Lucid Dreaming - By AJ

Lucid Dreaming
By AJ
Basically, the way you achieve lucid dreaming, is when you realize you are dreaming during the dream; it's not as easy as it sounds because you end up getting a sort of "amnesia" when you dream (you don't know that you're dreaming). Thing is, once you actually realize you are dreaming, you have full memory if you're waking life; it's sort of like "waking up" inside the dream (if that makes sense). As for doing this, there are some ways of training yourself to lucid dream.
Firstly, you will need to remember your dreams.
I'll give some techniques on how to do this:
One of the main things you need to do, is tell yourself (by "yourself" I'm referring to the "yourself" in c0verst0ry's article: Communicating With Yourself). This is very simple.
Before you go to bed, just tell yourself out loud something like: "Tonight I will be aware that I'm dreaming, and I will remember my dreams when I awake". Say this to yourself about err... 50 times (to hammer it in) every time you go to sleep. This basically tells your subconscious that you want to have lucid dreams, and that you want to wake up remembering them.
Another thing you should do is keep a "dream journal". Have it beside your bed, and when you wake up in the morning, and you remember your dream, write it down. I cannot stress how important writing down your dreams is; it defiantly helps you remember them.
NOTE: If you don't remember your dream when you wake up, but you remember it later, go back and write it down then!
So, as you start to remember your dreams, it will actually MATTER if you have lucid ones.
As I said, you will need to realize that you are dreaming while you are dreaming; sometimes you will be in the dream, and something will "click" and you will just realize, "Hey! I'm dreaming!" This happens to me sometimes. Other times it may be one of your triggers.
A trigger is something (an action, a sight, something) that achieves a desired result; in this case, it's lucid dreaming.
For me, I've trained myself to "check if I'm dreaming" (I'll get to that). Another trigger is if I see a deceased relative, then I'll realize I'm dreaming.
You may discover your own triggers, where something happens and you will realize "that can't happen, this must be a dream!" but it's also good to program a trigger. It doesn't need to be something really big, just something you will end up doing in your dream which will remind you that you may be dreaming (then your memory will usually restore, and you will have a lucid dream).
One thing that you must do, is question if you are dreaming all the time; even if you know you are not currently dreaming, ask yourself “Am I dreaming?” and do some sort of action after that to see if you are dreaming. What I do, is look down at my watch; even if I’m not wearing a watch I still do it, and when I’m dreaming, the hands are usually spinning out of control (by this point, I’m usually lucid dreaming, and all my memory is restored).
Another thing you can do, is to look at your hands (palms). When you go to sleep, do it staring at your palms, and when you see your hands/palms in the dream, it will remind you of “looking at your hands” when going to sleep, and it may snap you out of the lucid dream.
I have found another way to lucid dream that doesn’t involve the above.
Has any of you ever had a dream, then you wake up and still half-asleep, you close your eyes again, and you can still “see” the dream going on? Sometimes you may end up just falling asleep again and completely reentering the dream.
One time that very thing happened to me, I was having a dream that I was in a race car, and I ended up waking up. So I was still tired, and when I closed my eyes, I could faintly see the vision of the race car still. So I decided to try and experiment. I kept relaxing, trying to keep my eyes closed and to fall back asleep, fully aware that I was falling asleep. Then eventually (maybe 2-5 mins) I was fully in the dream again (I knew this, because it didn’t feel like I was laying down and “seeing” the dream, I felt like I was sitting up in the car speeding around). And I knew I was dreaming, so I told myself I was… Then I went lucid; this was my first lucid dream.
There is one thing I should point out though, and that’s “false awakenings”. 8/10 lucid dreams I have, ends up with me eventually “waking up“ when I haven’t. During a false awakening, you will wake up in your bed, get up like you usually would and start your day -- then it ends up being another dream. It’s exactly like you’re waking up in real life. Sometimes I would wake up, run in the other room and tell my mom I’ve had a lucid dream, go and make breakfast, wait for the toast to be ready, get in my car and start driving off to my college, then I would wake up in bed (for real) annoyed.
Annoyed; the only thing about a false awakening, is that they are annoying.
So, what can you do in a lucid dream? Anything! My first lucid dream, I did what anyone would like to do… I “willed” myself to fly! It’s a dream, you can have anything you want to happen, happen in it. If you want to fly, just fly; if you are being chased by a monster, change the storyline so you are chasing the monster instead.
If you were ever held back from Astral Projection, that is even possible in a lucid dream.
(The following may not make sense unless you have read Ness’ Astral Projection article)
There have been two times where I have tried to Astral Project [AP] from a lucid dream; it’s not like when you’re trying in your waking life. There is no vibration stage.
Both times when I tried to AP from a Lucid Dream, I succeeded. Both times, all I did was “will” myself to Astral Project, just like I was able to “will” myself to fly, or to change the storyline (or to teleport myself, to give myself super powers etc).
If you try to AP from a dream, and it works, you will end up (in that very second) out of the dream, and out of your body. The first time I astral projected, my eyes were already open, and I kept floating upwards until I got sucked back into my body. The second time, my eyes were stuck closed, so I didn’t too much of anything.
Well, I hope that helps some people with lucid dreaming. Remember that you may not get results over night; I didn’t start getting results until a mother after I started, it may be longer or shorter for you. But have fun, and remember; whatever you see, it’s only a dream.