Activating the left brain hemisphere to attain lucidity

I did a little experiment last night that is inconclusive but seems to have generated a good result. I have decided to make a thread about it and to post regular updates to see if my idea has any validity. Please join in and hopefully others will be able to replicate the results I achieved last night.

The idea is based on activating, or rather coaxing the left hemisphere of the brain into becoming more active during sleep. The point of this is that the part of our brain that deals with processing logical thought patterns is in this part of the brain and is dormant during sleep. Hence this is why we don't notice how illogical our dreams are and thus why we don't attain lucidity during these illogical dreams. For example when we have flying dreams we often don't notice that we are dreaming and we accept that it is perfectly normal to fly in life. This is because the logic centre in our brains is dormant when we dream and we don't 'compute' that we can't fly and therefore realise that we must be dreaming. My understanding is that the logic centre is in the left-hand side of our brains. If anyone can elaborate on this more then please join in.

I have discovered that consciously altering certain parts of our brain just by thought alone is actually very easy. To understand this more you can check out this thread of mine: http://www.dreamviews.com/f96/try-ac...-brain-127512/

I had the idea that could it be possible to instruct the left hemisphere of the brain to become more active during sleep, and thus hopefully the logic centre, to the point that when we experience something illogical in a dream we begin to question it and realise that we are dreaming or could be dreaming.

I decided to test my idea last night. I lay in bed and instead of concentrating on eyelid space I imagined moving my consciousness to the left hemisphere of my brain inside my head. I just imagined that the 'point' of my consciousness was in the middle of the left-hand side of my brain. I then simply instructed it to become more active when I'm asleep so that I can realise when I am dreaming. I kept doing this in a slow relaxed manner until I fell asleep.

Last night I had some of the strangest dreams I have ever had in my entire life. One was extremely vivid and it is unusual for me to have a dream of such vividness. After about five hours I had a dream where I started to question the nature of the dream. I didn't know it was a dream but I started to question ever so slightly the logic of what was happening. I started thinking about dreams and how hard achieving natural lucidity was. I then started to wonder if I could actually be in a dream and not awake. I even pinched the skin on my hand to see if I was dreaming. Of course this is a diabolical reality check and it didn't work and I said to myself that I was awake instead of dreaming. I have no idea why I used this instead of one of the more well known successful reality checks. This is the first time ever I have ever done a reality check in a dream to test if I am dreaming or awake even though I have tried very hard to cultivate the reality check process in the past. In the end I gave up the reality check process because it was an unsuccessful induction method for me.

I am excited that my apparent ability to be able to question the logic of a dream seems to have increased because of my little experiment, even if it was to a slight degree. I am hoping that my experiment will have a cumulative effect and will definately be doing it again to see if it does have a cumulative effect.

While this is a nice idea I'm afraid I highly doubt the validity of 'activation' of the left hemisphere during dreams to become lucid. The left hemisphere is already very much active during non-lucid dreams, the left hemisphere deals with more logical aspects of the dream, like taking care of linguistic aspects, such as dialogue with dream characters.

Also I'm dubious that attempts at stimulating the amygdala could do anything for lucid dreaming, as it's actually the 'fear centre' of the brain located in the deeper, more primitive mammalian brain, quite far away from the frontal cortex which is responsible for the higher functions of reasoning such as self-awareness that plays a role in lucid dreaming.

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Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

While this is a nice idea I'm afraid I highly doubt the validity of 'activation' of the left hemisphere during dreams to become lucid. The left hemisphere is already very much active during non-lucid dreams, the left hemisphere deals with more logical aspects of the dream, like taking care of linguistic aspects, such as dialogue with dream characters.

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Thank you for your input. From the research I have done the left hemisphere including the logic centre is virtually dormant when we dream and language skills aren't controlled by the logic centre. Perhaps people here who do have a good understanding of the brain can elaborate more on this. I'm not saying you don't have a good understanding of the brain, just more about the left hemisphere and dreaming. As I have pointed out this isn't really 'activation' but more in coaxing the left hemisphere to become more active during sleep.

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Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

Also I'm dubious that attempts at stimulating the amygdala could do anything for lucid dreaming, as it's actually the 'fear centre' of the brain located in the deeper, more primitive mammalian brain, quite far away from the frontal cortex which is responsible for the higher functions of reasoning such as self-awareness that plays a role in lucid dreaming.

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Ah, the amygdala link isn't included in this thread as a means of attaining lucidity but is purely an example to show that it is very easy to manipulate the functioning of the brain by thought alone.

I'll give this a shot for you tonight, sounds simple enough. I'll report back over a number for days to rule out placebo as well.

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

I'll give this a shot for you tonight, sounds simple enough. I'll report back over a number for days to rule out placebo as well.

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Great!

I would like to point out how I worded my instructions to my 'left brain'. So my instructions on the first attempt were, 'My left brain during sleep tonight become active enough so that when I dream I will realise that I'm dreaming.'

Alright, I'll report back in about 24 hours.

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Originally Posted by mcwillis

Great!

I would like to point out how I worded my instructions to my 'left brain'. So my instructions on the first attempt were, 'My left brain during sleep tonight become active enough so that when I dream I will realise that I'm dreaming.'

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Sounds like a good MILD affirmation :)

Don't hate until it works or doesn't. It's similar to MILD, but everyone is different so different takes on what works is a good thing.

Unless it doesn't work.

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

Don't hate until it works or doesn't. It's similar to MILD, but everyone is different so different takes on what works is a good thing.

Unless it doesn't work.

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...What?

I'll try this, seems interesting. :) I wonder if left handed people have an advantage or something? (I heard that from somewhere...)

But anyways, is it okay to use it when you first go to bed?

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Originally Posted by Sydney

I'll try this, seems interesting. :)

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Great!

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Originally Posted by Sydney

I wonder if left handed people have an advantage or something? (I heard that from somewhere...)

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I don't think so as everyones left brain hemisphere will operate the same.

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Originally Posted by Sydney

But anyways, is it okay to use it when you first go to bed?

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Yes before bed at the end of the day is fine. I've always preferred night time lucids anyway as WBTB is so time consuming.

I'm thinking about this. Could be a great way to step back into lucid dreaming!

Sounds like a cool idea but could you clarify if you did this before going to bed or as part of a WBTB routine?
I'm pretty convinced that you can activate regions of the brain by thought alone but I doubt that verbal affirmations are any help. Then again I've never been a fan of verbal affirmations.

Im open minded to anything to break my dryspell at the moment,
will report after i tried :P

THANK YOU!!! I tried this last night, and I had my first lucid dream! :D

Lateralisation between the hemispheres of the brain is no where near as significant as is often portrayed by those who would tell you you can 'hemi-sync' (usually so they can sell you something)

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Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Broad generalizations are often made in popular psychology about one side or the other having characteristic labels such as "logical" for the left side or "creative" for the right. These labels need to be treated carefully; although a lateral dominance is measurable, these characteristics are in fact existent in both sides,[1] and experimental evidence provides little support for correlating the structural differences between the sides with functional differences.

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Lateralization of brain function - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The truth is that throughout your life the hemispheres of your brain work in tandem but interdependently of each other, and statements of 'logical left' and 'creative right' are largely generalisations, remember that each hemisphere is a mirror image of the other with the exact same neuroanatomy on each side.

It would be silly to suggest that your brain would sacrifice half of its processing power for something so intensive as dreaming by shutting down the left hemisphere. In fact MRI scans show that the two hemispheres show roughly equal activity:
http://www.humanillnesses.com/images..._0_img0079.jpg

However it is generally accepted in sleep research circles that the higher reasoning centres of the forebrain responsible for things like operative memory and self-awareness are suppressed.
So if you really are stimulating anything then it would be the forebrain.

Maybe the stimulation of the forebrain becomes associated with the realisation that you are dreaming so that when it finds itself in an inhibited state it triggers the realisation you are dreaming. I which case this technique could hold implications for WILD and recognising the transition without having to remain conscious through the whole WILD. In a way it's similar to the 'third eye' and Nina's technique of WILDing.

However, it may just be a simple matter of mnemonic/auto-suggestion induction, in which case it would be effective as a MILD and may be increased even further in effectiveness if coupled with visualisation.

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Originally Posted by XxLHYxX

THANK YOU!!! I tried this last night, and I had my first lucid dream! :D

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Awesome! Can you describe the dream and how you realised that you were dreaming. Thanks :)

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Originally Posted by RationalMystic

Sounds like a cool idea but could you clarify if you did this before going to bed or as part of a WBTB routine?
I'm pretty convinced that you can activate regions of the brain by thought alone but I doubt that verbal affirmations are any help. Then again I've never been a fan of verbal affirmations.

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You can do this before bed. It would probably be more effective with WBTB though.

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Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

Lateralisation between the hemispheres of the brain is no where near as significant as is often portrayed by those who would tell you you can 'hemi-sync' (usually so they can sell you something)

Lateralization of brain function - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The truth is that throughout your life the hemispheres of your brain work in tandem but interdependently of each other, and statements of 'logical left' and 'creative right' are largely generalisations, remember that each hemisphere is a mirror image of the other with the exact same neuroanatomy on each side.

It would be silly to suggest that your brain would sacrifice half of its processing power for something so intensive as dreaming by shutting down the left hemisphere. In fact MRI scans show that the two hemispheres show roughly equal activity:
http://www.humanillnesses.com/images..._0_img0079.jpg

However it is generally accepted in sleep research circles that the higher reasoning centres of the forebrain responsible for things like operative memory and self-awareness are suppressed.
So if you really are stimulating anything then it would be the forebrain.

Maybe the stimulation of the forebrain becomes associated with the realisation that you are dreaming so that when it finds itself in an inhibited state it triggers the realisation you are dreaming. I which case this technique could hold implications for WILD and recognising the transition without having to remain conscious through the whole WILD. In a way it's similar to the 'third eye' and Nina's technique of WILDing.

However, it may just be a simple matter of mnemonic/auto-suggestion induction, in which case it would be effective as a MILD and may be increased even further in effectiveness if coupled with visualisation.

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Good work Ctharlhie. I haven't had much time to do some proper research but going back to what I have researched the above is not entirely correct. Thank you though for your efforts. I shall update new information once I have looked properly.

No lucids for me last night. Its only day two. Lets see what tonight brings...

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Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

...What?

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I honestly have no idea what I was trying to say there. It was 3am.

And nothing happened. Both nights.

I don't know if it was from this or I got lucky but when I tried this the first night I got a lucid.
Edit: Did this 2 days later and got another lucid.

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Originally Posted by n00bf0rlyf3

I don't know if it was from this or I got lucky but when I tried this the first night I got a lucid.
Edit: Did this 2 days later and got another lucid.

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Fantatstic, two lucids in three days, that's a great result.

For myself:

Day 3: Nothing
Day 4: False Awakening, a rare occurence for me.

Hell yeah it is, I also imagine like gripping it like a wooden handle. I'm gonna try it again tonight

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Originally Posted by mcwillis

Awesome! Can you describe the dream and how you realised that you were dreaming. Thanks :).

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Unfortunately, I was barely lucid and the dream was very blurry. All I can recall is doing a reality check. I don't know why or where or when I did it. Also, I can't really remember anything about the dream. All I recall is doing a reality check and flying around. :?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I did the nose plug RC. Not sure if that matters or not.

OH MY GOD !!

I tried it only once, last night.

At first i was like "thafuq is this -.-", then i tried it, and then i kept laughing at the wall for 15 minutes.. until my stomach started hurting..
Then i went to sleep.. (without any mantras/preparation)..

I almost had 3 lucids !! (one reality check failed)
But i had 2 lucids, 1 nose plug reality check that failed .. and awesome recall, and all of the dreams were extremely vivid o_o ..

Wow.. just wow..
Thank you so much !

I mixed this with SSILD and it did wonders for me,
I managed to kill off my dryspell,
finally having a real, long ass lucid dream that was stable and vivid.
not sure which technique helped, or whether it was the combination, but Im doing this everynight from now on.. great work mcwillis;)

very interesting! I'm gonna combine it with SSILD like Sam1r did. this is gonna break my dryspell! :D

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Originally Posted by Sam1r

I mixed this with SSILD and it did wonders for me,
I managed to kill off my dryspell,
finally having a real, long ass lucid dream that was stable and vivid.
not sure which technique helped, or whether it was the combination, but Im doing this everynight from now on.. great work mcwillis;)

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Well done, I've been doing SSILD and it worked great a while but lately it hasn't. I'll be sure to mix this in aswell and hope for same results as you.
Would you mind explaining exactly how you did the mixing? Was it wbtb? which one did you do last? Or did you perhaps add it as an repetition?

@ Vortaix, n00bf0rlyf3, XxLHYxX, Sam1r

Thanks for all the posts, I have a few questions please as it would be helpful to understand the process better. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Vortaix

OH MY GOD !!

I tried it only once, last night.

At first i was like "thafuq is this -.-", then i tried it, and then i kept laughing at the wall for 15 minutes.. until my stomach started hurting..
Then i went to sleep.. (without any mantras/preparation)..

I almost had 3 lucids !! (one reality check failed)
But i had 2 lucids, 1 nose plug reality check that failed .. and awesome recall, and all of the dreams were extremely vivid o_o ..

Wow.. just wow..
Thank you so much !

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Fantastic. I had to highlight that in red as it seems to have produced multiple lucids for you on your first night. Can I ask exactly what you did please? Because I included a link to the amygdala thread were you using the amygdala technique or did you just use the technique described in the opening post of this thread? I have to ask as I don't understand why you were laughing so much. Also, when you went to sleep you say you didn't do any mantras/preparation, can you expalin what you mean by this please? And lastly, did you question the logic of the dream before doing reality checks? Thanks.

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Originally Posted by n00bf0rlyf3

Hell yeah it is, I also imagine like gripping it like a wooden handle. I'm gonna try it again tonight

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As you had 2 lucids within 3 days can you explain please what you mean by gripping it like a wooden handle?

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Originally Posted by XxLHYxX

Unfortunately, I was barely lucid and the dream was very blurry. All I can recall is doing a reality check. I don't know why or where or when I did it. Also, I can't really remember anything about the dream. All I recall is doing a reality check and flying around. :?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I did the nose plug RC. Not sure if that matters or not.

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Thanks, I just wanted to ascertain whether you just did a reality check out of habit or if you questioned the logic of the dream first before performing the reality check. Nose pinch reality check is my favourite.

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Originally Posted by Sam1r

I mixed this with SSILD and it did wonders for me,
I managed to kill off my dryspell,
finally having a real, long ass lucid dream that was stable and vivid.
not sure which technique helped, or whether it was the combination, but Im doing this everynight from now on.. great work mcwillis;)

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Fantastic. How many days had you been practicing SSILD without success before mixing the techniques as this would help to ascertain whether this technique did actually help? As daban has asked I would also like to know how you mixed the techniques please?

I had a night off from this last night and didn't use it, I was extremely tired and just wanted to sleep :)

Well,

It was late at night , about 11:00 PM, i was roaming through DV then i found your post..
At the beginning i thought its a complete placebo (people think it will work, so it automatically boosts their confidence)..

I did some research on the amygdala, how i can activate it .. etc.. but the concept stays the same.. It was exactly how you described it..

I tried to tickle it.. I imagined a feather and then i visualized it touching the amygdala (left one, i find it easier xD).. It didn't work.. Then i tickled myself (for real, on the foot), just to feel that sensation ..
And i tried to tickle the amygdala again with a feather.. This time, i got a smile on face, then a grin, then i started laughing (i thought it is because of the fact i am doing something silly that can never work), but then, i kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing, and everything got funny to me !
[/I]
I laughed for 15 minutes straight ! I couldn't stop ! I was laughing at furniture, at the wall, at my laptop screen, even when i stopped and went to sleep, i had a crazy looking grin on my face..

That night, i was just happy.. i didn't think about lucid dreams at all.. But the thing i noticed is that i was more AWARE, (in waking life) i was aware every 5sec or so..
When my mind started to wonder a bit.. i would automatically stop thinking nonsense and focus on reality ! (i was amazed) .. I was never so mindfull in my life ! o_o (look up a guide on mindfullness)..

Another tip i found is to imagine a small [switch] where the amygdala is located, and i would just click it towards my forehead ! (it also makes you more aware)..

Well i guess that's it..
Sorry for the long reply, and thank you again for letting me know there's a switch for AWESOMENESS inside my head :] !

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Originally Posted by Vortaix

Well,

It was late at night , about 11:00 PM, i was roaming through DV then i found your post..
At the beginning i thought its a complete placebo (people think it will work, so it automatically boosts their confidence)..

I did some research on the amygdala, how i can activate it .. etc.. but the concept stays the same.. It was exactly how you described it..

I tried to tickle it.. I imagined a feather and then i visualized it touching the amygdala (left one, i find it easier xD).. It didn't work.. Then i tickled myself (for real, on the foot), just to feel that sensation ..
And i tried to tickle the amygdala again with a feather.. This time, i got a smile on face, then a grin, then i started laughing (i thought it is because of the fact i am doing something silly that can never work), but then, i kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing, and everything got funny to me !
[/I]
I laughed for 15 minutes straight ! I couldn't stop ! I was laughing at furniture, at the wall, at my laptop screen, even when i stopped and went to sleep, i had a crazy looking grin on my face..

That night, i was just happy.. i didn't think about lucid dreams at all.. But the thing i noticed is that i was more AWARE, (in waking life) i was aware every 5sec or so..
When my mind started to wonder a bit.. i would automatically stop thinking nonsense and focus on reality ! (i was amazed) .. I was never so mindfull in my life ! o_o (look up a guide on mindfullness)..

Another tip i found is to imagine a small [switch] where the amygdala is located, and i would just click it towards my forehead ! (it also makes you more aware)..

Well i guess that's it..
Sorry for the long reply, and thank you again for letting me know there's a switch for AWESOMENESS inside my head :] !

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No don't apologise for the long reply !!! Thanks for the feedback. So you just used the amygdala 'clicking' technique instead of the technique in this thread? That is awesome nonetheless.

I actually used both at the same time.. Tickle it first, then switch it on just in case ;) !

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Originally Posted by mcwillis

No don't apologise for the long reply !!! Thanks for the feedback. So you just used the amygdala 'clicking' technique instead of the technique in this thread? That is awesome nonetheless.

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Originally Posted by Vortaix

I actually used both at the same time.. Tickle it first, then switch it on just in case ;) !

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From your post it sounds like you were doing amygdala clicking only and not the technique described in the opening post of the thread. I'm confused, are you saying that you were tickling the amygdala and also imagining 'switching' on the left hemisphere of the brain as well?

"And i tried to tickle the amygdala again with a feather.. This time, i got a smile on face, then a grin, then i started laughing"

If you read it carefully, i clearly stated that i imagined a feather inside my head and tickled it. And that it worked..

BUT
I have also read a tip that can increase its effect.... I just imagine a switch, inside my head, and i imagine flicking it towards my forehead -_- ...

Sorry if it seems confusing, but please read my long boring post again ;D !

p.s.

i did exactly this AMYGDALA: Amazing Music Brain Adventure

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Originally Posted by Vortaix

"And i tried to tickle the amygdala again with a feather.. This time, i got a smile on face, then a grin, then i started laughing"

If you read it carefully, i clearly stated that i imagined a feather inside my head and tickled it. And that it worked..

BUT
I have also read a tip that can increase its effect.... I just imagine a switch, inside my head, and i imagine flicking it towards my forehead -_- ...

Sorry if it seems confusing, but please read my long boring post again ;D !

p.s.

i did exactly this AMYGDALA: Amazing Music Brain Adventure

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Oh no I did understand to an extent thanks. I wanted to know if you verbally instructed your left brain hemisphere to become more active during sleep to induce lucids. This is what the first post is describing and entirely different to clicking the amygdalas. It is interesting that you had multiple lucids just by clicking your amygdalas and not by following the instructions in the first post of this thread. Your post is not boring, on the contrary it is very interesting and exciting :)

@Vortaix: That is so cool how you did that! So you said you were like, completely aware? I wanna try that. :cheeky:

Could you possibly explain a little bit more on how you did it?

What can you accomplish by stimulating the amygdalas?

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

What can you accomplish by stimulating the amygdalas?

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Click on the following link: Frontal Lobes Supercharge

It seems it can also be used to induce lucids as described by Vortaix.

Sounds interesting I think I will try that and after it I will try to slip back to a dream with a DEILD which I also wanted to try out.
Wish me luck ;) .

I tried this technique last night, hoping to break my dryspell but instead i got very vivid dreams and very fun too.One of them was how i was volunteering for the Vietnam War and i become a field medic.It was crazy!. Going to try it next night too!

Like Bob40 I again had incredibly vivid dreams last night. This level of vividness is very unusual for me. So much so that I was fully awake when the natural awakenings occured at the end of my REM periods throughout the night.

Normally I am completely unaware of these awakenings unless I have very vivid dreams. This did offer the opportunity to induce DEILD's but because I moved immediately upon these awakenings that unfortunately destroyed my attempts.

Instructing my left hemisphere to become more active during dreams is affecting my dreams and although I haven't had a full DILD yet it nonetheless indirectly offered me enhanced opportunities to have lucid dreams last night with DEILD's.

You know what ?
The moment when i REALLY started laughing, is when i finished watching this video Supercharge Your Brain - YouTube

You can stimulate the amygdalas just by laughing (i think) .. But really, try it now, (its super easy), just imagine tickling them with a feather (imagine the sensation too) .. You should get a positive happy feeling, laugh, or so...

When you do it, do some ADA, you will see that ADA will BOOOOST so much, you will be aware every 3-4 secs.. your thoughts wont wander, you will be focused on reality so much, that when you go to sleep, it will carry on to your dreams..

Enjoy, and good luck.

dang I didn't get lucid...(maybe I fell asleep too fast - I don't even remember if I stimulated the left brain or not...but I tried to!)
but I really had crazy vivid dreams. guess what, I had shared dream with my friend in school :P

So how do I pop my amygdala?

Yeah, I'm still having trouble with it. It's taking me longer than it should. The only thing I've really been able to feel was a very mild warm feeling, but maybe I'm just feeling that because that's what I expect to happen.

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Originally Posted by Vortaix

You know what ?
The moment when i REALLY started laughing, is when i finished watching this video Supercharge Your Brain - YouTube

You can stimulate the amygdalas just by laughing (i think) .. But really, try it now, (its super easy), just imagine tickling them with a feather (imagine the sensation too) .. You should get a positive happy feeling, laugh, or so...

When you do it, do some ADA, you will see that ADA will BOOOOST so much, you will be aware every 3-4 secs.. your thoughts wont wander, you will be focused on reality so much, that when you go to sleep, it will carry on to your dreams..

Enjoy, and good luck.

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Amygdala 'clicking' hasn't altered my lucid dreaming skills as my DILD ability hasn't increased in the last year of amygdala clicking. However, the thechnique of instructing the entire left hemisphere of my brain to become more active during dreams has so far had an effect on my dreams, as reported by a couple of people here. I am not discounting the validity of your success but both techniques may be successful for some and not for others.

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Originally Posted by Windhover@

dang I didn't get lucid...(maybe I fell asleep too fast - I don't even remember if I stimulated the left brain or not...but I tried to!)
but I really had crazy vivid dreams. guess what, I had shared dream with my friend in school :P

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I too have not only been experiencing a great increase in dream vividness but also the nature of my dreams are becoming very bizarre. I have been reading the last couple of days that our dreams are formed from the memories stored in the right hemisphere of our brains. The left hemisphere stores different types of memories than the right hemisphere. It may be that instructing the left hemisphere to become more active somehow incorporates these different types of memories creating the extra craziness that you describe and I have experienced.

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

So how do I pop my amygdala?

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Read the opening post in this thread and follow the link there.

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Originally Posted by Sydney

Yeah, I'm still having trouble with it. It's taking me longer than it should. The only thing I've really been able to feel was a very mild warm feeling, but maybe I'm just feeling that because that's what I expect to happen.

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It is a result. I often feel just this same feeling when I tickle my amygdalas.

What is this sorcery? I read that link in the first post and within 2 seconds of trying out the instructions I got a little wave of nice feeling. I actually smiled, first time today. This is really cool.

and now I can't get it to work again.
What gives?

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

What is this sorcery? I read that link in the first post and within 2 seconds of trying out the instructions I got a little wave of nice feeling. I actually smiled, first time today. This is really cool.

and now I can't get it to work again.
What gives?

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HaHa (sorcery) :)

Keep practicing.

I'll tell you what, I do love brains.

I also like the idea of stimulating the brain before bed, do you know by what causes the frontal lobe to become inactive?

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Originally Posted by Arch

I'll tell you what, I do love brains.

I also like the idea of stimulating the brain before bed, do you know by what causes the frontal lobe to become inactive?

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It's not exactly the frontal lobes but the left hemisphere becomes almost dormant during dreams, from the research I have done.

EDIT: The cause, Im still going through the research material.

I am unable to do it again. It only worked the first time and I have tried about three times over the following 24 hours with no luck.
Is there some kind of long recovery period or what now?

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

I am unable to do it again. It only worked the first time and I have tried about three times over the following 24 hours with no luck.
Is there some kind of long recovery period or what now?

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Avalanche, omg !
Same happened to me.. I can't get it to work again..

-_- .. (first time i pulled off 2-3 lucids with it) now i can't even tickle myself properly ..

If I try to think about my dream experiences, I would say logic and rationalization are not completely suppressed.

I have many memories from past dreams which include a process of thought that seems reasonable in retrospect.

It seems to me as if a different mechanism makes us not realize that reality around us is nuts.

One of the things that works mysteriously differently in dream land is memory.

Last night I had a lucid dream and I became lucid while looking at the mirror at my half shaved beard. I became lucid when I suddenly realized I do not have a beard that looks like that and the dream kind of cracked open into a lucid experience.

My point is that if dream memory includes a weird looking beard but provides no access to anything that would suggest it ain't OK, then that beard is perfectly "logical".

It was only when memory of my real life face trickled in, that the dream cracked open and I became lucid.

I think we mainly use logic to rationalize what we see, not to doubt it.

For example, If I hypothetically go into the kitchen and find an empty cooking pan burning on the stove with no recollection at all of putting it there, I am likely to rationalize that I was extremely distracted when I put it there, even if such a thing has never happened before, and not that it was put there by aliens from Mars.

Now, if such a thing happens in a dream, memory would make it appear perfectly normal that such a pan is burning on the stove, so there would not even be a reason to do a reality check.

btw, it is interesting to note, that just as it is difficult to recall the events of a dream in waking life, it may be difficult to recall waking life memories while in a lucid dream.

Sorry mcwillis, just saw your reply..
I tried for 2 nights, but i lost count of what i was doing very quickly and fell asleep to easily so i thought maybe trying to do this technique before would somehow help (sort of kill two birds with one stone)
After 4 hours of sleep, i got up for around 3-5 minutes..
I went back to bed and I tried to visualize moving my consciousness towards the end of the left side..
I saw it as some "light" inside my head.. After about 5 minutes of doing that, I moved on to around 3 cycles of SSILD before i fell asleep..
By the way, i did the same thing and had two lucids in one night, although very short,it was the FIRST time in my 28 lucid dreams that i got lucid cause something was fishy ( normally, i either entered the dream from a waking state or simply became aware)
-sam

ps. and for those who think this is placebo, i doubt it.. i tried many things that told me i would be lucid and they never seemed to work

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vortaix

Avalanche, omg !
Same happened to me.. I can't get it to work again.. -_- .. (first time i pulled off 2-3 lucids with it) now i can't even tickle myself properly ..

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That's a shame. Keep practicing the technique. As you had such a powerful first experinece it might be worth your while downloading the electronic copy of Slades, 'Frontal Lobes Supercharge'.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nir

If I try to think about my dream experiences, I would say logic and rationalization are not completely suppressed. I have many memories from past dreams which include a process of thought that seems reasonable in retrospect. It seems to me as if a different mechanism makes us not realize that reality around us is nuts. One of the things that works mysteriously differently in dream land is memory. Last night I had a lucid dream and I became lucid while looking at the mirror at my half shaved beard. I became lucid when I suddenly realized I do not have a beard that looks like that and the dream kind of cracked open into a lucid experience. My point is that if dream memory includes a weird looking beard but provides no access to anything that would suggest it ain't OK, then that beard is perfectly "logical". It was only when memory of my real life face trickled in, that the dream cracked open and I became lucid. I think we mainly use logic to rationalize what we see, not to doubt it. For example, If I hypothetically go into the kitchen and find an empty cooking pan burning on the stove with no recollection at all of putting it there, I am likely to rationalize that I was extremely distracted when I put it there, even if such a thing has never happened before, and not that it was put there by aliens from Mars. Now, if such a thing happens in a dream, memory would make it appear perfectly normal that such a pan is burning on the stove, so there would not even be a reason to do a reality check. btw, it is interesting to note, that just as it is difficult to recall the events of a dream in waking life, it may be difficult to recall waking life memories while in a lucid dream.

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Some excellent points. I often dream that I have long hair and I don't notice this as I haven't had long hair for 15 years. My DILD's come from nightmares; dreams that break the law of physics in a blatant way and geographical dreams of where I live that have changed drastically. However, the dream that instigated this thread was different. I had thoughts like, 'How did I get here?' and immediately moved my attention to the people passing through the tunnel and asked, 'Why are these people zombie like, its as if they aren't real but phantoms instead?' It was then that I started to think about dreams and if I could actually be dreaming even though I thought that I was awake and then performed my first reality check. I only ever use a reality check once Im lucid and if the dream resembles normal waking life just to double check that I am actually dreaming. The technique seems to have increased my ability in that dream to question the nature of the dream.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sam1r

Sorry mcwillis, just saw your reply.. I tried for 2 nights, but i lost count of what i was doing very quickly and fell asleep to easily so i thought maybe trying to do this technique before would somehow help (sort of kill two birds with one stone) After 4 hours of sleep, i got up for around 3-5 minutes.. I went back to bed and I tried to visualize moving my consciousness towards the end of the left side.. I saw it as some "light" inside my head.. After about 5 minutes of doing that, I moved on to around 3 cycles of SSILD before i fell asleep.. By the way, i did the same thing and had two lucids in one night, although very short,it was the FIRST time in my 28 lucid dreams that i got lucid cause something was fishy ( normally, i either entered the dream from a waking state or simply became aware) - sam

ps. and for those who think this is placebo, i doubt it.. i tried many things that told me i would be lucid and they never seemed to work

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Thanks for posting this. This was my experience and the motivation to make the thread. I thought that it was time to discard this technique to the trash can until I read your post. It seems there may be some validity to this method afterall. I am still doing the brain research and I may fine tune it if new info comes to light to improve the method.

How would you describe the technique? Because I read the first post but doing it like that doesn't work anymore. Put a different spin on it or something.

Blind me. This actually does something. When I did this before bed I had abnormally better dream recall and dream vividness but not by a huge amount. This has huge potential if you ask me.

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

How would you describe the technique? Because I read the first post but doing it like that doesn't work anymore. Put a different spin on it or something.

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Do you mean describe the mechanics of how to do the technique or describe the theory of why it works? Im still going through the brain experiments material that I have been looking at and it may throq up some new insights at a later time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by apiks

Blind me. This actually does something. When I did this before bed I had abnormally better dream recall and dream vividness but not by a huge amount. This has huge potential if you ask me.

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It has definately increased my dream vividness and ability to recall dreams. I had a very vivid one last night with perfect recall this morning.

I did it again when I was taking a nap and the results were amazing. Vivid dreams again + a semi lucid dream. The amount of detail that I had in the dream was just absolutely amazing. One more try and if it works yet again just hands down to it.

I mean how to do it.

Sickest shit just happened.

I've been practicing the tickle the amygdala and direct my front part of the brain to "activate" since you guys started talking about it and I think something like that just happened.

I was sitting meditating and I had been doing it for about 10-15 minutes and I was gonna stop, but then I figured, I'll try to tickle my amygdala and imagine the front part of my brain to activate.
I was very very relaxed and I had no trouble focusing greatly on it and after a while my head just went blank and dizzy and it felt like these energy waves were sent through my entire body it was like my body was having an orgasm. It was soooo soo amazing.
And I started to breathe weirdly because of the euphoric feelings and the strong "happy" massaging waves so it started to fade, but then by just refocusing on the tickle and my front part of the brain lighting up, I managed to send these waves pretty much until I got too excited and decided to stop(it also required strong focus, which was pretty hard).

I was in that "state" for maybe.. 1 minute in total. Maybe shorter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by apiks

I did it again when I was taking a nap and the results were amazing. Vivid dreams again + a semi lucid dream. The amount of detail that I had in the dream was just absolutely amazing. One more try and if it works yet again just hands down to it.

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That's great. Could you describe the semi-lucid is that info would be interesting. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Avalanche

I mean how to do it.

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Leaving the amygdala thread technique link aside I don't know how to make the method in the opening post more succinct. Can you describe which part or parts you don't understand and I will explain for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daban

Sickest shit just happened.

I've been practicing the tickle the amygdala and direct my front part of the brain to "activate" since you guys started talking about it and I think something like that just happened.

I was sitting meditating and I had been doing it for about 10-15 minutes and I was gonna stop, but then I figured, I'll try to tickle my amygdala and imagine the front part of my brain to activate.
I was very very relaxed and I had no trouble focusing greatly on it and after a while my head just went blank and dizzy and it felt like these energy waves were sent through my entire body it was like my body was having an orgasm. It was soooo soo amazing.
And I started to breathe weirdly because of the euphoric feelings and the strong "happy" massaging waves so it started to fade, but then by just refocusing on the tickle and my front part of the brain lighting up, I managed to send these waves pretty much until I got too excited and decided to stop(it also required strong focus, which was pretty hard).

I was in that "state" for maybe.. 1 minute in total. Maybe shorter.

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I shouldn't have really put the amygdala thread link in the first post as this is mixing the whole thread up with people describing experiences for two different methods. But it is interesting that Vortaix had multiple lucids with the amygdala technique instead of the technique in the opening post. I get the energy waves often too.

I tried again. This time before bed. I had a hard time getting to sleep but once I went into REM, I experienced a very weird and vivid dream. Hats down to this.

As for the semi-lucid dream, I lied down and tried to take a nap, I almost reached sleep paralys when I was awoken and had to go do something then I returned,lied down and did the technique again. When I finally entered the dream state, it was normal. As the dream progressed I realized that I was dreaming but my dream goal was different. It was to escape the dream via some cassetes that play music. One for sleeping and one for awakening. It was a semi-lucid because I knew it was a dream but yet I was guided by the dream goals. Overall it was pretty vivid and strange as well.

This thing does have an effect over the amount of awareness you have during sleep. I will keep using it every night since it seems to be doing more good than some techniques for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mcwillis

I shouldn't have really put the amygdala thread link in the first post as this is mixing the whole thread up with people describing experiences for two different methods. But it is interesting that Vortaix had multiple lucids with the amygdala technique instead of the technique in the opening post. I get the energy waves often too.

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Yea, no I'm totally aware of the difference of the two threads and I'm sorry for going offtopic here but I didn't read the recent posts here and when I've read this thread before, the amygdala thing was still topical.

This is a interesting idea.
Different, I am a bit doubtful but Im still going to try it.

Thanks OP!

I had a strange lucid dream last night and I don't know if it is because of this method but it is the first time I have had a dream of this type. I was dreaming of driving down a road and there was a flashing road sign saying, 'You are dreaming.' I thought what an odd sign; why would a prankster put that up. Then I started to wonder if I could be dreaming and started to question things like, 'Where am I going?', 'How did I get here?' It didn't take long to realise that I was dreaming. This is the first time that a dream has told me that I am dreaming.

The Amygdala thing still won't work for me. Am I doing it wrong or what now?
I follow how you describe it in the first post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mcwillis

@ Vortaix, n00bf0rlyf3, XxLHYxX, Sam1r

Thanks for all the posts, I have a few questions please as it would be helpful to understand the process better. Thanks.




As you had 2 lucids within 3 days can you explain please what you mean by gripping it like a wooden handle?



Thanks, I just wanted to ascertain whether you just did a reality check out of habit or if you questioned the logic of the dream first before performing the reality check. Nose pinch reality check is my favourite.

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i feel like a sphere and I just put the sensation of something wooden as its texture and i grip it with my fake hand to feel where it is and just hold it. This technique only worked the first few nights

Good results already :shock:

I will definatly give this a go! :sheepishgrin:

I tried this during my nap. I didn't become lucid, but I did have some of the most vivid and strange dreams I've had in a long time! The detail was amazing and the recall was through the roof! Thanks, man!

:banana:

People make this seem rather easy, but how can you achieve this? I've tried to go at it a few different ways, but no luck with this.

Just split your brain in half and focus on the left part of it. As if your have only the left part and the right doesn't exist. Get in some mantras to consodilate the position and try to go to sleep. When you enter Theta phase which is characterized with seeing random images (like really random but sometimes influenced by thought) you can start loosing concentratrion and fall asleep. Normally this would mean that you have fallen asleep with your brain last being most concentrated on the left side of the brain which is the logic center which would mean it would have some impact. Anyways that's how I do it since I have a hard time falling asleep I almost always get into Theta consciously for a medium-large period of time. It actually does increase something but not in a massive way if you ask me but still very very effective.

I actually own a TDCS machine and I use it when I sleep to activate my left hemisphere. I mainly use it on the logic and visual parts of my brain. It gets me great results. About 5 LD's a day. 35 LD's a week.

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Originally Posted by Monster99d

I actually own a TDCS machine and I use it when I sleep to activate my left hemisphere. I mainly use it on the logic and visual parts of my brain. It gets me great results. About 5 LD's a day. 35 LD's a week.

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:O :O :O :O Where did you find such sorcery? (where did you purchase it?)

No offense, but I think you are lying. LD Count - 5 that means either you got it yesterday and used it immediately or.... you're just a dirty lier!

To daban:

I went on elance.com and customized one to my specifications. It was about $350 for the work and $150 for the machine, so $500 all together.
I found that for dreaming I place one part of my brain that controls my logic, to allow me to lucid dream. Another part which goes on my visual cortex, which makes the world vivid. Then the last one on the part that controls my self-awareness. I have found that this is the best part of my brain for the third cathode because it increases my senses and puts the icing on the cake.

For those who will be interested, here is an article on a tDCS kit.
Sounds interesting!:banana:

I know it's been a while for this thread, but last night I tried this technique because I just can't achieve lucidity, no matter what, and this seemed easy enough. Now while I still didn't get lucid, I did manage to at least recall part of a dream, and to my surprise in the dream I was actually discussing with somebody about having vivid dreams - basically I remember finding a doctor and asking her to help me with better dream recall and lucidity. So while the result is not - yet - the desired one, something did happen, something did start to break through for me to finally think about dreams during my dream, even if it was not a lucid one yet. I'm going to continue with this as it's the first time that I finally have some hope...

Hey, after reading the whole thread, I think this technique really works.
I have two questions.

First one, do I need to concentrate on the whole left hemisphere, or just the Amygdala?
Next one, I never meditated. Can meditation improve this technique?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrOMGWTF

Hey, after reading the whole thread, I think this technique really works.
I have two questions.

First one, do I need to concentrate on the whole left hemisphere, or just the Amygdala?
Next one, I never meditated. Can meditation improve this technique?

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Just concentrate on the left hemisphere. The amygdala link is just to illustrate that we can easily manipulate our brains function by an act of directed thought alone.

Meditation is not required for this technique.

OMG!!! This technique is just unbelievable!!!:shock:

First of all i have to say that I'm not really active i doing any techniques at all and i had about 22 LD's in period of about 8 years usually my LD's just happening spontaneously and no technique worked for me at the first time, until now! :D

I red this thread yesterday and it was looking interesting and very easy for me, so i decided to try it, but i didn't expect any results as i went to bed in about 3AM and i don't even remember any dreams when i going to sleep so late.

Just after i got in bed i was thinking what way would be the best to change the activity of my brain, imagination is the key for me, so I started imagine my brain from back side so my left half of brain was really on the left side of the picture, then i imagined two activity bars on each half, but those bars was indicating same amount of activity 50% of the each bar, so halves was harmonized.

I told to my self - "Now I going to change activity of my left brain in order to get lucid dream"

Than i told to my self - "I'm changing activity of my left brain on full power now!" and I imagined how is the bar rising to the top and as it was rising, right half was getting less and less activity in the same speed as the left bar was rising, i also heard sound as if i would turn on some kind of machine that was getting more and more power.

After that i said to my brain - "My left brain is 100% active now"

I did not make any command to my right side expect that, i just imagined the bar with less activity that's all.

I did that quiet fast it took me about 4-5 seconds to get full bar, after that i did it 2 more times and as i was doing it i actually felt some kind of sensations in my left brain as if it was under some kind of pressure, than i just fell to sleep.


Now, what happened?
I had a dream that was totally vivid and everything looked totally real, but i still had some kind of feeling saying that, something is wrong and i didn't know what and i asked my self - Is this a dream? I daubed it was because it was so real, but that feeling made me to do RC (i did RC in dream maybe 2 times ever) and i just simply held my nose and tried to breath, and surprisingly i could, so i did it one more time just in case and i could breath, that was first time ever i used this kind of RC, after that i was very surprised that I'm really in the dream. I got too excited and after some time i lost the lucidity and after some time i was with my girlfriend, it was the same dream still going on and some how i remembered that i got lucid by this technique so i was telling her how it was easy to use this technique, than dream went on, but than i got that strange feeling saying something is wrong again, and i just realized that I'm dreaming, than i flew too high and everything was totally dark i started to fall and felt total flow of energy in to my whole body, it was something like orgasm. After i got down i did lot of crazy stuff and waked up after some time, and couldn't fall to sleep for about 45 minutes.
Absolutely awesome technique thank you very much for posting it here and sorry for too long report.

I have made some pictures of how i was imagining the process ;)

Phase ONE
http://imageshack.us/a/img585/6798/b...edactivity.jpg





Phase TWO
http://imageshack.us/a/img826/7042/b...edactivity.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shaman1982

Absolutely awesome technique thank you very much for posting it here and sorry for too long report.

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Awesome!!! Great that it worked for you too and also very interesting that it is very rare for you to reality check to induce lucidity. This was my experience too in my opening post. I have'nt used this technique for a while as I have been working solely with a self hypnosis technique for quite a while and fine tuning it. I have also been spending a lot of time also putting together a very lengthy tutorial on how it works and how to create the audio/brainwave entrainment components.

Because of your success I am going to use this again tonight with a few of your tips, so thank you.

Don't apologise for the long report; it was a pleasure to read :)

I must say. I did take a break from lucid dreaming but tonight I decided to use Shaman's technique with the bars. It worked miracously and I lucid dreamed without even reality checking. I just KNEW it was a dream without finding anything weird in it. Just I felt like it. I clearly and vividly remember how I asked myself "What if this is real life and not a dream?" When I asked myself that, I bended the dream into my will which just proved that it was a dream. It's amazing how this actually works. It took me quite a while to enter a long lasting REM sleep due to sleep disorders but it was worth it. Too bad I forgot to stabilize and it was short lived but glorious.

I have to say, after many failed attempts at this, I finally got some sort of results last night. I imagined a white light on both sides of my brain while falling asleep listening to isochronic tones, and at first I felt at ease (I was in a bout of depression previous to this) I then imagined the light going to the left part and away from the right hemisphere, and I then felt as though I was numb, and even more at ease. My dreams were vivid (I forgot to write them down so I've already forgot them) and I believe I was questioning my dream world, but wasn't lucid this time. Will be trying this more. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by apiks

I must say. I did take a break from lucid dreaming but tonight I decided to use Shaman's technique with the bars. It worked miracously and I lucid dreamed without even reality checking. I just KNEW it was a dream without finding anything weird in it.

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Awesome result!!!

Wonderful Shaman. Thanks for sharing your method :)

I used this last night. I laid down to go to bed and just put my concentration on the left side of my brain and commanded for the logic side of my brain to become active when dreaming until I fell asleep. I had two regular dreams and did WBTB. I attempted a WILD and failed by falling asleep by accident. BUT had a lucid dream! Idk if it was coincident or not but it worked the very first night. The thing is I realized I was dreaming through pure reasoning. The parking deck at my college is the 1000 building so I drove into it and the gate inside said 2000 and my parking card wouldn't scan to let me in. I told myself this isn't right and just become lucid! Very interesting because usually I either realize I am dreaming randomly or do a reality check out of the blue and become lucid. I will continue to experiment with this and hopefully will continue with success! THANK YOU

Quote:

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Originally Posted by faxman

Wonderful Shaman. Thanks for sharing your method :)

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No prob. you are welcome, but i would give all the credit to mcwillis as he gave me the basic principle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hunterkiss

The thing is I realized I was dreaming through pure reasoning. The parking deck at my college is the 1000 building so I drove into it and the gate inside said 2000 and my parking card wouldn't scan to let me in. I told myself this isn't right and just become lucid!

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Yeah it seems like when the logic mind is more active, than you just figure it out. Someone here mentioned that it is more about the memory, than the logic, but your state of memory probably depends of what scenario you are in, as you was at the parking deck, that mean you accessed the memory of it and another part of that memory was also building number, if your logic wouldn't be more active you wouldn't bother to think why all this is happening. Anyway, it is very interesting how easy it is to make left brain more active. I have ordered that book from Neil Slade about the brain and Amygdala and it rally looks like it is that easy to control our brains.
I will use it tonight again and report, i wanted to try it yesterday, but i was waiting to get more sleepy but i was waiting too long and fall a sleep :).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HawkeyeTy

My dreams were vivid (I forgot to write them down so I've already forgot them) and I believe I was questioning my dream world, but wasn't lucid this time. Will be trying this more. :)

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This is exactly what happens to me. Keep it up and see how it goes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hunterkiss

I used this last night. I laid down to go to bed and just put my concentration on the left side of my brain and commanded for the logic side of my brain to become active when dreaming until I fell asleep. I had two regular dreams and did WBTB. I attempted a WILD and failed by falling asleep by accident. BUT had a lucid dream! Idk if it was coincident or not but it worked the very first night. The thing is I realized I was dreaming through pure reasoning. The parking deck at my college is the 1000 building so I drove into it and the gate inside said 2000 and my parking card wouldn't scan to let me in. I told myself this isn't right and just become lucid! Very interesting because usually I either realize I am dreaming randomly or do a reality check out of the blue and become lucid. I will continue to experiment with this and hopefully will continue with success! THANK YOU

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Awesome!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shaman1982

No prob. you are welcome, but i would give all the credit to mcwillis as he gave me the basic principle.

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Yea don't forget McWillis :lol:

Thanks for sharing this. I tried it last night and while I didn't feel anything going to sleep, I had a really long and vivid dream (or dreams?), especially the showdown at the end. I remembered a lot of minor details as well, like distant hedges, trees and houses as well as parts of conversations. I've been attempting to LD since the beginning of August, so this seems like a pretty big leap compared to the other dreams I've had since then. I'm definitely going to try this again tonight.

Does anybody know any Hemi Sync recording, that would activate left hemisphere? Or perhaps binaural beats that are specifically for this purpose. I think there is some software that is like the AVS machine and it is possible to create custom program and than export it into audio file, but i don't remember the name, anyone?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shaman1982

Does anybody know any Hemi Sync recording, that would activate left hemisphere? Or perhaps binaural beats that are specifically for this purpose. I think there is some software that is like the AVS machine and it is possible to create custom program and than export it into audio file, but i don't remember the name, anyone?

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I think it's highly unlikely as brainwave entrainment just altars the frequency of our dominant brainwave patterns. Here is a link as a good point of information from the creators of the best entrainment software on the market today:

Brainwave Entrainment - A Scientific Overview Of Neuro-Programmer 3

I tried this last night, and I felt some faint sensations in my brain, (both with trying to stimulate the left-hemisphere as well as just the amygdala), but unfortunately no lucid dreams yet.

I did however have a terrible nightmare, which I don't remember what happened in it because I was too afraid to think it back over.

(From another post: )
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Curiously, I seem to have had a very intense nightmare last night, from which I apparently either didn't know I was dreaming or was unable to get out of. It was of such intensity that I was groaning and woke up my Dad, which I've never done before, and when he came in the room I was so terrified (he looked like just a black figure) that apparently I knocked over my digital alarm clock and fan that I had next to my bed, and caused my digital keyboard/piano to fall off of its stand. Dad put them back up, and I calmed down. But for the next hour or so I didn't want to fall asleep, or even think back over what happened, because of how intense my earlier fear had been. This was around 6 AM, I believe, and I don't think I even fell fully asleep after that, and so was in a half-sleeping state until I woke up a few hours later.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I don't remember what occurred specifically in my dream, but I know it was extremely frightening. I presume it was an in-dream character, that I saw while lying in bed, as I can't imagine anything else that could have scared me so much, and it's been a background fear of mine after reading accounts of it over the last few days.

It may have just been a coincidence, but it was the most frightening dream that I've had in many months, if not years, and it happened on the night I tried this.

Lo and behold, after waking I read this about Sleep Paralysis, on Wikipedia: "This could explain why those who experience sleep paralysis generally believe the presence they sense is evil. The amygdala is heavily involved in the threat activation response mechanism, which is implicated in both intruder and incubus SP hallucinations."

Do you think these visualization techniques may have had an influence, or do you think it was just because I've been increasing my thoughts on lucid dreaming?

Very interesting thread, Last night I had my first Lucid in months.
I've never really attained much Lucidity before except for flying occassionally, turning a nightmare around on itself, or being conscious but not really utilising it much and inevitably being sucked in.

Last night at some point in the dream I had just rescued my cousin from a cult in some strange flat (pretty random) and had talked him out of it saying they lured you in when you were vulnerable, using your insecurities against you etc and as we were walking out I realised his last few days were inconsistent with what really happened in waking life.

Quizzing him, he seemed perplexed and maybe my subconscious couldn't rectify a proper response for why it didn't mesh with my real life timeline.

Realising I was dreaming I first had to try not lose the dream as my brain woke up, by allowing my subconscious to keep me in the same setting and trying not to interfere too much with my environment.

From there on I started trying to flex my lucid powers, trying to activate my left hemisphere via intention was tricky, it was like using the force and my first attempt was to literally use the force to pull a bottle of Jack Daniels that we'd sat down to drink towards me, nothing happened and doubt set in. So I focused on visually seing the bottle in my hand and somehow an identical bottle appeared in my hand - close enough for now.

Then for some reason my logic must have faltered because I was trying to hide from my aunty late night like we were children again so we slipped out around the side of the house (we had walked across a field from the flat and materialised in their garage) and snuck around to the back door and she managed to head us off so we fled but I couldn't run (recovering from an acl) and remembering it was dream decided to fly (I couldn't remember the sensation of running and the amygdala kept telling me I might hurt myself)
I bound into the air and hovered on the spot.

She came out the house, but I remembered it was a dream and just waved back.
I then flew to my GF's house down the street and she happened to be waiting down the street.
I picked her up in my arms, ignoring my knee, and tried to superman her off but had to do a few leaps and bounds first convincing myself when I hopped about 2m into the air and flew into someones living room for a little alone time together.

I then proceeded to sabotage myself as I took off my shirt while worrying the curtains were open, everytime I closed the curtains my shirt rematerialised, every time I took my shirt off the curtains opened to passers by.
Eventually she just vanished from the room and the dream ended when someone tried to kick me out for trespassing.

I guess the point of my longwinded story is certainly focus and intention as we all know with lucid dreaming. Even if the left hemisphere idea is expressed more as a metaphor I can it is important to try utilise its functions of logic and use deductive reasoning to stop doubts and fears from setting in. Personally it was like using the force or magic and trying to believe you could manifest changes but also not slipping into the dream too much, and being so reactive. Whilst I was often conscious I was still reacting on the spot and felt most in control when I could rationalise my actions and my desires to act too hastily would often relinquish my focus.

I'm certainly interested in employing different methods like binaural beats etc. But as many have said at the moment theres not much you can do to really isolate that brain activity and the best methods are still this covered in this site as far as mastering recall etc to aid the process once it is underway.

Still I've been inspired to get back into it, and I'm all for experimenting with different methods to see what works best.

another good way of activating your left brain is by listening to the high pitch frequencies of your conciousness and concentrate on the tone that sounds to be coming from your left brain

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Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

Sounds like a good MILD affirmation :)

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Definitively!
This approach appeals to me in a way - so here my take on it.
The whole right-left brain thing is vastly overrated so it can even be called a myth - but I have a theory, why this works so nicely for many people, and I might try it out, but in a slightly different manner.
It basically consists of affirmations to activate higher mental faculties once you are dreaming beforehand and this combined with the power of visualization.
Maybe it does indeed even help to concentrate on a part of the brain for that - did anybody try it with the right side, just for curiosity? ;)
I have a nice picture for those who find it helpful to concentrate on something in the brain - the regions which do light up on MRI for real in LDs. On top of what is going on in both hemispheres already - see Ctharlhie's pics below.
You wouldn't try the right hemisphere, would you, because you don't believe logic resides there, right?

I have had complete chains of reasoning in my dreams, that I recall without lucidity - the logic did work within the pre-set situation of the dream - no problems in procedure.
So it's not so much about the logic - and many people, like Sageous, agree there.
Primarily it is about meta-consciousness - being conscious of being conscious - or call it the famous self-awareness - and this is indeed known to be correlated to those areas:

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The human capacity of self-perception, self-reflection and consciousness development are among the unsolved mysteries of neuroscience.
“The general basic activity of the brain is similar in a normal dream and in a lucid dream,” says Michael Czisch, head of a research group at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry.
“In a lucid state, however, the activity in certain areas of the cerebral cortex increases markedly within seconds.
The involved areas of the cerebral cortex are the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, to which commonly the function of self-assessment is attributed, and the frontopolar regions, which are responsible for evaluating our own thoughts and feelings. The precuneus is also especially active, a part of the brain that has long been linked with self-perception.”

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps60dc21f6.jpg

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This is from here: Lucid dreamers help scientists locate the seat of meta-consciousness in the brain -- ScienceDaily
And is the actual stand of knowledge these days - I also find, the metaconsciousness concept as source of lucidity far more convincing, than just simplistically take the whole left hemisphere and denominate it "logic centre".
No offence meant of course - I find this approach in general quite attractive! :)
Got to admit though - topologically - this is a bit more sophisticated for visualization as well. Maybe just take the frontal part?
Just - once you know, you operate on placebo with taking a whole hemisphere - it doesn't work any more - and proper knowledge is better than myths - so I'd opt for a change.

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Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

Lateralisation between the hemispheres of the brain is no where near as significant as is often portrayed by those who would tell you you can 'hemi-sync' (usually so they can sell you something)

Lateralization of brain function - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The truth is that throughout your life the hemispheres of your brain work in tandem but interdependently of each other, and statements of 'logical left' and 'creative right' are largely generalisations, remember that each hemisphere is a mirror image of the other with the exact same neuroanatomy on each side.

It would be silly to suggest that your brain would sacrifice half of its processing power for something so intensive as dreaming by shutting down the left hemisphere. In fact MRI scans show that the two hemispheres show roughly equal activity:

http://www.humanillnesses.com/images..._0_img0079.jpg

However it is generally accepted in sleep research circles that the higher reasoning centres of the forebrain responsible for things like operative memory and self-awareness are suppressed.
So if you really are stimulating anything then it would be the forebrain.

Maybe the stimulation of the forebrain becomes associated with the realisation that you are dreaming so that when it finds itself in an inhibited state it triggers the realisation you are dreaming. I which case this technique could hold implications for WILD and recognising the transition without having to remain conscious through the whole WILD. In a way it's similar to the 'third eye' and Nina's technique of WILDing.

However, it may just be a simple matter of mnemonic/auto-suggestion induction, in which case it would be effective as a MILD and may be increased even further in effectiveness if coupled with visualisation.

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You are correct - and I know quite a bit about brains as well. It is not correct, that the left hemisphere is dormant in normal dreams - your post and pictures should suffice to show that, actually.
Here a link to a neuroscientist's blog, which also has a nice optical illusion - often interpreted incorrectly according to that myth:
NeuroLogica Blog » Left Brain – Right brain and the Spinning Girl

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Originally Posted by mcwillis

Good work Ctharlhie. I haven't had much time to do some proper research but going back to what I have researched the above is not entirely correct. Thank you though for your efforts. I shall update new information once I have looked properly.

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Did you look properly by now? :)
A switch in localities and concepts does in no way invalidate the affirmation with visualization/imagining feeling somewhere in the brain!

It always seemed to me anyway that when people would talk about left brain/right brain differences what they were really talking about was conscious/unconscious processes. So what you're saying makes a lot of sense to me.

I respond to this old thread because I think this idea of activation of the left hemisphere is very interesting.
I do not agree with the assumption that The whole right-left brain thing is vastly overrated so it can even be called a myth
Because of this book I read: 'My stroke of insight' by Jill Bolte Taylor. (Her TED talk is also interesting).
She is a (Harvard trained) brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke that damaged the left side of her brain. It took her 8 years of recovery. Now she is on a mission to learn people to balance their brain.
I cite: In My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, Jill shares with us her recommendations for recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functions of the right and left hemispheres of her brain. Having lost the categorizing, organizing, describing, judging and critically analyzing skills of her left brain, along with its language centers and thus ego center, Jill’s consciousness shifted away from normal reality. In the absence of her left brain’s neural circuitry, her consciousness shifted into present moment thinking whereby she experienced herself “at one

Can I combine this with a mantra to help with the process, if so what do you suggest?

this worked for me too! I combined it with WBTB

I tried this technique and the first time it did help me to become a lot more aware and have better dream recall.
I was just thinking about whether a breathing technique might also help with activating the left side of the brain.

In yoga there is a technique called Nadi Sodhana or alternate nostril breathing which is said to balance out the brains hemispheres. However there is also a technique where you Brea through one nostril only in order to stimulate one side more than the other.

Throughout the day one side of our nostrils is more blocked than the other and it alternates, you can test this for yourself at different periods during the day, and it can also be influenced by if you sleep on your side!
If you close your left nostril and breath only through your right nostril for 3-5min it will stimulate the left logical side of the brain. this might help with this technique? The only downside is that it also stimulates energy, and awareness, whereas breathing through the left side only will help you to relax but stimulate the right side of her brain.

This sounds interesting. I have read a lot of tips and methods online but lots of them aren't that appealing. I'll post my experience later, if I'm successful with it.

what you actually do is visualize, like SSILD. you with a good visualization will have a lucid dream with this method, otherwise leave it. haha.

Interesting. I tried this last night and while I did not become lucid I had a dream with a "questionable reality". It was like I was watching a movie of 2 armies fighting and when one side won, it had a parade of troops including animals. When I saw the line of elephants I asked myself how could they get so many elephants? And then some of them started doing somersaults and I thought "This can't be real. They must be using special FX." That was how I justified it, FX not dreaming. Still at least I questioned it and later in the dream I was controlling the FX. Not as a lucid dreamer but as an FX editor. Still there is a similarity of analogies.

Actually worked for me,gave me my 2nd ever lucid. Was short,but worth it. the rest of my dreams were also extremely vivid,to where I probaly couldve went lucid in them aswell. (Been reading for awhile now,only signed up to feedback this thread)

I'm going to try this technique tonight. Last night I did a breath retention exercise that focused on bringing more oxygen to the left side of my brain. Essentially breathing in and out about 30 times while pinching my right nostral. I didn't go lucid but I was thinking in more logical ways that correlated with the theme of my dream. At one point I was sitting in a lawn chair discussing quantum theory with a dream character. Lol

I listened to an audiobook called: Dream yoga- a Tibetan path awakening in lucid dreaming by andrew Holecek
In this Book he describes the sleeping lion posture where you lay on your right side and block off the the right nostril. Ive heard of this before and leberge has looked into the alternation of breathing through nostrils linked to right side left side activation, he even went a little further to digest that flow of air down one side of the nostril can be affected by a point under the armpit but no further info was given.

I naturally find it more comfortable to lay on my left side, but For a while I’ve beenThinking about blocking my right nostril with an ear plug when I go to sleep. Tonight I shall try the amygdala technique and The following night I’ll try the amygdala technique and block the right nostril too.

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Originally Posted by Ant101

I listened to an audiobook called: Dream yoga- a Tibetan path awakening in lucid dreaming by andrew Holecek
In this Book he describes the sleeping lion posture where you lay on your right side and block off the the right nostril. Ive heard of this before and leberge has looked into the alternation of breathing through nostrils linked to right side left side activation, he even went a little further to digest that flow of air down one side of the nostril can be affected by a point under the armpit but no further info was given.

I naturally find it more comfortable to lay on my left side, but For a while I’ve beenThinking about blocking my right nostril with an ear plug when I go to sleep. Tonight I shall try the amygdala technique and The following night I’ll try the amygdala technique and block the right nostril too.

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Very interesting, thanx for the info!

Have you tried it yet?
I may try it shortly just to have to find a suitable earplug :alien:

Keep us updated plz!
cheers
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Na didn’t work for me but I only tried it the once.