Hi everyone!
This was meant to just be a very quick recommendation and link, although it ended up being more of a blog post, oops! Hopefully there's something useful to you if you do read it all.
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At last Friday's meetup there was a good chunk of discussion on dream states and the ways we engage with dreams to support our Kundalini process... and life in general.
This theme played on me a little bit afterwards and I remembered a book i'd read a couple of years ago about 'liminal dreaming'. (Liminal Dreaming by Jennifer Dumpert). I've very much enjoyed tapping into this very readily accessible yet often overlooked transitional state, as and when if feels right.
For anyone that isn't aware of liminal dreaming, I won't attempt to describe it here but there's a great description on Jennifer's website: liminaldreaming.com.
Another reason I mention it, in the context of Kundalini, is that we'd also talked a little bit about turning the volume up on our inner wisdom. Finding the balance between the guidance within and external guidance/information. I wouldn't want to speak on behalf of everyone but I definitely find myself in cycles of over anticipating answers from others, before re-realising that so much direction is already right here. And so with liminal dreaming, I've found it nice a way of creating a space in the week to drop into this alternate (and often gentler, more expansive) way of perceiving. To honour what's already here.
I could talk for a while on ways I've found it useful during this process, but just one has been how it's helped cravings. Specifically cravings for video games and psychedelics. I don't believe these are 'wrong' in anyway but personally I've had a deeper sense that i'd like to reduce time spent gaming. And as for quite a strong psychedelic craving, I've also had a deeper sense that this would not be helpful currently. I then noticed that underlying both of these cravings was a need to drift amongst the visual realm. I find that i'm someone that is much more comfortable with a visual and auditory orientation than of a linguistic orientation. And yet my lifestyle was (and is somewhat still) very linguistic orientated, hence the cravings. So I find when I've had a liminal dream or quite vivid dream, that this satisfies this 'need' and these specific cravings are entirely diminished.
To relate this to more general ways of how Kundalini process functions, I can see how this is a kind of nudging towards a more fitting and authentic way of being for my makeup.
I also just really like Jennifer's way of expressing. She talks about the ephemeral nature of dreams and encourages readers to be ok with just dreaming for the sake of it. If you don't remember it in the morning, it really doesn't matter! A kind of dream non-attachment... and so this dream practise has changed how I relate to day to day experiences in waking life.
Of course if this doesn't resonate with you or current spiritual practice, then pass it by. But I think it's handy to be aware of, especially as we pass through this liminal space twice a day! Like most things, it does take some practise before you can 'hang out' in the in-between but it's 10x easier than lucid dreaming in my opinion.
However you go, happy dreaming 😊