Thread: NEW STUDENTS START HERE: Beginner's Intro to Lucid Dreaming - LESSONS I - IV

To sign up for the class, simply read these lessons. Then start your workbook here by clicking on "+ Post New Thread." If you have any questions, post them in the Raise Your Hand Q&A Thread, and one of us will reply asap.



Lesson II. - Overview of the Types of Lucid Dreaming Techniques

Lucid Induction Techniques are broken down into two major groups: Dream-Induced Lucid Dreams (DILDs), and Wake-Induced Lucid Dreams (WILDs). Each type has its own variations, and then there are a few types that fall under the miscellaneous category. After each type is discussed, you should be able to pick one that seems right for you to start with, based on its characteristics, and based on your particular life-style and sleep pattern.

A. DILD and its Subgroups:

• DILD: The easiest and most common induction technique, this is when the dreamer starts out in a normal dream, then something triggers lucidity. Awareness, reality checks and dream signs are key for this technique.
  
  - Pro - Requires very little in terms of work just prior to going to bed, and no loss of sleep (great if you're in school or have a 9-5 job).
  - Con - Depends on the random happenstance that you will suddenly become lucid or have the wherewithal in a dream to do a reality check.
  
  DILD Tutorials to Check Out:
  - Puffin's DILD Guide
  - All Day Awareness Tutorial
  - Naiya's DILD & WILD Secrets

• MILD: This method takes the positive thinking one step further, in addition to everything from DILD you affirm before bed that you will have a lucid dream. Dream incubation, visualising and auto-suggestion play roles here.
  
  - Pro - Also requires little work before bed, and no loss of sleep
  - Con - If you're not focused enough on your before bed practices, it can render the technique useless.
  
  MILD Tutorials to Check Out:
  - Dream Yoga Visualization Training
  - Night-Time Routine Guide
  - Daydream Awareness Technique
  - Dream Incubation Tutorial

B. WILD and its Subgroups:

• WILD: The harder induction technique, this is when the dreamer goes instantly from the waking state into the dreaming world by keeping focus on self-awareness while laying perfectly still. During the transition it's possible to experience sleep paralysis, hypnagogic imagery and hypnagogic hallucinations and despite common misinformation, none of them are frightening.
  
  - Pro - Once mastered, possibly the most effective method for attaining lucidity at will.
  - Con - Very difficult to master for beginners, often requires waking up in the early morning.
  
  WILD Tutorials to Check Out:
  - Sageous' DVA WILD Class
  - Naiya's DILD & WILD Secrets
  - The Comprehensive Guide to Sleep Paralysis

• DEILD: WILD's younger brother, DEILD. This skips a lot of the harder steps of WILD by performing a WILD immediately after waking from a dream and laying perfectly still. This is sometimes also called "dream chaining", and therefore possible to have several lucid dreams a night with this method.
  
  - Pro - Once mastered, you can have multiple lucid dreams in a single night or morning, or even during a nap.
  - Con - Difficult to remain relaxed, still and aware after waking. Easy to forget dreams as you skip the dream journalling part in favor of re-entering the dream.
  
  DEILD Tutorials to Check Out:
  - Yuppie's DEILD Guide
  - Sageous' DEILD Tutorial
  - DVWiki DEILD Tutorial
  

C. Miscellaneous Techniques: The final category of induction techniques is just a miscellaneous list of popular practices that don't necessarily fall directly under DILD or WILD.

• WBTB: This technique requires you to schedule a time to wake up after a certain period of sleep. The best times to schedule this is at 90-minute intervals after initially falling asleep, with the most common times being after between 4 and 6 hours. This can be done either with an alarm or auto-suggestion.
  
  - Pro - Can increase chances of having a lucid dream by 60% when used in combination with other techniques.
  - Con - Possible loss of sleep due to waking up half way through your sleep cycle.
  
  WBTB Tutorials to Check Out:
  - Sageous' Timing Tutorial
  - DVWiki WBTB Tutorial

• Dream Yoga: A pretty advanced technique that takes a lot of time and patience to master, although the basics can reward all forms of lucid dreaming. It trains you to increase your overall self-awareness while asleep, the same way exercise improves an athlete.
  
  - Pro - If mastered, makes WILDing and MILDing very easy to obtain.
  - Con - Takes a lot of dedication and many months or years of practice.
  
  Dream Yoga Tutorials to Check Out:
  - Dream Yoga Introduction Thread
  - Sivason's Dream Yoga Class

Your Homework For Lesson II is:

1. Study up on all of the induction techniques listed here and find one that suits you.
2. Practice your chosen induction technique for at least 2 weeks (although longer is preferred) before changing it to something else or ruling out that it's not working.
3. Continue to post all of your experiences, even failed ones, into your workbook.
   
   Optional:
4. Discuss your chosen technique with the teachers by posting in your workbook. There are lots of ways to go about each technique, we will be able help you find a method that suits you!
5. Choose a second (and possibly third) induction technique that compliments your first. For example, if you chose DILD you will also be able to perform WILD.
6. If possible, it is highly advised to include WBTB into your routine.

To sign up for the class, simply read these lessons. Then start your workbook here by clicking on "+ Post New Thread." If you have any questions, post them in the Raise Your Hand Q&A Thread, and one of us will reply asap.


Lesson III. - Overview on Awareness

The key to lucid dreaming is awareness, out of all daily practices awareness is probably the most important. Many people believe that performing reality checks is what makes you lucid, although your chances of lucidity are greatly increased if you practice awareness first and use reality checks to solidify your suspicions in a dream.

While reality checks are technically just a sub-category of awareness, many people practice them without the awareness included. This simply causes people to perform reality checks inside of a dream and pass them off without becoming lucid.

A. Sensory Awareness

The most common style of awareness and initially the most easily obtainable. This focuses on paying attention to your senses and noticing the world around you.

Why is this important?: Being aware of your senses and surroundings is a link between the dreaming and waking world, which isn't usually there in a normal dream. This is important because often dreams are not cohesive and have many dream signs that are easily recognisable when you pay more attention.

How do you get started?:

• Before initially performing your reality checks whenever you notice something weird in waking life, start by noticing all of your senses and the intricate details that you're feeling. Hear your feet hit the floor, smell the air, feel the texture of the floor press against your feet and notice the gravity.
• You can also pay attention to the lesser-known senses, such as the passing of time, temperature, balance and proprioception (the knowing of where your body parts are located in space).

Some tutorials to check out:

• Puffin's SAT Guide
• All Day Awareness Tutorial by Kingyoshi
• Awareness Excerpt from Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming
• Dream Yoga Sensory Awareness Meditation

B. Self-Awareness

This is nothing more -- or less -- than being aware that you exist; that you are here, that you have an effect on everything around you, and everything around you has an effect on you. This has a great benefit on WILDs, although is also key in every other area of lucid dreaming.

This sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s a lot harder to master than it sounds. Most people are content to live their entire lives without a moment of self-awareness, letting the events of their world wash over them and remaining resiliently disinterested in how the things they do and say touch those events… sort of living life like it’s a non-lucid dream.

Why is this important?: Because in a dream, everything is You, period. Doesn’t it make sense, then to go into to dream fully aware of that everything? If you are enjoying the presence of strong self-awareness, you are also enjoying strong dream control, you are avoiding dreaming traps that can sap lucidity, because you know that all those mysterious stimuli are really just facets of you, and all are part of your personal dream world, and can be ignored or honored as you see fit.

How do you get started?:

• Perfecting self-awareness is simple: simply pay attention!
  Unfortunately, humans are naturally wired to avoid or resist paying this sort of attention, so it takes a lot of work to stay focused and not lapse back into the easy strides taken by those who travel life without ever once checking the path.
• One easy method to build self-awareness is to practice what could be termed "Reverse" Reality Checks.
  You do this by pausing periodically to consider where you were five minutes ago, where you’ll be in five minutes, where you are right now. At the same time wonder -- really wonder -- what effect you are having on the space and people around you, and what effect the space and people around you are having on you.

Some tutorials to check out:

• Sageous' WILD Session One: Mental Prep Part 1
• Sageous' Lucid Dreaming Fundamentals with Q&A

C. Meditation

Meditation involves a combination of both Sensory and Self Awareness, but done in a relaxed, meditative manner. This can help quickly develop your awareness by focusing specifically on it for a period of time.

For more information about meditation, feel free to have a look at Sivason's Dream Yoga class.

To sign up for the class, simply read these lessons. Then start your workbook here by clicking on "+ Post New Thread." If you have any questions, post them in the Raise Your Hand Q&A Thread, and one of us will reply asap.



Lesson IV. - Dream Stabilization & Control

This forth and final lesson is an augmentation of the importance of sleep with respect to the induction methods you all have already chosen, as well as including a more in depth look at dream stabilization.

A. Dream stabilization

Stabilization Phase I: If you find yourself losing control in your lucid dream, losing lucidity, or feeling like you may wake up from excitement, there are a couple things you can do:

- Remain Calm - too much excitement can raise your heartrate enough to wake you up.
- Positive Thinking - having a positive mind, and believing you can stay in the dream and not lose lucidity are your greatest allies.

Stabilization Phase II: Next thing is to stabilize the dream through a chosen activity

- Visual - view your hands for a minute or so, turning them, wiggling your fingers etc.
- Tactile - touch an object you see in your dream, and focus on the texture
- Vocal - If the dream starts to get hazy, you can shout out commands. "More Lucidity" "More Light" "More Clarity" are among the most popular.


B. Dream Control : Bringing your conscious mind into lucidity (which is more effective after the onset of a waking transition technique, such as WILD or DEILD)

- Simple Mathematics - mentally attempt a simple equasion, like 1+1, or 4x4
- Expectation - expect, imagine, and believe what you want to accomplish in the dream, will manifest itself
- Schemas - use basic shapes and forms to mould the world around around you. For ex: making a red blob in your hand which you use to form into a fire hydrant and then build a street around the fire hydrant.


C. Dream Sustaining

Stop and Stabilize (see part A.) When:
- you are in a lucid dream and you feel like you might wake up
- if the dream get blurry, hazy, dark, or unclear in any way, immediately stop what you're doing
- if you sense you are getting too wrapped up and the dream may turn to nonlucid


Your Homework For Lesson IV is:

1. When inside of a lucid dream, practice the dream control techniques. Post your results in your workbook.
2. If you have a lucid dream and find yourself losing it, practice the stabilisation techniques listed here. Post your results in your workbook.
   
   Optional:
3. Recall your favourite quote inside a dream and say it out loud. What were your experiences?
4. Visit somewhere you know from waking life, take note of all its surroundings, are there any subtle differences?
5. Swim underwater and attempt to breathe, were you able to?