How To Have a Lucid Dream
What are Lucid Dreams? Lucid Dreaming
The earliest recorded lucid dreams date back to the fifth century, the record came from a written letter by St. Augustine in 415 A.D. Another well-known recorded example of lucid dreaming came from eight century Tibetan Buddhists in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Buddhists wrote of a form of yoga designed to maintain full waking consciousness while in the dream state. This ancient documentation of dreams is said to be more advanced than the knowledge we posses today.
People have been having lucid dreams for as long as the human mind has been dreaming. The first known use of the actual term “lucid dreaming” was by Frederik van Eeden in his work “A Study of Dreams” which was published in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research in 1913. (Van Eeden also wrote the novel The Bride of Dreams). Since then the term has become part of our mainstream.
Steps to Lucid Dreaming
I don’t dream, have you ever heard someone say this? Or have you even said this yourself? It is not a true statement, everybody dreams nightly, but some people do not remember their dreams. The first step in learning to have lucid dreams, like in my Intuition article, is have the desire to want to remember your dreams. Now before going to bed, have a clear mind, tell yourself that “I will remember my dream when I wake up. This is a proven and effective way to help dream recall. Having a cluttered mind or worries can distract you from remembering your dream in the morning.
Have a regular sleep schedule, try and get a routine going with a consistent bedtime and wake up time, this will also aid you in your dream recollection. Avoid alcohol consumption or taking medication before going to bed. These things may hinder you from remembering your dreams. Diet also plays a big part in dream recall, fatty foods or just eating right before you go to bed will task your body with digesting food instead of getting the rest your body needs and will divert your bodily resources from the brain.
The most important step in recalling your dreams is to keep a dream journal. Keep a pencil and a notebook or tape recorder next to your bed so that it will be within reach as soon as you wake up. You want to make the task of recording your dreams as easy as possible. Having a small lamp by your bed will help if you wake up from a dream in the middle of the night and need to record it.
Do not get out of bed immediately when you wake up, lay there in your bed keeping your eyes closed and move as little as possible. Wake up slowly and stay relaxed, hold on to your feelings you have and let your mind wander to the images of what you have just dreamed, write down as many details as possible about your dream, do not judge the content, just record it, so later you can go back and evaluate it when you are more aware. Talking to people about your dreams to friends or participating in some on-line forums will also help dream recall.
Once you get your dream journal going and are able to recall at least two dreams a night then you can start the steps to having a lucid dream. There are many ways to key yourself to the fact that you are dreaming but I will discuss a couple of the easiest for beginners. First there is Reality Testing (RT).
How reality testing is done, is you ask yourself Am I dreaming? Finding that out in a dream is not always the easiest thing to do, but is usually quite obvious if you are dreaming or not. If you find yourself in an unfamiliar place, or doing something or seeing something that will not likely happen in reality, you will know that you are dreaming. Now if you are in your bed or in your own house, then you can try looking at something like a clock or reading a book or something, look away, then look back and see if the time is the same or the words you read are the same. Try changing the color of something just by thinking about it. Ask yourself this question Am I dreaming? Several times during the day, then you will be more apt to ask yourself this in a dream.
The second way to realize that you are dreaming in a dream is to recognize a Dreamsign. When your recognize this dreamsign you will realize that you are dreaming. (ie. A pink elephant, meeting deceased people, or magically flying.) By keeping a dream journal and going back and finding things that are common in your dreams, you can choose a dreamsign that is unique to you. So when you see your dreamsign you will realize your experience as a dream, and can then further the experiments or work you would like to do in your dream.
Upon becoming Lucid
The biggest problem upon becoming lucid for newbies is that once they realize they are dreaming, they get so excited that it wakes them from their dream. Actually experienced lucid dreamers can have this problem also.
There are different ways to extend your dreams, if your dream shows signs of ending some people have claimed success by spinning to help the dream come back, in other words making their dream self start to spin like an ice skater, and remind yourself the next scene will be a dream, to ensure you are still dreaming do a RT. Sometimes just running, or jumping can prolong your dream. Once you become proficient in achieving a Lucid Dream state, and are able to maintain this state to some degree, the next step will be controlling your dreams.
Controlling your Dream
Now the fun part! Once you are Lucid Dreaming
Science has only just begun to examine the process of lucid dreaming. Some researchers view it as an evolutionary development of mankind and our consciousness expanding. Whether we are evolving or have always had this ability, we certainly are not taking advantage of all it has to offer. If we could become more disciplined with our dream work we would have many more options in which to learn and grow.
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172 Responses to “How To Have a Lucid Dream”
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I have some weird dreams, and I usually know that I am dreaming. I have actaully woken up, then wanted to go back to sleep, just to comtinue dreaming. I have had times whn I know I actaulle made the dream my way while I was sleeping, this is a weird, fact. I want to know more!
Oh, this sounds really cool. I had no idea that you could do that. Although the idea sounds great. I don’t think I would wnat to try it because I like my dreams to be random and crazy. I like being able to laugh at my dreams when I wake up.
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This is very interesting stuff. Didn’t know this stuff was possible!
I have been lucid dreaming for 11 years and usually have 1-3 lucid dreams per week. I’ve reached the point where, if I ask my subconscious to give me a lucid dream before I go to sleep, I will become conscious in my dreams that night. So it really can become second nature to anyone (there is nothing special about me). I will never tire of lucidity - it is an incredibly amazing feeling! There is so much left to explore, on so many levels. Highly recommended.
I have always had lucid dreaming since i can remember dreaming sice I was a child I always know when I am asleep
Interested in the Lucid Dreaming Kit by Bradley Thompson? He basically guarantees lucid dreams in 7 days! Here’s my personal review: http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/lucid-dreaming-kit.html
Lucid dreaming is cool but you become alot more tired throughout the day, but this could just be used to fall asleep faster at night. I wouldn’t get to addicted to having those dreams unless you have a job at home.
Jordan: how do you induce your lucid dreams, are they Wake Initiated? I often have more energy after a lucid experience; sometimes just for an hour or so, sometimes the whole day long if it was really special. There seems no explanation for being more physically tired anyway.
I don’t think you can become addicted to lucid dreams because addiction suggests immediate gratification of a craving, and that’s usually not possible with lucid dreams - for most people they tend to come and go as they please! Certainly if you are feeling tired, save your lucidity attempts for the weekends, but I wouldn’t let this put beginners off because I have never heard this to be the case before.
I have had lucid dreams since I was a little kid and always new that I was dreaming but lately in the last couple of years it has been 50/50 on whether or not I knew I was a sleep.
about the time i realize that its a dream, i wake up.
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im not sure if im lucid or not but ever since i was old enough to remember my dreams i could always yell “wake up!” in my dream if its scary or i just wanna be awake and it works. i even remember one dream where i tapped a guy on the shoulde and asked, “am i dreaming?” and he started yelling at med and saying “no! of course not!” then i woke up lol. so am i partly lucid?
Sounds like you are very close to being in total control of your dreams. This is the point that you want to intensify your work in trying more and more to become lucid. You are very lucky to have reached this point. Many people work for many years to get to this point.
Keep going and keep us informed of your progress.
if u listin to music do it help havein a lucid dream or will music keep you from haveing a lucid dream ?
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