(토요모임) [June, 4, 2016] Saturday meeting topic

[JANE]

Do I have the power to control my dreams?

Welcome to Wonderland

Lucid dreaming is the art of becoming aware that you’re dreaming, then making choices and guiding their outcomes.

Proponents suggest that, if you master it, you can take control of your journeys in the world of dreams and do anything you wish – whether it’s scoring that winning goal at the World Cup or ensuring that, when you arrive at work naked, you’re the one who’s laughing.

Over half of adults in a 2014 survey said they had experienced at least one lucid dream. Research carried out by the University of Lincoln suggests these dreams could make us more creative or insightful in our waking lives.

The dream ticket: Starting your journey

Alice may be one of literature’s most famous lucid dreamers, but we might all have the ability to control our adventures in Wonderland. Lucid dreaming experts suggest several ways to get started.

[Take note]

Keep a dream journal and try to write down any dreams when you wake up, including the emotions and sensations you experienced. This will help you to remember more of your dreams – essential for any serious lucid dreamer.

[Meditate]

Meditation is also reported to be a method of entering into a lucid dream state. But these induced dreams are reportedly more difficult to negotiate than dreams that become lucid after you're already asleep.

[REM]

Tune into REM. Not the band, but the physical phenomena of Rapid Eye Movement that signifies you are in your deepest phase of sleep. These normally happen 90 minutes after you first fall asleep, with additional phases roughly every 90 minutes afterwards.

Intrepid dream voyagers should try to wake up during one of these phases while dreaming, then immediately go back to sleep.

[Go MILD]

Scientists have also recognised a technique known as Mnemonic Induction to Lucid Dreaming (MILD) that can aid lucid dreaming. This is where a key phrase such as ‘I am in control of my dream’ is repeated before drifting off to sleep.

Recognising a lucid dream

The theory is that being consciously aware that you are dreaming is essential to lucid dreaming. This can be as simple as recognising common dream signs, such as old favourites like falling or losing your teeth.

Do I have the power to control my dreams? How do I recognize a lucid dream?

IW: We all have the power to dream. But the first step to experiencing a lucid dream is recognising that you are in fact dreaming. It’s not as easy as it sounds and not quite as simple as employing the traditional pinch. It may sound a little unusual, but just like when we are exploring any intriguing situation, we do this by looking out for clues. We can identify these clues that we can create in our dreams by being on the look-out for anything that appears strange or out of context. And to help us, we can use a powerful connection process to recognise them and work with them. We’ll start with actually identifying the clue. Look out for something unusual appearing to be happening in the dream, something out of context that may not routinely happen in your waking life.

For example, you are just walking down a street in your dream when you begin to float away from the ground and start flying. Identifying the clue is followed by owning the power that the dream creates. In a flying dream, for example, this is recognising that you now have the power to fly.

After identifying and owning the clue, next up is making choices with it. If it’s a flying dream you can chose the destination and decide what’s the best route to take. And finally -after identifying, owning and choosing the clue-using it. Rather than just dismissing the clue that’s been created in the dream, this stage is all about making choices about how to use this power to take positive and healthy action in the dream.

Famous lucid dreamers

Inquisitive minds have long been fascinated with the concept of lucid dreaming, using it as a gateway to more creative thinking and problem solving.

Master of the surreal Salvador Dali used a technique known as ‘dream incubation’ to help him create a pre-set itinerary for his dreams. This is thought to have inspired some of his famous pieces of art.

Film director Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth was inspired by his nocturnal journeys into his dreams. Del Toro has experienced lucid dreaming since childhood and uses his encounters to create characters and storylines in his work.

American inventor Elias Howe struggled with an idea for a machine that would automate the sewing process. After unsuccessfully wrestling with the problem of how to keep thread running through the needle, he turned to his dreams to fine the solution.

Inventor, electrical engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla had incredible powers of visualisation that he used while both conscious and asleep. He claimed he could not just travel, but carry out dream experiment in his mind.

[Questions]

1.Have you experienced a lucid dream?

2.Here are the four most common and obvious indications that you’re creating a lucid dream. Have you experienced one or all of these?

[Increased excitement]:You realise that you’re no longer just passively observing your dream, but actively creating the experience.

[Vivid senses]:Colours seem brighter and sounds are much clearer, providing an increased sense of clarity.

[Enhanced detail]:Events are perceived in much greater detail and things appear to be more sharply in focus.

[Wider perceptions]:Peripheral awareness expands, so you feel much more aware of what's happening around you than in a normal dream.

3.If you can choose your dream what kind of dream do you want?

4.Do you think that having dreams and aspirations is a waste of time?

5.Talk about the most recent dream you can remember that you have had in the past.

6.What was your nicest dream that you can remember?

7.What's the worst nightmare you've ever had?

8.Have you ever dreamt in a language that you don't speak?

9.Have you ever had or heard of a dream that foretold the future?

Can I learn the secret of happiness? 

The pursuit of happiness

We talk about it all the time. But do we actually know how to be happy? Or what that even means?

Some of the greatest thinkers have tried to put their fingers on something that covers a broad range of emotions and can be nurtured by simple personal interactions or triggered by events that are far beyond our control.

When we think about being happy, do we know what we are actually aiming for, and is happiness worth all the time and energy we use chasing it?

Happiness makes the world go round

If happiness makes the world go round, first we should consider definitions from across the globe.

Find out how different cultures embrace happiness.

[Canada]

Happiness, bonheur (French)

Canadians are healthy and happy, with 89% of people reporting being in good health, according to the World Happiness Report. Canada is among the five happiest countries in the world. Strong social ties tend to be an integral part of happiness for Canadians.

[Norway]

Lykke

Norway has recently ranked among the top five happiest countries in the world. This may be because it’s also one of the richest and also receives top scores in global safety and security surveys.

[Germany]

Glück

According to research, ensuring the family is in good health and maintaining a stable home are the two of the main things that make Germans happy.

[Kenya]

Furaha (Swahili)

It’s said that happiness in Kenya is not measured in terms of material possessions because they can be taken away. Instead, it is determined by contentment and experiences shared with friends and family.

[India]

Khusi (Hindi)

Many Indians believe there is no happiness in a cycle of acquisition and satisfaction, and that the start of happiness is to lose the desire to acquire, to lose a sense of entitlement.

[China]

幸福

The Chinese characterise happiness as a "harmonious homeostasis" (ie equilibrium or balance) within the self, as well as between the self and the environment.

[Australia]

Happiness
In Australia, financial security, a sense of purpose in life and good personal relationships reportedly make up the ‘golden triangle’ of happiness.

This selection of definitions seems to show that, like beauty, happiness could well be in the eye of the beholder. Research suggests that while personal feelings of pleasure are the accepted definition of happiness in Western cultures, East Asian cultures tend to see happiness as social harmony and in some parts of Africa and India it is more about shared experiences and family.

The secret to happiness

Is there a secret formula for happiness?

Do I really need to be happy all the time?
The science of happiness – Narrated by Adil Ray
Happiness, according to Ken Dodd at least, is the greatest gift that we possess.
But when we unwrap this most pleasant of presents, what lies beneath the shiny paper and ribbon?
Researchers have long sought out the answer. And when it comes to short-term happiness, it appears to be reassuringly easy.
In a recent UK survey, sleeping in a freshly made bed topped the table for feel-good factor, closely followed by feeling the sun on your face.
Simple pleasures indeed.
If you’re looking for longer lasting bouts of bliss, things get slightly more sophisticated...but only just. Researchers using a specially developed smartphone app found getting, ahem ‘intimate’ was the top of the list...followed by more cultured activities like visiting the theatre and taking in a spot of art.
what about the things that make us truly happy, not just fleeting moments of loveliness?
Maybe family can help.
Not according to many experts who agree with research that reveals having a first child can mar parents happiness more than divorce, unemployment – and even the death of a partner.
And if you thought money can buy it, you’d be right. But only up to a point.
Studies in the U.S. show that after annual earnings hit $75,000.00. – hat’s around £50,000 to you and me – the positive effects of money has no effect on people’s happiness and moods.
If it’s not kids or wealth, how about health?
Most experts agree it’s one of the main factors to enjoying continued happiness.
In a recent Harvard University survey, two other crucial factors were identified: Enjoying what you’re doing in work and life and investing in close relationships.
In fact, two thirds of the people who stated they were ‘extremely happy’ in their survey gave a top rating to the importance of
relationships.
So it seems that the key to long-term happiness could be all about investing time in other people.
Get that right, and you’ll be laughing. Just not all the time I hope.

Redefining happiness

It’s a conundrum that has always challenged the world’s best brains. Are we any closer to an answer?

Buddha thught that the path to happiness starts from an understanding of the root causes of suffering. The journey to attain true happiness requires an unflinching look into the face of a reality where all life is seen as suffering.

Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus saw happiness as the central goal of human life. He defined it as pleasure and an absence of pain. He recommended withdrawal from the 'rat race'in favour of a life of contemplation in his Garden of Friends.

Thomas Aquinas was an influential Catholic priest, philosopher and theologian. He believed enjoyment concerns satisfaction of worldly desire, whereas happiness means obtaining absolute perfection, which by definition can only be found in God.

Philosopher Ayn Rand developed a philosophical system called Objectivism, which defind the concept of "man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity"

Simone de Beauvoir was an intellectual and existentialist philosopher. She believed that "self-knowledge is no quarantee of happiness, but it is on the side of happiness and can supply the courage to fight for it."

Ed Deiner, AKA Dr Happiness, is a leading researcher in positive psychology who theorises that 'subjective well-being' is a crucial component of happiness that can be measured. He also argues there is a strong genetic component to happiness.

Positively unhappy

Though being happy is generally considered to be positive and healthy, it’s not necessarily the best state of mind for every situation. Many experts in the field propose it can affect other aspects of our lives in a negative way.

Psychologists including Barbara Fredrickson have found that too much positive emotion, or more precisely too little experience of negative emotion, can make people less adept at facing new challenges.

It’s even been suggested that the very pursuit of happiness itself is enough to lead to unhappiness, with the desire to meet society’s expectations and goals creating anxiety and stress.

[Questions]

1.Are we happier than our ancestors?

2.Do you think advances in areas such as medicine and technology have generally made us happier than previous generations?

3.What makes you fell happy?

4.What is the most important thing for you to be happy in your life?

5.How happy are you compared to others?

6. what was the happiest time in your life?

7.Do you think personality affect their happiness?

8.What kind of things do people's lives happier and more fulfilling?

[Jina]

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