I thought it was what everyone experienced, when one would encounter recurring dreams you would, at some point in that sweet slumber, realize it was a dream and eventually take control to correct the mistakes you've done in the previous exact same dream. Sort of like deja vu in the dream world.
I had thought that everyone knew how to be in control in their dreams. Like those amazing flying ones, where you'd soar above clouds and direct yourself to go to that mountain over there or to that lake far beyond.
Apparently, I was already doing lucid dreaming and I was not aware of it.
Recently, I was having a battle with Lucid Dream itself. How so? Well, as I was dreaming that I was in some kind of special-ops team on a mission, of my our guys was telling us that this was all like a dream, and I insisted on him that we were awake, that we were in the real world. I had taken out the glove on my hand, closed my fist, and I told him to watch me. I was going to do a "reality check".
If I could count all of my five fingers in two rounds without hesitation, it meant that we were not dreaming. So I started counting, the first round was easy as pie. But the second round, I was having trouble getting the last three of my fingers up. It was like my fingers did not want to cooperate. That's when the guy started chuckling. That's when I realized we were actually all dreaming.
I've never had this sort sort of lucid dream experience where it was another person within my dream who told me that where we were at was not reality. Quite intriguing, actually.
Anyway, to do lucid dreaming, some people can do it so easily while others can take years before even experiencing their first. Sometimes, if you push yourself too much to want to lucid dream, it never happens.
But we found some very helpful tips that could get you started, to train your mind to achieve and finally experience a lucid dream.
Different things to do to have a lucid dream:
- Have a dream journal. Write down as much as what you can remember about the dream. Keywords are good, like an object or a person, or a type of building or atmospheric ambiance. What was it that you recall? Even if it would sound insignificant like a floating bubble or a muddy floor, write it down. Who knows, you might see a pattern or similarity in the keywords you've written down.
- Do simple "reality checks". What does this mean? As mundane as it sounds, reality checks are just what it sounds like. Look at your self in the mirror and ask yourself, "Am I dreaming?" Pinch your nose and try to breathe, but of course do not try to stop breathing. Know your limits. We don't want any of you fainting over.
- The Hand/Palm technique is one of these reality checks. Many people have been doing this, and it's fairly easy. Look at your hand, or your palm, and trace any kind of recallable symbol on it. Like maybe the first letter of your name. Or you could count your fingers in two rounds, just like how I did in my reality check. Once you train your mind of this awake technique, you'll discover that you won't be able to complete your own security lock if you are dreaming. Why? Because our mind constantly shifts and changes, especially in the dream. And if you force it to follow certain steps such as counting your fingers, your mind will feel that it is too tedious a work effort to do.
- Basic meditation can greatly increase your chances of experiencing a lucid dream. Even for just 10 minutes a day, be One with yourself and your serene surroundings. Be aware of all and of nothing.
- Listen to binaural beats and/or isochronic audio tracks that are dedicated to triggering lucid dreaming. You can do this before or during your sleeping or nap time. Nap times can actually give lots of vivid dreams compared to your regular nightly sleep sessions.
- We've got some very good lucid dreaming tracks on our youtube channel, as well as our website:
- Tell yourself just before you doze off that you will have a lucid dream. Or, you can plant the scenario of the kind of dream you want in your head. Remember how easy it is to daydream, especially when you were bored? It's like creating a short movie or screenplay using the powers of your imagination. I didn't realize I was doing this method when I was a kid. No wonder it seemed like I would enter the dream I was thinking about.
- Watch fiction movies that will inspire you to have vivid dreams, like Inception or Interstellar. Usually, fantasy or sci-fi types of movies already creates an other-worldly atmosphere that would be perfect to match the type of "craziness" we would encounter during the dreams.
- Repeat this Mantra: "Mind awake. Body Asleep." This actually can also work for those who want to experience a astral projection.
- There is such a thing as "Dream Yoga". I didn't even know about this until I read it during my research. This is an ancient art from Tibetan Buddhism. I will read more about this after writing this article, as it has sparked my interest, of course.
- Wake yourself up at odd time intervals during your sleeping sessions. This is also known as "false awakenings". The best time, as far as I've researched, is to wake yourself every 90 minutes, which is a likely time for you to get some REM (Rapid Eye Movement) happenings. REM is also known as the dream-phase. And upon your false awakening, you need to remember the reason for your sleep disruption, and if you can, try to recall the dream you just had (that is, if you've had any) and go back to sleep. This can cause you to also continue the dream you just had. I know it worked for me.
- To achieve lucid dreaming at a conscious level, you also need to let go of fear first. Emotions run deep within us, and they are amazing triggers to each and every cell of our body, and what more, the mind. If you feed yourself with fear, most likely you'll experience nightmares of sorts. But if you let go of fear, the better you will get at controlling your dreams completely. In lucid dreaming, the only thing to fear is your negative thoughts you bring to the dreaming world.
- Get a good night's rest. Lack of sleep will not do anything to help you achieve lucid dreaming.
- Keep a glass of water or any kind of object that you know you will consciously need on your bedside table. During one of my lucid dream experiences, (actually, this could be an astral projection experience too), I was taking my 1-hour long afternoon nap. Of course I had no idea I had fallen so deep in sleep. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the sun had just set, leaving the world outside my window with a tinge of blue-gray colors. I turned to my side and reached out my hand to turn on my bedside lamp, but I noticed that my hand would just go through the switch. I kept trying and trying but then I would wake up every time I tried to turn the light on. Like a dream within a dream. And I was amazed that I seemed like a ghost, and I thought, "This couldn't be real." And that's when I realized I was dreaming. Upon that realization, I told myself, "I want to fly." And I began to lift up towards the ceiling. Of course it all ended when I got too excited and too greedy to do more than I was allowed to at the time.
We hope you've found this article helpful! Share your lucid dreaming experience with us at the comments section! You know that we love hearing from you guys.
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