Lucid Dreaming
“It’s the only way to fly.”
Lucid dreaming is the experience of being completely aware within a dream that you are, in fact, in a dream. This realization leads to complete power for the dreamer, allowing him/her to go anywhere and do anything in their dream. You might have had this happen to you once or twice in your life, but chances are the dream didn’t last very long. This is because as soon as people get excited from realizing they have achieved lucidity, they tend to wake up. So how does one avoid this problem, or even have more consistently lucid dreams in the first place? It is a rather long process before one can get good at lucid dreaming, but there is definitely a way to do it if you are committed. After all, why not have fun after you fall asleep too? Make your entire day on continuous adventure!
1) Master Dream Re-Call
Before you can lucid dream, you have to be able to remember that dreams that you have so that you can improve your technique. First, tell yourself before you go to sleep that you WILL remember your dreams. Recite something like “I will remember my dreams tomorrow morning.” This will put the idea in your mind and make recalling easier.
Second, figure out your method for recording your dreams when you do remember them. Whether it be a journal, blog, or podcast, record the entirety of your dream in some concrete way. Documenting your dreams will force you to remember every little detail of the dream and will train your mind to automatically remember. Make sure that you write down your dream immediately after waking up from them or you WILL forget them. The dream record will also allow you to go back and remember dreams from weeks and months ago so that you can look for patterns (which will help you attain consistent lucidity).
If you are having trouble remembering dreams even with these methods, you can set alarms to wake you up during your REM sleep cycle so that you will always wake up during your dream. Sleep cycles are 90 minutes long on average and REM sleep occurs at the end of the cycle. So if you set your alarm for any 90 minute interval after you fall asleep, you will most likely end up waking up during a dream, making it easier to remember.
2) Carry Over Some Consciousness
Pick a night when you are so tired that you will fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed…but don’t. Lie on your back with your arms at your side and keep your eyes open for as long as possible. Don’t jerk them open; you’re not trying to stay awake, only to keep your eyes open. Eventually you will fall asleep without even realizing it. For some reason this will make you more conscious when you begin to dream, making it easier to go lucid. Do this over and over and you will get results soon enough. After all, what better things do you have to do when trying to fall asleep?
3) Reality Checks
If step 2 isn’t allowing you to go lucid, try reality checks. This is accomplished by establishing a pattern of reality checks throughout your day (yes, when you are awake) so that you will naturally check if you are dreaming when you are asleep. You can check if you are dreaming in countless ways ranging from pinching yourself, checking if your watch is on or even checking how high you can jump. As stupid as this sounds when you are awake, you have to take it seriously or you will not take your reality check seriously in your dreams either. Check if you are dreaming at regular intervals to keep yourself in check until it becomes part of your routine. At that point, you will almost be ready to lucid dream.
4) Final Tips
- Practice meditation so that you can get used to being in an altered state of mind and become more comfortable with lucid
- If you can feel yourself losing the dream, start to spin around and the dream will usually become clear again. This also works to get out of nightmares because spinning around can reset the surroundings of your dream.
- Know what you want to do first when you begin lucid dreaming so that you will not waste your lucidity thinking of what you want to try ex. flying, visiting other planets, time travel, etc.
- 5-HTP, a natural dietary supplement that aids in serotonin production, has been proven to make lucid dreams more common and more vivid
- There are some binaural beats that assist in inducing lucidity by bringing your brain to the lucid frequency that you can download for free via torrents. Just search “lucid dreaming” in the audio section of your preferred torrent search engine. There are also step-by-step walkthroughs available if you are having exceptional trouble achieving lucidity
Stuff To Do In Your Dreams
** Remember that you can do ANYTHING in your dreams and that dreams are directly linked with your subconscious, so lucid dreaming can lead you to some crazy discoveries about yourself **
- Fly through the sky, to another planet, to another dimension
- Spend a night with your favorite celebrity, past or present
- Call yourself from your cell phone and ask important questions, you will get answers
- Go to heaven or hell and have a look around
- Be a superhero and save the world from Hilary Clinton!
What would you do if you found yourself in a lucid dream tonight?
andreshim said on 06.09.2010
wooww the post is really informative, and i´ll try it out to see if I can lucid dream xD thanks!
Wade said on 07.06.2010
To start off I really love your site and I admire how you present your ideas and address opposition (especially on the page about LSD and Mushrooms). But about lucid dreaming, I’ve always wished I could but it seems too long and in depth of a process to do on my own and I don’t know of any other resources than the do-it-yourself instruction online. However, I’ve never really given it an honest attempt so how can I be sure? Anyway, your post has inspired me to give it a shot and if you have any other good resources I’d love to check those out too.
Thanks, Wade.
Stephen said on 08.07.2010
I always wanted to be able to do this. But never succeeded. Although this made me want to try again.
Chasing dreams said on 05.16.2011
It isn’t as hard as it seems. Give it a try with your eyes open. Think about something that you want or something that relaxes. It will slowly become a habit. Then, try it with your eyes closed…you won’t be able to stop. =)
Aaron L. said on 08.10.2010
It would be awesome if you could add some notes about what Lucid Dreaming is like during alternate sleep patterns.
Thanks!
MsKisa said on 06.29.2012
I was unable to lucid dream during the 6 months of the everyman sleep cycle I was on. I was able to 4 times in a about a year prior to that. I went back to 8 hours a night because no one around me practiced alternate sleep cycles and I found myself procrastinating with the extra time instead of working on something useful. I have not tried to lucid dream after switching back but I think it’s about that time.
ethan said on 08.10.2010
try dream views .com they have lots of great info on this topic.
Anthony said on 08.30.2010
Hi, I stumbled here. Ive had a few lucid dreams myself. I found that I was having trouble sleeping years ago when I was in my early teens and had bad dreams. I used to lie in bed at night on my back and tell myself that “I am going to sleep now” and “I will have a good dream tonight”. I repeated this until I fell asleep.
I was able to control my dreams and I didnt know there was a name for it. The only problem Ive had with this is, when I wake up, it feels like I did not sleep all night. I was not well rested at all. You are turning your night sleep into a “daydream” if that makes any sense, so your rest will follow.
Gord said on 09.02.2010
i’ve tried supplements of melatonin and found an increase in recalled dreams and intensity. i also find I get incredibly good sleep, and can adjust from shift work changes much easier.
Ash said on 09.13.2010
I experienced lucid dreaming a couple of times before “accidently” …
and i am capable of remebering my dreams almost everyday…
BUT i never take action in my dreams , ie. i always go with the flow !!
i wish i can fix this
any help ?
Uly said on 09.25.2010
I have lucid dreams ALL the time.I never knew that there was a name for though. It really is awesome, I hope you guys get a chance to experience it.
dom said on 10.30.2010
Okay. Easiest way to have a lucid dream. I tried this just this morning and had three consecutive lucid dreams:
Preparation- Use a program like audacity to create an mp3 of short alarms which ring every 3-4 minutes.
*you can download Nicholas Newport’s pre-made mp3′s from lucidology.com if you enter you email. This is also where I got all my information.
Go to sleep at 9 or 10, and set your alarm for 4:30, 5ish. You can stay up for 45 minutes or so like most people recommend, but this morning i just sat in bed for a few minutes and then put my headphones on.
Play the mp3 and fall asleep. Make sure there is an adequate amount of silence before the alarms so you can fall asleep (I had to edit some of Nick’s).
Once you fall asleep, you should begin dreaming. You will most likely not become lucid and I even had a dream about getting ready to have lucid dreams. haha. However, you should be able to recall this dream vividly when you wake up.
Next, an alarm will wake you up. DON’T MOVE. AT ALL. Not even your eyes. Try not to change your breathing. You may feel paralyzed, but if you change your breathing in any way you will be able to move easily. But you DON’T WANT TO.
If you manage to keep perfectly still for just a few seconds it will feel like your body goes numb but then you the sensation that you have a body, and you feel like you’re in your head. You may feel a “rushing” feeling. I experienced a variety of bizarre sensations between lucid dreams, keep in mind you’re not supposed to be conscious while falling asleep :) but in this case you are.
As soon as you “wake up” you’ll be in a dream. This is a really interesting feeling the first time you have it, because you can remember perfectly how the dream started. You will be in complete control, and you can do whatever you want for what feels like 45 minutes before the next timer wakes you up (assuming your intervals are 3-4 minutes).
You will be awoken by the timer, and you should feel the same as you did before. Just dont move and you should fall into another lucid dream.
One interesting experience you may have is “waking up” in your bedroom, which is really another lucid dream. Try a reality check to see if you’re really awake in your bedroom or if you’re in another lucid dream. I wasted valuable “lucid time” this morning thinking I was awake, and walking around my bedroom until I realized (because my dog, who usually sleeps in my room, was not present) that I was in another dream! You may wake up into several dreams before you wake up. Keeping that in mind will help you score some “bonus” lucid dreams.
That’s just about it. haha. lengthy comment, but I hope it helps everyone start having lucid dreams :)
Jordan said on 11.04.2010
Thanks for the good instruction, Dom. I tried out Newport’s trial material and that looks like the best program on the market today, especially with that timer. I never actually bought the whole thing bc I had already become good at lucid dreaming, but it looks promising.
JP said on 11.05.2010
Not often commented on is just how extremely good the ‘sound and vision’ actually is. In fact in my experience it is at least as good as real life, and somewhat enhanced in some respects. I have had lots of lucid dreams over the years and being of a somewhat scientific mind type I always initially study the ‘environment’ within the dream. What is quite amazing is the level of seemingly perfect virtuality that we can create in our imagination. This includes the level of detail down to the micro level of what you would normally see with a magnifying glass, and real life detailed scenarios of natural landscapes including grassy banks with flowers and all moving lifelike in a breeze. Sounds also seem very natural. A difficulty often seems to occur when attempting to speak, but this does not prevent speaking, just makes it difficult. A feature that I have noticed is that the dream while being controlled to some extent by myself often behaves independently. An example of this was when trying to get a small group of people interested in a flying example I wanted to show them (jumping off a high wall in a garden and flying over their heads). I had to shout at them before they would pay attention and even articulated hat it actually was my dream so could they please pay attention… which was quite amusing even within the dream! Interestingly they appreciated the flying and clapped their approval – which surprised me as I was not expecting it – as I say who’s dream is it? And yes, I can confirm that when you hit the ground hard it does seem to hurt (at least somewhat)!
I believe that the really interesting point here is that we clearly have the capability to create a fantastically good virtual representation of real life and perhaps beyond what we have actually experienced. What does this mean for future technology – presumably tapping into this ‘dream’ world will become increasingly easy and attainable, joining them together (likely we all use similar functions that may be linked)? Perhaps even recording from neural senses/brain activity the ‘moving pictures’ within the dream? Interfacing with modern computer technology to create a fully enabled virtual reality? And perhaps we can learn a lot more about animal behaviour and their level of ‘intelligence’ from watching their dreams?
JP
arvind said on 11.08.2010
I have lucid dreams many time.I never knew that there was a name for though.
And i can also pause/play my dreams sometimes.
Jelly said on 05.13.2011
@arvind yeah ive had similar experiences. once, i had a dream and didnt really like it and so i rewound until close to the bgining and re-dreamed it another way.
Rob said on 11.25.2010
Great post, I would like to rid the world of people who are threatened by smart women like Hillary Clinton.
Rob
Funk Masta Flex said on 12.27.2010
i just had my first lucid dream.. and holy fuck was it awsome. im not to proud of of the things i did within the dream for they seemed to be coming from some dark desires within my conscience. i agree with JP in that the dream seems to operate independtely even tho i was completly aware that i was in fact dreaming. thanks for the tips, im gunna buy some 5 htp and get my reality checks going asap
Peace And Love said on 05.07.2011
Just epic Bob Dylan quote that’s totally on topic
“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”
Jelly said on 05.13.2011
I lucid dream quite often. I didnt know it was uncommon until the last year or so. My favorite happened a few months ago. I dreamed that someone revealed to me the secret of dreams (which of course i dont remember) and then theres a blur of memory, next thing i know me and a few friends have stolen a car and are about to be arrested. i decide i dont like the way the dream is going. so i go grab my cell phone and call my boyfriend and tell him to wake me up. he laughs and says okay. and then i woke up. haha. I havent had too much control over my dreams. Not much more than the above example. Im sure over time it will gather intesity.
Pheazoid said on 05.16.2011
I used to work at IKEA a few years ago and was made redundant when the store closed down. I actually had a crazy lucid dream that I was working there and helping a customer when I stopped mid-sentence in speaking to her, looked at her and said “you’re not real, this is just a dream”. And she snapped at me and said “YES, I AM REAL!” and I asked “are you really?” I thought it would be funny to mess around with her, so I poked my fingers into her eyes and made them come out of her ears. Then I opened up her mouth and looked at her teeth and they all had faces and a life of their own. They were chatting and laughing amongst each other with the kind of voices that are only possible after sucking in helium and talking in that high pitched voice and they all looked up at me at the same time. It was bizarre!
Midnight said on 05.18.2011
Lol what if you go into a lucid dream with a reality setting? I guess one way to find out is to fly? :D How to fly though :))
Jelly said on 05.19.2011
There is an art, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. … Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.
Ryan McCann said on 10.18.2011
Nice Hitchhiker’s Guide reference haha.
Madeleine said on 06.05.2011
I think there may be some connection here with night terrors. I’ve suffered from them for years, but came up with a sort of self treatment that has worked for me. Since my night terrors often involve thinking someone is standing over me, I tell myself before going to sleep “there is nothing there. there is no reason to scream.” I repeat this over and over again while staring at the spot beside my bed.
I believe that I’m able to recall this somehow during my sleep. This is confusing I know. When you have night terrors others think you’re awake, but you’re really NOT awake. And you don’t typically remember anything that happened until someone reminds you about your screaming the night before. Usually, a faint memory will surface that point.
Anyhow, I think being able to tell yourself that there’s nothing there during the dream or night terror is sort of like lucid dreaming, but not nearly as cool of course.
brendan said on 07.15.2011
I had a luicit dream a long time ago when i was like 12 i am 14 now so 2 years. but back to the point. in my dream when i realised it was a dream, i do not recall how i knew i was sleeping but when i did i found some of my family in my house, in the front room. i said to them you guys know this is a dream right? my sister relplyed saying this ” What? No this is not a dream kiddo” and my mom said ” are you felling okay?” and my grandfather said “How do you know if this is a dream?” i said back to him ” I dont know i just feel it, like a felling i am not realy here.” Then i went outside and said to myself, this is a dream? then i said out loud teleport to gamestop. and what do you know i was at the gamestop. i had no idea what gamestop i was at. the place had a glass entrance with a pushopen door, The counter to the right when you walk in and a gamelooker thing right next to it. then i woke up. stupid alarm clock lol. i am going to try and have another tonight ill let yah know. my e-mail Brendan14214@hotmail.com if you want to hear my new dreams if i have any just email me. :p
joshua said on 07.21.2011
Several months ago i was trying this, then i stopped, but when i did, i always told my friends how it was awesome, and cmon lets be honest, sometimes if i really wanted to, i’d just go have sex in the dream, im a teenager, and its more fun to be honest anyways!!! Nice article, this summed it up better than any other google site i tried, time to start getting into practice again!
Tristan Struthers said on 09.01.2011
I was able to lucid dream a while ago by doing reality checks constantly in real life and making it a habit, which made me reality check in a dream. A good reality check in a dream is to try to push your fingers of your right hand through your left hand. Obviously if they go through it is a dream. It has worked for me before. Good luck…
Lisa said on 09.17.2011
Vivid dreamindg (not lucid dreaming) has happened 6-7 times in my life so far, and each time I wake up feeling amazed that what I thought was real life, in reality, was only a dream! So I’ve started doing these little experiments to see if I can tell the difference (checking the date/time, looking in a mirror, checking my 5 senses, and knowing my name), but so far, none of these strategies have worked. I thought I was awake only to eventually wake up. Only when I realize I must be dreaming, due to an illogical situation in my perceived world, do I instantly wake up. However, I recently read that checking to see if breathing is taking place can do the trick, so I’m anxiously waiting for my next vivid dream to conduct this experiment! Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who submitted ideas (such as pushing your fingers together). Can’t wait to try those as well! Thanks! :)
Victor Antunez said on 10.18.2011
What has Hillary (2 l’s) Clinton ever done to you?
Danny Lowell Thompson said on 11.20.2011
I will lucid dream anytime I sleep on my back. Anytime!
Brian said on 11.22.2011
I’ve always had an overactive imagination. A fan of Dragonball Z and the Star Wars Saga, I always check to see if I can shoot energy from my hands or if I have a lightsaber attached to my belt, and even though they sound stupid and childish, the reality checks work!
Kevin said on 12.04.2011
I’ve been trying to go lucid for over a month now but haven’t managed do it yet. I have came close numerous times but each time I get too excited and wake up.
Brad Carruthers said on 01.05.2012
This is great, I used to lucid dream every now and then when I was a kid, always used to just get bored of whatever was happening in my dream, literally flap my arms and off I was, flying high above my neighbourhood and so on.
Extremely excited to see if I can get back into it, thanks so much to Jordan and everyone else who’s has shared their experiences or given advice!
By the way, anyone ever had the same dream twice or multiple times? That also used to happen to me when I was younger…
Ryan said on 01.22.2012
funny that someone else has made the connection between night terrors and lucid dreaming aswell. I began lucid dreaming when i gotfed up with nightmares and thought everytime i went to bed that i would know its fake from fear. It worked and results were hilarious, whatever the evil or scary thing was would cower from my angry shout and then would be humiliated as I and others in my dream laughed at it. I once felt sympathy for this demon I made cry and ended up having a long talk with him haha
amanda said on 02.04.2012
I stumbled here, but find this somewhat helpful for those looking for control during their sleeping hours for whatever reason. I have been lucid dreaming for years now and it was surprisingly easy. I started by learning a few simple tricks like that you can’t read in your dreams. If you look at a book or something in your dream you will notice that you can’t really read it. The words and letters will be all jumbled. Same with the numbers on a clock. Another trick is knowing that something is off. I sometimes will see my mother in what seems like a completely natural setting. Problem is that she passed on back in Sept. 2000. You just have to know what to look for. Sometimes it causes problems because I am trying to actually get up for the morning, and it just happens to be one of those mornings when you just can’t get up and I keep falling asleep. Then I end up in a never ending loop of “waking”, which can be a real pain by the way if you don’t have the alarm set or someone to get you up (or a hubby that decided that particular morning to let you sleep in -_-).
Joris said on 02.12.2012
Checking my watch regularly, even though I don’t wear one. Is this a good reality check, because I expect that when I dream there will be one on my wrist
minxedup said on 03.30.2012
Oh yay…. I’ve been lucid dreaming for years… I induced the first one with herbal sleep remedies and vitamin b12 and since then my brain recognises a lucid dream and just goes with it… its pretty amazing!
Em said on 05.07.2012
Great post, you have very nice ways to express yourself.
Missy_ho_ha said on 05.26.2012
wow I would love to try this *first priority* LUCID DREAM!!!! can’t wait till I fly
Missy_ho_ha said on 05.26.2012
actually when I was little I lucid dreamed for a little while I looked up saw my cupboard and started rising up towards it I don’t recall anything after that
tanxiyue said on 05.28.2012
http://www.bigwomenhandbags.com
have a nice day.
Artem Down said on 06.03.2012
I’ve lucid dreamt 3 times in my life accidentally. One time I was trying to get around the side of an iceberg and was very close to falling but realized that I wouldn’t die if I fell since I was in a dream. Then the lucidity started and I was amazed at the reality of the dream so I looked very close at the snow/ice and saw the snowflakes and the little bits of dirt. It was awesome, but then I woke up :(
LucidDreamer said on 06.10.2012
This will sound completely improbable but I nearly always seem to lucid dream. I’m only 14 yet I have around 3 or 4 dreams each night in which I am fully aware and can always remember vividly when I wake up. I didn’t know that the fact that I can control my dreams was anything different to that of any other person as I always knew that it’s all in my mind, and I can control my mind while conscious, so I always thought it was just as normal to be able to control my mind whilst sleeping. After reading this article, I think I’ve found a deeper meaning to my unconscious mind. I also realise why I love sleeping and it’s because I have complete control over my dreams. I can do what I want, think what I want and whatever I think of will happen. And whenever I have a nightmare, I’ve got into the routine of looking for a window and flying out of it (while dreaming) and I often wonder whether this has a deeper meaning, maybe that I long for freedom or that I always seem to find a way to run from the darkness into the light. I have quite a successful life so far and am always proud of myself and my achievements, always reaching for what I want and get it, just like in my dreams. but sometimes I feel that karma will turn it around and I will never ‘find the window’ to my darkest of problems. I’m only 14 and never really thought about this before, but this was an awesome experience. but can anyone give me their thoughts on this? Because now I feel a little different about how happy I am because it almost seems like it’s lasting too long.
Lucid1 said on 06.17.2012
I am 14 I lucid dream every night! I have been doing this since I was 5 when I dremt of tweety-bird running on the electricity wires and he would be pulled back always. Then one day I found out a way for tweety-bird to continue on I could control everyone of my dreams! I thought I was like everyone else! That I could controll all my dreams! but when my grade 1 teacher asked the class to draw our dreams I saw what everyone elses dreams were different because they said they woke up scared or there alarm woke them up and I noticed I controlled everything in my dream. Now that I am older Its abit different …Hormones!! I can include whoever or whatever I want in my dreams usually things from books! Like charecters or bits from the storyline. I also wonder that if lucid dreaming can affect the hours of sleep I get as I dont seem to black out till at least midnight or early in the morning when I go to bed at 9? Does anyone else seem to have problems sleeping that also lucid dreams alot?
Razique said on 08.29.2012
That technique works great. You just need to make sur to find a comfortable position in the first place ; not to have the urge to move a member, which would quite quickly stop the REM process to slowly start
ageattack said on 05.11.2013
This is an interesting article. The only thing wrong about it is that you cannot do ANYTHING you want in a dream. You can’t, for instance, fly if you have never seen the ground from a bird’s eye view. The reason for that is that the brain cannot create something, it has never seen,. It may seem like you are creating something completely new, but in reality it is merely a compilation of multiple things you have seen. Try to imagine a new color for example. You can’t.