Exploring the world of lucid dreams.

'Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming' by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold was published in 1990. It is the most famous book on lucid dreaming to date and established an awareness of the scientific grounding of lucid dreams. It answers your questions like, 'What is lucid dreaming?', 'What are the benefits of lucid dreaming', and 'How do you lucid dream?'
PART 1:
The World of Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming: It is a state being consciously aware that you're dreaming lucid. Dreams allow you to experience the impossible like you can fly to the moon or surround yourself in a pile of delicious chocolate doughnuts. This sounds too good to be true, right? Well that's what I thought before I had my first lucid dream. Fortunately scientific exploration has been gaining attraction in recent years to shed light on the subject.

The first scientific evidence stemmed from a study by Keith Hone in 1975 at Hull University, England. Lucid dreams occur during rapid eye movement in sleep and when the body is paralyzed. It might be possible for a sleeping subject in a lucid dream state to perform deliberate eye movements as a means of communicating to the experimenter. There is evidence to show that this assumption does work. 37 year old Alan WasLee was able to deliberately make several massive eye movements after becoming lucid in his dreams. Stephen Laberge has performed countless studies at Stanford University. The eye movement experiments have been repeated dozens of times on various subjects with great success. Today lucid dreaming is gaining popularity. Mentions like from Vsauce(A youtube Channel), a video by ASAP science and the introduction of lucid dreaming supplements into the global marketplace do show its rise in popularity.


Dr. Stephen Laberge

PART 2:
Preparation for Having Lucid Dreams
Step 1: Record your dreams to become lucid. You have to recognize that you're dreaming but how can you do this. If you can't remember your dreams  then record your dreams in a dream journal to improve your ability to recall your dreams. Do this immediately after you wake up. Write down as much details as you can, draw pictures and record what emotions you felt.

Step 2: Identify dream signs. Most people realize they're dreaming after noticing something unusual or bizarre in their dreams. These strange occurrences are called dream signs. Here's some examples, breathing underwater, a dead person appearing alive or being in another country. Regularly record your dream signs in your dream journal. Over time you may find some types of dream signs appear more than once.

Step 3: Relax. Lucid dreaming requires you to be in a state of attentive relaxation. Your mind is alert but your body is relaxed. Try the "61 point" relaxation technique, as you lay in bed with your eyes closed  and focus on one point on your body at a time. Don't let your mind wander. Keep your attention fixed for at least a few seconds before moving on to the next point. You should feel a sense of warmth and heaviness at each point. If you're familiar with meditation feel free to try other methods. Lets learn to become lucid now.
PART 3:
Lucid Dreaming Techniques (MILD and Auto-suggestion)
Technique 1:
Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dreams(MILD)-It is a popular lucid dreaming technique invented by Laberge himself. For this specific technique you need to know how to perform a reality check.

Step 1: Perform reality checks during the day. A reality check is asking yourself whether or not you are dreaming and then looking for anything strange that may indicate you're in a dream. Try looking at your hands or poking your fingers through your palms. If your hands look distorted or your finger goes through your palm then you'll know you're dreaming. If you make a habit of this you're likely to do the same thing in your dreams which will help you realize you're dreaming. Perform a reality check 5 to 10 times throughout the day. It works best if you associate it to something you do. For example: You could do it every time you go to the toilet or get off the bus.

Step 2: Set an alarm. You go through 6 Rapid Eye Movement periods during your sleep. Your chances of having a lucid dream are higher when you're in Rapid Eye Movement. This  is most common in the last quarter of your sleep. Assuming you sleep for 8 hours you're most likely to lucid dream in the last 2 hours. Set an alarm to wake you up in six hours.

Step 3: Recall your dream when you wake up. Recall as many details as possible from your dream. Make sure you stay awake. It's not a bad idea to get up and have a 10 to 15 minutes walk around or read some lucid dreaming materials.

Step 4: Focus your intent when going back to sleep. Set your intention by telling yourself "Next time that I'm dreaming, I want to remember what I'm dreaming." If your mind wanders then gently bring your focus back.

Step 5: See yourself becoming lucid .At the same time imagine you are back in the dream you just had but this time realize it's a dream. Find a dream sign in the experience and when you see it say to yourself "I'm dreaming" and continue visualizing.

Step 6: To repeat Steps 4 and Step 5 until your intention is set and you fall asleep .If all goes well you'll find yourself in a dream and realize that you are dreaming.
Technique 2:
Auto-suggestion- Although you're less likely to have a lucid dream with this technique as compared to MILD, this is my favorite method because it requires much less effort. Over half my lucid dreams have been successful using auto-suggestion.

Step 1: Relax completely while lying in bed. Gently close your eyes and relax your body. Let go of all tension in your muscles. Enjoy the feeling of relaxation and let go of all worries and concerns.

Step 2: Tell yourself that you will have a lucid dream. Suggest to yourself that you're going to have a lucid dream either tonight or another night in the near future. Avoid putting intentional effort into your suggestion. If all goes well you may become lucid in your next dream but make sure you don't try too hard.
PART 4:
Maintaining Lucidity
Novice lucid dreamers often wake up the moment they become lucid. From my personal experience I know this can be frustrating, fortunately there are ways to help you maintain lucidity.
Technique 1:
Dream spinning- As you notice your dream fading, spin your body. Keep spinning whilst reminding yourself that the next thing you see will be a dream. When you're stable again perform a reality check and remind yourself that you're dreaming.
Technique 2:
Engage your senses. If your dream is fading try gauging your sense of touch or hearing. Rub your hands together or listen to your breathing. The aim is to load the perceptual system in your brain so it cannot change its focus from the dream world to the waking world.
PART 5:
Practical Applications
Once you become lucid, sky's the limit if you want to achieve practical things. Here's an account of a dreamer directly from the book.
A few years back I was trying to lose weight. I would dream that I was in a grocery store, bakery or restaurant and food was everywhere. I was conscious that I was dreaming and therefore could eat whatever I wanted. I proceeded to pick out anything on the face before me. Even tasting the food in the dreams would satisfy my craving. I would wake feeling satisfied not full.  During the day if I got the urge to eat something, I shouldn't. I just thought I'll eat it tonight in my dream and I did.
If you thought lucid dreaming wasn't cool enough already, more accounts have involved dreamers who've solved chemistry equations, overcame nightmares and even practiced surgery. You will only be able to comprehend the wonders of lucid dreaming once you have your first lucid dream. When you wake up you'll be hit hard with a feeling of pure euphoria. Consider that we sleep for one third of our lives. Stephen Laberge said if you must sleep through a one-third of your life then why should you sleep through your dreams?

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Image credits- Google Images.

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