Dreaming 101: Lucid Dreaming Part Three

Lucid Dreaming Part One and Part Two

Lucid dreaming is usually only accomplished through real focus and a desire to have this experience. Keeping a dream journal, and writing at least one dream a day down, is critical at first. This, and other basic steps as I have outlined in part one and two, are very important, but there are other ways to increase your odds.

Chemicals
Chemicals can hinder, or help your experience, depending on what it is you are taking. We are going to use the word chemical here to refer to any substance that chemically affects the body, including supplements.

Marijuana and alcohol both greatly suppress one’s ability to be lucid. I have known one person, though, who was able to smoke copious amounts of marijuana and go lucid every night for hours on end. I observed her for quite some time, and discovered her secret.

Not only did she like to smoke the green a lot, but she was also eating very large quantities of chocolate. She ate it from breakfast time and onward. So, I have done experiments in using chocolate to stimulate LDs, and it does indeed work. It is not a guarantee, but it certainly raises one’s odds.

I have not tried it, but according to this person, galantamine is incredible for stimulating lucid dreams. I did research on this supplement, and discovered it does have possibleside effects.

I would not personally recommend taking it but maybe a few times a week. If you have any of the side effects listed, be sure to stop taking it immediately. I will be giving it a try myself! A lot of people recommend taking coral calcium to increase LD’ing - I don’t. First off, it is high in toxic heavy metals that, in the long run, will inhibit lucid dreaming experiences. Also, the oceans are being destroyed in part due to coral harvesting. So, save your brain, and care for the planet… don’t take coral calcium.

Vitamin B6 is highly recommended by a lot of lucid dreamers.

Nutrition and good health are very important to a healthy lucid dreaming lifestyle. If during the day you are suffering from brain fog, memory issues, etc., your ability to LD will be greatly hindered.

Induction Techniques

MILD: Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams. This techniques is basically setting an intention to LD, as you fall asleep. Before going to sleep, focus in your mind your trigger word/situation that you are using to induce an LD. You can repeat something in your mind like “I will know I am dreaming when I get to the library. I will awake in my dream at the library.” See part two for more information.

WILD: Wake induced Lucid Dream. This is the very hardest to achieve. My first introduction to lucid dreaming, about 15 years ago, was via this method. I lost many nights sleep, and gave up until several years later. I have though experienced something called hypnogogia, a state that occurs in between sleeping and waking.It is possible to have a kind of lucid dream during this state, and I believe this is in truth what a WILD is. REM doesn’t even occur until you have been asleep about ninety minutes. REM means rapid eye movement, and refers to the dreaming stage of your sleep cycle. I have had a few lucid experiences due to hypnogogia, but they were quite random.

DILD: Dream Initiated Lucid Dream. This is basically when a person is in a regular dream, and comes to the awareness that s/he is dreaming. The very awareness that it is so, increases the lucidity.

WBTB: Wake Back To Bed. This is by far the best and easiest technique in my opinion. Many other LD’ers also applaud this method. Go to bed, and awaken five hours later. Stay up for one hour.The best thing to do with this time is write down dreams you were just having, read something on dreaming, or do a dream related project. Another thing you can do, is read something that will stimulate your imagination, to aid in the dreaming theme. This is also an excellent time, to do dream programming. I will discuss the latter, in a later piece.

Return to bed, and repeat the mantra in your mind…”I am dreaming” over and over, or whatever pre-sleep program you have created for yourself. This technique has very high odds of stimulating an LD.

Warnings, Suggestions, and Information

While in an LD, try to remain calm. If you have a pre-chosen focus, take a moment to remember what it is. This is when you want to focus on improving skills, letting go of old fears, and learning to create for yourself what you want. Some people use this time to merely explore. There is an endless amount of things to do here!

Don’t tell the dream inhabitants that they are just dream beings, this will quite often really freak them out. Remember, this is your subconscious world here; don’t mess with its head.

Know that you can travel beyond your own subconscious, travel to other dimensions, and meet real people in your dream journeys. There are incredible accounts throughout history and presently, of people meeting others on the dream plane. This is not uncommon.

I once ran an experimental dream group, and did a study on shared dreaming. All of the members of this experiment were from different parts of the country. We focused on certain nights, on meeting at a place we had created in our imaginations. The results were incredible, and this experiment changed the lives of all of those who were a part of it. You are not always alone in your dreams. There is a shared dreaming experiment going on here, and has been going on for quite some time.

Think outside the box when dealing with situations in your dreams, and find creative solutions when dealing with conflict.

Do not always use your LDs for inner work, spend a good portion of them, just having a good time. Beware to not overly hack your personality up with lucid dream programming. The effects are very powerful; don’t hurt yourself.

If you are on some special diet, do not run around eating whatever you can’t in the waking world. You will have extreme problems resisting these foods in the waking as a result.

After your first LD, you will probably awaken the next day, with boundless energy, and feel quite high. It is as if opening up this dark area of our mind, and letting the light of consciousness come in, has released a great amount of pent up energy. This effect does wane I have noticed, the longer one is into LD’ing.

Do not be surprised if you wake up wanting to do things you have never done before, and explore life in new ways. Lucid dreaming changes you, and it opens up doorways.

Dream true, and dream deep… be awake in your sleep!

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