Frequently Asked Questions

First, I want to say that I’ve been using this method for quite a while, and it’s been showing some AMAZING results. I think it’s the easiest approach and has shown the best, most consistent results, and I’ve been trying them ALL for the last 2 years or so. It is far easier to induce out of body experiences (OBE) while in a lucid dream state, and this method works well whether you are inducing lucid dreams or out of body experiences.  By using this method I have around a 60% chance of successfully inducing a lucid dream or an OBE whenever I make the time to use it.

So needless to say, I’m awestruck with the dramatic increase and attribute it to this technique which I’m going to pass along to anyone who hasn’t heard of it. It’s been mentioned a lot before and it is actually alluded to in the MILD technique by Stephen LaBerge and some people refer to it as the “napping” technique, but I think “napping” is too general a term for the process.

The Sleep/Wake/Back-to-Bed Method 

1. Go to bed for 6 hours or so
2. Then wake up  
3. Stay awake for an hour or so (about 20-60 minutes)  or at least until you are “awake” and not sleepy-headed or foggy-minded

• …get out of bed and do something    
• you HAVE TO get out of bed!!!    
• preferably record your dreams in your dream journal
• or do some reading about lucid dreaming

      4. Then go back to bed using whatever technique you normally use to induce your Lucid Dreamings:

• MILD technique
• affirmations
• counting
• trance induction
• visualization
• grounding your awareness, etc…

Now it is lucid dreaming time!!! 

The timing can be adjusted to suit your purpose but it is advisable to get a lot of sleep (6 hours is perfect) and then stay up until you are no longer groggy minded and sleepy-headed. Once you are awake, sometimes 20 minutes will be enough for me, and then I’ll go back to bed with amazing results.

One key thing I’ve learned is to “set the pattern” by establishing a routine of doing this on a regular basis.  I’ve been doing it off and on with good results, but once I buckled down and made it a priority the results were phenomenal.  The KEY is to be consistent and get the routine engrained and absorbed into your subconscious. With time it seems to be getting easier and easier, and as a bonus effect of all this induced lucidity you can expect to have extra spontaneous lucid dreams during the night. It’s like an added bonus plan.

It literally works like magic.  The only thing you have to do is arrange your sleeping pattern so that you can use this Sleep/Wake/Back-to-Bed method. 

Read more about Lucid Dreaming at:

• Visit the BRAINWAVE MIND VOYAGES Website at: http://go.to/mindvoyages
• Or visit BIRD’S LUCID DREAMING WEBSITE at: http://how.to/luciddream
• Or GET INVOLVED at The dREaM Initiative at: http://come.to/dreamresearch

• Dream recall usually fades rapidly after the onset of wakefulness, suggesting that dreams are not incorporated into either short- or long-term memory.
• Dream recall is increased in the following situations. wakefulness Narcolepsy in which REM sleep intrudes into partial the number of awakenings during the night

• Narcolepsy in which REM sleep intrudes into partial wakefulness
• Insomnia
• Dream recall increases in proportion to due to the number of awakenings during the night
• Abrupt wakenings from REM sleep
• This is usually due to environmental stimuli such as noises.Sleep fragmentation caused by obstructive sleep apnoeas only occasionally leads to dream recall, probably because of the extent of the fragmentation of REM sleep which prevents dreams from becoming fully formed.
• Pregnancy
•  Fever
•  REM sleep rebound due to either REM sleep deprivation or withdrawal of drugs, such as tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, barbiturates or alcohol.

Recall of dreams is less frequent in the following situations:  

• Dream recall may be absent in conditions such as progressive supranuclear palsy and multiple system atrophy, particularly of the olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy type.
• Loss of dream recall is usually associated with loss of saccadic eye movements, although pursuit movements are retained

•  Emotional events of the previous week are strongly represented. Dreams are reactive and are more closely linked to pre- than post-sleep thoughts and emotions.
• Previous experiences are often recreated. Some external stimuli occurring during sleep are ignored and others are incorporated into the dream narrative in a modified form.
• These are almost always self-centred or personal, and death of the dreamer never occurs in the dream.
• There is a limited number of main themes of dreams. These are connected to basic biological needs that are common to all individuals.
• Aggressive or hostile behaviour towards others or towards the dreamer, resulting in dominance or submission, may manifest in dreams by various actions and emotions.
•  Dreams that have a content of bonding to other people, or a sexual content, or that are related to feeding are common.
•  Many people have repetitive dreams or dream themes and the frequency of repetitive dreams is related to the intensity of the individual’s concern about the topic.
• The content of the dreams also varies according to the following factors. 

We all experience strange and vivid dreams, so different from our regular surrounding that we easily memorize them and remember after we wake up. From colorful siteseeings to extraterrestrial creatures, our dreams have no boarders. It is not surprise to many of us to hear music, conversations, participating in all kinds of sports, performing stage appearance, or just flying above the ground. Those merely strange and vivid stories people experience in dreams become as unlimited source of inspiration and enough materials for artists, musicians, writers, poets, story tellers, political leaders, inventors, and many others professionals and amateurs around the globe. 

How to achieve this state of unlimited source of inspiration, vividness, visual and colorful imaginary when you can control what you see in your dream, create poems, or invent things? The solution is in Lucid Dreaming.

Dreams have been not only an inspiration for many people. They have been a source of study, discoveries, and a meeting place with those who are not longer with us, either humans and animals. Many people still inspired by the phenomena of dreams so they dedicate their life to study and interpret them, still believing in correlation between dreams and reality.

The following several images have been painted by the most productive surrealistic artist of all times — Salvatore Dali whose paintings have been inspired by his dreams: 

      The Dream                                                      The Persistance of Memory                   

         Shades of Night            Woman Sleeping in a                 The Dream Approaches                 

            Descending                               Landscape

             Night Spectre on the Beach                    United Dreams on the Beach                                          

                The Invention of the Monsters                                      Sleep

                            Perspectives                                         The Dream of Venus

                  The Sleeping Smoker                                        Othello Dreaming Venice

The Dream Page (one of several sites where you can submit a dream narrative)

• For over 100 years the scientists, mostly psychiatrists, were trying to find correlation between our daily encounters and our dreams during the night sleep.
• However, the common expectation among many people that the dream content reflect our life in some way has not been scientifically proven.
• Since remarkable discoveries of the last two centuries about our brain functions, sleep, and dreams, the science of sleep reveals that very few symptoms of possible illnesses can be displayed in our dream, most of the time related to the lack of breathing, hypertension, high or cold temperature, and similar problems.

The modern science of dream interpretation existing today consists of several systems distinguishing dreams by categories. Psychologist Patricia Garfield, a famous dream investigator and co-founder of the Association for the Study of Dreams, has identified 12 typical dreams that are common among people around the world. She describes these categories in her book, The Universal Dream Key (Cliff Street Books, 2001).

Each category has been identified as having negative and a positive meaning. Select dream description below, which close to your own to see what it could mean and how your dream has been explained:

         NEGATIVE DREAM                                                              POSITIVE DREAM

Courtesy of DiscoveryHealth

• Dreams happen when we sleep and they are a series of images, emotions, pictures and ideas; the conscious part of our minds does not control them. Our dreams occur particularly during REM sleep, and since Sigmund Freud used the scientific interpretation of dreams to analyze the subconscious mind of his patients, the scientific world has continued to try to answer the questions of why we dream and what they mean.
• There are many different theories. Some scientists maintain that dreams are just “meaningless biology” without any psychological importance. Others pretend that every piece of a dream requires interpretation as they are “windows” to the subconscious mind. We are aware today that dreams are related to many physical, brain, and psychological functions, and that they all play a vital role in the fabulous capacity of our brains to constantly evolve in response to our changing world.

Read more…

Watch Video:  “Everybody” [Sweet Dreams] Lirics, with Audio by Britney Spears

• Lucid Dreaming Part I
• Lucid Dreaming Part II
• Lucid Dreaming Part III

History of Lucid Dreaming

• The term “lucid dreaming” was originally suggested by Frederick van Eeden who used the word “lucid” in the sense of mental clarity.
• Lucidity usually begins in the midst of a dream when the dreamer realized.hat the experience is not occurring in physical reality but is a dream. Quite often this realization is triggered  by the dreamer who noticed some impossible or unlikely occurrence in the dream, such as flying or meeting the deceased.
• Sometimes people become lucid without noticing any particular clue in the dream. They just suddenly realize that they are in the dream.
• A minority of lucid dreams are the result of returning to REM sleep directly from an awakening with unbroken reflective consciousness.
• The basic definition of lucid dreaming requires nothing more than becoming aware that you are dreaming. However, the quality of lucidity can vary greatly. 
• When lucidity is at high level, you are aware that everything experienced in the dream is occurring in your mind, that there is no real danger, and that you are asleep in bed and will awaken shortly.
• When low-level lucidity you may be aware to a certain extend tbd.hat you are dreaming, perhaps enough to fly or alter what you are dreaming, but not enough to realize that the people are dream representative, or that you can suffer no physical damage, or that you are actually in bed.

In the circumstances described above, it is strongly desirable to develop a safe method of helping dreamers to more frequently achieving higher states of lucidity while they are asleep.

Medications to Inhibit Lucid Dreaming

• A number of substances have been suggested to enhance the likelihood of lucid dreaming, from vitamins to prescription drugs.
• There are few good scientific studies to back such claims.
• Lucid dreaming is highly subject to the placebo effect, the belief that something will stimulate a lucid dream is very effective.
• Many prescription drugs as well as marijuana and alcohol alter the sleep cycle, usually by suppressing REM sleep.
• This leads to a phenomenon called “REM rebound”, in which a person experiences intense, long REM periods after the drug has worn off. This can manifest as nightmares or, possibly, as lucid dreaming, since the brain is still active

Historical Recognition

• Historically, there are many cultures that have believed to have found naturally occurring substances that in some way alter dream self-consciousness.
• One such substance, Calea Zacatechichi or “Dream Weed”, according to Lilian Mayagoitia, is a plant used by the Chontal Indians of Mexico to obtain divinatory messages during dreaming.

Prescribed Medications

Several drugs have been proven to create and sustain lucid dreaming, such as:

• Donepizil (AriceptA®),
• Rivastigmin (ExelonA®),
• Galantamine (ReminylA®,
• NivalinA®),
• Tacrine
• Huperzine
• Acetylcholine Esterase inhibitors (AChEls). An administration of this drug has been patented in 2004 in the USA.

Those drugs leads to low incidence of adverse events, such as insomnia and gastrointestinal symptoms, while significantly enhancing dreaming cognitive clarity, lucidity, self-reflection, recall, control, bizarreness, and visual vividness.

Physical Device Enhancing Lucid Dreaming

• One of the patented devices developed to assist people in achieving lucid dreams via the detecting and monitoring the eye and head movements of sleeping persons, where eye movement activity in the absence of head movement is used to indicate the presence of REM sleep.
• By then applying sensory stimuli to sleepers in REM sleep can cue them that they are dreaming without producing awakening.
• Other invention was patented by Keith M. T. Hearne who illustrated and described his respiratory measuring device in 1983. His device sensed temperature changes of a person’s respiration in his or her breathing passageway, or in airflows to and from his or her breathing passageway. Temperature sensors were used to sense changes of the person’s respiration. When the rate of these temperature changes reached a high predetermined level, the control signals initiated an audible sound, either to help arouse sleeping persons from an unpleasant dream by awaking them, or to help them to enter into a lucid dream state.

Watch video: Sound, Brain Waves and Dimensions

Reality testing (or reality checking) is a common technique used applied by people to check whether or not they are dreaming. It involves several exercises to make sure that the obtained results differ from those produced by a dreaming person. If you practice these tests during awakening time, you may eventually decide to conduct those tests while dreaming, upon which, if you fail, you will realize that you are actually dreaming.

Dream signs

Dream signs are another form of reality testing, which might give you indications that you are dreaming. You can record your dreams in a dream journal and later make analysis the most common themes to determine your own dream signs. There are many kinds of dream signs, however,  they usually reflect the waking life of the person who has the dream. Though, without any logic. An important technique for achieving lucid dream stage is recognizing your dream signs , and helping  yourself to become consciously aware of the dream state.

Watch Video: How to trick your body into falling asleep to Lucid Dream

The following most common dream signs:

Context.The situation or place in your dream is very strange. It includes fictional characters or unusual places.

Action. You personally or an object  is doing something unusual or merely impossible in awakening state, such as flying, jumping from the roof  or mountain, running great distances, walking through walls, teleporting from place to place, observing moving and dancing stars, driving different vehicles, or listening to people who don’t move their lips, etc. 

Powerlessness. You feel lossing your own strength or can’t run. This sign indicates a loss of senses, such as vision or hearing.

Awareness. There is a loss of normal logic, a peculiar thought, a strong , an unusual sensation or emotion, or toytally modified surrounding. Occasionally, when you try to move your head from side to side, you may notice a strange stuttering or the clattering of the image.

Form.If something in your dream is oddly formed, or transformed, it means another dream sign.

Situation. Another dream sign is when you see yourself sleeping or dreaming, as well as you do something in your dream when other people around don’t.This dream sign could be noticed when you looks at a clock or your wrist watch, looks away, and then looks right back. You might see that the time has changed, strange symbols all of a sudden appeared on the watch face or even the watch could disappear altogether.

Clocks. You looks at a clock or your wrist watch, away, then look back, and you might notice that the time has changed, strange symbols appear on the watch face, or even the watch can disappear all together. 

Fingers.  You might notice an abnormal number of fingers (5 and more on your hand). You can build up a routine of periodically asking yourself throughout the day if you are dreaming by performing some of the tasks above. This routine will eventually force you to do them during your dream and taking you directly to lucidity when dream signs are remembered and fully recognized.

Prolongation. The only  problem for people trying to achieve lucid dreams is waking up prematurely. This premature awakening can be frustrating, especially after sending considerable time into achieving lucidity dream in the first place. Stephen LaBerge has proposed two unique ways to prolong lucid dream.

* The first technique involves spinning your body. He proposed that when spinning, the dreamer is exciting cirtain parts of the brain being involved in REM activity, and helping to prolong REM sleep.

* The second technique is rubbing your hands. This technique is intended to engage your brain in producing the sensation of rubbing hands, preventing your mind from swinging into awakening. LaBerge has happened to test his ideas on 34 volunteers by asking them to either spin, rub their hands, or do nothing. Results showed that:

* 90% of all dreams were prolonged by hand rubbing and

* 96% prolonged by spinning

* just 33% were prolonged without any action.

Watch Video: How to do Wake Induced Lucid Dreams

Part 2 covers more advanced methods in which you can take command of your lucid dreaming by doing Wake Induced Lucid Dreams or WILDs. You’ll learn a powerful visualization called a teleporting OBE exit that you can use to do a WILD, you’ll also learn how to craft your own efficient visualizations.

In Part Two you’ll learn how to:

* Create a space in your subconscious that you can subconscious immerse your focus into to have a WILD
* Shift your focus into the part of your brain that generates mental imagery and away from the physical reality you usually see.
* Develop your own efficient visualizations to achieve firm subconscious spaces
* Fix blindness in lucid dreams and sense your surroundings without using vision
* Solve problems associated with relaxation such as involuntary muscle twitching, itching and the swallow reflex.

Dream recall.  Dream recall is simply an ability to remember dreams. Dream recall is usually described as the initial step towards lucid dreaming. If you have better recall it increases awareness of dreams in general. With limited dream recall  any lucid dreams can be entirely forgotten. To improve dream recall, some people keep a dream journal, writing down any dreams remembered the moment they are awaken.awake

Mnemonic induction of lucid dreams (MILD). The MILD technique is a common technique developed by Stephen LaBerge. It based on the process, which induces a lucid dream at will by setting an intention, a command to yourself right before falling asleep. This technique is aimed to remember or to recognize that you are dreaming or just to remember to look for dream signs while you are asleep and having dreams.

One very simple method is to count usually yours or other people’s fingers during the daytime, making sure it is thoroughly done and by reaching the expected number. If this is done frequently when you are awake, the similar behavior will progress itself into the dream, whereby any discrepancy from the reality will be noticed and realized that it is dreaming and the dream will become lucid.

Wake-back-to-bed (WBTB). The wake-back-to-bed technique is often the easiest way to persuade a lucid dream. The method involves going to sleep as tired as you can and waking up in four to six hours later. Then, continuing focusing all thoughts on lucid dreaming, try to stay awake for an hour and going back to sleep while practicing the MILD method. Research shows close to 60% of success rate by using this technique.

Wake-initiation of lucid dreams (WILD). The wake-initiated lucid dream occurs when the sleeper enters REM sleep with unbroken self-awareness directly from the waking state. There have been developed many techniques aimed at entering a WILD. The key to these techniques is recognizing the hypnagogic stage, which is right at the threshold of being awake and being asleep. If a person is successfully manage in staying aware while this stage occurs, they will eventually enter the dream state while being fully aware that it is a dream. 

Cycle adjustment technique (CAT). The cycle adjustment technique, developed by Daniel Love, is another attractive method to induce lucid dreaming. It involves adjusting one’s sleep cycle to encourage awareness during the morning part of the sleep. This is how it’s done:

Person spends a week waking up 90 minutes before normal wake time until their sleep cycle begins to adjust.

After this cycle adjustment phase, the normal wake times and early wake times alternate daily.

On the days with the normal wake times, the body is ready to wake up, and this increases alertness, making lucidity more likely.

Lucid Dream Supplements (LDS). The Lucid Dream Supplement (LDS) technique was developed mostly by Stephen LaBerge, which is based on boosting acetylcholine levels to promote lucid dreaming. It is now known that taking the right balance of supplements after several hours of sleep is far more effective for inducing lucid dreams. 

Lucid dream induction devices (LDID). Lucid dream induction is possible by the use of a physical device. A well-known and the original widely-distributed dream-induction device is the NovaDreamer, designed in 1993 by experienced lucid dreamer Craig Webb, executive director of The Dreams Foundation. The general principle is based on the natural phenomenon of incorporating external stimuli into one’s dreams. Usually a device is worn while person is sleeping. This device can detect if the sleeper enters a REM stage and it triggers a tone and/or blinking lights with the purpose of incorporating  the external signals into the person’s dream. Here is an example: flashing lights might be translated to a police car’s headlights in a dream. The Dream Mask by Bruce Gelerte has been developed years later based on the the NovaDreamer concept. 

Lucid dream mask models. The Lucidity Institute produced the original DreamLight and NovaDreamer models which were originally on sale for $120 and only produced in semi-limited quantities. Funds raised from these devices where used to help fund further research by the Lucidity Institute. A similar device called the NovaDreamer II has been “coming soon” since at least 2004, and should be made available to the general public in late 2009. A similar device known as the Dream Mask has also been produced. Some individuals have created their own devices using foam and simple electronics. 

Watch Video: Lucid Dreams, Dreaming, Presleep Suggestions
Mark Thurston interviews Author Scott Sparrow on Lucid Dreaming with tips for successful Lucid dreams along with presleep suggestions and more.

Visit http://www.saltcube.com for the full video.
The full DVD is packed with tips that many people have used to have their first out of body experiences and lucid dreams. You’ll learn how to use the body’s own biology to put yourself in a subconscious focus without using any mental visualizations. This shortens the learning curve immensely and you very well may have an OBE or lucid dream the very first time you use the methods in this DVD.

In volume 1 you’ll learn how to:

• Speak the body’s biological language so you can to give it the commands to fall asleep while you keep your mind awake.
• Tell how deep in trance you are by listening to the body’s signals.
• Optimize your brain chemistry to make lucid dreams much more likely and much more vivid.
• Have dozens of lucid dreams or OBEs rapidly one after the other.
• Fall asleep quickly but without falling so far asleep that you can’t become lucid.
• Conquer fear in dreams.

This post was updated on July 16, 2009

Lucid dream, also known as conscious dream, is a state of dreaming where the person is aware of the dreaming process. During this dream it is possible to apply conscious control over conscious control the dream characters and environment, as well as perform otherwise physically impossible feats, like flying for example.

A lucid dream can begin in one of three ways:

A dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes that they are dreaming.

A wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent lapse in consciousness.

A mnemonic initiated lucid dream (MILD) can happen when the dreamer intentionally affirms him/herself that they will become lucid that night. This can sometimes happen due to dream-signs or spontaneously upon remembrance. Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well established. Scientists such as Allan Hobson, with his neurophysiological approach to dream research, have helped to push the understanding of lucid dreaming into a less speculative realm.

History of Lucid Dreaming
Most ancient cultures, not just Native Canadian and Americans, but many others, also have traditional medicine men or shamans, both male and female. It is believed that the shaman knows how to walk in somebody’s dream world with intention, usually for healing, to search for “lost souls” or just for answers to questions. Others, they believe, also capable of seeking prophecy or communication from the gods.

Normal Sleep
Sleep is assumed to be a period of quiet rest from all activities of the day. It is also assumed that sleep itself is a time of other type of activities, whereby some parts of our brain are more active than during regular awakening hours. As it mentioned in the What is Sleep article on this Web site, for a healthy adult, a normal night’s sleep includes 3 to 6 cycles through the various stages of sleep, approximately 90 – 120 minutes in duration each. According to the sleep researches, the actual dreams occur during REM sleep stage. As the night’s sleep progresses, the length of time spent in REM sleep increases from approximately 10 minutes in the first cycle to 30 minutes or sometimes more, in the last cycle of our night sleep. In fact, dreaming can occur in any stage of sleep, however, actual dreams during REM sleep stages happen to be longer, more vivid and colourful. As a rule, our dreams are not related to current events in our life in anyway, unless we have specific health problems and symptoms, which might trigger corresponding dreams.

Induction methods

Many people confirm having occasional lucid dream during their lives, more often in their childhood. Sleep specialist verify the fact that children seem to have lucid dreams more easily than adults. Over many years, several techniques have been developed to arrive to a lucid dreaming state intentionally.

Watch Video:  The World of Your Dreams