Quick Tips
1. DAY: Daytime Preparation
-Dream Recall: Before you can wake up inside your dreams and consciously explore them, you need to remember your dreams. The consistent ability to recall your dreams is crucial and is the first talent you’ll want to develop. You must make a deliberate effort to remember your dreams. Say it out loud; chances of remembering your dreams are dramatically increased when you say, “I will remember my dreams tonight,” as you fall asleep. It is also important that, as you wake up, you stay completely still and think about what you just dreamed. Keep a dream journal by your bed, and when you’ve remembered as much as you can of your dream, you can now sit up and write in your journal. It is important to include every detail, don’t leave anything out.
-Reality Check: It may sound strange, but to begin lucid dreaming you’ll want to develop a healthy suspicion of reality. Like exercising a muscle, you’ll want to train your mind to ask this question: “Am I dreaming or am I awake?” A simple way of strengthening this doubt is by performing a physical reminder during your waking hours, also know as a reality check. You can try to poke your finger through your hand— if it passes through your hand you are definitely dreaming. Hold your nose and hold your breath- are you still able to breath? Or simply look around and ask yourself “how did I get here?”. Developing this suspicion of reality will make it easier to wake up inside the dream world.
2. TWILIGHT: Transitioning from waking life to the dream world
-Intention: A step towards achieving lucidity in your dreams is done during the moments right before you fall asleep. When laying in bed, repeat to yourself, “I’m going to wake up in my dream.” Put all your mental energy into that thought. It is crucial to look at dreaming as not simply turning off your mind, but traveling to another place all together.
-Posture: When falling asleep it is important that you ease your body into rest, while keeping your mind active. As you prepare for sleep, make sure you lay on your back, completely still, with your hands by your side.
-Wake Back To Bed: A great way to induce a lucid dream is to set an alarm for 5 to 6 hours after you plan on falling asleep. When you wake up, stay awake for around 15 to 20 minutes before going back to bed. When falling back to sleep, repeat the above steps.
3. NIGHT: Awakening within the dream
-Trigger: The best way to wake up inside a dream is to locate a trigger. A trigger is anything in the dream world that can help remind you that you are in a dream. Triggers can be anything from ridiculous (Is that a banana in pajamas?) to the most basic (Hey! This is not my Apartment building). It will be easier to spot triggers the more you ask yourself, “Am I in a dream?” in both the waking and dream world.
-How to Prolong your Lucidity: Many times, the clarity of lucid dreaming will fade away after only a few seconds. If you’re having trouble staying lucid in the dream world, don’t worry, many beginners run into this. A few tricks that you can do to prolong your lucidity are staying calm, spinning, and saying the word “stabilize” out loud.
Congratulations, you are now aware that you’re in a dream, and the real journey begins.
4. A new approach to dreaming
-Most people go to sleep at night and have no recollection of the past eight hours. A key part of having your first lucid dream is to change your understanding about what dreams are. Approach dreaming in the sense that you are taking a trip to a location that is every bit as detailed and real as the physical world.
Tip of the Iceberg
While the above tips are the beginning steps one must take in order to wake up in the dream world, there are still worlds more to learn about lucid dreaming. Being able to have your first lucid dream is only the tip of the iceberg. Your dream world is an infinite land filed with places, people, and adventures. Each potential adventure allows you to explore the essence of your own self.
We urge you to check out our book Onerironautics - A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming, to not only increase your chances of having a lucid dream, but to obtain other helpful points in exploring your dreams. You’ll learn tips on flying, how to deal with nightmares, ways to interact with dream characters, how to move objects with your mind and, when you are ready, how to dream without falling asleep. Click here to begin your journey!
