This is something I tried many years ago and forgot about until recently. This actually works.
Lucid dreams are how we are able to change and guide our dreams while we are asleep. Some people find it much easier than others, if you persist, you will almost certainly succeed.
Robert Waggoner informs us that we don’t have complete control over our dreams. Becoming lucid may provide a window for us to access parts of our mind that we might not be able to access while awake.
Stephen Laberge states that if you cannot recall your dream, you are unlikely to remember it. People who say that they do not dream simply can’t remember their dreams. Getting a good night’s rest is the first step to a good dream recall. After 8 hours of sleep, your first dream is the shortest and can be as little as 10 minutes. Dream periods can last from 45 minutes to an hour long. Our minds seem to have built-in dream erasers, it is always good to recite a mantra to remember your dream or journal as soon as you wake up. Try and write as much detail as possible as most details will be forgotten. Journaling also helps keep track of dream symbols. Dream Symbols represents your feelings, moods, memories or something from your unconscious. Pay attention to the details such as characters, plot, animals, objects, places, emotions, speech, colors and numbers.
One of the side effects of lucid dreaming is occasional insomnia. Dr. Deirdre Barrett asserts that “there is certainly no evidence for it being harmful.” Cindy Marlow agrees but adds that practicing lucid dreaming could potentially be dangerous for people who regularly use drugs “that induce hallucinations.”
Dr Johnson reveals the vast healing and transformative potential of lucid dreaming including:
- Lucid dream imagery
- Resolve nightmares
- Experiment with sexual fantasies
- Try something you can’t do in waking life – fly, walk on water
- Heal traumas
- Improve sports skills
- An experience of a deeper connection with yourself
- Experience feelings of oneness, bliss and a spiritual connection
- Overcome phobias
- Solve problems
- Dreams of deceased loved ones to help the the grieving process
- Learn to be more awake and aware in your waking life
- Have joyful, uplifting lucid dreams and wake up feeling happy
Waggoner mentions a novelist who had a lucid dream in which he asked his own fictional characters to tell him how their story should end. They did, and he revised his manuscript accordingly. When asking yourself something in your dreams, take note how you word your request. Waggoner recounts, ” how an artist asked, ‘Let me look for art that I can create’ – and would spend the entire lucid dream looking ‘for art’. However, when he changed his request to ‘Let me look at art that I can create’ then suddenly artwork would appear on a nearby wall. The artist would then paint that exact picture in the morning. Success occurred when he properly worded his request”. Waggoner says, ” it’s helpful to repeat to yourself in your dream, this is a dream, because you always run the risk of slipping back into a non-lucid state”
This is what worked for me but there are other methods discussed below.
- Choose something you might want to ask your subconscious like, show me something important I need to see or how can I communicate with my colleagues more effectively.
- Write this on a piece of paper 5 times, fold it up and put it under your pillow.
- Relax in your bed, make sure you are completely comfortable, and repeat 5 times what you wrote on the piece of paper.
- Then repeat 10 times, I will remember my dream, I will remember my dream…
- Visualize what you wrote on the peace of paper, while repeating, I will remember my dream until you fall asleep.
Asking a question is programming your subconscious to respond with an answer. If you can, try and picture your request. Repeating the manta drills the information into your head.
Here are a few more lucid dream methods:
Wake-back-to-bed
This method involves waking up very early and then letting yourself go back to sleep. REM sleep is where most of your dreaming happens just before you are about to wake up. What you need to do is wake yourself up 2-3 hours before you normally wake up with an alarm clock. You need to make sure you are awake and thinking clearly without moving your body. Focus on the dream you would like to have.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams
Journal your dreams in the mornings. You then create reality checks during your waking day. This will distinguish if you are dreaming or not. This is an example of a reality check. Start by asking if you’re dreaming. Then a few times a day, look carefully in a mirror, if you are dreaming you will notice some weird details around you or even in your face and body. As you fall asleep, this involves repeating a mantra like “the next time Im dreaming, I will remember my dream, or next time I go to sleep, I will lucid dream.”
Auto Suggestion
This technique is simply repeating to yourself, throughout the day and most importantly, before sleeping, that you are going to have a lucid dream. Repeat this until you fall asleep.
Wake-Initiation of Lucid Dreams
The best time to practice wake-initiation of lucid dreams is after 4-6 hours of sleep. This is a Tibetan Dream Yoga, which is a Buddhist philosophy used as a path to enlightenment. This practice is easier if you meditate frequently. To begin, your body should already be very relaxed. Empty your mind and picture complete blackness, as a thought pops into your mind, observe the thought and let it pass through. Focus on your breathing. As you drift into sleep, you will notice light patterns behind your eyelids, hold onto your conscious awareness. Start repeating the mantra: “I’m dreaming… I’m dreaming… I’m dreaming…” Don’t be tempted to fall asleep, if you feel the dream state coming on, start visualizing what you would like to dream. While your mind is absorbed in vivid daydreams, then allow your body to fall asleep.
Cycle Adjustment
In the first 7 days, aim to fix your circadian rhythms by waking up at the same specific time. Set your alarm clock 90 minutes before your normal wake up time. The second week, alternate your wake-up time. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday return to your historic wake up time. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, set your alarm clock 90 minutes before your normal wake up time. The technique is that you are most likely to lucid dream in the second week at your historic wake up time.
If anyone has any lucid dream experiences or know any other techniques, I would love to hear them. Leave a comment.
Sweet dreams!
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Body of Brilliance 
Very good and informative stuff about them lucid dreams indeed!
I remember all of my lucid dreams even years after they occurred. And in many dreams I question, “Am I awake or is this a dream!?”
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Thank you so much for your reply, Im really pleased that you enjoyed the blog post.
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I do this mainly in mid dream, if a dream is going a way I don’t like. Or I wake up and go back to sleep and continue the dream in a way that pleases me more. Luckily, most of my dreams are happy ones. Fascinating,isn’t it?
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Hi Rachel, thank you so much for reading my post and taking the time to comment with your experience. It really is fascinating. 🙂
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