Developing The Art of Conscious Dream Control

Lucid Dreaming: Developing The Art of Conscious Dream Control Lucid Dreaming is the ability to become aware while you're dreaming... to consciously "wake up" inside the dream world and control your dreams. Many people are quite good at remembering their regular dreams. These provide memories of rich inner worlds that tell us much about the subconscious mind. But lucid dreams take one giant leap further - to a fantasy realm where everything you see, feel, taste, hear and smell can be as authentic as your waking reality. With conscious control, you can then explore your private dreamscape as if it were a virtual reality world. Sounds cool? You have no idea! Music: Lucid by Casale (MP3 Download) What Does Lucid Dreaming Feel Like? A fully lucid dream is rich and detailed - and can create more awareness than you have right now, like 360-degree vision or existing in two places at the same time. Because it all takes places in your mind, the dream world has no physical laws. As a result, anything you can conceive of comes true. You can control your dreams and warp The Matrix like Neo, fly over cities like Iron Man, travel through time, have sex with anyone, fight like a ninja, re-live childhood memories, and way more. In fact, the possibilities of lucid dreaming are limitless. But a lucid dream is not merely a fantasy playground; it's a chance to interact with your own subconscious mind via dream characters and the fabric of the dream itself. This website reveals all kinds of applications for conscious dreams. Complete Lucid Dreaming Tutorials Serious about lucid dreaming? Check out The Lucid Dreaming Fast Track for my extensive step-by-step lucid dreaming tutorials. It's a detailed practical course that demonstrates the fastest way to lucid dreams. The Benefits of Lucid Dreaming Once you know how to become lucid in dreams, you will discover a strange new world - an entire universe, no less - of which you are fully aware and can manipulate with the power of thought. The most obvious benefit of lucid dreams is wish fulfillment - and beyond that, you can interact with your own subconscious mind. That's because a lucid dream is a co-created experience. In normal dreams, the environment, characters, themes, symbols and plot are all driven by your subconscious mind, which communicates through experiential memory and conceptual form. Now, with self-awareness in your dream world, you can co-create the dream by wilfully performing any desired action. You can consciously ask any question or give any command and your subconscious dreaming self will respond. For instance: What is my ideal career? Where shall I live in the world? How can I become wealthy? What is the purpose of my life? Show me my greatest fantasy! Show me myself in 10 years! The answers may surprise you... and may be spoken directly from a dream character, written in the sky, or beamed telepathically into your mind. Yep, lucid dreaming is a strange new world... come on in :) Is Lucid Dreaming Scientifically Proven? Yes. Those who doubt the validity of lucid dreaming have not bothered to look at the abundant scientific research. This is not a "paranormal phenomenon" of any kind; the scientific community has provided ample evidence for lucid dreaming. There are two particularly famous experiments which validate the existence of lucid dreams: Communication via In-Dream Eye Movements In 1975, lucid dreaming was scientifically proven in the laboratory for the first time. The British parapsychologist Keith Hearne recorded a set of pre-determined eye movements from his volunteer, Alan Worsley, who was in a lucid dream. This proved that Worsley was consciously choosing to move his eyes a certain way while dreaming. It was effectively a kind of communication (like morse code) between the dreamer and the outside world. However, Hearne's groundbreaking research slipped under the radar of mainstream science journals and it was Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University who became famous for first publishing this experiment in 1983. LaBerge chose lucid dreaming as the subject for his doctorate thesis and even invented new lucid dream methods as a student, such as the MILD technique. Today, he runs intensive workshops and dream experiments at The Lucidity Institute and is a leader in this field. Brainwave Recordings During REM Sleep More recently, in 2009, a study by the Neurological Laboratory in Frankfurt showed people with significantly increased brain activity while lucid dreaming. An EEG machine recorded highly active frequencies up to the 40 Hz (or Gamma) range in lucid dreamers. This is far more active than the normal dream state (Theta: 4-8 Hz) and even your current waking state (Beta: 12-38 Hz), supporting the need to classify lucidity as a separate state of consciousness altogether. The research also showed heightened activity in the frontal and frontolateral areas of the brain - the seat of linguistic thought and other higher mental functions linked to self-awareness. Sleep researchers fully accept that lucid dreaming is real and may offer considerable insight into the nature of human consciousness. Inspiration for Lucid Dreams The hit movie, Inception, has popularized lucid dreaming and given us new triggers for our night-time musings - from lucid dreams-within-dreams to working with subconsciously-driven dream figures. The movie was written and directed by a real life lucid dreamer, Chris Nolan. Learn more about other famous lucid dreamers. Here are some more sources of inspiration for lucid dreams, taken from movies, TV shows and video games. As you can see we're just scratching the surface... Lucid Dreaming: The Basics Dr Stephen LaBerge says: "Everyone has, in theory, the capacity to learn to dream lucidly, because everyone dreams every night." As a lucid dreamer, I know there is nothing special about my brain that allows me to control my dreams. It's simply a matter of mental training - entering the mindset required to realize when you're dreaming (rather than sleep through it). However, just like playing chess or learning the piano, your skills will improve over time. That's not to say you can't have a lucid dream tonight - but you will develop your ability to go lucid and control your dreams with practice. To give you a taste of the training involved, here are three basic methods you'll need to increase your self-awareness and dream recall... Step 1... Remember Your Dreams Good dream recall is essential for increasing your awareness in dreams. Keep a dream journal and remember at least one dream every morning. Write, draw or talk about your dreams in as much detail as you can remember, and solidify the memory of the dream before getting up. To learn about dream journaling, see How to Remember Your Dreams. Step 2... Reality Checks A reality check increases your level of self-awareness while awake; a practice known as lucid living. It eventually filters through to the dream world by force of habit and triggers lucidity. To do a reality check now, take two fingers from your right hand, and try to push them through your left palm. At the same time, ask yourself "Am I dreaming right now?" Perform this action a dozen times throughout your waking day. When you dream of this, you'll recognize that you are in a dream world and your senses will come alive! See my Top 10 Reality Checks for more details. Step 3... Night-Time Meditation Dream research is uncovering the extraordinary link between meditation and lucid dreaming. The more you meditate by day - and by night - the easier it will be for you to start experiencing conscious dreams. Here's a quick session you can do as you fall asleep tonight. Lay still on your back and, starting from your toes, systematically relax every muscle group in your body. After 5-10 minutes, your body will feel deeply relaxed. Your goal is to lose awareness of it altogether. Observe the swirling patterns behind your closed eyelids (hypnagogia) and allow your mind to drift... This in itself is a nice meditation. Enjoy it. With practice, you can move on to my Wake Induced Lucid Dreams tutorial which explains how to consciously enter the dream world from this peaceful borderland sleep state. The Lucid Dreaming FAQ If you've just discovered the concept of conscious dream control, you'll probably have a lot of questions - and misconceptions. I recommend all beginners take the time to read up about lucid dreaming before starting any of the techniques described on this site. Here are some of the most common things people want to know: How long does it take to have your first lucid dream? How do I know when I'm lucid? How can I stay lucid for longer? How can I change the scenery? How can I have flying dreams? Can I get stuck in a lucid dream? Are my dreams psychic? How do I talk to my subconscious in a lucid dream? How long does it take to have your first lucid dream? One study showed a group of committed students were able to have their first lucid dream within 3-21 days on average. They were equipped with the right tutorials and practiced mindfully every day. You should aim to take a similar approach. This is a guide only. A minority may already possess the key skills and have their first lucid dream the same night they discover the concept. A different minority may take months to learn the skills, especially if they don't make a solid commitment. If you are struggling to have your first lucid dream, ask yourself: Are you dream journaling every morning? Are you spending at least 20 minutes a day on mindful meditation? Are you raising your self-awareness during waking life? Are you practicing your reality checks frequently and mindfully? Have you planned out what you'll do in your first lucid dream? Are you subconsciously incubating the desire to lucid dream? Have you mastered any in-depth lucid dreaming techniques? How do I know when I'm lucid dreaming? In Dream Initiated Lucid Dreams, the moment you become lucid is the moment you suddenly realize you are dreaming. In the movies, fictional characters often realize they're dreaming and make funny comments about it but otherwise allow the dream to continue of it's own accord and nothing changes. Lucid dreaming is nothing like this :) In real life, the effect is quite different. Saying (and knowing) "This is a dream!" results in a rush of clarity of thought. Your surroundings will zoom into focus and become much more vivid. You will have far greater awareness of your body and it is more like a waking experience, seeing the dream through your own eyes and having the opportunity to move freely and take in much more sensory information. The features of conscious dreams can spontaneously change just like a normal dream. For instance, you may manifest a group of bear cubs which later change into a pile of boxes. Of course, you can easily call the bear cubs back again. But don't be surprised if you notice these subtle changes which seem beyond your control. Remember, it is a co-created experience and your subconscious mind is still playing a key role. How can I stay lucid for longer? Beginners often get frustrated because their lucid dreams end prematurely. Sometimes, the sheer excitement causes you to wake up. Other times, you may simply forget you are dreaming and the subconscious mind regains full control. In this case, the dream loses its intensity and become just like a regular dream again. To prevent this from happening, cultivate a calm and focused mind set in the dream world. Remind yourself that you are dreaming often stay mentally grounded. I explain more about this in the article How To Stay Lucid. These techniques have helped me experience lucid dreams as long as an hour (estimated in real-time). A very simple way to enhance your lucidity and ground yourself in the dream is to rub your hands together while saying "I'm dreaming". This kinetic sensation stimulates the conscious brain, while drawing awareness to your dream body and away from your physical body lying asleep in bed. How can I change the scenery? Making the dream scene morph in front of your eyes can sometimes be difficult - mainly because you simply don't expect it to happen. This is typical of the results beginners complain about because they lack the anticipated dream control. If you're having problems with dream control (and I should stress that not everyone does have such issues) the best way to change things is to work WITH your subconscious dream logic. For instance, to change the scenery: Locate a dream door (a door that stands randomly in the middle of any landscape) and step through to another world. Pass through a mirror portal (a liquid-like mirror that leads to another dimension) and emerge in any scene you choose. Change the channel on a TV, then jump into the screen and allow the image to become 3-dimensional around you. Turn away from the scene, imagine a new location emerging behind you. When you turn back - lo and behold - it is there! Spin around and imagine a new scene appearing when you stop spinning. As you can see, there are many creative solutions to issues of dream control. The most important thing to remember is that your conscious expectation plays a major role. If you question your own ability to manifest new scenes, then your abilities will falter. But if you remain confident and learn from your experiences, you'll soon find that absolutely anything is possible inside a lucid dream. How can I have flying dreams? Learning how to fly in lucid dreams is something we all want to master first. However, it's not like you've had any practice in real life, so the concept can be a little difficult on the lucid dreaming mind. While some people take to the sky likeSuperman, others can get stuck in power lines, bump into buildings, or waver as if gravity is acting against them (which of course it isn't!) Think of the movie The Matrix, when Morpheus asks Neo how he beat him in a virtual reality fight. Was it because he was stronger, faster, or fitter in this simulated world? No. It was because he truly believed he was better. It's the same in lucid dreams. See my article How to Have Lucid Flying Dreams which explains the expectation principle and a three-step flight training program. Can I get stuck in a lucid dream? If you are imagining getting stuck in a lucid dream that way a child gets stuck in a painting in a horror movie, then no, that's science fiction. You can no more get stuck in a lucid dream than you can get stuck in a regular dream or nightmare. Dream limbo is a made-up horror movie plot device. Indeed, lucidity affords you the opportunity to wake up on demand. Many people learn to start lucid dreaming naturally by using it to wake up from nightmares. Just open and shut your dream eyes firmly while saying "WAKE UP!" You can use the same moment of clarity to transform your nightmare into a guided dream. While it is possible to become engrossed in a lucid nightmare or false awakening, this is not the same as being trapped in a dream for any significant amount of time. Though frustrating (but also enlightening) they are no different in length from typical periods of REM sleep, which max out after a certain period of time. Are my dreams psychic? I'm sure you want them to be, but wanting something doesn't make it real. Otherwise we'd all win the lottery, look like A-list celebrities and solve world hunger. To date, there is no good scientific evidence for psychic dreams. Everyone has heard of a friend-of-a-friend who "had this amazing psychic dream, so it has to be real" but please bear in mind that such stories are often embellished, and coincidences do happen. Also, consider this: 1) Nobody has identified a mechanism for psychic information to travel from the future into your dreaming mind. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but it's a tad premature to believe in something we can neither perceive nor explain. 2) It's far more likely that so-called psychic dreams are caused by coincidence. How many deaths and accidents have you dreamed about that didn't come true? Though it may seem unbelievable at the time, mathematically it is commonplace. 3) It's also quite likely that "psychic" information is received subconsciously. In other words, if you know your friend is a risk-taker behind the wheel, it's not psychic to dream of him having a car accident which later happens. There is a scientific principle known as Occam's Razor, where the observed minimalist solution is always better than calling upon additional unknown factors. Reason dictates we ditch the unproven theories and accept the simplest proven explanation. Of course, I'm not 100% dismissive of alternative theories. If solid evidence emerged for psychic dreams, I would change my conclusion. Lucid dreamers are best poised to take on this task, as explained in my article on Precognitive Dreams. Until such time, I'm going to base my beliefs on observed truths and calculated reasoning. How do I talk to my subconscious in a lucid dream? As the lucid dream is a co-created experience, you can find subconscious communication arising from many different places - via dream characters, dream events, or even the fabric of the dream itself. The easiest way is to start a dialogue with the dream; just talk out loud. See the article 10 Things to Ask Your Lucid Selffor specific questions to pose to your dreaming self. To continue reading, visit my Lucid Dreaming FAQ. Complete Lucid Dreaming Tutorials Serious about lucid dreaming? Check out The Lucid Dreaming Fast Track for my extensive step-by-step lucid dreaming tutorials. It's a detailed practical course that demonstrates the fastest way to lucid dreams.