Lucid Dreaming

Hey Bloggers! Now that you've had a chance to read a personal account of lucid dreaming, I bet you're all pretty anxious to start lucid dreaming yourself!

So, let the lucid dreaming begin!!

We're gonna discuss and go over some of the lucid dreaming techniques, so after following these simple methods, your lucid dreaming experience is nothing but a good night's sleep away!

Let's begin with the Wake-Initiation of Lucid Dream Methods (WILD):

the WILD technique works by recognizing the hypnagogic state--that weird in between state when you're not quite awake and you're not quite asleep--and by keeping your mind alert and conscious during this period, your body slips into sleep while your mind enters straight into a dream state without losing awareness of the fact that you're dreaming.

Step #1 Set your alarm clocks people!!

This technique will first of all be most successful after around 4-7 hours of sleep. Why?? Because this is the time where most of your REM sleep is likely to occur and as you may remember, REM stage of sleep is primarily where all dreams take place!

Step #2 Relax your body and mind.

Relaxation is key to this process! So, after waking yourself up, let go of all the tension and your body. Relax your muscles, relax your mind, and control your breathing. Take nice, slow deep breaths.

As your relaxing, let thoughts and images run through your mind. But do not interact or get involved with them. Stay focused on the task at hand, remind yourself that your goal is to lucid dream. Keep your mind alert as your body drifts into sleep and repeat to yourself "I am Dreaming" over and over again.

Step #3 Enjoy the Hypnagogic State

As you enter the Hypnagogic state, you may see and experience different colors around you, hear different sounds, and feel different sensations. Observe them and enjoy them, this is the precursor to your full-on dream state! but once again don't get too involved. Remain relaxed while still reminding yourself of your intention to lucid dream.

Step#4 Let your body fall asleep

This is the tricky part. The key thing here is to continue to remain relaxed, and let your body fall asleep while your mind is still awake. Stay focused on lucid dreaming. Never lose sight of your plan. Hold onto your consciousness. As your body drifts off, continue to remind yourself on your plans to lucid dream. With practice, your body will fall asleep as you'll enter your dream state, with an alert mind.

As your body falls asleep, you may enter sleep paralysis, but don't get too alarmed! Remember this is a natural process that occurs during sleep. Instead, Relax and enjoy your transition into your dream state.

Step #5 Enter your dream!

Once your body is asleep and a dream is unfolding before you....enter that dream! Observe your dream environment, and experiment with it. Use this time to enjoy your lucid dream! Test your abilities and your control within this state. See what you're capable of!


Hope this helps future Lucid Dreamers!

Next, we're going to discuss the Mnemonic induction of lucid dreams technique (MILD) So, if the WILD technique doesn't quite work for you, the MILD method might just be your thing!

MILD was created by Dr. Stephen Leberge, who is an expert in the field of lucidity.

This technique involves setting an intention to lucid dream, and to remember and recognize signs that you are lucid dreaming.

So how does this work???

First of all Self-awareness is Key to this process!!

Awareness of yourself and the world around you will help up the chances that you will recognize when you are dreaming.

How can you increase your self-awareness??

Dream Recall!

Make it a point to start remembering your dreams. Good dream Recall is key to lucidity! Why? Because you get better awareness about what your dream world looks like! We highly recommend keeping a Dream journal for this.

Dream journals will help increase your ability to recall your dreams and they help you to spot any patterns that your dreams may have.

What’s a good way keep a journal?? We recommend that after waking from a dream, it is best to lie still in your bed and review the dream for a few minutes before writing it down. This will help keep the dream fresh in your mind so that you write down your dream with better accuracy. After reviewing the dream in your head for a few minutes, and once you feel like you’ve got it down, jot down your dream in your journal.

Another good way to increase self-awareness is by Reality Testing.
What’s Reality Testing?

--Reality testing are actions you do to help determine whether you are dreaming or not. For example, a common reality check is to flip light switches. So, if the results of your reality checking (e.g. light switching) are not consistent with what you would expect when you are awake (i.e. nothing changes when you flip the switch) then you can conclude that you are dreaming. The trick is to start reality testing when you’re awake, so that these actions can carry on to your dream world.

Common Reality Tests (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream)

• The finger check: Count the fingers on your hands and the hands of other people. In dreams, a person is likely to have more/less than five fingers on a hand

• Flipping a light switch. In dreams, changes in light are rare.
• Mirror test: Look into a mirror. In dreams, reflections often tend to be distorted, blurred, or inaccurate in some way.
• Digital watch test: Look at a digital watch, look away, and look back. If when you look back, some radical changes have occurred and the numbers or figures look weird and distorted, this is a good indicator that you are dreaming.

After increasing your self-awareness through dream recall and reality checking, the next step is to set the intention to lucid dream.

Set the Intention to Lucid Dream.

While falling asleep repeat to yourself, “I will become aware that I am lucid dreaming.” Over and over again. Remind yourself that you will lucid dream, and remind yourself to reality check and look for other signs and indicators that you are dreaming.

Next, Visualize the dream world.

It helps that while falling asleep, you visualize the dream world and engage in it. Imagine that your are reliving a past dream, and feel yourself connect with your dream environment. Look at your surroundings, touch the objects around you, smell the air. The visualization of your dream world will help you enter lucidity.

Finally, Practice! Practice! Practice!

Lucid dreaming may not happen the first night you try it. It’s important to keep on practicing and persevere. With time you will reap the benefits of your work, so don’t quit! We believe that you could be a lucid dreamer!

So keep going!

=)

-Steph