(Sect. 11) A Short Guide to Lucid Dreaming (Riley Hammond Midterm Post 2)

Once you learn how to adequately lucid dream, anything in the dream realm becomes possible. Much like the recent hit movie, Inception, you become the “creator” or designer of your own world. From there, you can ask your subconscious whatever question you would like answered. You can ask it to take you somewhere, and it will. Now some may say, “What if I never dream?” This is simply a misconception, for EVERYONE dreams, every night- it is just a manner of remembering the dream. This is the first step to become a lucid dreamer- remembering your style, subject matter, and nature of dreams.

The first thing you should invest in should be a journal in which to record every night/day the EXACT details of your dream. In the time of recollection, it is suggested that you do not move, and ask yourself questions such as, “Was I just dreaming? Was I dreaming before that? “ Deep Sleeper? Set an alarm after each anticipated end of each REM cycle, which lasts about 90 minutes (Nightlight (1)1, Lucidity Institute). The better you become at remembering your dreams, the better you can identity when you ARE dreaming. This simple process with much practiced time and effort can lead to the out of body experience you desire.

Being able to remember your dreams may seem difficult, but maintaining the dream state once you become aware is the difficult part. Once you become aware that you are dreaming, the whole dream can come either turn into endless possibilities, or come to a swift close instantly. Obviously, this is something you want to avoid. If the dream no longer flourishes, the opportunities to gain ultimate knowledge about your mind and awareness don’t either. There are three key techniques that scientists have to offer in order to maintain the dream state. The first is called spinning. If the dream begins to crumble, making an abrupt motion continually over and over, such as spinning, will cause the dream body to spin. The purpose is to continue this motion until you either wake up, or a new dream scene has formed around you. The next technique is called rubbing hands together. Physically rubbing your hands together while a dream is fading can allow your dream body to feel the friction and interrupt the train of thought causing the dream to collapse. The third technique is called going with the flow. In my opinion, this should only be tried/relied on if you are experienced in lucid dreaming, remembering your dreams, and/or had an out of body experience (OBE). In this technique, while in a fading dream state, you simply imagine that you are dreaming and it is collapsing. Here, you simply let your mind wonder and let the dream “work itself out.” It is suggested that throughout any of these techniques, you should continually recite, “The next scene will be a dream. “(Nightlight (1)1, Lucidity Institute).

Whatever the circumstance, the outcome of lucid dreaming is WORTH the effort. After becoming better at remembering/identifying dreams, mastering the “dream awareness” is the next step. In my next post about Dream Yoga, Tibetan Monks take a closer look on what happens next, the potential benefits and knowledge gained from OBEs in lucid dreaming. They formed a specific belief about the dream state and began practicing lucidity in order to gain ultimate knowledge about what we are, and what our universe is.