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The Lucid Dreaming Experience
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.
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.
Normal sleep is just a method of refreshing ourselves for the busyness of the next day.
However, it could be a lot more interesting if you could control the period of time in
which you're dreaming.
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.
A wake initiated lucid dream or WILD is a state where the person passes almost
immediately from being awake into having a dream, with no period of dreamless sleep in
between. In this way your mind will still be aware of what you are dreaming.
So how are these types of lucid dreaming induced?
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.
Writing down everything you can recall dreaming, this is called keeping a dream journal.
The more you do this the more likely you will be to remember your dreams. If possible
do this as soon as you wake up as this is the time when you will remember the most about
your dreams.
MILD refers to Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams
One of the leading scientists who studies lucid dreaming is Dr Stephen LaBerge. He
developed the MILD system. Keep telling yourself you will remember your dreams.
Think of something in the dream and resolve to remember it. When you see this in your
dream it will remind you that you are dreaming.
Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB)
Go to sleep as usual but only for five or six hours, set your alarm if need be. When you
wake up from this, don’t go back to bed; instead occupy yourself with something to keep
you awake. Think about lucid dreaming or watch some TV. After about an hour go back
to sleep
This technique of learning to lucid dream has a sixty percent success rate according to
Stephen LaBerge. You have waked up during the dream cycle of your sleep which is
referred to as REM. This is like a trigger telling your mind that you want to be aware
when you are dreaming.
Cycle Adjustment Technique
Created by Daniel Love, this method involves setting an alarm to wake you one and a
half hours before your normal wake-up time. Once you get used to this early time,
alternate your alarm between a normal time and the early one. When your alarm is set to
wake you normally, you'll find your body's already ready to wake up early. That makes it
more likely that you'll wake up in your dream, and dream lucidly.
Wake-initiation of Lucid Dreams (WILD)
This method is described above. If you'd like to use it, the thing to do is to keep your
mind awake during the process of your body falling asleep. This is one of the most
interesting ways of entering lucid dreams, and is a lot like watching a movie. Just like
when you're watching a movie, you start in a state of readiness, and prepare yourself.
Then, you'll either hit play or start to fall asleep. The screen and what you see when your
eyes are closed are both black. Just wait for your movie or dream to begin.
There are any number of ways to keep your mind alert, count, controlled breathing
techniques or concentrated relaxation are all great ways to keep the mind alert. It is a bit
like hypnotizing your self. This works best if you are not exhausted, try it during an
afternoon nap.
They now have tools you can use to make it even easier to induce lucid dreams. You can
get dreaming masks and devices with strobe lights to help you get into the right state of
dreaming.
Listening to binaural beat frequencies through a head set is the simplest and most
consistent way to create a lucid dream.
These sounds naturally change your brainwaves and cause you to go into REM sleep
quickly and easily. You will also still be aware so it will be a lucid dream.
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 Being A Lucid Dreamer |
