Hey there - If you're not familiar with lucid dreaming then check out my first article!
What is Lucid Dreaming?
If you are familiar, continue reading :)
Inducing Lucid Dreams
So now that you've read my article (or did your own research) and you have a good idea of what it is, you desparately want to try it... don't lie - yes you do. And I'm here to help!
There are many ways to induce a lucid dream. I can give you a few examples (as some of you may prefer these techniques) but I'm mainly making this post to tell you about the method that works for me the best.
- WILD - This stands for Wake Induced Lucid Dream
Essentially, this is the first steps into astral projection, but instead you're entering your subconscious - not the astral plane. With the WILD method, you keep your mind awake while your body falls asleep. Get relaxed and lay down without moving a muscle. After your body is asleep, you want your mind to start to get "sleepy" and you start visualizing "scenes" in your head. Eventually you insert yourself (your consciousness) into that environment. The goal is to keep your mind awake while simultaneously entering the lucid state of dreaming... It sounds hard/confusing - because it kind of is. This method has almost never personally worked for me. But try it out and let me know your thoughts.
- WBTB - This stands for Wake Back To Bed
This is basically an add-on to the WILD method. Instead of keeping your mind awake, you go to sleep as you normally would. However, you set a timer about 3-4 hours before you would normally wake up. When the alarm sounds, you wake up just to turn the alarm off and then go right back to your sleeping position. Some say to stay awake for about 30 seconds. After returning to your sleeping position, you can use the WILD technique to visualize a scenery that you insert yourself to. In my experience, this is more helpful than just the WILD alone because your mind is already in the state of consciousness it needs to be in. If you choose not to use the WILD with WBTB then you can go back to sleep and just hope you become lucid.
Reality Checks
This is by far the best method in my experience. Reality checks can also be associated with the MILD technique (Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream). They require such minimal work it's almost effortless and yet extremely effective. So how do these work?
What's a reality check?
It's exactly what it sounds like - you're checking the reality to see if it's "real" or not. To do this, you (attempt to) perform any task that could only be accomplished in a dream.
How do I use these reality checks to induce a lucid dream?
Pick whichever reality check you want to use and perform it multiple times throughout your day. The more you do it, the more likely it is for you to have a lucid dream that night.
How do these even make me lucid?
Even if you don't study dreams, it's common sense that your dreams are your subconscious thoughts. Sometimes dreams make absolutely no sense. Sometimes there's a plotline. But we can agree that a good amount of dreams are things we did/thought of/talked about that day. And they trail into the subconscious. When you perform a reality check in your daily life, you'll subconsciously perform it in your dream. And once you perform it in your dream, you immediately become lucid because the impossible event just happened!
What are some examples of reality checks?
Always start by asking yourself, "Am I dreaming?" This is a reality check on it's own and it works in conjuction with the ones below
Time Check - Look at the time twice (the time is never usually the same in your dream)
Read words - Pick a book, a poster, literally anything you can read (the text usually isn't the same in your dream when you read it a second time)
Mirror - Look at yourself in a mirror (you usually look different in the dream world)
Finger & Hand - Take your index finger - or any finger you want - and try to push it through your palm. Actually believe it will go through your hand (obviously in your dream it will go through your hand)
Steering Wheel - (If you're mobile) Pull up on the steering wheel (the car should start to fly when in a dream)
And there's plenty more. But then there's my FAVORITE
The Best Reality Check
This is the one I ALWAYS use.
And in all honesty, I have been using this all day today, including while making this post. You may or may not have heard of it but it's called the Jumping Method. While all the other reality checks have a slight more chance of being unneffective, this one never fails me.
Now, most people choose not to do this technique because if you do it in public, people might look at you sideways - but I personally don't give a fuck.
What you do is pick how many times you're going to perform this. (Today I have been doing this every 15 minutes. The last time I used this method every 15 minutes, I lucid dreamt for 3 days straight). Ask yourself, "Am I dreaming?" (You have to truly believe you COULD be dreaming). And then to answer your question, you ready yourself for a jump and actually believe you will fly. Then JUMP!
Obviously if you're awake you'll land. However, any time I subconsciously performed this in a dream, I immediately started floating and became aware of the fact I was dreaming. And from there it's up to you to remain lucid.
In Conclusion
There is no "right" or "wrong" way to induce a lucid dream (or for anything in the world, at that matter) but only what works for you and what does not work for you. Between me and the other people I've talked to about this topic, we all agree the jumping method is one of the most efficient ways to achieve a lucid dream. But no matter which technique you choose you MUST be persistent and patient. We know not everyone is the same. It could take days for some - weeks for another. But you cannot give up. The more you practice you do, you're only getting better.
Love & Light
~Steem Spirit