I cut out parts because i'm not sure if you are allowed to copy a whole essay from a book. So if there are any issues with that, I apologize, and feel free to remove it. [/b]
Excerpts from:
The 100% Brain Course(Master Manual) by Melvin D. Saunders [/b]

Exercise 167 -- Lucid Dreaming:
Conscious Awareness of Your Dreams
One essential phase of sleep called the rapid-eye-movement (REM) phase is where
most dreams occur. Humans and lab animals that have been deprived of REM sleep
exhibit bizarre and often psychotic behavior. Researchers have found that your REM
dream state is predominantly the alpha and theta brainwave states (4 to 7 cycles per
second and 7 to 14 cycles per second respectively).
Dreams are ordinarily spontaneous and representative of subconscious meanderings.
They can also be a psychological release of tension.
[Removed: Biblical dreams as a reference to age of dreaming and symbology.]
[Removed: Record and review your dreams to compare them with life.]
[Removed: Defines what Lucid Dreaming is.]

The more mindful and fully conscious you are in your normal waking state, the easier it will be for you to master the lucid dreaming state.
Review “Exercise -- Mindfulness: Improving Your Conscious Awareness” to sharpen your lucid dreaming state.

[Removed: What lucid dreams are and what you can do in them.]

In dreams, you can even levitate or fly. So if you're ever in doubt of your dream state, try flying as a
test.
A Malaysian tribe called the Senoi revolves much of its culture around dreams. At an early age, parents question their children closely about their dreams. The children are taught early how to control their dreams and to bring about beneficial outcomes. By consciously manipulating their subconscious dreams, the Senoi manifest positive results in the waking world and resolve their daily problems more readily.
Technique #1:
One technique to achieving a lucid dream state is to ask yourself the question,
"Is this a dream?" or "Am I dreaming?" 10 to 20 times just before falling asleep.
The conscious repetitiveness of the question will eventually be submerged into the
subconscious dream state. Reflecting cognitively upon such a question in the dream
state will result in some form of conscious intervention and awareness, and hence a
lucid dream state will be achieved.
Technique #2:
As a variation of the former method, simply count and affirm just before retiring,
"I am dreaming, One" -- "I am dreaming, Two" and so on. Attending to the counting
process keeps your conscious awareness vigilant to what you intend to do. For those
people who tend to fall asleep rapidly, this method can have you counting straight
into dreamland.
Technique #3:
Another method is to reiterate over and over to yourself just before going to sleep,
"I am going to sleep now. I know that I will be dreaming. I will recognize that I am
dreaming when I am dreaming. Tonight, I will be consciously aware of my dream. I
will remember what I dream in full conscious detail."
Technique #4:
You can also use a stimulus response link. For instance just before going to
sleep, look at your hand while reiterating to yourself over and over, "When I see my
hand in my dream, I will know I am dreaming." One researcher used with great
success a mild electric shock to signal subject dreamers they were dreaming.
<div align="center">- - -

Sounds like a WILD?
Any of these techniques may initiate a flood of colors, images, sounds and thoughts. If you begin thinking in abstract ways, it usually indicates the right brain is taking over and the left brain is becoming idle. Just continue observing and the sounds and images will eventually evolve into a 3-dimensional dream that you can consciously explore, change and learn from.

[Removed: Advice on helping recurring nightmares and fearful dreams. ]
More dreaming info

Using the above techniques will produce an ability to achieve lucid dreaming in 4 to 5 weeks or less. After achieving a lucid dream state, act only as a casual observer at first or the condition might quickly dissipate into wakefulness. Slowly integrate into your dreams volitional control and alterations, and soon full dream mastery will be achieved. If you avoid whimsical notions, you can design purposeful meaning to your dreams and achieve in the dream state that which you want in the real world. If you want positive episodes to happen in the real world, you can now create dreams about them first.

Interesting Opinion
Since many remembered dreams are recollections of astral travel (esp. flying
dreams), (review "Exercises -- Astral Projection Techniques" and "Astral Projection
Adventures"), learning lucid dreaming can also be important in learning how to
consciously remember and participate in astral journeys.
Science
There is a right to left brain shift during the night after 45 minutes; then a left to
right shift after another 45 minutes. Consequently, every 90 minutes, there is a storm
of neuronal activity in the right brain as it goes into its REM dream cycle for several
minutes. Not surprisingly, the same brain cycle follows throughout the day as well.
[Removed: Irrelavent Daydreaming Info]
Go Lucid Dreamers&#33;
Research has shown that lucid dreamers are more likely than non-lucid dreamers to have dreams that are positive, successful or filled with good fortune. It makes sense, doesn&#39;t it? If you can control the flow and outcome of your dream, why would you want a negative dream?

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