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Dream Incubation Instructions Dream Incubation involves submitting a question to the dream world with the sense that you will receive a relevant answer. It is best to work with this on a night when you are not over-tired, and when you do not have to get up to an alarm and hurry off in the morning. At bedtime think of a question. The object is to come up with a question to submit to your unconscious mind. Is there something that is conflictual or problematic in your life? The question may concern process or content. It is best to word the question in a positive way, such as "What can I do about..." rather than "Why...". Questions that ask why without requesting a solution often result in dreams that re-state the problem without posing a solution, although a re-statement of the problem can itself be helpful. There is also the option of posing a second question if the first question you want to ask is a why question. You may write this discussion out if you find it helpful. If you feel intuitively that you do not really want to know the answer to your question, do not ask the question specifically. Ask a related, less threatening question. As you go to sleep, keep your incubation question in mind. This step is essential. If you can keep your question in mind, as you fall asleep, your dreams will relate to it. Also, put a notebook or recorder next to your bed. Record on a daily basis any dreams, fragments, feelings, or images immediately if you awaken during the night or in the morning. You will notice that the images can vanish very quickly. Do not dismiss anything as insignificant, irrelevant or stupid. If no dream comes to mind when you first awaken, relax, close your eyes, and assume your favorite sleep position, then try each of your sleeping positions. Dream memories seem to be triggered by a relaxed state, and by assuming the body posture in which the dream took place, through this process you may re-enter the appropriate state. If you do remember a dream upon awakening, this process can help you retrieve more information. The tendency upon awakening to think about what we have to do during the coming day, what time it is, and so forth, are counter-productive to remembering dreams. Thus, incubation may be easier on a weekend, or whenever your schedule is more relaxed in the morning. If you are one of those people, who, over time has programmed themselves to no longer remember their dreams, you may want to try the following proven techniques to open up to the process again. The throat Chakra is the center of communication or the focus of that energy in the body. This technique involves a simple visualization process of opening or dilating the throat Chakra, much as you have seen the pupil of your eye dilate in response to changing light levels. At bedtime relax on your back and place your active hand (this is your right hand if you are right handed) on your throat. Bring your awareness to your heart, open your heart, then bring your awareness to your throat and open your throat. Then establish a dialogue with that part of your unconscious mind that dreams. Ask to dream that night, ask to remember the dream and to remember the dream when you wake up in the morning. It is essential that you ask to remember the dream when you wake up, otherwise you may remember that you dreamed and not the dream content. Allow yourself to fall asleep with your hand resting on your throat if that is comfortable for you as this will heighten the process. In time you will be very clear that this process leads to the desired effect. The following is another technique that works
for many people who have trouble remembering their dreams or for those
who want to explore an additional range. We dream in cycles all night
long and may have several dreams through the course of the evening.
Dream cycles occur about every forty five minutes, with the deepest states
attained in the early morning hours. Simply set an alarm clock to
awaken you around 4:30 A.M. or about two hours before you normally awaken
and arise. This is generally the time of the deepest dream state
and if you interrupt this state you will often find you will be in a dream
of great detail. And if at first you do not succeed, dream, dream
again!
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