How to Lucid Dream
The following are techniques to achieve lucidity that were pioneered by Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D., and have since become common methods for lucid dreaming.
Dream recollection: If you’re going to get comfortable with the dream world, you’re going to have to start writing your dreams right upon arising. At least try recalling them with as much depth and detail as possible. You need to let your subconscious know you’re serious about achieving lucidity. Keep your eyes closed while you write the dreams, and visualize them as you do so. Focus on recollecting your dreams as soon as you arise. Keep all of them in a journal or binder at your bedside.
If you keep having recurring dreams, try and visualize what they would have been like if you had been lucid.
Napping: This technique requires you to awaken one hour early, stay awake for 30 to 60 minutes, and then return to sleep. Wake up and think about lucid dreaming, about the dreams you had, and then fall back asleep.
During dreams there are certain occurrences or objects that are common, known as dreamsigns, look them up online to get a rough understanding of why they appeared, be sure to note them when you’re recollecting.
MILD: LaBerge developed and used the “mnemonic induction of lucid dreams” to achieve lucidity for his doctoral dissertation. First, you should set your mind to wake up from dreams and recall them as completely as possible. Whenever you wake up to recall the dream, fall asleep envisioning yourself becoming lucid in the last dream you had by finding a consistent dreamsign and repeating a mantra such as “I will remember I am dreaming.”
The repetition of the MILD technique is commonly referred to as the Wake Back to Bed (WBTB) technique. There are multiple smartphone apps that claim to have alarm presets that coincide with your REM cycles to assist WBTB.
Reality checks: While awake and going about your daily business, you can perform reality checks as often as you’d like. The more you do them, the more likely you are to do them in a dream and trigger your conscious mind into realizing that what is occurring is a dream. These include flipping a light switch (light sources tend to stay constant in dreams), looking at your watch (digital watches have weird digits in dreams), looking at your hands and poking at your hand. Perform reality checks with increased frequency the closer you get to bedtime.
FILD: Finger induced lucid dreaming is a variant on LaBerge’s reality checks and MILD technique. When you wake up while practicing WBTB and/or MILD, move your index and middle finger up and down repeatedly for roughly 30 seconds without counting. Then, using your thumb and your index finger, plug your nose so you can’t breathe through it. Then try breathing. If you can breathe through it, you’re dreaming. If you can’t breathe through it, then do it twice more. Then go back to sleep.
Coop lucid dreaming: This technique is a variant of the NovaDreamer’s visual light cues. Create a pattern for switching the lights on and off, and have a partner repeat it various times throughout the night while you dream. The change in light source will most likely affect your dream, and hopefully your conscious mind will pickup on it and achieve lucidity.
