Can Anyone Become A Lucid Dreamer?
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010You have heard about people who lucid dream and think it is something you would like to do. That is a good starting point but exactly how do you begin and what are the steps to being a successful lucid dreamer?
You need to know why it is that you want to be a lucid dreamer. Are there benefits to be gained through lucid dreaming? There are, but to understand them we should first start by examining normal sleep.
Why is lucid dreaming different from normal sleep? When you lie down to go to sleep, your eyes close and hopefully you go to sleep. When you wake up you remember dreaming something or you don?t remember anything at all.Kind of strange when you think about it.
The human body has a built in requirement for sleep. It rests the body so that we are prepared to continue our lives. Without it, there is strong evidence for insanity. That is all well and good but there is nothing saying we cannot control certain aspects of sleep is there?
Consider the idea of taking control of your own dreams. What would it feel like to purpose what direction your dreams would take you? Explore new worlds that are only limited to your control and imagination. This is what it means to be a lucid dreamer, kind of the ultimate fantasy world where you call all the shots.
Are you are ready to begin but remain unsure of how any of this is possible? That is ok we are getting there, there are two way to enter lucid dream state. The first is a dream initiated lucid dream, (DILD). This happens once you have already begun to dream and during the dream, you come to the realization that you are indeed dreaming. At this point, you have brought an element of control to the dream because your conscious mind is now involved.
The second method is to have a wake initiated lucid dream, or WILD. In these situations,the dreamer goes from awake to lucid dream with no change in consciousness. The dreamer simply begins dreaming without having the sensation of falling asleep.
How do you go about achieving these two states of lucid dreaming?
Dream Recall
If you want to become a lucid dreamer, one of the easiest ways is to begin by learning dream recall. Dream recall is nothing more than being able to remember your dreams. Learning to remember you dreams makes it easier for you to recognize that you are in a dream while sleeping ? you are more than likely to either have the same dream more than once, or at least have elements which recur in your dreams.
To make dream recall easier you can keep a dream journal. This is a notebook or pad of paper that has the sole purpose of recording your dreams. Whenever you have a dream, you should write all you can remember in the journal as soon as you wake up. The longer you are awake the more details of the dream that will be lost.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
This method was developed by top lucid dreaming researcher Dr. Stephen LaBerge. The idea is to affirm to yourself that you will remember something when you see it in a dream ? then when you do, you will realize that you are dreaming and begin to assert control over your dream.
WBTB refers to Wake Back to Bed
The way you do this one is, only plan on sleeping for a few hours like five or six. Set your alarm if you need to so you will wake up. After you have slept the few hours and wake up, stay up. Find something to do to stay awake. Do a little house work; Think about what you might like to do in your lucid dreams. Return to bed in an hour.
Cycle Adjustment Technique
Cycle Adjustment Technique
Developed by Daniel Love, this involves setting your alarm to wake about 90 minutes earlier than usual; once you acclimate to this, set your alarm to wake you up alternately early and at the time you used to get up. At those times when you wake up at the usual time, you’ll be accustomed to waking early. This means that you are more likely to lucid dream during this last hour and a half.
Wake-initiation of Lucid Dreams (WILD)
To get into this correct frame of mind if you will there are a few tricks you can use. Focus seems to be key so try to focus your mind on things like your breathing, counting, perhaps chant or meditate. In a way, you are practicing self-hypnosis. Use this technique when you are not extremely tired, perhaps during a late nap.
First, it was cds and DVD?s now we have devices that will help you lucid dream. Masks and other electronic apparatuses can be used to recognize REM sleep and give you a light buzz or light to make you aware that you are dreaming. If you want to increase, your chances of success use the method that has proven to be the best. Using a set of headphones listen to binaural beats at the right sound frequencies during sleep.
They now have tools you can use to make it even easier to induce lucid dreams. You can get dreaming masks and devices with strobe lights to help you get into the right state of dreaming.
The best and easiest way to achieving the state of lucid dreaming is by using headphones.You should listen to sounds that naturally alter your brainwaves, these are called binaural beats.
Binaural beats induce lucid dreaming by causing the hemispheres of your brain to work synchronously, making your brainwaves shift to the frequency required for lucid dreaming.
With a combination of self affirmations, self hypnosis and binaural sounds, being a lucid dreamer is something anyone can do successfully.
