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Are Lucid Dreamers Real?
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?
You'll need to think about why you want to be a lucid dreamer, as well as the benefits of
it. First, we'll take a look at normal sleeping.
What typically happens is you lay down, you close your eyes and you wake six to eight
hours later – you may or may not remember any dreams you gave had in this time. In and
of itself, not terribly exciting.
We need normal sleep to refresh our minds and bodies, keeping us healthy mentally and
physically. What would happen if you could control the time when you are dreaming?
What if there was a way to become a full participant in your dreams? Lead them in the
manner in which you alone determine consciously? That my friend is basically what a
lucid dreamer does. They control all aspects of their dreams, going where they will and
doing whatever they want in the confines of the dream state.
If you want to become a lucid dreamer, how do you manage it? There are two main
ways. The first is what's called a dream initiated lucid dream, or DILD. That's when the
dreamer realizes they're dreaming in the middle of a dream, restoring their consciousness
without leaving the dreaming state itself.
Method number two is a wake initiated lucid dream, or WILD. This is when the dreamer
begins awake, then goes to being asleep, but without losing consciousness. The dreamer
enters their dream as though via a door, instead of waking up inside a dream he or she is
already having.
How do you go about achieving these two states of lucid dreaming?
Recall your dreams
You will need to learn how to remember your dreams if you want to be able to have lucid
dreams. It is referred to as dream recall, the ability to remember your dreams. If you can
remember your dreams you are more likely to realize when you are dreaming because
many of the dreams you have will be the same or almost the same.
Keep a record of your dreams. You may not remember much at first but write down any
details regardless of how trivial. You will begin to remember more and more as time goes
on. Do this as soon as you wake up when your dreams are still fresh in your mind,
otherwise you will forget as the day goes by.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (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 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.
According to Dr. LaBerge, this technique has a success rate of about sixty percent. That's
because you've awakened in the middle of the sleep process, while you're still in the
middle of an REM cycle and not completely aware. It's like telling your mind that you're
interested in 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.
Wake Initiation of Lucid Dreams or WILD
This technique involves maintaining mental alertness even as your body shuts down for
sleep. Think of it as if you are in a movies theater, with the film soon to begin; your
closed eyelids are like the black screen just before the movie starts.
There are several different ways to hold onto awareness, including imagining going up or
down a flight of stairs, chanting, counting numbers, breaths, or anything else, breathing
control, and muscle relaxation. These and other self-hypnosis methods will give you
something to concentrate on, but don't do this when you're tired, or you may lose
consciousness.
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.
Listening to binaural beat frequencies through a head set is the simplest and most
consistent way to create a lucid dream.
The purpose is to synchronize both sides of the brain to create the REM frequency that is
required for lucid dreaming.
With a combination of self affirmations, self hypnosis and binaural sounds, being a lucid
dreamer is something anyone can do successfully.
The Lucid Dreaming Experience |
