How to Lucid Dream By: Darren Wong if you must sleep through a third of your life, why should

you sleep through your dreams, too? Dr. Stephen Laberge In an ordinary dream, you are fully immersed in what you perceive as reality. In lucid dreaming, however, it is about being conscious of the very fact that you are dreaming. In this brief guide you will be taught how to, with practice, control your dreams. There are many different ways you that can achieve a lucid dream. This guide will focus on the Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams method. This technique was developed by Dr. Stephen LaBerge during his doctoral dissertation to allow him to lucid dream at will. It is also the easiest and most effective method for beginners to learn. The way MILD works is that it develops your self awareness, making it easier for you to recognize when you are dreaming. In total, there are three steps to this method. The first two are performed during wakeful hours while the latter step is for when you sleep tonight. 1) Improving Dream Recall You must start a dream-diary. This may sound trivial and extremely childish, but is in fact one of the most important steps. The second you wake up, record every detail of your dream places, people, objects. Not only does doing this tell your brain that you are serious about remembering your dreams, but also allow you to recognize traits that are unique to your dreams and possibly find commonalities to draw from. 2) Performing Reality Checks When you are awake during the day, you must constantly ask yourself Am I dreaming?. Doing so will form a habit so that you will be asking the same question in your dreams. This awareness within your dream will be a big first step to having a lucid dream where you are fully in control of your actions. 3) Visualizing the dream 1. Create a bedroom environment that provides maximum comfort. a. Temperature: The optimal sleep temperature varies from person to person but usually lies somewhere between 16 to 20 degrees Celsius. b. Position: Chose the posture most comfortable for you. c. Lighting & noises: Keep lighting and noise pollution to a minimum. Wear sleep masks and earplugs if necessary. 2. Loosen your muscles using a relaxation technique a. Lie on your back b. Starting from legs, clench the tip of your toes for three seconds and let go.

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c. Repeat the same procedure for your ankles, calves, thighs and slowly work your way up your body until you reach your face. If, at this point, you feel so deeply relaxed that you can fall asleep at any moment, then you are on the right track. Make sure you dont let your mind wander. Instead, visualize yourself in a recent dream with as much clarity and details as you can remember. Now, within that visualized dream, imagine recognizing a dream sign an unusual occurrence or object that reveals the dream to be mere fantasy and not something you would observe in real life. Repeat steps 4 to 5 until you fall asleep.

The Lucid Dream If you have done the above correctly, and with enough practice, you will be well on your way to having a lucid dream. What will happen is that when you do experience a normal dream, you will instinctively look for a dream sign and realize that you are dreaming. Become self aware at this point, will allow you to gain lucidity and control of over your dreams. You are now officially lucid dreaming! Now what, you may ask. Well, the skys the limit. With lucid dreaming, you can explore different areas of your life that you may not be able to fit in during your waking hours. In a sense, this gives you more hours in a day by allowing you to be productive in your dreams! Give this a shot and good luck! Note: Best time to lucid dream REM sleep, where our body is in our deepest sleep state, is when most of lucid dreaming occurs. Studies have shown that a nap a couple hours after waking is the most effective in inducing REM sleep. Through repeated trial and error, you can find when you are in your deepest sleep and hence when you are most likely to have a lucid dream. Getting into the habit of sleeping during this time will give you the highest chance of achieving a lucid dream.