Lucid dreaming is defined as becoming conscious that one is dreaming. However, the actual level of awareness can vary – controlling one’s dreams is different and harder. This practice has been around for centuries, since Tibetan Buddhists used yoga to maintain full consciousness in the dream state. With concentration and practice, anyone can learn to lucidly dream.
Why Lucid Dreaming?
There are many reasons that individuals have trained themselves in the practice of conscious dreaming. For those who suffer from nightmares, lucid dreams can help them relax and realize the monster or darkness or evil cannot hurt them. Others use the dreams as a rehearsal for everyday social encounters; they can control and try out different behaviors and personalities. Also, sleep studies have shown that in the dream state, the brain is more easily able to problem-solve in creative ways. Finally, many just appreciate the adventure and excitement one gains from these dreams. Anything is possible, from being a ninja giraffe to finally telling off an obnoxious boss.
How Do You Do It?
The most important prerequisite for lucid dreaming is an impressive skill at remembering dreams. For those who barely recall any details, this is still attainable. Get enough sleep. Practice talking about your dreams as soon as you wake up. Concentrate before you sleep on improving this skill. In fact, say it out loud. This determination will serve you well down the road. Also, a dream journal can prove useful. Writing the dreams down will help solidify them in your mind. Once you can remember one or two dreams per night, you can move on to inducing lucidity.
Next, you have to learn to identify dream signs. These are simply situations or events that would not make sense in the ordinary, awake world. Alternatively, personal dream signs are recurring events within your individual dreams that can help you see a pattern. Device failure is a common one.
Now for the inducing. You must train yourself to perform reality checks and look for dream signs throughout the waking day. Test yourself every few hours to see if things make sense. This will ingrain the practice into your mind and carry over into your unconscious mind state. Otherwise, the dreaming brain will take all extraordinary events that take place during dreams in stride.
Finally, once you have achieved a lucid dream, it is crucial to stay calm and stay conscious. Often, the dream will start fading to black or becoming fuzzy. The easiest way to stop this is something called “dream spinning,” spinning on a single spot. The clarity should return, but continue to remind yourself that it is a dream.
Practice these steps and over time, your skill will develop and you will be able to explore the dream world that you create within your mind. After lucid dreaming is achieved, you can try controlling your dreams.
