Lucid Dreaming + How to induce Lucid dreams

[532]

I was sleeping last night, and I just had a dream where I was aware that I was dreaming. I was able to do practically anything in the dream, being able to teleport and fly.
This is known as a "Lucid Dream", a state in which your subconscious memory is active that is not active at any other time. You will also have a clear memory of what happened in the dream when you wake up. The only thing that limits you in your dream is you imagination. You will be able to find out answers for something awkward/unusual quite differently in your Lucid dream, and you will be astounded by the potential of your subconscious memory.

How to induce a Lucid Dream​

1. During the day, repeatedly ask "Am I dreaming?" and perform some reality checks whenever you remember. With practice, if it happens enough, you will automatically remember it during your dreams and do it.

2.Keep a dream journal. This is perhaps the most important step towards lucid dreaming. Keep it close by your bed at night, and write in it immediately after waking. Or you can keep a recording device if you find it easier to repeat your dream out loud. This helps you recognize your common dream elements (people from your past, specific places, etc.), and also tells your brain that you are serious about remembering your dreams! It will also help you to recognize things that are unique to your dreams. You will be able to recognize your own "dream signs." These will be recurring things or events that you may notice in your dreams.
3.Learn the best time to have a lucid dream. By being aware of your personal sleepschedule, you can arrange your sleep pattern to help induce lucid dreams.

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  • Studies strongly suggest that a nap a few hours after waking in the morning is the most common time to have a lucid dream.
  • Lucid dreams are strongly associated with REM sleep. REM sleep is more abundant just before the final awakening. This means they most commonly occur right before waking up. (Sleep-onset REM is a symptom of narcolepsy. If you have lucid dreams right after falling asleep, you may wish to consider seeking medical advice from a sleep medicine specialist. However, there are studies which show people can recall dreams after being awakened during non-REM sleep).

Dreams usually run in 60-minute (Weiten Psych book 2004) cycles during sleep. If you are working on dream recall, it may be helpful to try waking yourself up during one of these cycles (interrupted dreams are often the ones we remember).
4.
Try Stephen Laberge's mnemonic induction of lucid dreaming (MILD) technique.

• Set your alarm clock to wake you up 4 1/2, 6, or 7 1/2 hours after falling asleep.
• When you are awakened by your alarm clock, try to remember the dream as much as possible.
• When you think you have remembered as much as you can, return to your place of rest, imagining that you are in your previous dream, and becoming aware that you are dreaming. Say to yourself, "I will be aware that I'm dreaming," or something similar. Do this until you think that it has "sunk in." Then go to sleep.
• If random thoughts pop up when you are trying to fall asleep, repeat the imagining, self-suggestion part, and try again. Don't worry if you think it's taking a long time. The longer it takes, the more likely it will 'sink in,' and the more likely you will have a lucid dream. (Works the best for me)

5.Attempt the WBTB (Wake Back To Bed) Technique. This is the most successful technique.

• Set your alarm clock to 5 hours after you fall asleep.
• Fall asleep.
• After you wake up, stay up for an hour with your mind focused on lucidity and lucidity only.
• Go back to sleep using the MILD technique.

6.Get into the habit of doing reality checks. Do at least three reality checks every time something seems out of the ordinary, strongly frustrating, or nonsensical, and that habit will carry on into your dreams. In a dream, these will tell you that you are sleeping, allowing you to become lucid. In order to remember to do reality checks in dreams, you need to establish a habit of doing reality checks in real life. One way to do a reality check is to look for "dream signs" (elements that frequently occur during your dreams, look for these in your dream journal), or things that would not normally exist in real life, and then conduct the reality checks. When these actions become habit, a person will begin to do them in her or his dreams, and can come to the conclusion that he/she is dreaming. Frequently doing reality checks can stabilize dreams. This is also known as DILD (Dream Induced Lucid Dreams). Some tactics include:

• Looking at a digital clock to see if it stays constant;
• Looking at a body of text, looking away, and then looking back to see if it has changed;
• Flipping a light switch;
• Looking in a mirror (your image will most often appear blurry or not appear at all in a dream). However, your figure can be horribly disfigured in a mirror, frightening you into nightmare or a dream.
• Pinching your nose closed and trying to breathe;
• Glancing at your hands, and asking yourself, "am I dreaming?" (when dreaming, you will most often see greater or fewer than five fingers on your hand);
• Jumping in the air; you are usually able to fly during dreams
• Poking yourself; when dreaming, your "flesh" might be more elastic than in real life; a common reality check is pushing your finger through the palm of your hand;
• Try leaning against a wall. In dreams, you will often fall through walls.

These are the most successful ways to induce a Lucid Dream, and if you are having difficulty inducing one, listen to this while you are in bed, trying to sleep:

You will be amazed how much our bodies are capable of even while sleeping.
Happy Lucid Dreaming!

Induction techniques taken from http://www.wikihow.com/Lucid-Dream

 

[D4rkDragon]

Thanks for the info, I will try it this week-end, though I have already experienced lucid dreams without any of the methods above. But if it increases the rate, why not try ?

 

[milesose]

I tried this a long time ago, I was really creeped out by it. I also had a thing that happened to me called 'astral travel' I believe, in which I saw real people move around, talk etc. anywhere I go, I tried imagining places I never been to and the same thing happened. The creepiest part of all is when imagined my room, I could see my own body laying down . It was truly creepy! After some research my mind = blown!

 

[BjFauble]

I've been trying to do this every once and a while but fail. Ah, guess I'll try again...

 

[Moon Rain]

My first step to achieve lucid dreaming is remembering my dreams . When I wake up the first thing I do it trying to remember my dream or anything related to it and write it down. It works pretty well, I remember dreams more often than before

I tried this a long time ago, I was really creeped out by it. I also had a thing that happened to me called 'astral travel' I believe, in which I saw real people move around, talk etc. anywhere I go, I tried imagining places I never been to and the same thing happened. The creepiest part of all is when imagined my room, I could see my own body laying down . It was truly creepy! After some research my mind = blown!

Wow, so it's real??? I did some research about it a few weeks ago, and I didn't know if I should believe it. But did you do anything in particular to manage to do it, or did 'just' happen?

 

[milesose]

Wow, so it's real??? I did some research about it a few weeks ago, and I didn't know if I should believe it. But did you do anything in particular to manage to do it, or did 'just' happen?

I thought it was a messed up dream, with some yellow cords, flying etc. I'm creeped out now

 

[jams3223]

I use to have lucid dreams and some of them are pretty explicit and funny at the time like when i use to be a superhero in my dream or seeing my future.

 

[532]

I use to have lucid dreams and some of them are pretty explicit and funny at the time like when i use to be a superhero in my dream or seeing my future.

Yes, they can be weird. Lucid dreams are basically your subconscious memory recreated in real-time.
They can also be used to solve real-world problems.
Look up Lucid Dream meditation.

 

[Alex]

I dunno about a dream diary. Mine are usually nightmares, and rather sad ones at that. It'd be weird if someone read it.