Snoozing Lucidity

One thing that fascinates me is dreams and dreaming. I dream every night. Usually I forget them once I’m out of the shower, but two or three times a week I have dreams that I remember. I also have a recurring dream, and have what could be construed as prophetic dreams, but that’s a subject for another post. I want to talk a bit here about lucid dreaming.

Simply put, lucid dreaming is the ability to recognize you’re dreaming when you’re dreaming, and to be able to influence what goes on in your dream as a result of this. You can fly, defeat the monster, beat up your adversaries, whatever. In your dream, you are now the master, and can do whatever you want. Some people just have this ability, others don’t, but it can be taught. Only once have I had a lucid dream, right around the time I first researched this topic about three or four years ago. But I stopped doing the techniques to develop this talent, and as a result, I am the pawn of my subconscious mind when I doze.

So, how do you get to be a lucid dreamer? The better innate ability you have of recalling dreams, the easier it is to develop lucidity. Some of these steps are kind of involved, but once you’ve experienced a lucid dream, I think you’ll want to expend the effort.

The easiest step to do is to firmly resolve, the night before, that you will comprehend the dream state. Repeat to yourself, with strength and emotion, "I will know when I’m dreaming tonight."

You can also try, as you’re falling asleep, to say, "One, I’m dreaming; two, I’m dreaming; three, I’m dreaming," etc, and eventually at some point you’ll find you are dreaming.

Get in the habit of programming your mind. Ask yourself ten times daily (whenever you look at your watch is a good reminder), "Am I dreaming or not?" The hope here is that you’ll find yourself asking this question while you’re actually dreaming, and that will trigger the lucid state.

Oh, of course, keeping a dream journal is a great way to start, especially if you’re one who doesn’t really remember dreams. It doesn’t have to be too involved. Just keep a pen and notebook by your bed. Ask yourself first thing upon awakening, "What was I dreaming," and just jot down a few sentences. It’ll take you five minutes, tops, and you’ll find yourself remembering your dreams more.

In the book Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge (which is the best and breakthrough book on the subject), a three-step technique is detailed to help develop this skill.

1. If you awake in the middle of the night, review any dreams for a few minutes until you’ve memorized it.
2. As you return back to the land of Nod, say (or even better, repeat) to yourself, "Next time I’m dreaming, I want to remember I’m dreaming."
3. While drifting off, visualize yourself being back in the dream you just memorized; only this time, see yourself realizing that you are, in fact, dreaming, and are in control.

Sweet dreams!