Lucid Dreaming Techniques
Six easy tips
Lucid dreaming and dream remembering do not come naturally for me. So I have to do a lot of prep work — work on my technique, adjust my lifestyle — as per the work of lucid dreaming pioneer Stephen LaBerge and others, if I want to trigger lucidity or recall.
Here are a few techniques that have worked for me in the past.
1. Relax, Relax, Relax
Get plenty of sleep. No television or Internet one hour before bed. Meditate beforehand. These are the big three. The more calm the mind you bring with you to bed, the easier it will be to slip into a dream or pop a lucid one.
Also, if you want to encourage the occurrence of lucid dreams, extend your sleep. If you are serious about lucid dreaming and can find the extra time, you should arrange at least one morning a week in which you can stay in bed for several hours longer than usual. (Can do!)
2. Motivation and Prospective Memory
Another important prerequisite to recalling dreams is motivation. Intend to remember your dreams and remind yourself of this intention all throughout the day and just before bed.
Additionally, it may help to tell yourself to have interesting and meaningful dreams throughout the day and just before you tuck yourself in for the night. This idea was central to the work of creative dream pioneer Patricia Garfield.
3. Dream Recall
Get into the habit of asking yourself this question the moment you awaken:
“What was I just now dreaming?”
Do this first thing, right away, or you’ll quickly forget some or all of your dream content due to interference from other thoughts, what you need to do that day, etc. Don’t move from the position in which you awaken, as any body movement may make your dream harder to remember.
4. Dream Journal
Keep a dream journal or recorder by your bed and record your dreams as soon as you awaken. As you record more dreams, you will remember more.
Start to pay attention to strange things in your dream, both objects and events, what are known as your personal dreamsigns. When people realize they’re dreaming, it’s often because they reflect on unusual or bizarre occurrences in their dreams.
Interestingly, we also talk away their unusualness: Oh yes, it makes perfect sense that Scarlett Johansson should be in my bathtub, playing with a blue giraffe. What could be more normal than that? She looks like she could use a foot massage.
5. Engage With Reality
Pay attention to and become thoroughly familiar with the way things usually are in your waking life.
Look at physical objects with interest, their color, shape, size, movement. Engage your sense of touch with everything. Stop during the day and take a moment to listen to the sounds happening around you. This will prepare you to notice when something unusual happens in a dream. (I’ll go deeper into this topic next week.)
6. State Check
“Am I dreaming or am I awake right now?”
Ask yourself this question throughout the day. Do reality testing, every hour on the hour. Set your phone alarm to go off at the top of every hour and say it out loud: “Am I dreaming or am I awake?”
You can also test your state with some kind of trigger. Whenever you get up to get some tea. Look at a picture of your children. See a bird fly by. I had a rock with the word “Dream” on it that I placed in the middle of the living room and I either saw it or accidentally kicked it whenever I crossed the room. That was my state check reminder.
When your mind is programmed to ask this question every hour, it will ask it in the middle of the night, when you’re dreaming. (Hint: answer “Yes, I am dreaming!” when dreaming.) And this can trigger lucidity.
Do you have other techniques that work for you? Leave a comment!
