Introduction to Lucid Dreaming

By Harlow Wolfe

For most of us, dreaming is like watching a movie. While watching a

movie, we play a passive role in that we cannot change the movie. All that
we can do is to view it as its story unfolds. The same is true with our
dreams. First, most of us do not realize that we are having a dream while it
is occurring. We only realize that a dream had occurred when we wake up.

What if you could be the director of your movie? What if you could
recognize that a dream was occurring when it was happening? What if you
could create changes to your dreams so that it plays out the way you want
it? Does this seem impossible? It isn't. In lucid dreaming, all of these things
become a reality.

What is Lucid Dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is a state of consciousness where we are aware that a dream

is occurring as it is happening, and we can control it. Lucid dreaming is
associated with metacognition, which is the ability to be aware of one's
thought process, and researchers have studied it. While lucid dreaming
infrequently occurs for most people, one can increase the frequency of lucid
dreaming by learning to increase their awareness of their thoughts.

Imagine what it would be like to recognize that you are having a dream as it
is occurring. Imagine what it would be like to change the storyline of your
dream as it is playing out. As the dreamer, you change your position from a
passive viewer to sitting in the director's chair.

As the director, you could intentionally explore your dream world and make
changes to it at your whim. You can explore your fantasies, time travel, or
summon dream characters of your choosing.

You can improve your waking life by addressing it in your dreams. While
lucid dreaming, you can access your creativity, solve problems, or
overcome personal issues. In lucid dreaming, you, the dreamer, can
influence the dream's storyline so that you experience whatever you want to
experience.

When lucid dreaming, you can change your dream universe through the
power of your thoughts.

A Brief History of Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming was part of many ancient civilizations and Eastern religious
traditions, especially Buddhism. In fact, the first written record of lucid
dreaming dates back to the fourth century BCE.

Aristotle wrote about it in this treatise, On Dreams. It was not until the
1970s that lucid dreaming was studied scientifically. Research on lucid
dreaming has concluded that it is a state of consciousness different from the
waking state or REM sleep. REM sleep is the stage of sleep in which
dreams occurs.

In 2009, a study conducted by the Neurological Laboratory observed that

the brain waves increased in subjects experiencing lucid dreaming. The
increased brainwave frequencies were above the levels that were
experienced during REM sleep. The researchers concluded that lucid
dreams were incomparable with any other known conscious activity.

Have you ever had a Lucid Dream?

While everyone has the potential to have lucid dreams, they are experienced
infrequently, if at all. In fact, a poll has shown that about half of adults have
one or fewer lucid dreams per year.

The same survey also showed that approximately 23% of respondents have
one lucid dream per month. In comparison, 11% indicated that they have
two or more lucid dreams per month. It was also found that those who have
lucid dreams are more often female that the frequency of lucid dreaming
declines with age. The following are ways you can determine if you have
had a lucid dream:
• While having the dream, there is a realization that it is a dream as opposed
to reality.

• While sleeping, you were aware that you were sleeping.

• Your dreams were vivid in detail.

• You were able to exercise some control over the dream.

• You experienced strong emotions while dreaming.

Lucid Dreams: A Sign of Evolving Consciousness

Lucid dreaming is not as mysterious as it may seem when one understands

that all that exists is consciousness. Even in our daily lives, there is only
consciousness. I mean that everything that we experience arises from
consciousness, is made of consciousness, and is found within
consciousness.

To better understand this, all we need to do is examine the nature of

dreaming. Just as in waking life, a dream consists of an observer and the
observed. You, the dreamer, experience yourself as the dream self. The
dream self is your experience of yourself within the dream. The dream self
engages with a dream world and all of the other characters that inhabit the
dream world.

The dream self and its relationship to the dream world is experienced in the
same way that most of us experience ourselves in the world when we are
awake. What I mean by that is that we experience ourselves as being a
separate and distinct entity from the rest of the world. When I am at work, I
see myself as separate from my coworkers or manager. I also see myself as
being distinct from my desk, chair, or computer. This sense of being a
separate and distinct entity also appears in our dreams. I see myself as being
separate from the tiger chasing me or the landscape that I am flying above.

Our dream experience, while it is happening, becomes our reality. Further, it

is the only reality that we know at the time. It is only when we wake up that
we realize that what we experienced was only a dream. While our dream
was experienced as reality, it was only an illusion. Both the dream self and
its dream world were the projections of consciousness. They were the
mental projections of the dreamer.

Our dream reality arose from consciousness, was made of consciousness,

and was found within consciousness.

As we explore and develop our psychic abilities, we will begin to realize

that our waking life is also an illusion created by our minds. From higher
levels of awareness, there comes a realization that the experience of
ourselves and the world is illusionary. When I say that our experiences are
illusionary, I do not mean that they are not real. What we experience is real,
be it in waking life or while dreaming.

By saying these things are illusionary, I mean that our experiences are not
what we think they are.

While dreaming of being chased by the tiger, the tiger and I were real.
However, they were just the projections of consciousness. In the same way,
our experiences in our waking life are the projections of the One
Consciousness.

When we are lucid dreaming, we have transcended our sense of

separateness and view our experience from the position of higher
consciousness. Because we do not identify with our dream experience, we
have the freedom to create the desired changes in our dream reality.

Since there is only one consciousness, any changes we create in our dreams
will reverberate to all other levels of consciousness, including the level of
consciousness that is our daily life. Any mysteries that we may associate
with psychic powers will dissolve when one realizes that there is only one
consciousness. As expressions of that consciousness, we can gain access to
the complete information that it contains.

Communication with the Waking World

It was 2019, and the test subject, whose last name was Mazurek, was
sleeping in the laboratory at Northwestern University. Mazurek was one of
36 participants that had trained to induce lucid dreams.

As Mazurek slept, the researchers asked him if he had a lucid dream.

Mazurek responded back to them by moving his eyes back and forth
quickly three times. This action was the prearranged code for an affirmative
response. The researchers then asked him a math problem through the
speaker, "What is eight minus two?" This time, Mazurek moved his eyes
back and six times.

After the session was over and Mazurek woke up, he was debriefed by the
researchers who wanted to know what he experienced. Mazurek shared with
them that he was in a video game; yet, he was aware of what was happening
in the laboratory. When he was asked the math question, the voice came
from the video game. He told the researchers that it was at that moment that
he realized that he was asleep.

The research that Mazurek participated in was not being conducted by

Northwestern University alone.

The University had partnered with European researchers to determine if the

awareness exhibited during lucid dreams can extend to the outside world.
After repeated studies, they got their answer.

The answer was yes! They confirmed that two-way communication is

possible between an individual that is sleeping and one who is awake.

This research supports the view that consciousness is not something that is
found somewhere in our brains. Rather, we live in a conscious universe.
Because of our social indoctrination, we believe that we are separate
entities that are conscious and that we inhabit a physical reality. Instead, we
are expressions of consciousness that inhabit a conscious universe.

We are united by one consciousness. This means that each of us has the
potential to explore levels of consciousness that are beyond what the mind
can conceive. Further, each intention that we make sends ripples through
the field of consciousness, a field that encompasses all that is and all that is
to become. Lucid dreaming offers a portal to that exploration.

The Benefits of Lucid Dream

The benefits of lucid dreaming are wide-ranging in that lucid dreaming

allows the dreamer to enter a dream universe where they are not only in
control, but there are no limits to what they can do. This kind of situation
provides a unique environment for the dreamer to explore or resolve any
mental or emotional challenges they may face. The following are examples:

• Published studies have demonstrated that lucid dreaming can benefit those
suffering from PTSD by confronting their trauma and learning to relax.

• Lucid dreaming has been used to help individuals overcome their phobias.

• Athletes have used lucid dreaming to gain an advantage when competing.

• It has been theorized that lucid dreams could be a valuable tool for
interacting with their psyche or inner self.

• Therapists have used lucid dreaming to help individuals connect with their
spiritual selves and overcome death's fear.

• Individuals have used lucid dreaming to enhance their creativity and

conduct problem-solving.

• Lucid dreaming can reduce the frequency of nightmares.

One of the more interesting benefits of lucid dreaming is skill development.

Regardless of the skill, research has demonstrated that we can increase our
skill development by practicing it in our dreams.

In one research experiment, test subjects had to toss coins into a cup that
was located two meters away.

Those who had practiced this skill while lucid dreaming performed
significantly better than those who did not practice at all. Those who
practiced while lucid dreaming did not perform as well as those who
practiced this skill in the waking state. Think of the advances you could
make if you practiced both while dreaming and awake! Some athletes have
done just that.

A study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences offered evidence on the

positive effects that lucid dreaming had on athletic performance. It is
believed that lucid dreams provide athletes with what could be compared to
a virtual world, with all of its accuracy and intensity. Athletes can practice
their athletic skills.

Lucid Dream Techniques

As stated earlier, everyone has the potential to have lucid dreams. It is just a
matter of developing your capabilities for doing so. The following are ways
to bring about lucid dreams, maintain them, and create changes while
having them.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD) is a simple yet effective

technique for inducing lucid dreams. Further, it has been supported by
research. You can experience lucid dreams by using prospective memory.
While memory allows us to remember something in the past (retrospective
memory), prospective memory is remembering to do something in the
future. When you set an intention, you are proclaiming to consciousness as
to what you want to happen.

MILD is a form of auto-suggestion in that you are suggesting to your mind

that you want to experience a lucid dream. To use MILD, start by getting
comfortable in bed and clearing your mind. When you

have reached a state of calm, silently repeat to yourself your intention. The
following are examples of intentions:

• When I dream tonight, I will be aware that I am dreaming.

• While dreaming tonight, if I experience something strange, I will know
that it is just a dream.

• Tonight as I dream, I will travel to the future.

When one creates intentions, they become ingrained in mind. As dreams are
the projections of the mind, these intentions will be remembered while one
is in the dream state.

Improve Your Sleeping Habits

Lucid dreams occur during REM sleep. The more REM sleep that you
experience, the more likely to will experience lucid dreams. To get more
REM sleep, take steps to improve the quality of your sleep.

You can do this by evaluating your sleeping habits to see what you can
improve on. The following are tips for improving the quality of your sleep:

• Follow your sleeping schedule by going to bed and waking up around the
same time each day.

• Avoid using your electronic devices before going to bed.

• Avoid heavy meals in the evening.

• Avoid drinking caffeine in the latter part of the day.

• Create a comfortable environment in your sleeping quarters.

Reality Testing

Reality testing is a technique where you condition your mind to determine

if you are dreaming or not.

The idea is to rehearse reality testing while you are awake so that your mind
performs it while you are in the dream state. For example, you may press
your hand against a wall. That your hand does not pass through the wall
tells you that you are not dreaming. This information gets retained by your
mind.

If you do this often enough, what will happen is that you can perform this
same exercise while you are dreaming. If your hand passed through the
wall, you would know that you are dreaming.

Dream Diary

Dream diaries are one the simplest ways to get the most out of your dream
experience. Keeping a dream diary will help you remember more of your
dreams, dream more often, experience more detailed dreams, and
experience more lucid dreams. The reason for this is simple; anything that
you focus on will become stronger or grow.

By recording your dreams in your dream diary, you are placing your focus
on your dreams. However, the power of recording your dreams is impactful
in another way. There is something about writing that facilitates the
accessing of the subconscious. When you write down your thoughts, as
opposed to just thinking about it in your head, insights appear that would
have remained unavailable otherwise.

The key to dream diaries is to be consistent with them. You want to record
your dreams each morning.

Also, you want this to be the first thing that you do when you wake up so
that you do not forget them.

Identifying Patterns

When dreaming, do you experience reoccurring themes or characters? If so,

you can use them as a bridge to lucid dreaming. Let's say that flying is a
reoccurring theme in your dreams. As you fall asleep, tell yourself that the
next time you fly, you will be aware that you are dreaming.

Lucid Dreaming and Mindfulness

As you read about lucid dreaming, you are having thoughts about what you
are reading. Perhaps, you are thinking that lucid dreaming is fascinating.
However, you can also go a step further. You can also be aware of the fact
that you are thinking that lucid dreaming is fascinating.

There is a big difference between having a thought and being aware of that
thought. To be aware of thought is to create space between you and it.
Instead of identifying with the thought, you become a witness to it. To have
this level of awareness is to be mindful. It is for this reason that developing
a mindful practice can help induce lucid dreaming. The reason for this is
because in developing mindfulness, our self-identification with our
experiences starts dissolving.

Instead of getting caught up in thoughts and identifying with them, we

become aware that we are the witness to our thought. For example, the
reason why we become is angry is because we identify with an angry
thought. This is because we believe that we are our thoughts. If we are
mindful, we are aware

of the angry thought. Instead of identifying with it, we are aware of it. By
being aware of the thought, we know that we cannot be it.

If we develop our mindfulness, then we will not identify with our dreams.
Instead, we realize that we are the witness to the dream. It is the ability to
not identify with the dream that makes lucid possible.

Notice the Details

Beverly D' Urso is a researcher who specializes in studying lucid dreams.

She believes the best technique for lucid dreaming is to become more aware
and pay attention to the details in your daily life. When you learn to pay
attention to your detail, you will detect when things don't fit. When this
happens, you will know that you are dreaming.

The reason why paying attention to detail helps bring about lucid dreaming
is that attention to detail during waking hours conditions the mind to
become a habitual pattern. This habit becomes activated while dreaming.
By paying attention to the details of the dream, one can know that they are
dreaming when the dream details do not make sense.

How to Practice Dream Control

You may be wondering to yourself, "Okay, so I have a dream; what do I do

then?" This question brings us to the topic of dream control. In other words,
how do you control your dreams? Dream control begins when you have
determined that you are lucid dreaming. What this means is that you are
aware that you have a dream.

The more you are aware of your dreams, the simpler it is to control them.
This is why it is so important to practice the techniques mentioned in the
previous section. By learning to increase the frequency of lucid dreams, you
will automatically increase your awareness of them. The following are
suggestions for dream control:

Become Intentional

While you have a lucid dream, make the intention of what you want to
happen. It is no different than in your waking life. If you want something to
happen, you become intentional and do it. The same thing is true during
lucid dreaming. Example: Be willful that you will walk through a wall and
then do it.

It is important to note that being intentional takes practice. It can be difficult

in the beginning stages when lucid dreams quickly fade. With practice, you
will be able to sustain your dreams (see the next section).

Proclaim It Out Loud

In your dream, express your desires out loud. Example: "I have the power
to fly." You expressing your desires will empower you while your dreams
will accommodate your desires.

It is important to note that you do not have to control your lucid dreams.
You can also passively enjoy your dreams in your higher state of awareness
and let your dreams simply unfold naturally. Finally, when controlling your
dreams, know that if you expect something to happen, it will occur.

Maintaining Your Dreams

Those in the beginning stages of exploring lucid dreaming are often

disappointed that they are over prematurely. The reason for this is that we
allow ourselves to get emotional when experiencing lucid dreams. With
practice, you will learn to remain calm while having your dream
experience. This will prolong your lucid dreams. When lucid dreaming, it is
best to stay calm and focused. Further, it is helpful to remind yourself that
you are dreaming. Reminding yourself of this will keep you mentally
grounded.

Another technique to extend your lucid dreams is drawing your awareness

away from your sleeping self and your dream self. You can do this by
rubbing your hands together while telling yourself, "I am dreaming." When
doing this, it stimulates the conscious brain and directs the awareness to the
body of your dream self. Some have been able to extend their lucid dream
uninterrupted for an hour using this method.

For those interested in learning about lucid dreaming, a whole new realm of
experience awaits you.

Lucid dreaming is truly a fantasy come true. To create your own dream
experience and test the boundaries of your imagination is both fun and
rewarding. It is fun because you can do the imaginable, and it's rewarding
because it reveals our untapped potential.

Even more profound, it cannot help but lead to reflecting on the nature of
who we are.

For most, the definition of who we are is defined by our limitations. We

may identify with our age, gender, race, or occupation.

Regardless of how we define ourselves, we impose a limitation. This is

because just in defining ourselves, we exclude other possibilities of who we
could become. It is like looking through a peephole in a door. When one
looks through a peephole, what is seen is limited by the confines of the
peephole itself. The peephole's construction limits one's view to a narrow
view of what lies on the other side of the door.

When experiencing lucid dreaming, one no longer looks through the

peephole. Instead, they open the door and step through it. What awaits on
the other side is unbounded potential. The unbounded potential that I speak
of is the unbounded and infinite potential of consciousness.

Consciousness is the source of all existence, and we are its manifestations.

Lucid dreaming exposes us to both the essence of who we are and stretches
our imagination as to who we can become.

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