Advanced Techniques
OBE/Astral Projection
Lucid Dreaming
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How to start Lucid dreaming:
Simple tips to get started fast
There are a number of things you can do that will greatly improve your chances of having a lucid dream. A good place to start is by making an effort to acknowledge your dreams daily. This list of tips describes how to become aware your dreams even while you're awake.
1) Reality Checks
This habit might seem strange to you, but it's something that will definitely increase your chances of becoming lucid.
Throughout the day, pay attention to your awareness of reality. Question whether or not your dreaming. Do these simple things regularly to make yourself aware of the waking world.
- - Try to poke your finger through your hand - If it doesn't go through, then it's probably safe to assume that you're awake. Try this in a dream and something unusual might happen. In a dream, becoming aware of your body is sometimes enough to cause lucidity. You don't necessarily have to poke your hand either. You can try looking at them and consider whether or not you're dreaming.
- - Hold your nose shut and try to inhale - Can you recall the last time you had to think about your breath in a dream? Give the logic circuits in your brain a wake up call by developing this habit. It can snap you into lucidity quickly.
- - Check the time...now check it again - In the dream world, clocks don't work the way they do in everyday life. In reality, clocks gradually change time. While dreaming the clock might suddenly skip time, or the numbers will become unreadable. The clock might even decide to display a word for you. If your clock says "time to fly" on it, there's a good chance you're dreaming.
- - Just ask yourself if you're dreaming - Your reality check doesn't have to be elaborate. If you work with people all day and don't want to get caught holding your nose and trying to breath, then a simple reminder will probably be enough. Just look around and think to yourself "Am I dreaming right now?".
image thanks to Robbie73
The point of a reality check is to develop the habit of consciously assessing whether you are awake or dreaming. This habit tends to carry over into the dream world. Sometimes it will cause your dreaming mind to provide a signal that acts as a cue to become lucid. Keeping a dream journal is a good way to start recognizing these signs. We'll cover this topic in the next section.
2) Keep a dream journal
image thanks to joelmontes
Keeping a dream journal is a surefire way to start remembering your dreams. It's also a good way to start recognizing dream symbols, which are crucial for becoming lucid.
Before you go to sleep make sure you have a pen or pencil sitting next to your bed on the nightstand. Using an inexpensive digital recorder might be an option too. Whatever you decide to use, as you are nodding off remind yourself that you want to record your dreams. Doing this is sometimes enough to improve dream recall.
If you wake up in the middle of the night with an interesting dream, force yourself to write it down. Your handwriting might not be perfect, but that's not important. Often, getting down the gist or overall idea is enough to help you remember it in the morning. Even if you had a vivid dream, there's a good chance that it will be forgotten if you don't take a moment to journal it.
When you write down your dreams on a regular basis you'll start to recognize reoccuring events or symbols. When I first started looking for these symbols, I noticed that I was seeing people in my dreams that I don't normally see. I would go out and have fun with friends that I hadn't seen in years. It wasn't until I started tracking my dreams that I realized how frequently this occurred. I was able to finally become lucid when I looked at my friend in a dream and said "Hey man! It's great to see you here".
Keeping a journal will allow you to recognize these symbols. Journaling also acts as a great way to analyze your dreams. However, that's a conversation for another time. Now we're going to cover more methods for improving your dream recall.
3) Drink a glass of water before going to sleep
It's an easy way to set your bodies natural alarm. This method is great if you're sleeping with your spouse and don't want to wake them up with an alarm clock.
Drinking water before you go to bed will improve your chances of waking up at the end of a dream cycle. When you wake up towards the end of a dream, it will probably still be fresh in your mind.
Having a full bladder can prompt your mind into awareness towards the end of a dream. There's no better time to write in your dream journal - after you get to the bathroom of course.
4) Optimize your brain chemistry
A fast way to start remembering more of your dreams - eat more eggs. The reason I say this, is that eggs are a good source of choline, which happens to be an essential nutrient and is important for proper brain function. It can improve your memory and has many other health benefits. There's also a good chance that you're not getting enough right now.
Fortunately choline supplements are not that expensive. It's also easy to adjust your diet to make sure you get plenty. Taking choline later in the evening, or even in the middle of the night, will make it easier to remember your dreams. Other supplements that may help with dream recall are huperzine-A and melatonin.
When considering taking supplements be sure to do proper research. There are always health concerns to be aware of when introducing a change to your diet or vitamin intake. The information given on this page is not provided by a professional medical practitioner. I recommend consulting with your doctor and fully understanding how your body might react to any supplements before making any changes to your diet.
5) When you wake up, stay still and just breath
This habit might take some getting used to. It's something you should remind yourself to do every night before sleeping.
Usually when we get up it's because the alarm clock is telling us that it's time to get ready for work. Too often we jump out of bed in a rush to get going. If we start thinking about the day ahead, our dreams tend to get lost in the process. So if you really want to remember your dreams from the night before wake...up...slowly.
Take a moment to yourself and just breath. Let your mind wander for a bit without thinking of the day ahead. When you first wake up you might notice a particular emotion or odd image in the back of your mind. Briefly focus on this; it doesn't take much. Usually your mind will start piecing together memories from the night before. If you start directing your mind in this way, then you'll have a much easier time recalling your dreams. However, if you start paying attention to everything that's going to happen during your day, then your dream will soon be lost.
I know this article is about how to get started with lucid dreaming quickly. But it's probably helpful to know that lucid dreaming, like any other skill, takes time to become proficient. The habits I described are proven ways to increase your dream recall. It's only through repetition and being familiar with your dreams that you'll learn how to become lucid. Be patient with the process and realize that sometimes it takes longer to get results. Personally it took several months to start dreaming regularly. It's worth the effort though; lucid dreaming is unlike any experience you can have in the waking world. Have fun with it!
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