How Does Lucid Dreaming Work?

By Trevor Albitt

Lucid Dreaming or Conscious Dreaming is the art of being aware that one is actually dreaming. In simple words, while in dream, you are aware that all the events are not happening in fact, or 'It's Just A Dream!' kind of situation. There is certain amount of control you can exercise while lucid dreaming, which is not the case in normal dreams.

Being able to control the course of your dreams is nothing less than a life-changing, liberating experience. All things that you felt could hold you back in life just melt away and you are in control of every situation.

Is lucid dreaming as straightforward as all that? Is lucid dreaming something which can be experienced by anyone?

In fact, lucid dreaming is not too difficult a task. If you are determined to learn this powerful medium of expressing your inner desires, there are tried and tested ways of achieving this.

You need to know what you hope to achieve through lucid dreaming. Are you after something specific which can help you with other areas of your life, or do you just want to turn your dreams into a playpen of the imagination? Whatever your reason for wanting to learn lucid dreaming, know your goal and be determined to reach it.

Then starts the actual process of learning this art. Firstly, you need to learn a process, called Dream Recall, i.e., recalling a dream you had the previous night. Unless you remember a dream, you can't achieve the stage of lucid dreaming.

This is not going to be an overnight kind of process. You should keep a dream recall register to begin writing down every single detail you can recall of your dreams every day. You will find your capacity for dream call improving as you do so. Try implementing "reality checks" during your dreams to begin training your mind to be alert as you dream.

For a lot of people, hypnosis helps them to prepare their mind for lucid dreaming much more quickly. Sometimes, as few as one or two sessions may be needed to get you being able to recall all of your dreams every day. Once you can do this, you are ready to begin trying lucid dreaming.

When you are lucid dreaming, you may suddenly awake. Don't worry! Recall the details of your dream and try to go back to sleep and continue the dream in the way that you want. When you awake, you may just be surprised! If successful, your dream will have been under your control and your mind will have a new found power.

Another good way of inducing lucid dreams is to wake a few hours earlier than usual, then go back to sleep. The dreams you will have in these few hours are the easiest to make into lucid dreams. You may even find yourself unsure whether you have been sleeping or just thinking to yourself as you lay in bed. Just set your alarm for a few hours early, wake and reset the alarm and then go back to sleep and you will be more likely to have lucid dreams.

When trying to have lucid dreams, it is helpful to become familiar with your sleeping habits so as to be aware of the best times to try for lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming can actually help you fight sleeping disorders, like insomnia. Whenever you are struggling to sleep at the normal sleeping hours, you just need to tell your mind that sleeping equals lucid dreaming, and your mind will take care of all the thoughts that are preventing you from falling asleep.

It once was the case that it could take years to learn lucid dreaming; the only way to prepare the mind was meditation, which took a long time to master. A lot of people lack the discipline and would simply give up. New technologies, especially audio technology have made it possible for anyone to experience lucid dreaming.

Binaural audio is one of the most reliable methods of getting people to have lucid dreams.

Binaural beats audio is the playing of frequencies which are slightly different from each other, one in each ear. This causes a feeling of deep relaxation and brings brain waves into the proper state for lucid dreaming.

Before binaural audio technology, meditation was the method of choice for those wanting to learn lucid dreaming, and this was a process which could sometimes take years to master. Many simply gave up, not having the determination to pursue the practice.

Particularly in conjunction with hypnotherapy, binaural sound waves can get your mind ready for lucid dreaming, sometimes as early as your first attempt!

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