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Understanding Lucid Dreaming
You want to have a lucid dream. That much you are sure of; however, what you are not at
all sure of is how to go about having one.
You need to know why it is that you want to be a lucid dreamer. Are there benefits to be
gained through lucid dreaming? There are, but to understand them we should first start by
examining normal sleep.
When you go to sleep, you normally get into bed, close your eyes for a length of time,
and then you either dream or aren't conscious of anything for a while before waking up.
Normal sleep isn't very interesting!
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.
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.
WILD refers to a wake initiated lucid dream. You slip into a dream before you are fully
asleep. Instead of going to sleep before you dream you simply enter into the dream with
your mind still conscious.
So how are these types of lucid dreaming induced?
Dream Recall
One of the best ways to begin learning to become a lucid dreamer is by practicing dream
recall. This is simply the ability to remember your dreams. When you remember your
dreams and learn more about the commonalities which can be observed in your dreams, it
is easier to recognize a dream and start to take control over the direction of it.
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.
MILD refers to Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams
Dr Steven LaBerge is a leading scientist who studies lucid dreaming. He was the founder
of MILD. This method involves telling yourself you will remember your dreams or
perhaps an object in the dream. When you see the object while dreaming it will trigger
your mind into knowing you are in a dream.
WBTB refers to Wake Back to Bed
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
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
Developed by Daniel Love, this involves setting your alarm to wake about 90 minutes
earlier than usual; once you acclimate to this, set your alarm to wake you up alternately
early and at the time you used to get up. At those times when you wake up at the usual
time, you'll be accustomed to waking early. This means that you are more likely to lucid
dream during this last hour and a half.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dream! |
