Many people want to experience a lucid dream. If you're among them, the first thing you need to think about is how you want to go about learning.
You also need to think about exactly why you want to become a lucid dreamer. What are the benefits of dreaming lucidly? To help us find the benefits, let us first look at 'normal' sleep.
Normal sleep helps us refresh ourselves for the next day. However, when you experience lucid dreaming, you would be able to control the period of time when you were dreaming.
Instead of having to observe passively, you could be the person who leads your dream to be whatever you would like.
Lucid dreamers are in complete control of their dreams. This allows them to explore new worlds in their mind and expand the scope of their dreams. Lucid dreamers can also conscious choose not to have nightmares - they just change the dream.
If you want to become a lucid dreamer, how do you manage it? There are two main ways. The first is what's called a dream initiated lucid dream, or DILD. That's when the dreamer realizes they're dreaming in the middle of a dream, restoring their consciousness without leaving the dreaming state itself.
The second way is having a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD); where the dreamer goes from being awake, to being asleep with no change in consciousness. In other words, the dreamer enters their dream as if it were a door, rather than just "waking up" in a dream.
So, what methods are used to induce both of these kinds of lucid dream experiences?
Dream Recall
If you're interested in lucid dreaming, dream recall is one of the most effective ways of learning to do it. Dream recall is the ability to remember your dreams. If you remember them, you're more likely to be able to recognize them while you're asleep. That's because most of us have the same
dreams or dream elements more than once.
The best way to practice dream recall is through keeping a dream journal. This is a tool in which you write down whatever you can remember about your dream so you can recall it in the future. Do this right after you wake up - dreams are harder to remember the longer you wait.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
This technique was developed by Dr. Stephen LaBerge, one of lucid dreaming's lead scientists. The method used here is telling yourself that you'll remember something in your dream. Once in the dream, you'll see this object, recall what you told yourself, and realize you're dreaming. Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB)
Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB)
To use this process, go to sleep with an alarm set to wake you up five to six hours later. When you wake up, don't go right back to sleep. Instead, do something else, like think about lucid dreaming or read a book, for about an hour. Then go back to bed.
According to Dr. LaBerge, this
technique has a success rate of about sixty percent. That's because you've awakened in the middle of the sleep process, while you're still in the middle of an REM cycle and not completely aware. It's like telling your mind that you're interested in lucid dreaming.
Cycle Adjustment Technique
This was created by Daniel Love, and what it is, is setting your alarm to wake you up an hour and a half before your normal time. Once you've adjusted to waking up early, alternate your alarm to wake you up normally and early. During times you are to wake up normally, you're body will already be ready to wake up early, and therefore, you will be likely to be awake in your dream.
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.
Recent technological advances mean that dreaming masks and other useful devices have been developed. They contain strobe lights and other devices that are believed to induce lucid dreaming.
Technology has moved on in recent years, and there are various devices like dreaming masks and other scientific appliances which contain such things as strobe lights to induce lucid dreams.
One of the easiest, most reliable methods to induce lucid dreaming is by listening to binaural beats and special sound frequencies through headphones.
These work
because they're able to synchronize both brain hemispheres, giving the effect of an almost instantaneous change to the frequency used in REM sleep, which is also necessary for lucid dreaming.
Combined with self affirmations and sessions of self hypnosis, these methods make it easy to become a lucid dreamer. You just need the practice and determination
The Power of Positive Thinking Tags: effective ways, REM sleep, Many people, lead scientists, lucid dream, complete control, useful devices
