Post by Laurasia on Mar 23, 2005 13:38:03 GMT -5
LESSON 2 - Reverie
The dictionary defines "reverie" most simply as
"day-dreaming". Through this process of daytime
fantasizing is familiar to all of us, it is easy for
us to overlook its potential usefulness. The trouble
with daydreams is that, for most of us, they tend to
be undisciplined & lacking in direction. Thus they are
not a particularly reliable vehicle for us to use if
we have a specific goal that we would like to reach.
In order to have any confidence that we can
actually use our daydreams to achieve a definate
purpose, we must guide them along a path we'd like to
follow. This is the aim of the several reverie
experiences that are part of this course: to give
direction to our fantasies, so that we can enjoy &
take advantage of the freedom of imagination they give
us in a way that we've determined will be most useful.
For our purposes, then, let's define "reverie" a bit
more narrowly than the dictionary does, & use the term
to mean "a guided experience in imagining".
To further clarify what reverie is, perhaps it
would be helpful to look at a few things that it is
not. Though there is a certain similarlty between the
unconscious images it can evoke & those that arise
during nighttime dreams, reverie is not sleep. In
reverie you will not lose consciousness or your
awareness of conditions around you. You may become so
relaxed that you fail to pay attention to your
surroundings, but you will continue to be awake & be
able to respond to anything that requires you to do
so.
Reverie is also not a form of hypnosis. It involves
no submission of your mind to any outside influence,
no lose of your ability to think independantly. To be
fruitful the experience must be based upon images from
YOUR unconscious mind, not ones imposed upon you by
some external source. You will not lose control of
your thoughts, & you will be able to end the fantasy
at any point that you wish.
Now lets go over some of the ways in which you can
ensure that the reverie experience will be as
beneficial to you as possible. Relaxation, both mental
& physical, is the key to the whole process. First,
relax your mind. As you embark upon your fantasy, lay
aside the critical, analytical function of your mind.
Give your conscious mind a rest, so that your
unconscious can come to the fore & create for you a
new reality from the wealth of material it holds.
Leave behind the restrictions of your usual view of
the world, & allow your reverie the freedom to present
you with images beyond those your conscious mind
habitually entertains.
Next relax your body. Physical comfort & relaxation
is absolutely essential for the reverie experience to
unfold. In preparations for these sessions, get
yourself into a comfortable sitting or reclining
position. Close your eyes, breathe slowly & deeply, &
let any muscular tensions you may be feeling slip away
from you. One technique that can help you do this is
described toward the end of this section. Whatever
method you choose, try to reach a point where you are
able to forget your body & let your thoughts flow.
As you reach into each reverie, you will be
directed to see yourself in a specific setting.
Remember - relax. Don't work with your conscious mind
to construct an image of the situation. Simply take
the image that comes to you from your unconscious,
accept it without logical criticism, & notice the
details that appear before your mind's eye. Don't
limit yourself to just the sights in your new
surroundings; become conscious of the sounds, smells &
touch sensations as well. Take note of as many of
these details as you can, for they are important. It
is by focusing on them that you will become able to
immerse yourself so completely in your fantasy world.
Seeing yourself in your reverie surroundings, as in
a movie, is a good beginning. But to realize the full
value of the experience, a different viewpoint is
needed. Rather than just observing a mental image that
includes a character you identify as yourself, try to
become part of the scenario in your mind. That is, use
your imagination to shift your perspective so that
with your mind's eye you are seeing the scene as if
you were actually in it. Feel in your imaginary body
the sensations of any movement or activity you picture
yourself doing. And, as completely as possible, adopt
the mental state you would have if you were actually
engaged in the fantasy activity. Think that thoughts
you would be feeling if you were performing the
actions involved.
At various points in some of our reveries you will
be asked certain questions. Do NOT interrupt the
experience to write down your responses. The questions
will be repeated & there will be time to answer them
on paper after the fantasy has reached its conclusion.
These questions appear in the body of the reverie only
to guide you to direct your attention toward certain
details that will help you understand the significance
of the fantasy as a whole. Merely take mental note of
these details so that you can recall them once the
reverie is over. the time to analyze & write about
them will come later.
Stay with each reverie as long as you can. Allow
time for the experience to unfold at its own pace &
reach its natural conclusion. Don't worry about
keeping to any specified time periods that may be
suggested in the text; such recommended durations are
meant as general guidelines only & should be adjusted
to suit you & your involvement in each individual
fantasy.
If the reverie fulfills its purpose, at its
conclusion you will find yourself feeling refreshed,
relaxed & contented. More importantly, you will emerge
from your experience with a new understanding of
yourself, a greater awareness of how you have become
the person that you are, & an expanded vision of the
possibilities open to you in your present life.
There is a problem inherent in using a book to
guide you through a reverie, however. In order to get
your directions from the printed page, you must use
your conscious mind to pick up the instructions that
are to follow, & this can be a serious distraction
from the flow of images from the unconscious. If you
try to proceed line by line - reading one line of
directions, following it, reading another line, & so
on - your fantasy experience will be continually
interrupted. You may find it extremely hard to truly
immerse yourself in it, for the most of us can't shift
gears, from the logical aspect of the mind to the
imaginative & back again, that completely &
effectively.
It might be a bit of an improvement to read & try
to remember a larger chunk of the material, follow it
without referring back to the book, & then go on to
the next chunk. At least this would cut down on the
number of interruptions of your fantasy. But this
seems like an awful lot of work to expect of the
conscious mind, which is, after all, the part of us
that's supposed to be at rest during reverie. In
adopting this technique we run the risk of forgetting
one or more key phrases of the directions, thus
affecting the completeness of our experience. And
there is also the danger that in memorizing the
instructions we might find ourselves consciously
preprogramming our responses to them, which would
limit the range & spontaneity of the images presented
to us.
While either the line-by-line or the large-chunk
method could be used in a pinch, there are a couple of
surperior alternatives available. One of these is to
call for help. If you have a trusted friend with whom
you would be willing to share your involvement in this
course, he or she can be asked to read the reverie
material aloud while you yourself undergo the
experience. Your friend would thus become your guide,
while you would be free to lay your conscious mind
aside & concentrate upon the images that arise from
your unconscious.
The other option is for you to prepare a cassette
tape recording of yourself reading the guidance
material for each fantasy. When it comes time for a
reverie, the only potentially distracting work you
will have to do is to turn the appropriate tape on at
the beginning of the session & turn it off at the end.
In between, you will be able to relax & let your
unconscious do its job without any intrusions from
your physical body or conscious mind.
Regardless of which method you choose, do not
neglect to prepare for each reverie session. This
preparation consists mainly of mental & physical
relaxation. In order to help you with this, there are
given below two routines for relaxation, one for the
conscious mind & one for the body. These can be
incorporated at the beginning of the material for each
reverie experience. You can read them over yourself &
follow their suggestions before beginning your
fantasy; you can have a friend read them to you aloud
if he or she will be guiding you through the reverie;
or you can record them on each tape of reverie
material if you are using the cassette method of
experiencing these exercises in imagination.
One of the qualities that makes reverie such a
valuable technique is that each such exercise in
imagination can be repeated many times over, with each
repetition yielding different & useful results.
Sincerely,
Laurasia
The dictionary defines "reverie" most simply as
"day-dreaming". Through this process of daytime
fantasizing is familiar to all of us, it is easy for
us to overlook its potential usefulness. The trouble
with daydreams is that, for most of us, they tend to
be undisciplined & lacking in direction. Thus they are
not a particularly reliable vehicle for us to use if
we have a specific goal that we would like to reach.
In order to have any confidence that we can
actually use our daydreams to achieve a definate
purpose, we must guide them along a path we'd like to
follow. This is the aim of the several reverie
experiences that are part of this course: to give
direction to our fantasies, so that we can enjoy &
take advantage of the freedom of imagination they give
us in a way that we've determined will be most useful.
For our purposes, then, let's define "reverie" a bit
more narrowly than the dictionary does, & use the term
to mean "a guided experience in imagining".
To further clarify what reverie is, perhaps it
would be helpful to look at a few things that it is
not. Though there is a certain similarlty between the
unconscious images it can evoke & those that arise
during nighttime dreams, reverie is not sleep. In
reverie you will not lose consciousness or your
awareness of conditions around you. You may become so
relaxed that you fail to pay attention to your
surroundings, but you will continue to be awake & be
able to respond to anything that requires you to do
so.
Reverie is also not a form of hypnosis. It involves
no submission of your mind to any outside influence,
no lose of your ability to think independantly. To be
fruitful the experience must be based upon images from
YOUR unconscious mind, not ones imposed upon you by
some external source. You will not lose control of
your thoughts, & you will be able to end the fantasy
at any point that you wish.
Now lets go over some of the ways in which you can
ensure that the reverie experience will be as
beneficial to you as possible. Relaxation, both mental
& physical, is the key to the whole process. First,
relax your mind. As you embark upon your fantasy, lay
aside the critical, analytical function of your mind.
Give your conscious mind a rest, so that your
unconscious can come to the fore & create for you a
new reality from the wealth of material it holds.
Leave behind the restrictions of your usual view of
the world, & allow your reverie the freedom to present
you with images beyond those your conscious mind
habitually entertains.
Next relax your body. Physical comfort & relaxation
is absolutely essential for the reverie experience to
unfold. In preparations for these sessions, get
yourself into a comfortable sitting or reclining
position. Close your eyes, breathe slowly & deeply, &
let any muscular tensions you may be feeling slip away
from you. One technique that can help you do this is
described toward the end of this section. Whatever
method you choose, try to reach a point where you are
able to forget your body & let your thoughts flow.
As you reach into each reverie, you will be
directed to see yourself in a specific setting.
Remember - relax. Don't work with your conscious mind
to construct an image of the situation. Simply take
the image that comes to you from your unconscious,
accept it without logical criticism, & notice the
details that appear before your mind's eye. Don't
limit yourself to just the sights in your new
surroundings; become conscious of the sounds, smells &
touch sensations as well. Take note of as many of
these details as you can, for they are important. It
is by focusing on them that you will become able to
immerse yourself so completely in your fantasy world.
Seeing yourself in your reverie surroundings, as in
a movie, is a good beginning. But to realize the full
value of the experience, a different viewpoint is
needed. Rather than just observing a mental image that
includes a character you identify as yourself, try to
become part of the scenario in your mind. That is, use
your imagination to shift your perspective so that
with your mind's eye you are seeing the scene as if
you were actually in it. Feel in your imaginary body
the sensations of any movement or activity you picture
yourself doing. And, as completely as possible, adopt
the mental state you would have if you were actually
engaged in the fantasy activity. Think that thoughts
you would be feeling if you were performing the
actions involved.
At various points in some of our reveries you will
be asked certain questions. Do NOT interrupt the
experience to write down your responses. The questions
will be repeated & there will be time to answer them
on paper after the fantasy has reached its conclusion.
These questions appear in the body of the reverie only
to guide you to direct your attention toward certain
details that will help you understand the significance
of the fantasy as a whole. Merely take mental note of
these details so that you can recall them once the
reverie is over. the time to analyze & write about
them will come later.
Stay with each reverie as long as you can. Allow
time for the experience to unfold at its own pace &
reach its natural conclusion. Don't worry about
keeping to any specified time periods that may be
suggested in the text; such recommended durations are
meant as general guidelines only & should be adjusted
to suit you & your involvement in each individual
fantasy.
If the reverie fulfills its purpose, at its
conclusion you will find yourself feeling refreshed,
relaxed & contented. More importantly, you will emerge
from your experience with a new understanding of
yourself, a greater awareness of how you have become
the person that you are, & an expanded vision of the
possibilities open to you in your present life.
There is a problem inherent in using a book to
guide you through a reverie, however. In order to get
your directions from the printed page, you must use
your conscious mind to pick up the instructions that
are to follow, & this can be a serious distraction
from the flow of images from the unconscious. If you
try to proceed line by line - reading one line of
directions, following it, reading another line, & so
on - your fantasy experience will be continually
interrupted. You may find it extremely hard to truly
immerse yourself in it, for the most of us can't shift
gears, from the logical aspect of the mind to the
imaginative & back again, that completely &
effectively.
It might be a bit of an improvement to read & try
to remember a larger chunk of the material, follow it
without referring back to the book, & then go on to
the next chunk. At least this would cut down on the
number of interruptions of your fantasy. But this
seems like an awful lot of work to expect of the
conscious mind, which is, after all, the part of us
that's supposed to be at rest during reverie. In
adopting this technique we run the risk of forgetting
one or more key phrases of the directions, thus
affecting the completeness of our experience. And
there is also the danger that in memorizing the
instructions we might find ourselves consciously
preprogramming our responses to them, which would
limit the range & spontaneity of the images presented
to us.
While either the line-by-line or the large-chunk
method could be used in a pinch, there are a couple of
surperior alternatives available. One of these is to
call for help. If you have a trusted friend with whom
you would be willing to share your involvement in this
course, he or she can be asked to read the reverie
material aloud while you yourself undergo the
experience. Your friend would thus become your guide,
while you would be free to lay your conscious mind
aside & concentrate upon the images that arise from
your unconscious.
The other option is for you to prepare a cassette
tape recording of yourself reading the guidance
material for each fantasy. When it comes time for a
reverie, the only potentially distracting work you
will have to do is to turn the appropriate tape on at
the beginning of the session & turn it off at the end.
In between, you will be able to relax & let your
unconscious do its job without any intrusions from
your physical body or conscious mind.
Regardless of which method you choose, do not
neglect to prepare for each reverie session. This
preparation consists mainly of mental & physical
relaxation. In order to help you with this, there are
given below two routines for relaxation, one for the
conscious mind & one for the body. These can be
incorporated at the beginning of the material for each
reverie experience. You can read them over yourself &
follow their suggestions before beginning your
fantasy; you can have a friend read them to you aloud
if he or she will be guiding you through the reverie;
or you can record them on each tape of reverie
material if you are using the cassette method of
experiencing these exercises in imagination.
One of the qualities that makes reverie such a
valuable technique is that each such exercise in
imagination can be repeated many times over, with each
repetition yielding different & useful results.
Sincerely,
Laurasia
