Lori Anne
|
|
« on: August 22, 2008, 03:59:26 pm » |
|
# Keep a dream journal. This is perhaps the most important step towards lucid dreaming. Keep it close by your bed at night, and write in it immediately after waking. Or you can keep a recording device if you find it easier to repeat your dream out loud. This tells your brain that you are serious about remembering your dreams! # Learn the best time to have a lucid dream. By being aware of your personal sleep schedule, you can arrange your sleep pattern to help induce lucid dreams.
* Studies strongly suggest that a nap a few hours after waking in the morning is the most common time to have a lucid dream. * Lucid dreams are strongly associated with REM sleep. REM sleep is more abundant just before the final awakening. This means they most commonly occur right before waking up. (Sleep-onset REM is a symptom of narcolepsy. If you have lucid dreams right after falling asleep, you may wish to consider seeking medical advice from a sleep medicine specialist. However, there are studies which show people can recall dreams after being awakened during non-REM sleep). * Dreams usually run in 90-minute cycles during sleep. If you are working on dream recall, it may be helpful to try waking yourself up during one of these cycles (interrupted dreams are often the ones we remember).
# Try Stephen Laberge's mnemonic induction of lucid dreaming (MILD) technique.
* Set your alarm clock to wake you up 4, 5 1/2, or 6 hours after falling asleep. * When you are awakened by your alarm clock, try to remember the dream as much as possible. * When you think you have remembered as much as you can, go back to sleep, imagining that you are in your previous dream, and becoming aware that you are dreaming. Say to yourself, "I will be aware that I'm dreaming," or something similar. Do this until you think that it has 'sunk in.' Then go to sleep. * If random thoughts pop up when you are trying to fall asleep, repeat the imagining, self-suggestion part, and try again. Don't worry if you think it's taking a long time. The longer it takes, the more likely it will 'sink in,' and the more likely you will have a lucid dream.
# Try marking an "A" (which stands for "awake") on your palm. Every time you notice the "A" during your waking hours challenge whether you are awake or asleep. Eventually you may see the "A" in your sleep and become lucid.
Get into the habit of doing reality checks. In a dream, these will tell you that you are sleeping, allowing you to become lucid. In order to remember to do reality checks in dreams, you need to establish a habit of doing reality checks in real life. One example of a reality check is to look for "dream signs", or things that would not normally exist in real life. When these actions become habit, a person will begin to do them in her or his dreams, and can come to the conclusion that he/she is dreaming.
|