First let me say that this is great that there is a forum out there to help people do this. For the longest time, I thought I was one of a select few who could do this. Who knew there was a whole world out there!? I don't subscribe to any series or programs to help me do this, my college psychology professor told me how to do it in 1993, and after getting good at lucid dreaming, I actually accidentally had a wake-induced-lucid-dream, or WILD. Funny that I checked out this forum and people are actually using that acronym! I do it all the time now. I can almost do it on command. I am lucky I suppose after seeing so many struggle with it.

Here is the easiest way that I know how to lucid dream...

1. Be tired. Have you ever come home from a long day at work and you just fall asleep in minutes on the couch? And you immediately start dreaming? Then you wake up and you can swear that your dream lasted quite long when in reality it has only been a few minutes? This is by far the best time to do it.

2. If you find yourself doing that, and you wake up and realize you have been dreaming, don't move your body, that will further pull you out of sleep paralysis, just lie your head down and try to return to that dream state. Lie your head down in the same position, and keep just a whisp of consciousness and try to imagine your preferred dreamscape.

3. When that dreamscape (or surrounding) is in place in your mind and you are still half-asleep but still slightly conscious, picture something in your dream that is spinning slowly. What I use (this sounds stupid) is a fire hydrant with a wheel on top that is going about 10 RPMs, which is fast enough to see but slow enough that you can put your hands on it for a second.

4. Don't open your eyes ever... move your hand a bit, did it move in real life? Did you feel it brush against your leg? If it did, wait a bit longer. If it is slow to respond, even better. Don't let the response get too slow though or you'll fall asleep and lose it...when your hands (only your hands) feel sluggish, start trying to grab that wheel, but only for a second at a time. It's almost like a sync thing. You have to be in sync with the dream.

5. You know how you grab a hot pan handle? You grab it good then let go, then grab it again and let go, time after time....do that to the wheel. When it finally starts to feel real and sustainable in your hands, then hold it longer each time, and eventually it will pull you in. Sometimes you have to grab that wheel and hang on if you start waking up.

The reason that I use my hands is because my hands are the first things to go into paralysis. I use my hands because they will pull the rest of my body into the dream. They are also the last things to come out. Haven't you ever awoke from a dream where you had your hands on something, and when you start waking up and coming out of the dream, it kinda still feels like it is there? You grasp more and more but then it is gone, and you are no longer a lottery winner! Simply because your hands are the last out of paralysis, still kind of in the dream and having memory of what you were last holding...

Anyway, that is how I do it, I do it all the time, can't even count the times I've done it in 15 years, must be hundreds or even thousands.

One word of caution, though...you may not realize it the first time because it is so realistic. Best to do it alone so when you do test your ability in the dream, there is nobody around to snicker...(at the same time, having people around in the house truly makes it easier because then you can use the sound of their voices as judgment for paralysis)

I hope this helps somebody!

SkeletalRemains