Wholistic Insight

I feel free to assume that everyone seeks self-empowerment. To be empowered in a healthy sense, means to have power over one's own life, never someone else's. If it seems to somebody that their choices are restricted by the existential paradigm the person has been placed in, that things are happening to them, that they are a victim to circumstances, coincidences or situations they simply find themselves in, then they are in a position of powerlessness by their own mindset.

Yes, things do happen to people and one should wonder why, but notice this question is generally more likely to be asked after a negative occurrence is generated in one's path; rarely does anyone wonder why, when it could and should be noticed that for example, one has got extremely lucky and managed to avoid dying in an accident three times in a row. In such a case, one usually assumes they somehow made it, but when their life surprises them unpleasantly, the most probable assumption they subsequently make does not involve any act of free will on their own part, even though a series of their own decisions might have led to whatever miserable situation they are in now.

Although one cannot control everything that happens around them and oftentimes has inaccurate understanding of situations they co-create (largely due to not knowing their very self), their choice is nonetheless involved, despite such factors as fervor of the moment, immersion in the experience, feeling tricked into certain behaviours, or one's supposed fate. To be empowered, one actually has to take responsibility for the entirety of their experience. Not only does emphasis on their free will emerge then, but one also breaks the cycle of victimhood, no matter the extent to which it may seem valid. Taking that responsibility one is almost bound to fiercely push away at first, is a fundamental step to personal freedom and progress as such. Balance between the notions of power and responsibility is key here; it seems there is not one without the other.

Have you ever stumbled upon the concept of lucid dreaming?

I imagine one is either totally indifferent to such phenomena, or the concept of lucid dreaming sparks some peculiar curiosity in them. Initially, if one has not had a lucid dream yet, it may seem to them that dreaming is either the way it regularly is, meaning one is completely oblivious to the fact they are dreaming, a hundred per cent immersed in the dreamworld, or they have that state of being totally aware that they are experiencing a dream - this latter situation is the goal to be achieved for those in whom the concept of lucid dreaming sparks that resonance. I have presented a binary situation here, but having been interested in this whole "business of dreaming" for a while, I find it important to share that basically, the level of one's awareness in their dream state fluctuates, or at least it begins to from the point in their life when they start to "question their reality".

As one begins to pay more and more attention to their dreams, they may become increasingly aware of analogies between their day-to-day experience and what occurs in their dreams. Later on, more recognizable dream patterns may emerge, which makes it possible for one to know, what certain dream situations come from, and what "real-life" situations and emotional states they are rooted in. Consequently, one can become capable of reading the abstract, subtle language of dreams, as they try to bring messages from the depths of the psyche, literally upwards to one's conscious mind. All of this can be seen as rather complicated, and surely requires decent exemplification...

Let us assume that one time, a person had "a coincidental" dream in which they were flying (simply flying, without wings, jet engines or such). That, was a very pleasant dream, which has become subject to frequent reminiscences. As a result, from now onwards, the person has had dreams of flight from time to time. On one occasion, the dream might have been perfect (flying around blissfully and effortlessly), another time, the person could have encountered obstacles in their way, making them uneasy about the flight or even afraid of falling to their death at times (for instance, bad weather or an object suddenly appearing in front of them). In yet another instance of such a dream, the person is semi-aware of the fact that they are in a dream state, and after running for a moment, they try to launch themselves into flight, but what happens, is that having leapt into the air, they crash into the ground immediately, instead of going upwards as they were supposed to. Notice I wrote the person was "semi-aware" in this third case - they were sufficiently aware to know they could try to fly, but not enough aware to have the power to actually fly. Somebody may ask: then what about the case one and case two? Was the person aware that they were dreaming? Were these instances lucid dreams? I would say to a degree they were; what I mean here, is that if the person was hundred per cent aware that they were dreaming, then maybe they would try something even more creative than flying - they would certainly try to experiment at least a bit more, but they were too much immersed in that phenomenal experience of flying. What is important, is that while in the first case (the perfect, blissful dream) they probably had a great day of personal empowerment before they went to bed, in the second case (anxiety made its way into the experience), they most likely encountered issues related to their daily life before they went to sleep. What was the person's day like before they experienced the dream described in the third case you may ask? I would not be surprised if that day made them feel powerless in some sense. To sum up this part, it has to be added that the example I have presented is ultra shallow in regard to the richness of the psyche and what it oftentimes presents to us. I also must admit, that solving mysteries concealed within some complex and enigmatic dreams can be quite rewarding, as well as benefical for the process of getting to know your self.

As one begins to notice where do certain dream experiences and patterns stem from, and as they become an increasingly more conscious individual in general, the dream(world) may begin to break down. At this point, the aforementioned fluctuations in the level of awareness can become noticeable, meaning one gains that lucidity effect, which's impact gets smoothly increased or reduced depending on countless factors. Let us return to the example of flying for one last time to make a worthy illustration of this. Our beloved "person", has become quite experienced at flying by now. They have become used to flying in their dreams to such an extent, that once in the dream, they can sense they are dreaming, although only on some deep level of their psyche, at the core of their being, to which they have limited access from the perspective of their conscious mind. Nonetheless, the more they fly in their dreams, the more they begin to invest their focus in the process, which results in them becoming less a victim to circumstances their dreams present them with. When they are flying and see a tree in their way, they might have that deep, inner knowing that with their focused intent, they can easily fly around that tree. As they do that, their awareness grows and they become empowered, which is not to say that they know for a hundred per cent that what they are experiencing is a dream, although noticeable lucidity is felt. Later on in that same dream experience, the person can be presented with enough an emotionally-engaging context or a circumstance, that the level of immersion overwhelms them. Consequently, their level of awareness gets reduced and they are now once again at the mercy of the experience, having lost the lucidity effect.

As one becomes capable of reading subtle messages of their dreams, they consequently get to know what their dreams mean in relation to various situations they find themselves in on a daily basis. This in turn, makes them more "a conscious dreamer", meaning they become more conscious in different dream contexts (such as a kind of dream one feels haunted by) or recurring situations. As a result, smooth, gradual transitions from unconscious dreaming to dreaming consciously and vice versa may take place; then one can break the dream/the particular pattern (such as an unfavourable situation), gaining awareness (some level of lucidity is achieved) and practically changing the course of events in the dream state, which seems somewhat analogical to removing kind of a blockage, but surely what stems out from that, is that one ceases to be the victim of the dream framework their psyche has placed themselves in, and simply has more control of what happens. The final conclusion I will draw (I promise), is within this entire "premise", even nightmares can be ultimately to one's benefit.