Guide to Lucid Dreaming
My first encounter with lucid dreaming was a memorable and exciting experience. For those who dont know, lucid dreaming is the act of controlling your dream while in a sub-conscious state. Many of us have realized that we were dreaming while in the dream state only to wake up immediately. To have a successful lucid dream you must stay sleeping after you realize you are dreaming. Thats when the fun starts. You can do anything you want, say anything you want, go anywhere you want because you know you are just dreaming and there will be no consequences.
I have figured out a way to successfully enter the lucid dream state any night I wish. It may work for you or it may not. I believe however if you practice and follow these guidelines you will be surprised at what you can train your subconscious mind to do.
The first step is to simply take a nap in the late afternoon, early evening. Anywhere from 6-9pm works best for me. Nap for an hour or so. When you wake up get something to drink or eat, take a walk, try to wake yourself back up so you dont fall back asleep immediately. Now the key here is to try to stay awake as long as possible, whether it be 2am, 3am, or later. Stay awake until you are so tired that you have to struggle to stay awake. It also helps to have a TV on in the room at a normal volume. Now when you doze off, you will immediate start to dream, practice waking yourself up by concentrating on the TV or by trying to remember that you want to wake up. If you are telling yourself to wake up chances are you will (like when you doze off in class). When you wake up try not to move and immediately after you realize that you are conscious, concentrate on exactly where you were in your dream before you woke up and go back to sleep. Concentrate hard. If you enter the same dream then you have a good chance of lucid dreaming at that point. It usually takes me 3-4 times of waking up and going back to sleep before I realize that I am dreaming in my dream (this take a total of about 3 minutes). Once you realize that you are dreaming concentrate as hard as possible on your surroundings and dont let your practical side take over, things will be wrong. Furniture will be different, friends will act different, and things wont look right. But instead of running away from that Doberman and waking up, pounce on it and bite it. All the sensations are the same as real life.
Once you realize this, the possibilities are endless. You can go up to that guy in your dream and punch him as hard as you want, kiss the pretty girl, tell other people in your dream that you are dreaming as well as yourself. Its an inexplicable experience.
One other thing that I have realized is that these dreams will not last the whole night. They usually last about 20 minutes for me. I am always amazed when I look at the clock because Im sure an hour must have gone by. Your consciousness will eventually wake you up, whether you want to or not. I think its your brains way of saying hey you shouldnt be doing this you crazy bastard. The way I usually get forced into waking up is by a nuisance of some kind. The first time it was a couple of little ewok looking guys that I had to fight. No matter how much I fought them they kept coming back. I remember saying to my brother in my dream I guess I have to wake up now. Another way is through pain. One time I was playing with kittens that were sticking their paws through the bottom of my door when I realized I was dreaming, as soon as I realized it their claws began to stick into my hand and I had to wake myself to stop the pain. Believe me in lucid dreams, the pain feels the same as it would in real life. It triggers the same part of the brain. This goes for all the senses as well. Sometimes you get chased and you will wake yourself up because the fun part of the dream is over. The end of these dreams is usually not as pleasant as the beginning but as soon as you wake up you are very excited at what you just accomplished.
Good luck!!!
Ryan Dean
