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Nick Barrett is the author of books; ‘Spirit Guided Lucid Dreaming‘ and ‘Dreamscape series one‘. Nick is also the website author for AlwayzLucid.com
elcome to the first ever ‘Nick’s Dream Corner’, whereby monthly I will bring to you great information regarding the power of dreams and how they can really benefit your day-to-day lives. Let me first begin by introducing myself to you, the reader. My name is Nick Barrett and although I am British by origin, I live currently in Bordeaux with my partner Marion and my one-year-old boy named Sacha. I have been researching the incredibly vast world of dreams for over five years now and have discovered some incredible things along this, not so ‘norm’, journey. As well as being an author of four titles, I also host many dream workshops and retreats in the UK and the rest of Europe. Through the coming months, together, we will slowly peel off the outer shell of the dreaming-self and bring our attention more and more as to how we may use dreams to benefit our lives. Ask yourself now, how do you currently view your dreams? Are they something which rarely occurs? Or, do you perhaps record a dream journal next to your bed every night and inscribe eccentric tales from another life? For some of us, including myself, I treat the dream world as another ‘type’ of life. This intern gives me a total of two simultaneous lives that I’m currently living. As opposed to the one life we generally adhere too on a daily basis. For this I am truly grateful, as I now have extended my own life by at least 30%, on a average life expectancy of about 70-90 years! How is this even possible? Well, we sleep about 25-35 years of entire lives. That’s a long time to not notice and do anything with this time constructively, don’t you agree? Today, I will gladly share with you an ancient way in dreaming. Throughout history, and recorded, ancient doctrines including the bible, speak of dreams as another doorway into a different type of world, whereby the dreamer under-
goes some task or mission, which then leads to extreme spiritual transformation. The Dream yogis of Tibet, for example; passed down from generation to generation their secret teachings in how to implement certain techniques; exercises and meditational practices to consciously control their dreams and move beyond the physical world as we know it! Yes, that’s right, you heard me right! There is, in fact various methods in learning how to dream with conscious awareness. The secret teachings from the ancients have left a trail, and thankfully this information is now available in the West. Back in the early 1900’s, a Dutch psychiatrist and writer, Frederik van Eeden, coined this phenomena of the mind, ‘Lucid Dreaming’. The word ‘Lucid’ is defined as ‘clear’. Therefore, there is crystal clear awareness within this dream state. The complete definition of Lucid Dreaming, is knowing that you are in a dream, having a dream, therefore you are now completely in the driver’s seat of the dream and can now control it which ever way you feel is necessary, as opposed to the dream controlling you. Since this time, there have been many conducive scientific studies on the effects of the brain whilst lucid dreaming, whilst trained dreaming participants carried out a series of tests within the dream state itself. A substantial amount of evidence can be found all over the internet, that this phenomena is not just sudo-science, imaginary or something mystically esoteric, but rather a skill which can be developed within the mind of the dreamer, no matter what age or background he or she is. Lucid Dreamers, including myself, feel a great sense of freedom once the light bulb moment is clicked on within the dream. Although the body is fast asleep, the mind is awake and a conscious awareness is born that one is in a dream and is presently having this altered state of consciousness. We can now therefore control it to a certain degree and bring about great change within our daily lives. For example; Imagine for a moment that you are in a nightmare and running away from a scary looking three-eyed monster! Naturally, you run as fast as you can, quicker than you’ve ever sprinted. Your heart is racing and you truly believe that this monster is chasing you! It is very real and very terrifying! Then suddenly, in an instant, a very www.theheraultandaudetimes.com
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deep awareness overcomes you, and you begin to slow your sprint to almost a halt. You now fully know that you are presently in a dream and smile at yourself of this realization! You fully stop and turn your body to face this monster. The monster has now fully stopped chasing you and is standing there looking at you three feet away breathing heavily. You now ask, with full Lucidity, “What do you represent monster?” The monster now morphs into a small puppy, all cute and cuddly which is very familiar to you… You begin to weep and realise now that the fear stemmed from missing your favorite family dog all those years ago and you wished you didn’t have to put him down. You caress and love the puppy and feel like a huge weight has been lifted form you. You now, can move on from this deep routed guilt that has been hidden away for many years and you can forgive yourself. The nightmare that once repeated itself to you over and over again has now ceased to exist. Lucid Dreaming has helped countless people across the globe in overcoming their nightmares. This is just one of infinite ways in directly, self-healing yourself emotionally with the incredible tool known as Lucid Dreaming. In the coming months, I will shed more light in regards to the phenomena of dreams and how to control them. This will assist you in creating a better outlook on life and will break the boundaries of the 3D world that we all live in today. To experience Lucid Dreaming with likeminded people, please visit: www.alwayzlucid.com/event/lucid-dreaming-yogaretreat/
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