Wouldn?t it be nice to have a lucid dream, to be aware you are dreaming and control what happens? Of course you do, but how does one learn to do this?
Knowing why you have chosen to become a lucid dreamer is important. How can it benefit you personally? To know this we can work backwards from what it considered normal sleep.
How is lucid dreaming different? Have you ever considered the process of sleep before? Every night you make preparations, crawl into bed and go to sleep. You may have dreams or nightmares or all may just be dark for a few hours, it is rather boring isn?t it?
The sleep we normally have fulfills the purpose of allowing us to rest up for the next day.However, what would it be like if you were able to control your dreams? Instead of being a spectator to your dreams, what if you could be an active participant?
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.
All well and good, but how exactly do you become a lucid dreamer? There are two ways of accomplishing this goal. The first method is to have a dream-initiated lucid dream, or DLID. This is where the dreamer becomes aware that they are in fact dreaming and begins to take control over the dream.
Another popular method is to have a wake initiated lucid dream (WILD); this is a straight shot from awake to asleep with no lapse in your consciousness. This is usually achieved by purposefully retaining awareness during the hypnagoogic state, which directly precedes sleep.
How exactly do you induce either one of these lucid dream states?
Dream Recall
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.
Keeping a dream journal is the best way to learn this skill. A dream journal is for writing down anything which you can remember about your dreams for future reference. You should do this immediately after waking up; the longer you wait, the harder it will be to recall.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
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.
Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB)
In this technique, you sleep and set your alarm for only a few hours from the time that you go to bed. Upon awakening, don't go right back to sleep ? stay awake for about an hour, then go back to bed.
Cycle Adjustment Technique
As the name suggests this technique is all about cycling your sleep. Go to bed at your normal time but for a week set an alarm to wake you one and a half hours early. You should continue to do this for around 7 days. Once your body has settled somewhat into this routine, begin to alternate your wake up times. One day normal, wake up time the next early, on your normal days you will be trying to wake up early and should increase lucid dream chances.
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)
Let's get back to this method which is described above. To achieve lucid dreaming, the technique is to try to keep mentally aware even as your body relaxes into a sleep state.Think of it this way ? you are getting ready to watch a movie; your closed eyelids are like the black screen before the movie begins and you are waiting for the trailers to roll.
First, it was cds and DVD?s now we have devices that will help you lucid dream. Masks and other electronic apparatuses can be used to recognize REM sleep and give you a light buzz or light to make you aware that you are dreaming. If you want to increase, your chances of success use the method that has proven to be the best. Using a set of headphones listen to binaural beats at the right sound frequencies during sleep.
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.
With self-hypnosis and a conscious preparedness before you go to sleep anyone can practice lucid dreaming.
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.
Anyone can learn to be a lucid dreamer. Practice the self hypnosis and keep telling yourself when awake that you will be aware when you are dreaming. This will prepare you for your lucid dream experience.
Related Reading:
