Lucid Dreamer Tactics Explained
You’ve heard about lucid dreaming and you’re sure that it is something you want to try.However, you are at a loss as to how one becomes a lucid dreamer.
It can be helpful to know why you would like to be a lucid dreamer. What do you have to gain from the process? In order to find the profit in lucid dreaming we should begin with the normal dream process.
Sleep itself is not so interesting; you get ready for bed, lie down and close your eyes. Then you may have uncontrolled dreams or not and several hours later you awaken.
Average sleep has a purpose it prepares our minds and bodies to carry out the duties of the next day. However, consider the idea of managing your dreams consciously.
What if there was a way to become a full participant in your dreams? Lead them in the manner in which you alone determine consciously? That my friend is basically what a lucid dreamer does. They control all aspects of their dreams, going where they will and doing whatever they want in the confines of the dream state.
This sounds great the only thing left is the how. You can accomplish lucid dream state in one of two ways. One, you can have a dream initiated lucid dream (DILD); this is where while dreaming you become aware of the fact that you are dreaming. In this way, you bring a level of consciousness into the dream.
The next way is called wake initiated lucid dream (WILD); in this process, you go from wake to sleep stage with no loss of consciousness. To put it more simply you walk through the door from here to your dreams instead of just happening upon them
Now that we know the basic how, what are the fine points to entering either one of these lucid dream realms?
Dream Recall
The easiest place to begin your lucid dream search is in dreams you have already had. When you can remember your dreams, you will be able to recognize when you have that dream again. Many times, we will have the same dream or part of a dream over and over.
The way to practise dream recall is by keeping a dream journal. The dream journal is meant as a tool to write down anything you can remember about your dream, in order to recall it for the future. This should be done right after waking up; otherwise dreams will become harder to remember.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
Developed by renowned lucid dream researcher Dr. Stephen LaBerge, this technique works by telling yourself to recognize a certain object or situation when you see it in your dreams. When you see this object, it triggers the realization that you are in a dreaming, allowing you to begin lucid dreaming.
Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB)
This technique is fairly simple. You set your alarm for just a few hours after you go to bed. When you wake, don’t just go back to sleep. Instead, stay awake for about an hour, then return to sleep.
According to Dr, LaBerge, this method has a 60% success rate. The idea here is to wake yourself in the midst of a REM cycle so that upon returning to sleep, lucid dreaming will be easy to achieve.
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 was described before. If you would like to achieve a lucid dream this way, all you have to do is to keep your mind awake while you body falls asleep. This is perhaps the most interesting way of entering a lucid dream. It is as if you are getting ready to watch a movie. You are in the real world, you sit on your couch, you turn on the TV and press play (starting to sleep), the screen is black (in the same way as when your eyes are closed), and all you have to do is wait for the movie to actually start.
There are any number of ways to keep your mind alert, count, controlled breathing techniques or concentrated relaxation are all great ways to keep the mind alert. It is a bit like hypnotizing your self. This works best if you are not exhausted, try it during an afternoon nap.
Technologies like strobe lights and dreaming masks can also help you to become a lucid dreamer.
Listening to binaural beat frequencies through a head set is the simplest and most consistent way to create a lucid dream.
These work by synchronizing the two hemispheres of the brain and have the effect of almost instantaneously changing your brainwaves to the REM frequency needed for a lucid dream to occur.
Put all or many of these techniques together and you are ready to begin your journey into the wonderful world of lucid dreaming. It is a simple process that anyone can do.