What Is This Teaching?
The Dreaming State is Neville Goddard's practice of using the drowsy, presleep consciousness (hypnagogia) to impress the subconscious with a short, vivid scene that implies the wish fulfilled. In this relaxed doorway between waking and sleeping you rehearse an imagined outcome with feeling, then allow sleep to accept that assumption and produce its outer fulfillment.
Core Principles
- Feeling is the creative cause: the emotion of the fulfilled wish stamps the subconscious;
- The drowsy state is a receptive channel: as critical thought fades, impressions take root more easily;
- Assume the end, not the means: present a completed inner scene in first person and sensory detail;
- Consistent, brief practice overrides doubt-repetition in the state akin to prayer
Quick Techniques to Start Today
- Drowsy Scene Rehearsal - Steps: relax in bed, breathe slowly, form a single 30-90 second first-person scene that implies the wish fulfilled (use sensory detail and present-tense feeling), repeat once or twice until you feel the feeling, then let sleep take you
- Micro-Scene Method - For busy evenings: pick a 15-30 second moment (e.g., a signature, a congratulatory handshake, counting money), immerse for a minute in the feeling, then switch off
- Dream-Bridge & Journal - Before sleep imagine entering a simple doorway or elevator to a scene of your fulfilled wish (helps induce lucid recall); upon waking immediately write any dream fragments and the presleep scene to reinforce impression
Key Insights
- The scene must be brief, sensory, and felt as real; long scripts dissipate feeling.
- Falling asleep during the scene is not a failure-sleep often seals the impression and accelerates manifestation.
- Lucid dreaming can amplify imaginal work but is not required; the presleep assumption is the active cause.
- Avoid analyzing logistics; focus on the inner state of having already achieved the desire.
- Daily consistency and immediate dream journaling magnify results and reveal subconscious confirmations.
Biblical Foundation
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11:24
Neville's interpretation:
prayer is imaginal assumption; to "ask" is to assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. The Dreaming State is the practical method he gives for "believing" - enter the state where the assumption feels real and live from it.
“...God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”
Romans 4:17
Neville's interpretation:
God (the creative power) "calls" by the word and imagination; imagining calls things into being by making the mental equivalent. The Dreaming State is intentionally using imagination to "call" the desired reality.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1
Neville's interpretation:
faith is not intellectual assent but the inner conviction produced by living in the feeling of the fulfilled desire. The Dreaming State is the laboratory where you create that inner conviction until it becomes your dominant assumption.
Step-by-Step Practice Method
- Mental Diet: For at least one week begin a rigorous mental diet. Observe and immediately discard contrary thoughts. Replace chatter about lack with short, present-tense affirmations or neutral silence. Keep an imaginary calendar where your desire is already true
- Define the End: Write one concise scene (15-60 seconds) that implies your wish fulfilled in the present tense and first person ("I am," "I have," not "I will"). The scene must be an action or dialogue you can imagine from the inside, ending with a feeling that proves it is real. The Classic SATS (State Akin to Sleep) Step-by-Step:
- Time & Setting: Choose just before sleep or a quiet midday rest. Lie down in a comfortable, dimly lit room. Loosen clothing, remove distractions, silence phone
- Progressive Relaxation: Close eyes. Relax body from toes to head. Slow breathing. Let limbs go heavy. Aim to approach the edge between wakefulness and sleep
- Allow Hypnagogia: Don't force images. Let the mind drift until short, vivid scenes or impressions form naturally - this is the state akin to sleep. Keep consciousness present while the body sinks
- Enact Your Scene: Insert the concise scene you prepared. Play it as if you are the protagonist - not observing from outside. Use first-person sensory detail (touch, sight, sound, smell, inner dialogue). Keep it short, simple, vivid. Repeat the scene 2-6 times or until the feeling of fulfillment saturates you
- Feeling is the Secret: Focus especially on the emotional proof - how it feels to already have it. If the feeling fades, restart the scene. Do not analyze
- End Gracefully: Let yourself fall asleep from that feeling if it's sleep-time. If midday, gently return to waking life while holding the assumption. Avoid reviewing reality. Go about your day as someone who is already that fulfilled state. Daily Complementary Practices: - Daytime Living in the End: Throughout the day, act, speak, and choose from the state of your fulfilled desire. Small gestures (your posture, tone, decisions) should reflect the assumed identity. - Revision: Each evening, mentally rewrite any negative scenes from the day as you wish they had happened. Enter the feeling of the revised scene before sleep. - Imaginal Conversations: Have short, internal dialogues where others speak as if your wish is true (e.g., a friend congratulating you). Troubleshooting within the method: - If sleep interferes too early, shorten the imaginal scene and do multiple short SATS sessions. - If doubt intrudes, return to sensory detail (touch, voice, smell). Feeling outweighs argument. - Keep scenes concrete and specific; vagueness invites contradiction
Real-World Applications
Example:
❌ Wrong way:
Sitting awake visualizing numbers in a bank account rising, thinking "I hope this comes," while worrying about bills. Rehearsing lack and calculating when it will arrive.
✅ Right way:
Define a short scene: receiving an email/notification that a client just paid; feel the click of confirmation, the relief, and pleasure as you read the amount. Experience the gratitude as if it's happening now. Practice SATS before sleep and live the day making choices from the identity of someone who has the money. Why it works: Replaces scarcity emotion with the satisfied feeling of having; creates a mental equivalent that the subconscious acts to realize.
Example:
❌ Wrong way:
Obsessively replaying what went wrong, imagining the other person rejecting you, begging inwardly for reconciliation, or crafting elaborate future scenarios that focus on lack.
✅ Right way:
Create a present-tense scene: you meet the person; they take your hand and say, "I've been thinking about you - I want to make this right," or, for a new partner, imagine cozy laughter in your home with their distinct laugh and the warmth of an embraced moment. Feel loved, secure, and complete. Use SATS nightly; during the day, act from the identity of someone who is loved. Why it works: Shifts inner vibration from neediness to attractive wholeness; imagination sets the tone others mirror.
Example:
❌ Wrong way:
Rehearsing symptoms each night, worrying about tests, or imagining gradual deterioration. Seeking constant reassurance and checking the body.
✅ Right way:
Define a scene where a trusted practitioner says, "Your tests are excellent," or a simple scene of you waking refreshed, stretching, feeling light and energetic, putting on shoes for a brisk walk with ease. Feel vitality coursing through you. Practice SATS and daytime choices (hydration, gentle movement) from that healthy identity. Why it works: The subconscious organizes behavior and perception consistent with the assumed state; while not a substitute for medical care, the Dreaming State can support mental and behavioral shifts that aid recovery and resilience
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Lack of Feeling (doing it intellectually): Many rehearse scenes as ideas without the emotional proof. How to avoid: Pause to cultivate the bodily feeling - gratitude, relief, joy - even if it must be artificially summoned at first. Sensory detail anchors the feeling
- Mental Diet Failure (contradictory thoughts): Allowing day-to-day doubts, conversations, media, or complaining undermines your assumption. How to avoid: Enforce a strict mental diet. Replace contradictions immediately with short, present-tense images or a neutral mantra (e.g., "I am already this")
- Vague or Long Scenes: Scenes that are too long, future-tense, or vague invite doubts. How to avoid: Keep scenes short (15-60 seconds), present tense, first person, with a decisive ending that proves the wish fulfilled
- Impatience & Tangible Testing: Expecting immediate physical proof and then checking reality constantly drains the state. How to avoid: Practice non-attachment; trust the inner change first and allow outer evidence to arrange itself. Limit checking behavior for fixed intervals
- Using the Wrong Perspective (third-person observer): Watching the scene as an onlooker weakens creative power. How to avoid: Always imagine 'from within' as if you are living it. Use "I" statements, inner sensations, and internal dialogue. Why people fail overall: They treat the technique like wishful thinking rather than disciplined inner work. The Dreaming State requires emotional fidelity, disciplined mental hygiene, repetition, and the willingness to change identity. Without these, contradictions in daily life neutralize the imaginal work
Advanced Techniques
- Revision (Neville's potent corrective): Each evening, mentally revise any negative event of the day into the way you wished it had gone. Re-experience it as if it happened that way, ending with the feeling of satisfaction. Do this in SATS if possible. Neville taught that revision retroactively alters the cause and sets a new pattern for the subconscious to work from
- Imaginal Conversation / Inner Dialogue: Instead of a single scene, stage a short, vivid exchange where another person speaks to you as if your wish is true (e.g., a colleague saying, "You've been promoted - congratulations"). This is especially useful where interpersonal dynamics are involved. Make the other party's voice and gestures specific; feel the proof
- Identity Assumption (Acting 'from within'): Move beyond isolated scenes to assume the entire identity of the fulfilled state. Rehearse short daily behaviors and decisions you would make as that person. Use "practice actions" - small, real-world choices (dress, posture, speech) that align with the assumption. Over time, the subconscious integrates the new identity and organizes outer circumstances to match. Bonus nuance: Combine SATS with a sensory anchor - e.g., a subtle touch to the right index finger each time the feeling reaches fullness so that later a discreet touch in waking life can revive the state. Use sparingly to avoid mechanical repetition
Signs of Progress
- Emotional Shift First: You experience an easy, sustained feeling of assurance or gratitude about the desire. The "neediness" lightens. This is the primary internal sign
- Small Synchronicities: Minor, apparently unrelated events begin to support the new assumption (a conversation, an unexpected email, a leading thought). These are early alignments
- Changed Perception & Choices: You notice you act differently - you make choices and speak from the new state without forcing it. Opportunities are seen and taken more naturally
- Reduction of Resistance: Doubt and anxiety reduce rather than intensify when you practice; intrusive contrary thoughts become rarer
- External Evidence Follows: Gradual outer adjustments appear - appointments, confirmations, invitations, or improved circumstances - often in ways you did not script but that fit the desired outcome
- Persistent Inner Proof: Even before full external completion, you can return to the imagined state unmistakably; the scene produces the same feeling repeatedly. Caveat: Progress is not always linear. The subconscious may bring preparatory events that look like obstacles. Evaluate events by feeling: if they strengthen the assumed state, they are likely part of the unfolding. Always pair imaginal work with reasonable, ethical external action where appropriate (e.g., applying for jobs, seeking medical care)
Frequently Asked Questions
Does lucid dreaming help with imaginal work?
Yes - lucid dreaming can be a powerful extension of imaginal work, but with important cautions. Lucid dreams are sleep states in which your waking awareness persists; this gives you conscious access to the dreaming imagination.
From a Neville perspective, lucid dreaming is simply another field where your creative imagination labors consciously. Use lucid dreams to rehearse, perfect, and emotionally solidify the scene of the wish fulfilled rather than merely exploring dream fantasies.
How to use lucidity constructively: practice your waking-state scene first until the feeling is established; then, in lucid dream, re-create the same scene and sustain the feeling of already having what you desire. Keep the scene short and decisive-too much wandering can dissipate the feeling and turn it into ordinary dream content.
If you become excited and lose the feeling, take a breath, ground yourself in the sensation of the fulfilled wish, and continue. Avoid treating the dream as symbolic evidence; treat it as rehearsal-the inner assumption made vivid.
Blocks: if lucidity leads to critical analysis, remember Neville’s rule: do not argue with the dream. Instead, rewrite the dream immediately from the fulfilled state (the same way you would revise a waking event).
Techniques that increase lucidity (MILD, WBTB, reality checks) can be useful, but don’t confuse technique for the end: the end is feeling the fact accomplished. Scriptural echoes include Luke 17:21 (the kingdom within) and John 14:12 (greater works), suggesting inner works are operative.
Neville’s uniqueness: he treats dreams and lucid states as direct laboratories of creation-tools to be deliberately used to impress the subconscious, not merely arenas of entertainment.
How do I record dreams to support imaginal practice?
- Keep your notebook and pen beside the bed and record immediately upon awakening-details fade quickly
- Note time, brief title, emotions, sensory impressions, key images, and any dialogue. Write exactly what you felt; emotion is the key indicator of what the subconscious accepted
- Mark where a dream reflects a rehearsal or confirms an imaginal scene-this helps you recognize signs that your assumption is taking effect. Use the journal actively: (a) Revision - if a dream contains unwanted events or outcomes, rewrite the dream in the journal as if it had unfolded the desired way; rehearse that revision into sleep the next night. Neville’s revision technique is a direct tool for reprogramming impressions. (b) Pattern recognition - track recurring symbols or themes so you can tailor your waking imaginal scenes to address persistent subconscious beliefs. (c) Gratitude notes - when you see thin confirmations in waking life related to your imaginal work, record them to strengthen faith. A useful biblical parallel is Habakkuk 2:2, 'Write the vision, and make it plain'-writing clarifies and impresses the inner vision. Finally, remember Neville’s emphasis that dreams are not random; they are the language of your imagination. Recording them conscientiously gives you evidence and feedback and supplies material to revise and thereby accelerate the outer fulfillment
How can I use the drowsy state before sleep for manifestation?
- Prepare: make your environment quiet, lie down comfortably, and decide on one clear wish. Avoid multi-tasking or rehearsing many wishes
- Relax into the drowsy hypnagogic state by breathing slowly, releasing muscle tension, and letting thought slow. The moment between waking and sleeping is when the gate to the subconscious is most open
- Enter a short, living scene in first-person present tense that implies the wish fulfilled. Use sensory detail and, most importantly, feel it as already real. Neville insists feeling is the secret - the emotion of the wish fulfilled is the seed
- Repeat the same brief scene until you fall asleep in the feeling. If you wake later, resume the same scene
- Finish with a short, internal affirmation in the I‑am style that captures identity rather than longing (for example: 'I am loved and provided for' instead of 'I will be loved'). Practical tips for common blocks: if mental chatter intrudes, count breaths or repeat a short, sensory image; if doubt arises, reduce the scene to one convincing sensory detail and the feeling; if impatience arises, shorten to 1-2 minutes and leave with gratitude. Biblically this practice harmonizes with Mark 11:24 ('believe that you have received'), Luke 17:21 ('the kingdom of God is within you') and Exodus 3:14 (the divine 'I AM' as identity). Neville’s distinctive teaching: this is not positive-thinking wishful thinking; imagination itself is the creative God within you. You do not persuade reality from outside-you assume the inner state of the fulfilled desire and live from it until the outer evidence conforms
What’s a simple bedtime scene to rehearse the wish fulfilled?
- New job: 'I sit at a polished desk in my new office. A colleague extends his hand and says, "Congratulations, we’re happy you joined us." I feel the warm, steady confidence in my chest and taste the celebratory coffee.' End with an internal 'I am grateful and capable.'
- Financial increase: 'I open an email and read the subject line: "Payment processed - funds cleared." I see the balance, breathe out relief, and feel secure warmth in my torso.' Finish with 'I am provided for.'
- Relationship: 'We stand smiling on the porch. He/she steps closer and says, "I love you." I feel complete and peaceful.' Close with 'I am loved.'
What if I fall asleep before finishing the scene-does it still work?
- Start earlier - enter the drowsy state sooner and shorten the scene to one convincing sensory detail plus feeling;
- Use revision: upon waking during the night or in the morning, rehearse the fulfilled scene with feeling and imagine the night unfolded differently. Neville taught that revision of the day and of dreams is a primary method for correcting unfinished or negative impressions. Common blocks causing premature sleep without feeling include anxiety (which pulls you away from the imaginal state) and impatience. To overcome them, relax thoroughly beforehand and be content with a brief, potent feeling rather than a long narrative. Remember Hebrews 11:1 on faith being the substance - the smallest true feeling will carry more weight than a long, doubting rehearsal. Falling asleep in the feeling is not failure; it is the technique’s intended outcome
The Bible Through Neville
Esther 5:8
Titus 2:11
Acts 28:1
Isaiah 33:5
Psalms 34:11
Revelation 9:6
Jude 1:5
Ruth 4:7
Romans 13:5
Joel 1:7
Neville Bible Sparks
Deuteronomy 33:9
Ecclesiastes 1:10
Genesis 12:12
1 Chronicles 15:24
Jeremiah 27:7
Ecclesiastes 4:3
Numbers 7:58
Deuteronomy 11:21
1 Samuel 3:17
Exodus 35:34
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