Dreams

Feb 2 was Ground Hog day when Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, is pulled from his burrow. This year he saw his shadow predicting 6 more weeks of winter.  Some animals such as bears hibernate during the winter by sleeping to conserve energy when food is scarce and the weather is harsh. We fortunately only require 6-8 hours a day rather than 2-7 months of sleep.  During our sleep we elicit dreams.
 
In a gong bath one passes through a number of sleep and dream states. As you lie down your body relaxes into the hypnogogic state or transition from awake to sleep.  In this first stage of sleep or theta your muscles relax and you release stress in the form of rapid fire, disjointed, lucid dreams accompanied by Rapid Eye Movement or REM.  These Dreams are driven by a natural tendency to bring resolution and closure to unfinished emotional and mental problems of the day. Carl Jung
 
They make no sense but represent your brain’s effort to reverse engineer the stresses and sensory overload of the day. Terry Guillemets says dreams digest the meals that are our days.
For what one has dwelt on by day, these things he sees in visions of the night.  Menander
 
Once your brain has attained equilibrium and refreshed itself with nutrients you will drift into deeper sleep. Here you may experience another type of dreams known as ‘cognitions’. These are not random and may repeat themselves until you understand their meaning.

All brain states are relative to each other, waking, sleep and dreaming.
You will REM dream to the extent you were stressed when awake.
You will have freshness in the waking state relative to the amount of stress released during sleep.
You will dive into sleep state relative to how tired you were while awake.

The fourth state of consciousness is called Turiya or ‘true self, it is spiritual or transcendental consciousness.  Turiya is the interface between each state – waking – dreaming – sleep and the more we meditate or experience gongs the more time we will spend there. Turiya symbolises pure knowledge, non-duality,  and ultimate reality, and is essential for achieving liberation and inner peace.  Next time you come for a gong relaxation I invite you to simply e aware of your dreams and the inner silence within.  Dreams are the hushing of the bodily senses, that the eyes of the Spirit may open. Harriet Beecher Stowe