Lucid Dreaming: A Beginners Guide

Hey guys, today I want to chat about something that I think is really cool. You may have heard of it before, (have you seen Inception?) or maybe you have no clue what it is at all. I'm going to be a brief as I can under each subheading, but if people want to know more about it after this post, then I can write up another one that's more in depth on certain points. 

Lucid Dreaming - What is it?

Lucid dreaming is dreaming whilst being aware of the dream. "Conscious" Dreaming. In a Lucid Dream, the dreamer knows that they are in fact asleep, and with that knowledge they can make choices and changes in the dream. It might sound a little farfetched but it's completely real, and once you master that, the possibilities are endless. 

Dream Journalling

So this is the most boring part, it requires quite a bit of commitment and practice to actually start having lucid dreams. But once you get the theory down, you'll be ready to give it a go. The first step is creating your very own dream journal, it can be handwritten or even typed up. Every morning when you wake up, write everything you can remember about your dream, down into your journal. 
This process is important as it helps you practice remembering your dreams, as well as spotting common dream themes that pop up a lot, which will help later when you need to start actually giving it a go. Try setting your alarm clock a bit earlier of a morning to give you more of a chance to write your dreams down. 

Reality Checks

These will be your best friend when you're trying to learn to lucid dream. The trick to doing them, is trying to make them habit, which means doing them when you definitely know you're awake. There are quite a few different ways to check your reality, and whether or not you're dreaming or not. My favourite and (mostly) no fail check, is holding your nose with your fingers and breathing through your nose. In waking life, it obviously doesn't work. But when done whilst dreaming, you can still breathe.
It's best to always know a few different reality checks, so that you can try others if one fails. Look at your hands, they will almost always be weird with possibly too many or too little fingers. Try to read something, it will be difficult, and it may not even be words just symbols. See if you can put your hand through a mirror. Seriously. 
Your brain is a tricky bugger, and will try and explain away your reality checks. One time I tried the holding my nose check and convinced myself that I just wasn't blocking my nose properly that's why I could still breathe. Practising these during waking hours is critical to doing it in dreams, ask yourself "Am I dreaming?" and then give a reality check a go. 
Even though you know you're awake now, the point is to remember to check when you are dreaming. Some people reality check every time they walk through a doorway. If something becomes enough of a habit, you will do it automatically in your dream. 

Hey I Think I'm Dreaming!

Congrats! You've asked yourself, "Am I dreaming?" You've done one or two reality checks, and they have confirmed it. You're asleep! Woah calm down! Unfortunately it's pretty common for the first few times you realise you're dreaming, to accidentally wake yourself up, due to being well just pumped to finally have done it!
Take some deep breaths, and try to steady yourself. If you start to lose focus on the dream there are a few tricks you can try. Concentrate on your hands, just give them a good stare. Spin around, don't worry you won't get dizzy. But it can stabilise the dream. Grab onto something, like a light post, an elephant, whatever is around. Grass doesn't seem to work for some reason, so don't grab that. 
Shout that you are dreaming. "Increase lucidity!" It sounds dumb, but hey nobody's going to hear you.

Now What?

Go nuts! Do whatever you want to do. Take control of a nightmare, or of a recurring dream. Read this list of 101 Ideas for Lucid Dreams, or create your own! Find your spirit guide, talk to other dream characters and ask them questions. If you can imagine it, you can do it. 
It's also helpful to look into other methods of inducing Lucid Dreaming. I won't go into them today, but you can read about them in the links below. 
Any Questions?  I'll answer what I can! I've read soo much on this over the years, so I will help out any way I can. Most importantly,  DON'T GIVE UP! It can take quite a while before you actually have a lucid dream. But trust me, it will be worth it!

Keep Reading:

LD4All - Has been my favourite Lucid Dreaming website for years and years. They have so many guides as well as an amazing forum.  A Guide to Lucid Dreaming - Free People did a small article a while ago on Lucid Dreaming that is also helpful.






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