Dreams so real, and not far from reality… with people and places

Similarly, as it is on an elevator, a sleeping spiritual journey is always a ride up, or, a ride down.

What are all the ways to achieve lucid dreaming?

From what I can understand, you are really passionate about Lucid Dreaming. Great! Never lose that. I have been practicing Lucid Dreaming for about 5 years now. I still consider myself a novice. I think it will be best if I would like to share with you my experiences and methods :

First of all keep a dream journal. It is a must. If I may I would like to suggest this app (Yes. 21st century you have apps for everything :D) Dream Moods Dream Dictionary – Android Apps on Google Play. The reason why I like this app is that not only can you write and store your dreams date wise, it automatically links the symbols from your dream journal. So you will be able to understand what are you common dream symbols.
Keeps performing reality checks throughout the day. Reality check is a technique to spot the difference between a dream and waking reality. Like for example you will find it very difficult to count your fingers in a dream. They will either be distorted or there may be a few missing or a few more. So for my reality check I look at my right hand and count the fingers. Then I look away for a few seconds and count them again. The trick is to make it a habit so that you will do it reflexively in your dream. And once that happens you will immediately become lucid. A better way to perform reality checks is to first observe what are your most common dream symbols. Lets say it is a train. So whenever you see a train while awake perform the reality check. How to Use Reality Checks to Have Lucid Dreams
Do not attempt to lucid dream when you are very sleepy. You will simply end up having a nice sleep. That is not what we want right? So when you are attempting lucid dreaming make sure that you are just feeling a bit tired and not too sleepy.

For me, I had some of my best lucid dreams in the afternoon. (Sometimes I took a nap after having lunch). Though they were less vivid than the ones which I had achieved using the WBTB technique. The MILD (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams) technique gave me the best results during these afternoon sessions. Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (The MILD Technique)

You can follow the Wake Back To Bed (WBTB) technique. This is a really powerful technique and is very useful for beginners. So lets discuss it in a bit detail. Wake Back To Bed: Lucid Dream with WBTB
Wake Back To Bed, or the WBTB method, is a variation on the Cycle Adjustment Technique with one key difference: the results are immediate. You can use this method every day of the week, or just on weekends – it’s up to you. The more you practice this lucid dreaming technique, the more lucid dreams you can have. The steps are simple

Step 1 : Go to bed as normal and allow yourself to sleep for six hours. Set your alarm clock or have another early riser wake you up.

Step 2 : After six hours, get out of bed and fully wake yourself up. Find something to occupy your brain to make you alert. Read about lucid dreaming if you want to stay focused on the subject. Stay alert for 20-60 minutes. (Hint: you must get out of bed!)

Step 3 : Go back to bed and relax. If your mind is too alert, practice meditation, listen to brainwave entertainment and/or perform Mnemonic Induction of Lucid dreams. Use your visualization skills to place your mind back in the dreamscape and plan your next lucid dream as you fall asleep.

Ok. Back to where we were. You can also use the WILD technique. Though I have not used this technique much and so will not comment on it I have modified the WILD technique to my advantage which I will explain now.

So now what I am going to discuss is something of a shortcut for me. This may not give you the most vivid lucidity but for me it is easier to achieve. So first I force myself into sleep paralysis (yes, I somehow enjoy sleep paralysis). Once I have induced sleep paralysis, there are basically two paths which I can follow :

Astral Projection using the rope technique (which is a topic for another day! :D)
Lucid Dreaming using the MILD technique.
How to Induce Sleep Paralysis

That is pretty much what I have been able to achieve as a lucid dreamer. Keep practicing. Never give up. It took me about five years to get to where I am now. Have patience and let your imagination take you wherever you desire. Happy dreaming!

[Now– Questions, Questions, Questions!]

What are the benefits of lucid dreaming?

What are the dangers of lucid dreaming?

Have you ever had a lucid dream? How was the experience?

How can we experience lucid dreaming?

How can I lucid dream if I keep forgetting reality checks and I don’t have the motivation for a dream journal?

7 Steps to Start Lucid Dreaming

1. Remember your ordinary dreams.

A lot of people say ‘I don’t dream’, everybody dreams, whilst you may not remember them you still dream. To start remembering your dreams try this simple technique.

Each night before drifting off to sleep repeat the phrase ‘I will remember my dreams as soon as I wake up’. Say this phrase over and over until you fall asleep, after a few days you will start to remember your ordinary dreams.

2. Keep a dream journal

This can be tedious but it’s well worth the effort. Even writing a few short sentences about your dream is enough. This will get you into the habit of remembering your ordinary dreams and to start looking for dream signs within your dreams. It can also be a tool to analyze your thought processes.

3. Pick out dream signs

A lot of your ordinary dreams will have objects or people in them that could act as a cue to you waking up in your dreams. For example if you regularly talk to ‘Elvis’ in your ordinary dreams this is an obvious dream sign and can be used to ask yourself if you are dreaming because you know Elvis is dead.

4. Notice your waking world

To be conscious in your dream world means you have to be conscious in your waking world. That might sound crazy, as you are conscious when you are awake. However what I mean is ‘consciously focused’ . For example you are consciously focused when learning a new task, you are thinking about every action you are taking to get the right steps. When you have learned the new task you no longer have to focus as intently as you did when learning it. Being consciously focused means looking around you and saying what you see, feel, hear, smell and touch and voicing it. This has the added benefit of being in the moment and can help you to inner calmness, it’s almost zen like.

If you start to consciously focus on the world around you, you will carry this over into the dream world.

5. Ask yourself; ‘Am I dreaming?’

Ask yourself just now ‘Am I dreaming?’. Your obvious answer is to say no, of course you are not dreaming. How do you know? Don’t just say; because I know, try and think about why you are not dreaming. For example you could say if I was dreaming I would be able to fly. When you are dreaming you cannot read text for longer than a few seconds, so try reading text to prove to yourself you are not dreaming.

This again will carry over into your dreaming world and you will start asking the same questions in your dreams which can turn into a lucid dream.

6. Your first lucid dream

Many people have their first lucid dream simply by reading about it. You might find that you become over-excited and lose the lucid dream however, you first lucid dream will be remembered for years to come.

7. Staying lucid

I have used different techniques to stay within a dream however by far the best one is calming myself down with self talk and dream spinning. If you find that you are losing your lucidity you can talk to yourself to calm yourself down and just start noticing the things around you in your dream.

Dream spinning is when you feel you are losing control of your dream you mentally spin like a tornado to stay within your dream. This is focusing the mind on staying lucid.

Have you ever had a lucid dream? If you have why not tell us about it by leaving a comment.

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