Intentional Daydreaming

Intentional Daydreaming Course - The Super power of the subconscious mind

“The power to move the world is in the subconscious mind.” — William James

Objective: The learner will explore the power of the subconscious mind and increase understanding of the importance, value, and benefits of initiating purposeful communication between the conscious and subconscious mind. The student will also gain appreciation for how this relationship can potentially accelerate personal and professional growth.

The subconscious mind is incredibly powerful! 

The subconscious mind is the overseer of the entire physical body. It is the intelligence that governs your body—a body made of approx. 37 trillion cells. Consider how big a trillion really is. In the United States, a trillion is one thousand billion. This would be written as a one with 12 zeros: 1,000,000,000,000. To illustrate how large this number is, imagine you decide to sit down and count to one trillion by ones. if you counted by one’s for 24 hours per day, it would take approximately 190,259 years to count just to one trillion and remember your body has approximately 37 trillion cells! So, just for fun, let's examine how long it would take to count all 37 trillion cells of your body. It would take approximately 7.4 million years! Since we are now deep into the realm of impossibly huge numbers, let's introduce one more layer.

There are approximately 100 trillion atoms in a single human cell!

A Washington University study estimates there are approximately 100 trillion atoms in a single human cell. Stop and think about that. This means you have 37 trillion cells in your body and each and every one is composed of 100 trillion atoms! This means it would take approx. 21 million years to count the atoms in just ONE cell and remember you have 37 trillion of them! Somehow, the subconscious mind has the capacity to oversee and coordinate the collective work of this mind-boggling number of atoms. I hope this illustration provides a glimpse of the power of the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind is at least 1,000,000 more powerful than the conscious mind

The subconscious mind controls and maintains the body/mind. Researchers estimate 95% of all cognitive activity comes from the subconscious mind with about 5% influenced or controlled by the conscious mind. Estimates vary widely, but a conservative educated guess would suggest the subconscious mind is at least 1,000,000 more powerful than the conscious mind. I hope this underscores the potential value and benefit of being able to receive help, guidance, and advice from such an incredible inner adviser. The subconscious mind is also in charge of memory, emotion, intuition, dreaming and daydreaming. It never sleeps or rests, and is always on duty monitoring, maintaining, regulating, repairing, and healing. Probably its most important ability (in terms of this course), is that the subconscious mind is in charge of your intuition, dreaming and daydreaming.

Communication between conscious mind and subconscious mind is the core technique of this system

As you will learn in following sections, the super-intelligent subconscious mind (under the right circumstances) seems willing to communicate with the conscious mind. The subconscious communicates using images, feelings, sensations, dreams. and daydreaming. You communicate with the subconscious mind using contemplation. This two-way communication between conscious mind and subconscious mind is the core technique of this system. For your success in using daydreams for personal and professional growth, it is important that you understand this concept thoroughly.

Use 7-Step Daydreaming to seek help from the super-intelligence within us—the subconscious mind

We use the 7-Step Daydreaming system to seek insight, understanding, creativity, and guidance that we can use to improve our personal and professional lives from the super-intelligence that dwells within each of us—the intelligence commonly referred to as the subconscious mind.

What is Daydreaming?

For ease of learning, the video portion of this section is presented in two parts, part 1 and part 2.

Objective: What is daydreaming? Why do we daydream? How often do we daydream? How long are our daydreams? What do people daydream about? Does daydreaming effect the body? Do night time dreams and daydreams share any common characteristics? These are some of the questions the learner will be able to answer by the end of this section.

What is daydreaming?

Daydreaming is a dream-like stream of imagery experienced while awake or semi-awake (Klinger, 1990) It’s an expression of imagination—a multi-sensorial language used by the subconscious to communicate with the conscious mind (among other things). When our minds are not busy with the activities of the day, the brain often reverts to daydreaming, That’s why it’s called the default position—it’s what the brain “defaults” to when attention is not required for specific tasks. Memories are daydreams. Planning is daydreaming. Fantasizing is daydreaming. Imaging is daydreaming. Mental wandering is daydreaming. Contemplating is daydreaming. Thinking about old boyfriends or girlfriends is daydreaming. Reminiscing over childhood memories is daydreaming.

Some of the other terms for daydreaming include contemplation, directed daydreaming, guided imagery, and visualization. These are the common ways the subconscious mind communicates. Daydreaming is also referred to as mind-wandering, mental reverie, waking fantasy, mental rehearsal.

There are two main types of daydreaming—spontaneous daydreaming and intentional daydreaming.

Spontaneous Daydreaming – these are unintended daydreams, products of the subconscious mind. These daydreams are often triggered by memories, situations, or—in this course—by priming the pump with contemplation. Also known as mind-wandering, or waking fantasy.

Intentional Daydreaming – this is purposeful, daydreaming or contemplation, the type often used in personal growth, therapy, sports, and business. Also referred to as directed daydreaming, guided imagery, mental rehearsal, and visualization.  

Why do we daydream?

Evidence from neuroscience suggests that our attention to the outside world waxes and wanes over time (Smallwood, Beach, Schooler, & Handy, 2008). Daydreaming serves as a default brain process when our attention to external stimulation is reduced (Singer, 2009). Daydreaming is a normal human activity (Rao, 2002).

We daydream most when we are bored or have little to do; when the things we have to do demand little focus and concentration; when we have little investment in how well we perform; when we’re not very interested or involved in what we are doing; and when we are at certain points in the 90-minute cycles of the brain (Klinger, 1990).

Daydreaming is generated from some of the same brain systems we would use if we were actually engaged in the experience we are daydreaming about (Klinger, 1990). Psychologists view daydreaming as healthy unless it interferes with daily living (Gayle Group, 2001).

It’s as if when the conscious mind becomes quiet, the subconscious mind becomes more active. It communicates via daydreaming, mind-wandering, mental fantasy. It’s communicating, but are we listening? This course will teach you a special way of listening.

How often do we daydream?

Daydreaming occurs in 90-minute cycles throughout the day (Gayle Group, 2001). These cycles can be used to enhance all types of creative thinking. The presence of 90-minute daydream cycles reveals that waking thought and daydreaming are similar to sleeping thought and night dreaming (Klinger, 1990).

Researchers estimate the brain spends 30-70% of waking hours in various kinds of mind wandering (Fries, 2009). So it seems that for a significant portion of each day, the subconscious mind is communicating. But again, the question is, “Are we paying attention?”

How long are daydreams?

Most daydreams are short, averaging between a few seconds to a couple of minutes (Fries, 2009).

What do we daydream about?

We tend to daydream about events or situations that have the most immediate emotional impact. Most daydreams reflect what is uppermost on people’s minds—preoccupation with hopes, desires, plans, goals, and feelings; concerns and worries; memories and fantasies (Baruss, 2003). Through dreams, the subconscious mind communicates what we learn from the past; what we anticipate about the future; what we want, fear, and even what we don’t want to know (Baruss, 2003).

Does daydreaming effect the body?

How does daydreaming effect the body? The psychophysiology of mental imagery is well documented (Freeman & Lawlis, 2001). The use of imagery can result in physiologic, biochemical, and emotional changes in the body. Imaginary experiences activate image-relevant behavioral, cognitive, neurological, and other physiological processes. What is functional equivalence? This means that mental rehearsal is functionally equivalent to physical practice. Research shows that daydreaming about lifting weights provides some of the benefits of actually lifting weight. It shows that imaging yourself practicing 20 karate and 20 karate kicks offers some of the training benefits as if you had done them on the dojo.

Imagery’s effect on the body is well documented. This effect is explained by the concept of functional equivalence. Studies suggest mental imagery is “functionally equivalent” to perception because these activities share similar neural pathways. The mental imagery of daydreaming affects the brain in ways similar to actual, external, sensory-driven experience. This means that mental rehearsal is functionally equivalent to physical practice.

What have you been daydreaming about lately?

What do you daydream about? Is there any kind of pattern to your daydreaming? What time(s) of day do you usually daydream? Think about what triggers daydreaming for you?

• What do you daydream about? Is there any kind of pattern to your daydreaming?
• What time(s) of day do you usually daydream?
• Think about what triggers daydreaming for you?
• Where are you and what are you doing at these times?
• How vivid are your daydreams?
• Have daydreams ever helped solve a problem?
• Please consider keeping a daydreaming journal.

Examine your own pattern of daydreaming? Where are you and what are you doing at these times? How vivid are your daydreams? Have daydreams ever helped solve a problem? If so, this is an example of the subconscious mind helping you to solve a problem.

Communication between conscious mind and subconscious mind – the core technique

Communication between the conscious mind and subconscious mind requires a common language. That language is imagery! As you will learn, when we want to communicate with the subconscious mind, we use contemplation. When the subconscious responds, it often does through spontaneous daydreaming.

In this course, intentional daydreaming (contemplation) is used mainly to trigger a spontaneous daydream. You have a desire or need. You communicate your desire for a helpful daydream to the subconscious mind, using a language it can understand—multi-sensory contemplation.

The subconscious mind communicates back to you using a language you can understand—spontaneous daydreams. Metaphorically, it’s as if you are asking the subconscious mind for help using contemplation and it is answering back using daydreams.

Secret for accelerated learning – the key question

Research suggests when you enroll in a Udemy course, listen to a lecture, watch a video, or read something with a key question in mind—a question that matters to you—you’ll not only learn more, but you’ll retain more of what you do learn. The key question of this course is: How can I use intentional daydreaming to accelerate personal and professional growth? This course was designed to help you answer this one central question … if you will keep this one question in mind as you work through each section of this course, you will arrive at the end with your own very unique, and very valuable answers!!!

How to get the most from this training?

For you to gain the maximum beneficial results I recommend you go through this entire course, one section at a time, completing all practices, and take advantage of the summaries provided to cement your learnings. I suggest you print out each practice and each summary. Keep them in a separate notebook where you can refer to them quickly and repeatedly. Repetition is the mother of good learning. Take advantage of this learning principle—the four “R’s”--Read, practice, review, and repeat.

Intentional Daydreaming: Steps One and Two

Video A. Step 1: Go to your Safe Place

Video B. Step 2: Relax and Enter an Altered State

Objective: The learner will identify and name a Safe Place and be able to relax and enter an altered state by using the 'Countdown to Relax' method.

Review and sum up

In section two, you learned about the incredible subconscious mind and that this system focuses on developing communication between the conscious mind and subconscious mind using the imagery of contemplation and daydreaming.

In section three you learned more about what daydreaming is, that there are two types of daydreaming—spontaneous and intentional—and this course focuses on a hybrid model that combines both. A simple secret to improving learning was shared—completing this course keeping your key question in mind, “How can I use intentional daydreaming to improve (or accelerate) my personal and professional development?” You were provided with a list of sample applications for daydreaming and assigned some simple but important practices. Those who complete these practices will develop a skill that will benefit them for the remainder of their lives.

Steps 1 and 2

To facilitate ease of learning, this section has two videos, videos A and B. Breaking these instructions into two separate videos should make it easier for you to master these important materials. In video A, you’ll learn the first step—Go to your Safe Place. In video B. you’ll learn to Relax and enter an Altered State. This 7-Step system first teaches you to go to your Safe Place, relax and enter an altered state, and then use contemplation, imagery, self-talk, and self-suggestion to explore intentional daydreaming.

Your ability to relax is critical to your success with this system. Please take your time. Feeling rushed or impatient will prevent you from entering into an altered state.

Introduction to The Safe Place

Of course you can contemplate and daydream anywhere but for best results many find it helpful to first imagine a private inner sanctuary—a safe place for contemplating, meditating, and daydreaming. Your Safe Place is a place where you are alone and feel safe, relaxed, and calm.The safe place is accessed via vivid imagination. It serves as a mental staging area.

One advantage in creating your Safe Place, is that with practice and repetition, it will function as a trigger that allows you to quickly relax and enter an altered state. This is what you will do now. But first you have to discover or rediscover it.

Video A: Step 1- Discover your Safe Place

This is step 1 of the 7-Step Intentional Daydreaming System. In this step you’ll learn to create and use your own Safe Place. Alone and in the privacy of your Inner Sanctuary or Safe Place, you can contemplate to prime the pump of the subconscious mind and/or explore any of the 31+ applications of Intentional Daydreaming described in a later section.

Your Safe Place is a place where you are alone and feel safe, relaxed, and calm. It can be any pre-selected memory (or image) of a place where you are alone and feel safe, relaxed, and calm—any place from a room in your home to a secluded tropical beach. It can be a location you’ve visited (or would like to)—such as a Hawaiian beach, garden—or a purely imaginary location. Maybe your Safe Place is a special comfy chair in your home. Maybe your Safe Place is the memory of a secluded ocean cove. Or maybe your Safe Place is the memory of special room in your home.

Make a list of a few private locations you have been (or would like to visit) where you feel alone, safe, relaxed, and calm—your Safe Place.

Going to your Safe Place is as easy as remembering some place you have been, or visualizing some place you’d like to visit. After selecting your Safe Place, give it a name you can easily recall (probably best to write it down), visualize it vividly. Imagine being there and repeat its name 3 times. It’s as easy as that! Close your eyes, intend to be in your Safe Place and imagine being there. This is your Safe Place where you will do your contemplation and daydreaming sessions.

Video B: Step 2 – Enter an altered state of Deep relaxation

To enter an altered state, you need to feel safe, relaxed, and calm. Your objective in step 2 is simple—learn to trigger your body’s automatic “relaxation response” and begin to enter an altered state.

There are dozens of ways to trigger a relaxation response and enter an altered state. One method is called ‘Countdown to Relaxation.’ It’s based on an easy-to-learn technique for evoking the relaxation response that I developed for a group of 40 hospice professionals gathered together for a training on stress management. This is what you will learn next.

The countdown method to relaxation is easy and effective. Probably every hypnotherapist on the planet knows and uses this method. It is also a commonly taught method for self-hypnosis. Here’s how to do it.

When you close your eyes, allow them to remain unfocused and look up slightly. No strain. No muscle tension. When your eyes are closed for more than a couple minutes, your brain shifts electrical activity and you begin to increase your alpha brain waves. The brain slows down a little. It’s as if the brain is saying, “oh, are we getting ready to go to sleep? I better start relaxing the body in preparation for sleep.” This shift in the brain’s electrical activity makes it easier for you to learn and begin to see things differently. As you begin to mentally count down from 7 to 1, use a mental voice that is soft, slow, and soothing. In your mind, count the numbers with a voice expressing the tone and tempo you would use if you were trying to relax and hypnotize someone.

As you begin to recall a relaxing, pleasant memory, take your time. No rush. No impatience. Really relive the experience. Feel what you feel if you were there now. Breathe the way you would if you felt deeply relaxed and content. Finally, mentally affirm how you feel. Repeat, “I feel safe … relaxed … and calm” as if it was the truest sentence you have ever spoken. In the future, just thinking these 6 words helps you to feel very safe, deeply relaxed, and as calm as you’ve ever felt.

Mudra

Mudras are hand positions. Mudras have been in common use for thousands of years in India, China, Tibet and elsewhere. The mudra taught in this section (shown in Video B.) will help you to relax, focus, and it also supports entering an altered state of consciousness. Simply touch the tips of index fingers to the tips of thumbs (like an “OKAY” sign).

In the next section, you’ll learn step 3 of the intentional daydreaming system—how to contemplate. As you learn to contemplate, keep in mind you are learning the special language of the subconscious mind. Take your time, learn it well and it will serve you well.

But before proceeding, why not first take a well-deserved break?

Step 3 – Contemplation

[Note: to improve your learning experience, the video portion of this section was separated into part 1 and part 2]

Objective: The learner will be able to contemplate using multi-sensory imagery, process-imagery and end-state imagery, and forward and backward chaining. 

Welcome to section 5! You’re now a little more than ½ way though this course. I hope you are studying the material carefully, completing all the practices, and downloading and reviewing the section summary and practice.

Previously, you learned to go to your Safe Place, relax, and enter an altered state. In this section, you’ll learn advanced contemplation techniques.

What is contemplation?

Contemplation is something you’ve already done for most of your life. Contemplation is deep, relaxed, and reflective thought about something that interests you. Contemplation can be used by itself, but in this system it is used primarily to communicate with the subconscious mind and as a way to “prime the pump” for the spontaneous daydreaming process. You’ll learn about this soon, but first there’s a few special terms and concepts to review and explain.

Types of Imagery

• Multi-sensory imagery is the “secret” language of the subconscious mind (Sheikh, 2002). It refers to sensory-based thought process—using inner vision, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Imagery is not just visual. Make sure you use multi-sensory imagery in all your contemplative daydreaming sessions.
•  When you contemplate and daydream you use two types of imagery—active imagery and receptive imagery.
• Active imagery is purposefully evoked. It’s something you image on purpose. Active imagery is related more to contemplation. Receptive imagery is spontaneous, automatic—images that come from “out of the blue.” Receptive imagery is related more to spontaneous daydreaming (Achterberg, Dossey, & Kolkmeir, 1994).

Process imagery and end-state imagery

Additionally, the imagery you use is either process-imagery or end-state imagery. Relax! As you’ll soon discover, contemplation is more complicated to discuss than it is to do

• Process-imagery is step-by-step, sequential imagery showing the steps involved in achieving a final outcome. It’s like a recipe or map. Process imagery is most helpful with topics that require serial steps, e.g., cooking, writing, martial arts forms, traveling, or building things Achterberg, Dossey, & Kolkmeir, 1994).
•  End-state imagery  is imaging the task or outcome completed—a meal prepared, the book completed, a martial arts form mastered, arrival at your destination, and completion of your project.

Realism

It’s best if your imagery reflects the environment where the actual application will occur and includes the emotions you would feel if this was actually occurring (Asken, M.J., Grossman, D., & Christensen, L., 2010). Your self-talk (thoughts) should be focused on the steps you need to complete to accomplish your goal. Self-talk should be present-focused and include process-language and end-state language, e.g., “I am boarding the plane for Hawaii” (process) and “I am standing on a beautiful Hawaiian beach” (end-state).

Forward and backward chaining

The last concept is forward and backward chaining. Most people imagine a task from start to finish. They contemplate sequentially from beginning to end. This is called forward chaining. Sometimes it’s helpful or even necessary to also imagine something backward—from end to beginning. This is referred to as backward chaining. Depending on the topic of your contemplation or daydream, you may want to use one or both.

Q: Please re-explain the goal of contemplation at this point in the training.

A: In general, artists, mystics, philosophers, scientists, writers and others often use contemplation in their creative process. You can use contemplation for these purposes too. More specifically, since the language of the subconscious mind is imagery, the goal of contemplation in the Intentional Daydreaming system is for you to clearly communicate to the subconscious mind your intent or desire. You ask the subconscious mind to help you; you use purposeful, contemplative imagery to convey your wish; and you hope the subconscious mind will respond with imagery in the form of a spontaneous daydream.

The Intentional Daydreaming system is an original program designed to improve communication between the conscious and subconscious mind in order to enhance your ability to realize your “dreams.” Contemplation can be used by itself, but in this system it’s used primarily to communicate intention to the subconscious mind and “jump-start” the process of daydreaming. Contemplation is done using multi-sensory imagery—the secret language of the subconscious mind. This refers to sensory-based thought process—vision, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Contemplation is not just visual. Contemplation is a skill you can use to improve all areas of your life, for the rest of your life.

In the next section, you’ll learn the remaining four steps of the daydreaming system.

Section 6 – the 7-Step Daydreaming System

Objective: The learner will be able to use all 7 steps of the Intentional Daydreaming system to communicate with the subconscious mind.

The seven steps of the daydreaming system are: enter your Safe Place; relax and go into an altered state; contemplate; daydream; exit Safe Place; be awake and alert; and write it down. After completing this section, you’ll be able to communicate with the subconscious mind and independently explore and experiment with the 31+ topics described in section 6 and anything else of interest to you.

• The goal shifts to communicating with the subconscious mind with the language of contemplation.
•  In the previous step you used conscious contemplation to communicate a desire to the subconscious mind and “prime the pump.” It’s time to receive a response from the subconscious mind via spontaneous daydreaming.

Since the language of the subconscious mind is imagery, the goal of contemplation in the Intentional Daydreaming system is for you to clearly communicate to the subconscious mind your intent or desire. You ask the subconscious mind to help you; you use purposeful, contemplative imagery to convey your wish; and you hope the subconscious mind will respond with imagery in the form of a spontaneous daydream.

Be respectful. Remember: the subconscious mind is in charge of dreaming and daydreaming. Keep in mind that using this process you are attempting to deepen your conscious communication with the part of you believed to be 1,000,000 times more powerful than the conscious mind—that aspect that oversees and directs the more than 37 trillion cells that make up your physical body.

Q: Can you provide an example of how it feels to shift from actively contemplating (purposefully imagining) to spontaneously daydreaming?

A: There are many ways you might experience this shift, some subtle, some stark. A typical experience might go like this. You are sitting with eyes closed in your Safe Place. You feel relaxed and in an altered state. You have asked the subconscious mind for help. You are consciously contemplating on your desire. During contemplation, there are moments when your mind seems to wander. You catch a glimpse of images or the hint of a sound you didn’t purposefully imagine. As you become more relaxed—as you drift deeper into an altered state—these “momentary lapses” can increase, they could even develop into a completely spontaneous daydream. Some people get excited at this point and lose the daydream. It’s as if their excitement shifted control away from the subconscious mind back to the conscious mind. You can improve ability to let go and allow subconscious mind free reign with experience. Some people tend to fall asleep and experience an actual sleeping dream. Let your experience be your guide. Follow the system. Learn from your experience. Keep trying. At first you may have virtually no spontaneous daydreams. With practice you will most likely begin experiencing the glimpses, the momentary lapses. Once in a while you might experience the full spontaneous daydream. Occasionally, you might fall asleep. No matter what. Remember, you cannot fail. You can only learn. Be patient. You are honing a skill you will be able to use for the rest of your life to improve all of your life!

This section explained all steps of the 7-Step Intentional Daydreaming system—enter your Safe Place; relax and go into an altered state; contemplate; daydream; exit Safe Place; be awake and alert; and write it down..

31 ways to use advanced contemplation and daydreaming

[Note: to improve your learning experience, the video portion of this section was separated into two parts]

Objective: The learner will be able to enter a Safe Place, relax, enter an altered state, and use multi-sensory contemplation and spontaneous daydreaming to explore 31 topics and concerns.

Now that you have learned the 7-Step Daydreaming system, you can go to your Safe Place, relax, enter an altered state, and then use contemplation and daydreaming to explore the following 31 areas and/or anything else of interest to you.

Individuals, business leaders, mystics, magicians, musicians, artists, poets, writers, scientists, philosophers, metaphysicians, and creative types have long valued the art of contemplation in the creative process, for problem-solving, and as a means for cultivating imagination. Now you can too! You can explore many topics, concerns, or problems with intentional daydreaming. As an example, you can:

1. Communicate with the subconscious mind.

2. Increase memory, focus, concentration, and imagination.

3. Ignite your personal and professional creativity.

4. Reduce anxiety, stress, and worry.

5. Feel more relaxed, calm, and centered.

6. Improve self-confidence and self-esteem.

7. Reduce or overcome fears.

8. Improve physical, emotional, and mental health.

9. Improve diet, exercise, and sleep.

10. Develop personal or professional plans goals.

11. Envision new products and services.

12. Improve hiring, management, marketing, sales, and other business activities.

13. Alter past memories.

14. Increase recall of nighttime dreams.

15. Improve feelings about physical appearance.

16. Feel more optimistic, hopeful, and motivated.

17. Improve learning, study, and work-related skills.

18. Enhance the quality of your personal and professional communication and relationships.

19. Have an imaginary conversation. Imaginal interactions allow us to imagine the outcome of various approaches prior to or after an actual interaction. Imagining conversations before or after they take place is a valuable tool we can use to help develop greater communication fluency and competency, and to reduce potential, misunderstanding, frustration and stress (Honeycutt, 2003).

20. Use contemplation and daydreaming for sexual and erotic purposes. Appropriate sexual fantasies can function similar to a “Viagra for the Mind” and have a dramatic bodily effect.

21. Mentally rehearse future interactions with family, friends, colleagues, co-workers, customers, and clients.

22. Entertain yourself, feel more confident, and less anxious.

23. Accelerate sports performance such as martial.

24. Discover solutions to concerns such as plot or character development if writing a book or experiment with the steps required for project design and completion.

25. Vividly review and reminisce experiences.

26. Enhance artistic and creative skills such as acting, dancing, writing, song-writing, poetry, sculpting, painting, or improving musical performance.

27. Enter an altered state of to practice suggestion.

28. Conduct paranormal and spiritual experiments.

29. Contemplate on religious, spiritual topics such as Supreme Creator, Spirit, and Cosmos.

30. Contemplate on topics such as prayer, karma, reincarnation; life after death; love, wisdom, unity, compassion, beauty, forgiveness; and self-realization, and enlightenment.

31. Contemplate on space, time, infinity, and eternity … and much, much more!!!

Q: Please describe once more how to use contemplation as a stand-alone technique.

Sometimes you have questions. You need answers, guidance, and insight. At these times, you want to use the full 7-Step program. But there are also times when you just want to reminisce over good times, precious memories, or highlights of your life. At these times, you may not need input from the subconscious mind, so you focus only on steps 1-3—you go to your Safe Place, relax, enter an altered state and begin to reminisce. There could also be times when you want to replay conversations you had with a loved one, friend, or colleague.

Again, using only steps 1-3 is appropriate. Finally, you may want to mentally rehearse specific learning, sports, or performance-related activities, such as a martial arts form. Again, using only steps 1-3 can be helpful. View contemplation as if it were mental rehearsal or visualization. It is. When you want or need to think about something deeply and creatively, go to your Safe Place, relax, and enter into an altered state. Then forget about your Safe Place and focus on your topic. And for at least 2-4+ minutes engage in relaxed, reflective, and deep thinking. Contemplate and envision the possibilities connected with the “what if” “how” “when” and “where” of your topic. Mull things over. Wonder and ponder. When you’re done, record your experience.

In this section you learned at least 31 ways you can use contemplation and intentional daydreaming for personal and professional growth. The next section focuses on the use of contemplation and daydreaming to explore psychic and transpersonal interests.

Bonus Section – Transpersonal and Psychic Daydreaming

Objective: The learner will use the 7-Step Intentional Daydreaming system and knowledge of the lunar cycle to explore, experiment, and experience spiritual, transpersonal, and psychic daydreaming.

I'll begin this final section by sharing a personal experience. One summer afternoon, I was lying on the couch contemplating on the topic of reincarnation. After a few minutes my subconscious mind began generating a spontaneous daydream. In this daydream I was walking along a beach. I could see what appeared to be ancient ruins. Then I was climbing a ladder up through the clouds into the sky. Standing on a ladder rung, all I could see was the next rung above me and the previous rung below me. I heard a friendly-sounding voice say, “On the ladder of perfection, there is always one more step.” Then I saw a hand reaching down toward me from the mist-covered rung above. I grabbed the hand and held on tight. At the same time (from the cloud-covered rung beneath me) I saw another hand reaching up that I also grabbed and held. And at that moment I knew that no matter where I stood on the eternal ladder of existence, I could always reach above to receive asked-for help in climbing to the next level, and, that I could extend a helping hand to any on the rung below me who were requesting help. I knew there was always “just one more step.”

Although this daydream occurred over 30 years, I remember it as if it were yesterday. Now that you have completed all the training sections of this program, you'll have your own daydreams to experience and your own stories to share. Who knows? Maybe there's someone waiting to offer you a helping hand if you ask. And maybe there's someone who could benefit from your helping hand if you'd offer.

Daydreaming, mysticism, metaphysics, and meditation

Many mystics, metaphysicians, meditators, and others use daydreaming as part of their contemplative, spiritual, or transpersonal practices. If transpersonal, psychic, and paranormal topics interest you, the skills you learned in this program can help you explore these interests. As an example, after you complete this section, you will have the understanding and skill necessary to use the 7-Step Intentional Daydreaming program to:

•  Meditate, evoke wisdom, expand awareness.
•  Cultivate psychic skills such as intuition, telepathy, remote viewing, distance healing, and remote influence.

You could also:

•  Experiment with out-of-body travel.
•  Experiment with time travel, visit with your future “self”, or attempt to change something in your past .
•  Explore a past life or glimpse a future life.
•  Visit parallel worlds.

You could also:

•  Experiment with attracting what you desire, repelling what you don’t.
•  Experiment visiting with ancestors, deceased friends, and anyone else living or not—human or not.
•  Conduct thought experiments like Albert Einstein is reported to have done.
•  And much, much more!

You have choices

In your life, sometimes you have questions and you need answers, guidance, and insight. At these times, you will probably want to use the full 7-Step program. But there are also times when you just want to reminisce over good times, precious memories, mentally rehearse your martial arts, or think about highlights of your life. At times like this, you may not need input from the subconscious mind, so instead you could focus only on steps 1-3—go to your Safe Place, relax, enter an altered state and begin to reminisce. The choice is yours.

Daydreaming and the Lunar Cycle

Supposedly, the ideal time to use contemplation and intentional daydreaming to attract or increase your desires and intentions is during the moon’s 2-week waxing time. This is the time from the New Moon to the Full Moon. And the best time to use contemplation and daydreaming to repel or decrease experiences and things you don’t want is during the two-week waning time. This is the time from the Full Moon to the New Moon. If you're curious, this is something you can explore.

If you decide to use this system to help develop a psychic skill, say for example, 'intuition' how could you integrate the Lunar cycle into your daydreaming sessions? Here's my advice. 

1. First, learn the full daydreaming system exactly as presented. 

2. Then, on the exact day of New Moon (the first day of the waxing lunar cycle—the 14-day period from the New Moon to Full Moon—finish one daydreaming session focused on your desire (in this example, intuition). 

3. Then, keeping your same desire (intuition), complete another session every 2-3 days throughout the remainder of the 2-week waxing cycle. This means you would complete a total of 5-7 sessions during this phase of the lunar cycle. 

4. After completing this series of sessions, wait until the next New Moon and then repeat the entire process all over again. In other words, focus on your intention (intuition) over 2-3 lunar cycles. During all this time, use your intuition as if it’s already developed.

Summing up

In this section you learned that the brainwaves associated with daydreaming are also the brainwaves associated with hypnotic states, transpersonal experiences, and psychic phenomena such as intuition, remote viewing, and telepathy. You can now use daydreaming to explore any transpersonal and psychic interests you may have. You also learned about the lunar cycle and how to time your daydreaming sessions with the appropriate phase of the moon.

Here’s one final suggestion. Remember the concept of forward and backward chaining? Now that you have completed all training sections from beginning to end (forward), why not go back through the sections again to deepen your learnings, practice, and experience, but this time start here at the end and work your way backward to section one? And, for those who really want to earn that “black belt” in daydreaming, go through the entire program one more time, from start to finish.

Once again, thank you for your interest and may all your good dreams come true!