.

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Often people dream dreams that have very strong feelings in them, but the dreamer doesn't feel anything. When we discuss feeling, we mean both how you felt as the dreamer and how the dream feels to you overall.

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Think about trying to notice how you feel, in your dreams.

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For now, just NOTICE the feeling in the dream--good and bad. Your opportunities to feel good will come from noticing in this way.

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1. How strongly do you feel in this dream? 2. What is the overall feeling in this dream? 3. What feelings do you as the dreamer have in this dream?

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4.  List all the different feelings in this dream, putting the strongest first:

a._____________________________ b._____________________________ c._____________________________ d._____________________________

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Waking Questions: 1.  Think about all the feelings you had

today:

a.  Which was the strongest?

b.  The weakest? 2.  Pause for a moment:

Think about your level of freedom in work, play, and relationships.

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2.  List some of the different feelings you normally do NOT have:

a._____________________________ b._____________________________ c._____________________________ d._____________________________

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3. What feelings do you have about yourself?

a.  Do you like yourself?

b.  Do you like some things and dislike others?

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4.  Are there some ways you would like to feel in the dream but you just can't or don't feel that way for different reasons?

5.  In waking?

6.  Make a mental note of them.

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In Level One of this Initiation, you have learned how to consider dreams in a new way.

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Use the “three-foot rule” – anyone within three feet of you is the person with whom you can talk about dreams.

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You'll probably notice that they are like you were before you started this initiation process -- they will want to know what everything means and why.

!

If they say they don't remember dreams, perhaps introduce them to OWL's "How To Remember Your Dreams." You don't have to be an expert to talk about dreams.

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Try telling someone about the five basic Dream Opportunities: *HOW TO BE FREE IN YOUR DREAMS *HOW TO FEEL GOOD IN YOUR DREAMS *HOW TO SPEAK UP IN YOUR DREAMS *HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS IN YOUR DREAMS *HOW TO UNDERSTAND AND REALIZE DREAMS

http://limnosophy.net

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In these first steps to feeling good in your dreams, you do not have to do anything else. You don't have to understand your dreams, interpret them, work with them, or try to make them significant. They are your dreams. Let them be.

!

For many who haven't remembered dreams in years, the increased intensity and excitement they get from remembering dreams is very valuable. It's like watering a fruit tree--now the tree can begin to flower and perhaps even bear fruit!

!

As you begin to remember more and more of your dreams, just get to know yourself as a dreamer. You may be surprised at how much intensity and truth you've been holding in. Exciting things may start to happen.

!


!

Dream Opportunity Day Once again, the exercise can be ANYTHING. If you want, you could eat banana ice cream while standing on your head and that would be a good Dream Opportunity exercise. You'd probably remember it!

!

Before you move to Level Two, take a look back and review what you have learned. The opportunity to feel good is important not only in your dreams, but also in your waking life.

!

To begin with, it is necessary for you to NOTICE how you feel in your dreams and in your waking life.


How to Speak Up in Your Dreams

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At Level One of each initiation, all you are asked to do is NOTICE your Dream Opportunities.

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When we say SPEAK UP! at the simplest level, we mean

MAKE NOISE, or express yourself in any way. Think about your dreams without any pictures or people at all, just sounds or expressions.

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Often people dream dreams that have very loud sounds in them, but the dreamer doesn't make any noise. When we discuss noise, we mean both how you made noise as the dreamer and what noises occur in the dream overall.

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Think about beginning to identify your dreams by sounds or noise or other forms of expression.

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For now, just NOTICE the noise in the dream— loud or soft; and any other ways you communicate with other people, via

•  signs, •  dance, •  art, •  gardening, •  proferring food, etc.

Your opportunities to speak up will come from noticing in this way.

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1.  How much do you speak, make noise, or express yourself in this dream?

2. What is your main way of making noise or expressing yourself?

3. Is your speaking and communication the main expression in the dream? Or is something or someone else more important?

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4.  List all the different ways of making noise or expressing yourself in the dream, the most important first:

a._____________________________ b._____________________________ c._____________________________ d._____________________________

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Waking Questions:

1.  Is this the same style of speaking and expression you use in waking?

2.  Do you like the way you are speaking or expressing yourself in this dream? In waking?

3.  What would you think about yourself if other people saw you speaking or expressing yourself the same way in waking as you do in this dream?

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4.  Are there more things you would like to say or communicate in the dream but hold in for different reasons? In waking? List them:

a._____________________________ b._____________________________ c._____________________________ d._____________________________

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Dream Opportunity Question: Do you believe you can speak up or express yourself more than you do in this dream?

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Before you move to Level Two, take a look back and review what you have learned. The opportunity to speak up is important not only in your dreams, but also in your waking life.

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To begin with, it is necessary for you to NOTICE how much noise you make and other ways of expression in your dreams and in your waking life.


How to Make Friends

in Your Dreams

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When we say MAKE FRIENDS, at the simplest level, we mean

CONTACT, physical, verbal, telepathic -- any contact. Think about your dreams in terms of how you make contact with others.

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Often people dream dreams that have a lot of contact. but the dreamer doesn't make contact at all. When we discuss contact, we mean both how you make contact as the dreamer; and what contacts occur in the dream overall.

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Think about beginning to identify your dreams by physical contacts or other forms of contact.

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For now, just NOTICE the contacts in the dream — active or passive; and any other ways you make contact with other people, via

•  signs, •  dance, •  art, •  gardening, •  proferring food, etc.

Your opportunities to make friends will come from noticing in this way.

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1.  How much contact did you have with others in this dream?

2. What is your main way of making contact? 3. Did you move towards others in the dream? 4. Did you actually touch others? 5. Did you have emotional contact? That is,

did you have any feelings towards others in the dream?

6. Did other dream characters have emotional contact with you?

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7.  List all the different ways of making contact physically or emotionally in the dream, the most important first:

a._____________________________ b._____________________________ c._____________________________ d._____________________________

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8. In the dream overall, did you tend to move toward or away from others characters or aspects of the dream?

9. Were others in this dream known to you?

a. Were they strangers? b. Were there more strangers? c. Were there more people you knew?

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Waking Questions:

1.  How much contact do you have with others in your waking life?

2.  Do you tend to avoid or move toward emotional contact with others?

3.  Do you have more contact with strangers or people you know already?

4.  How often do you actually touch others? 5.  How often do others touch you?

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Dream Opportunity Question: Would you prefer to have more or less contact with others than you do in this dream?

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Use the “three-foot rule” – anyone within three feet of you is the person with whom you can talk about dreams.

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If they say they don't remember dreams, perhaps introduce them to OWL's "How To Remember Your Dreams" Which can be downloaded from http://limnosophy.net for free. You don't have to be an expert to talk about dreams.

!

In these first steps, you do not have to do anything else. You don't have to understand your dreams, interpret them, work with them, or try to make them significant. They are your dreams. Let them be.

!


!

Dream Opportunity Day Once again, the exercise can be ANYTHING. If you want, you could sing a song while hopping up and down on one foot and that would be a good Dream Opportunity exercise. You'd probably remember it!

!

Before you move to Level Two, take a look back and review what you have learned. The opportunity to make friends is important not only in your dreams, but also in your waking life.

!

To begin with, it is necessary for you to NOTICE how much contact you have in your dreams and in your waking life – physically and emotionally.


How to Understand and

Realize Your Dreams

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UNDERSTANDING and REALIZING your dreams ties all the other dream opportunities together—being free, feeling good, speaking up, and making friends.

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When we say UNDERSTAND and REALIZE, at the simplest level, we mean

CLARITY, What are your dreams telling you or showing you? What you will find is that as you identify each opportunity in your dreams, each opportunity will become more powerful.

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You will be able to notice connections between opportunities; for example that when you are passive in a dream, you usually are also unclear about what the dream is telling you. You will learn more about these connections at Level Two and Level Three of this initiation.

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For the moment, keep in mind that the OWL journey gives you a new way of thinking about dreams that eliminates good or bad. Now you can understand dreams as a dynamic process.

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For now, just NOTICE. Your opportunities to understand and realize your dreams come from noticing in this way.

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1.  How clear is this dream? a.  How vivid were the colors? b.  Were the images fuzzy or a clear picture? c. Did you understand everything that

happened when you woke up? d. Did the dream make sense to you when you

were dreaming? 2. How clear were you as the dreamer? 3. Do you have a starring role or secondary

part?

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4. Do you like the way you are in this dream? 5. Are you participating in this dream or just

observing? 6. What is the main activity in this dream?

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7.  List all the roles (ways of doing things, moving, or acting) in this dream:

a._____________________________ b._____________________________ c._____________________________ d._____________________________ e._____________________________ Which one do you like the most?

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8. List the characters in order of how well they understood what was going on in the dream:

a._____________________________ b._____________________________ c._____________________________ d._____________________________ e._____________________________

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Waking Questions: 1. How much do you understand what

happens at work in your waking life? 2. How much do you understand what

happens when you’re at play?

3. How much to you understand what happens in your relationships?

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4.  Do you act on what you know?

5.  Do you silently think about things?

6.  Do things seem to just happen to you?

7.  Do you know the cause and effect of what is going on in your life?

8.  Do most other people in your life understand more than you do?

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Body Questions: While you were dreaming, did you clearly see your body in the dream? What parts, if any, were missing

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Dream Opportunity Day Once again, the exercise can be ANYTHING. If you want, you could sing a song while hopping up and down on one foot and that would be a good Dream Opportunity exercise. You'd probably remember it!

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The kind of exercise is less important than doing it, because it is the doing that really helps you pay attention to your dreams.

!

In these first steps to understanding and realizing your dreams, you do not have to do anything else. You don't have to understand your dreams, interpret them, work with them, or try to make them significant. They are your dreams. Let them be.

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HOW TO UNDERSTAND AND REALIZE YOUR DREAMS The End of Level One

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Before you move to Level Two, take a look back and review what you have learned. The opportunity to be clear is important not only in your dreams, but also in your waking life.

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To begin with, it is necessary for you to NOTICE how clear you are in your dreams and in your waking life – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.


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