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Another Night, Another Lucid Dream!
You have decided you want to be a lucid dreamer, otherwise known as a conscious
dreamer. Knowing what you would like to do is good, the question remains on how do
you accomplish this?
So, what is so good about being a lucid dreamer? What would you gain from it? In order
to understand the advantages of being aware when you are dreaming, we need to examine
what regular sleep actually is.
You go to bed and sleep, and then you wake up. Maybe you remember fragments of a
dream or an entire dream; maybe you don’t remember dreaming at all. This adds up to a
pretty boring experience.
The sleep we normally have fulfills the purpose of allowing us to rest up for the next day.
However, what would it be like if you were able to control your dreams?
Instead of being a spectator to your dreams, what if you could be an active participant?
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.
How does a person train themselves to be a lucid dreamer? A dream initiated lucid dream
or DILD is when the dreamer realizes he or she is dreaming. When you are having a
dream and know you are dreaming, you are having a lucid 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
So how are these types of lucid dreaming induced?
Dream Recall
Remembering your dreams is the first step; this is known as dream recall. It will help you
to realize when you are in a dream because we often have the same dreams and see the
same or similar objects in our dreams. This is one of the best ways to learn the art of lucid
dreaming.
The best way to remember your dreams is of course to write them down. Keep a pen and
pad by the bed and immediately upon waking from a dream write it down. The reason
you want to write it immediately upon waking is so you do not forget any part of the
dream. Dreams tend to fade from our conscious mind rather quickly.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams or MILD
This technique was developed by Dr. Stephen LaBerge, one of the lead scientists in the
field of lucid dreaming. To use this method, just tell yourself about an object or element
that you will remember. When you dream, there's a good chance you'll see this element,
then realize that you're dreaming.
Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB)
This simple process has you taking no action except to set an alarm that will waken you
in less time than you normally sleep. For most of us about five or six hours will do it.
After the alarm awakens you do not try to fall back to sleep. For about an hour you
should read, watch TV or concentrate on lucid dreaming then go back to sleep.
According to Dr, LaBerge, this method has a 60% success rate. The idea here is to wake
yourself in the midst of a REM cycle so that upon returning to sleep, lucid dreaming will
be easy to achieve.
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.
Wake-initiation of Lucid Dreams (WILD)
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.
You need to stay aware; it is a lot like self hypnosis. This is not a good exercise to try
when you are tired as your mind may not stay as aware. Try to focus on things that
require brain activity such as doing math puzzles, jogging or anything to keep your mind
active. Breathe evenly and focus on relaxing every part of your body.
Like many other areas of our life, technology has made its mark. Today you can find
several electronic devices that can aid you in inducing lucid dreams. There are masks that
can detect when you enter REM sleep then use a vibration, sound or small lights to
induce lucidity.
Listening to binaural beat frequencies through a head set is the simplest and most
consistent way to create a lucid dream.
Binaural beats induce lucid dreaming by causing the hemispheres of your brain to work
synchronously, making your brainwaves shift to the frequency required for lucid
dreaming.
Keep telling yourself to remember your dreams and be aware when you are dreaming. Do
the self hypnosis technique often. Before long you will be experiencing lucid dreams.
The Joys Of Lucid Dreaming - Be Awake While You Sleep! |
