Andrew Holecek Discusses Dream Yoga (VIDEO/AUDIO)
When was the last time you blacked out? Last night? Is this a regular thing for you? Do you aspire to change? Are you comfortable with missing out on 1/3 of your life? If you are disturbed by the idea of regularly blacking out — some may call it “sleep” — when you could instead be enjoying vivid perception, and even progressing spiritually, you may be interested in hearing about the practices of lucid dreaming and dream yoga.
Andrew Holecek has been exploring and teaching these practices for decades. Beholding his vibrant enthusiasm for the possibilities of what he calls “nocturnal meditations” is enough to shake one from the sleepy opinion that the dark hours in bed constitute “off time,” and that real life happens only when the eyelids are raised.
The teachings of dream yoga challenge our conventional views of both dreams and “waking life.” Our daily experience is not as solid as we may like to think it is, and our dream life does not have to be a fuzzy and random soup of memory. This shift in perspective, and experience, has great implications for how we live… and how we die.
Learning to wake up in our dreams, and to apply spiritual practices to overcome limiting habits of thought and behavior, is incredibly powerful training for living every minute of our lives more wakefully, and for moving through the transition of death in a positive way.
Recently, I had the great honor of discussing the huge topic of dream yoga with Andrew Holecek. What came of the discussion is a wonderful glimpse, taste, introduction, to what may become a “game-changing” practice for some of you.
Watch our interview with Andrew Holecek below.
If you’d like to download the audio file, CLICK HERE and find the “Download” button.
Andrew Holecek offers seminars internationally on meditation, dream yoga, and death. He is the author of many books, including Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, and the audio learning course, “Dream Yoga: The Tibetan Path of Awakening Through Lucid Dreaming.” His forthcoming book, “Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep” will be released in 2015. His work has appeared in the Shambhala Sun, Parobla, Tricycle, Light of Consciousness, Utne Reader, and other periodicals.
Travis Newbill is a writer, musician, and aspirant on the path of meditation. He currently resides at Shambhala Mountain Center, where he serves in the roles of Marketing Associate and Shambhala Guide — a preliminary teaching position. Follow Travis on twitter: @travisnewbill
