Have you ever heard of the term “lucid dream?” If so, then perhaps you’ve wondered exactly what it means or what it refers to. Furthermore, if you know what lucid dreaming is, you may have wondered how you can learn how to have a lucid dream for yourself.
Either way, this article will hopefully be helpful for you. Specifically, the following article will cover what it means to lucid dream, clear up some misconceptions about lucid dreaming, and provide you with some tips on lucid dreaming techniques.
What Are Lucid Dreams?
The most straightforward way to explain a lucid dream is that it’s a dream where you know you’re dreaming throughout. Most people experience lucid dreams at some point in their lives; others experience more often than others, and some have a different level of control in their lucid dreams.
However, if you think back, you can more than likely pinpoint a time or two where you’ve been aware that you were dreaming while you were sleeping.
However, there are many different types of lucid dreams. For example, some lucid dream is aware that they’re dreaming but still have no control over what happens in the dream itself.
On the other hand, some people can control what happens in their dreams due to their awareness. Others may fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.
Lucid dreaming can be a great way to let one’s imagination run free, and many people who lucid dream find it to be a fun experience. Some people can even make themselves lucid dreams on a nightly basis.
Misconceptions About Lucid Dreaming
Before you continue to learn about lucid dreaming and how to lucid dream, there are some other things you need to know. Specifically, many misconceptions are floating around about lucid dreaming.
For starters, some people tend to believe that lucid dreaming only refers to dreams in which you’re in control of what happens. This couldn’t be further from the truth; any plan where you’re aware that you’re dreaming is a lucid one.
Furthermore, some people are turned off from the concept of lucid dreaming because they assume it has to be a spiritual or religious experience. However, this is also not true. Lucid dreaming is only what you choose to make it.
If you’re a religious person and like to see it as a spiritual experience, that’s fine. However, anybody can have a lucid dream, and it doesn’t have to do with religion or even spirituality.
It would help if you didn’t let these common misconceptions about lucid dreaming prevent you from learning more about it or even from trying to lucid dream independently.
Is Lucid Dreaming Right for You?
Before you decide to attempt to have a lucid dream, however, you should take the time to determine whether or not lucid dreaming is right for you. For most people, there’s absolutely no reason to avoid lucid dreaming.
However, there are some situations where it may not be a good idea to try lucid dreaming. If any or all of the following apply to you, then you should only attempt lucid dreaming with caution:
- you always feel the need to be in control
- you want to lucid dream as a way of escaping real-world problems or situations
- Do you want to do violent or illegal things in your dream
Furthermore, it would help if you understood that there’s no surefire way of adjusting the level of control you have in your lucid dreams. You may be able to bring yourself into a state of awareness in your dream, but you may be completely unable to control any aspect of it. On the other hand, you may have control; you need to be okay with either situation.
How to Have a Lucid Dream Tonight
Now that you understand what lucid dreaming is and are aware of the common misconceptions that exist about lucid dreaming, you may find yourself wondering, “how do you lucid dream?” After all, you may not want to wait until the next time you have a natural lucid dream; that could be weeks, months, or even years from now!
Fortunately, you can follow some lucid dreaming steps to learn how to lucid dream tonight. However, keep in mind that these lucid dreaming tips don’t always work the first time around. You may need to try this a few different times before you reach the level of success and control that you’d like to have with a lucid dream.
Also Read:- Vivid Dreams: Meaning of Different Dreams During Sleep
When it comes to how to induce lucid dreaming, there are a few steps you’ll want to follow to make it happen. Specifically, some different techniques can help you with how to have lucid dreams.
Start Preparing Your Body
Before you can learn how to lucid dream instantly, you’ll need to start by training your body to be able to recognize when you’re dreaming. There are many good ways to go about doing this. For starters, you should begin asking yourself, “am I dreaming right now?” throughout various points in your day.
By doing this, you can train your brain to ask yourself if you’re dreaming. Eventually, this will carry over into your dream, and you’ll have a better chance of being able to recognize when you’re craving.
Another good way to train your body to recognize when it’s dreaming is to write an “A” on your hand with ink. Every time you see the “A” on your hand throughout the day, ask yourself whether or not you’re dreaming.
This is great for those who tend to forget to ask themselves otherwise. Over time, this will train your brain to assess situations and determine when you’re dreaming versus when you’re awake.
Finally, you can prepare yourself to get into the state of a lucid dream by starting to perform little “reality checks” throughout your day. This can include looking in the mirror, flipping a light switch on and off, holding your breath, or any other safe activities that help you recognize that you’re awake and not dreaming.
The Wake Back to Bed (WBTB) Technique
Once you’re confident that you’ve trained your body to recognize when it’s sleeping versus when it’s awake, the next step to learning how to lucid dream easily is to figure out the lucid dreaming technique that works best for you, for most people, this is the Wake Back to Bed (WBTB) technique.
With this technique, you set your alarm for about five hours after you intend on falling asleep. This helps to ensure that you’ll be in a state of REM sleep (the best for lucid dreaming) when you wake up. When your alarm goes off, try to stay up for the next hour.
During this time, focus on nothing but clarity and dreaming. You can think about what you’d like to dream about, but along the way, try not to let your mind wander. Focus on dreaming and lucidity the entire time.
Once you fall back asleep, you should find yourself in a lucid dream successfully. However, this may take some practice, so don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t work out exactly as you want it to right away.
The Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreaming (MILD) Technique
Another lucid dreaming technique that tends to be successful for many people trying to lucid dream fast is the MILD technique. This technique is similar to the WBTB technique, except for the amount of time you fall asleep and wake back up with your alarm clock.
With the MILD technique, you should set your alarm clock for 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours after you plan on falling asleep. When you wake up, you should focus on remembering as much of the dream you were having as possible. Stay awake for as long as it takes you to remember the most specific details of this dream.
Once you’re successful in remembering the dream as much as you can, then you can focus on going back to bed. However, as you prepare to fall back asleep, reassure yourself as much as possible that you will remain aware that you are dreaming when you fall back asleep.
Avoid letting other thoughts cloud your mind; instead, focus only on falling back asleep and being aware of your dreams when you do.
Some Precautions About Lucid Dreaming
Having a lucid dream can be a wonderful experience, but there are some things you’ll want to be careful about as you begin learning how to lucid dream in one night. First of all, recognize that it may take longer than that for you to have a successful lucid dream. Most people aren’t able to do it in one night.
Stay away from fluids, and be sure to use the bathroom before bed. Furthermore, you should avoid drinking anything in the hour before attempting to sleep. After all, the last thing you need is to have to wake up from your lucid dream simply because you need to use the bathroom.
Furthermore, it would help if you were sure to train yourself on waking yourself up from a lucid dream. After all, you never know when you might go from having total control in a lucid dream to having none at all. If this happens, you’ll want to be able to wake yourself up so that you don’t risk something occurring in the dream that would upset you.
There are many ways to train your body to wake up from a lucid dream. Usually, closing your eyes in your vision for an extended period and suddenly opening them will have the effect of your opening your eyes in real life, thus waking you up from an unpleasant lucid dream. However, if you know how to stay in control of your dreams, this is a skill that you should hopefully never have to use.
Also Read:- 5 of the Most Common Dreams and What They Mean
Overall, lucid dreaming can be a truly remarkable experience; you can do things in lucid dreams that you could never do here on Earth, which is excellent for those who have always dreamed of flying, living underwater, or doing anything else that their bodies aren’t meant to do in real life. In many ways, a lucid dream can be a nice escape from everyday life.
Now that you know what lucid dreaming is and how to do it successfully, maybe you should start training your body for your first lucid dream. Once you have one, you’ll understand why so many people like to lucid dream!
