How to Have a Lucid Dream

A lucid dream is a dream in which one realizes they are dreaming, and often can control or manipulate events and people in the dream. Not everyone dreams lucidly on a daily basis, however everyone has the ability to do so. The ability to have lucid dreams is desired by many people for various reasons. Have you ever wanted to travel through space and time, meet your favorite celebrity, fly, or simply have the freedom to live in your own virtual reality? If the answer to any of these is yes, then it may be worthwhile for you to experiment with lucid dreaming. If you're going to sleep for x amount of hours each night, why not make the most of that time?

In order to be able to lucid dream well one must keep an open mind and avoid getting frustrated. Everyone's mind is capable of fabricating beautiful, vivid dreams, and every person has the potential to become lucid during them and take control with a little discipline and focus.

Prior to "Attempting" a Lucid Dream:

For a few consecutive days to a week before you truly try to become lucid during a dream it is helpful to get in the habit of constantly questioning what is around you. Here are a few things to consider: When you are awake, what tells you that you are awake, and that what you are seeing is real? Is it easy to read numbers and letters? Should your surroundings look a certain way when you are awake? Should certain people act in a way that is "typical" or real to you?

Take a good mental picture of what things should look, feel, sound, taste, and smell like in your waking reality. Then begin performing reality checks.

Several times throughout the day, preferably when you are doing something you typically do without thinking or focusing, stop for a moment and "seriously" ask yourself "Am I awake?" It is helpful to ask yourself this aloud if you are in the privacy of your home or alone in your car. Now, even though you know the answer, try to defend it. "How do I know this is real?", "What do I remember doing before this?", "When did I wake up today?". This is particularly helpful because you will most likely encounter what is called a false awakening- or an extremely realistic and confusing dream where you dream that you have woken up, and often go about your daily routine.

Along with mental reality checks you can perform, you can also try physical reality checks. The most common used by lucid dreamers is the "hand-check". Stop and look at one of your hands and truly scrutinize its appearance. Count the fingers, make note of which are longer or shorter, the overall appearance, and especially which side of the hand the pinky and thumb are on. Try to store this image in your head as the way your hand "really" looks. Once you have confirmed that your hand looks normal, say to yourself "I am awake".

Going to Sleep...

Now that you are in the correct mindset to begin to attempt lucid dreaming, you must figure out how to induce lucidity before you fall asleep. Before you go to bed at night perform a few last minute reality checks. While you are trying to fall asleep, repeat to yourself (silently) "When I am dreaming I will realize that I am dreaming". Visualize yourself questioning your surroundings and becoming lucid. Focus hard on the task without allowing it to keep you awake for too long.

When you start to dream for the night you subconsciously will remember to perform the hand and other reality checks because it has become a habit for you in your waking life. You may just look down at your hand out of habit and then trigger your conscious. The mere fact that you looked at your hand may cause you to become lucid simply for the fact that you now attribute this action to questioning your current state. If this does not work immediately, you may notice a discrepancy between what your hand looks like in the dream and what it should look like, such as having an extra finger or your pinky being where the thumb should be. There are plenty of other triggers that will cause a person to become lucid, such as their room looking different, finding things they would never come into possession of, etc. It will be different for everyone.

The scenario described above may not work immediately for everyone. In this case you should get up out of bed the first time you wake up in the morning and stay awake for at least a half an hour, then go back to bed. Why? Many people feel that they have an easier time becoming lucid in the early morning after having woken up and gone back to sleep. You could go get a drink, go to the bathroom, or just sit in your bed for a little while and perform a reality check. Whatever you do, DO NOT TURN ON THE TELEVISION. While TV may not actually turn your brain into mush, it does allow your brain to go into a sort of lazy autopilot mode and inhibits the REM cycle and the ability to become lucid. Before you go to bed, remind yourself once again that you want to be aware of the fact that you are dreaming, and that you have a plan in order to find this out.

Helpful Hints:

• Try listening to binaural beats of the theta wave variety. These beats are designed to entrain your mind to work a certain way and to promote REM sleep. You can buy a CD of binaural beats or listen to them for free on Youtube.
• There are certain natural vitamins and pills that can be taken to increase memory and REM sleep. Look for ones containing Galanthamine and Vitamin B5.
• When you awake from a regular dream try to write it down and see how much you can remember of it. Keeping a dream diary is often a good way to improve your dream recall. Good dream recall is key because even if you're having wild lucid dreams it won't help you if you don't remember them!
• You can get much more in depth information on how to lucid dream and what to do during from several published sources. I reccommend Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun and not give up! While it may take some time to master it is certainly worth the wait. Lucid dreams can be very enjoyable and rewarding experiences.