You've heard about lucid dreaming and you're sure that it is something you want to try.However, you are at a loss as to how one becomes a lucid dreamer.

You may have heard that there are benefits to being a lucid dreamer. This is the case, but to get a clearer picture of what these benefits are, you need to take a look at what usually happens when you go to sleep.

Normally, you lay down and you're out for six to eight hours. Maybe you remember your dreams, maybe not. The usual ? not all that interesting, really.

The human body has a built in requirement for sleep. It rests the body so that we are prepared to continue our lives. Without it, there is strong evidence for insanity. That is all well and good but there is nothing saying we cannot control certain aspects of sleep is there?

What if you could control your dream rather than the other way around? A lucid dreamer is someone who can do exactly that; someone who is not a passenger but a driver of their dreams.

All well and good, but how exactly do you become a lucid dreamer? There are two ways of accomplishing this goal. The first method is to have a dream-initiated lucid dream, or DLID. This is where the dreamer becomes aware that they are in fact dreaming and begins to take control over the dream.

The next way is called wake initiated lucid dream (WILD); in this process, you go from wake to sleep stage with no loss of consciousness. To put it more simply you walk through the door from here to your dreams instead of just happening upon them

What are the steps to begin having these lucid dream experiences?

Recall your dreams

The easiest place to begin your lucid dream search is in dreams you have already had. When you can remember your dreams, you will be able to recognize when you have that dream again. Many times, we will have the same dream or part of a dream over and over.

Keeping a dream journal is the best way to learn this skill. A dream journal is for writing down anything which you can remember about your dreams for future reference. You should do this immediately after waking up; the longer you wait, the harder it will be to recall.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)

Developed by renowned lucid dream researcher Dr. Stephen LaBerge, this technique works by telling yourself to recognize a certain object or situation when you see it in your dreams. When you see this object, it triggers the realization that you are in a dreaming, allowing you to begin lucid dreaming.

Wake Back to Bed or WBTB

In this technique, you sleep and set your alarm for only a few hours from the time that you go to bed. Upon awakening, don't go right back to sleep ? stay awake for about an hour, then go back to bed.

Dr, LaBerge says that his method has a 60% rate of success. Why is this? Basically, you wake in the middle of an REM cycle, so when you return to sleep, you will have a better chance of lucid dreaming.

Cycle Adjustment Technique

Daniel Love came up with this way to accomplish lucid dreaming. Start getting up an hour and a half earlier. After you get used to this, go back to getting up at your usual time. Since you are used to getting up earlier but don?t have to now, your mind is still thinking you are awake, therefore you will be more likely to be aware in your dream.

WILD refers to Wake Initiation of Lucid Dreams

Let's get back to this method which is described above. To achieve lucid dreaming, the technique is to try to keep mentally aware even as your body relaxes into a sleep state.Think of it this way ? you are getting ready to watch a movie; your closed eyelids are like the black screen before the movie begins and you are waiting for the trailers to roll.

First, it was cds and DVD?s now we have devices that will help you lucid dream. Masks and other electronic apparatuses can be used to recognize REM sleep and give you a light buzz or light to make you aware that you are dreaming.

If you want to increase, your chances of success use the method that has proven to be the best. Using a set of headphones listen to binaural beats at the right sound frequencies during sleep.

Try some of the new aids available for inducing lucid dreaming. Dreaming masks, strobe lights and many other things will help to induce a lucid dream.

However, the most reliable method of all is to listen to binaural sound frequencies (also called binaural beats) on headphones.

The purpose is to synchronize both sides of the brain to create the REM frequency that is required for lucid dreaming.

With self affirmations and self hypnosis combined with binaural sound, being a lucid dreamer is a goal which anyone can reach.