[INTRO/DC-1] Tutorials

Introduction to Lucid Dreaming/Dream Control

Day One

Hey guys!

Welcome to Intro to Lucid Dreaming/Dream Control :) Small introduction; I’m Serenity, and I’ve been a lucid dreamer for about 14 years now. I started off basically with just DILDs. I guess I’m a natural, because I can have LD’s without any effort, but they are very few and far between when I don’t try. Maybe one or two a month.

When I found Dreamviews, I became pretty much obsessed! I read everything I possibly could on them, talked about dreaming all the time and now I love helping other people be successful in having them too.


Ed Kelog, and the lucidity scale

So, to start off, I’d like to introduce a scale of lucidity. This scale was developed by a man named Ed Kelog, and it essentially rates the level of awareness you might experience within a lucid dream. The reason I like to introduce such a scale is because lucid dreams are not a cookie cutter thing. Lucidity is qualified by awareness. A lucid dream is merely knowing that you are dreaming. Whether you can consciously break from the plot, or are stuck just knowing you are watching a dream are two entirely different things :)

The Scale
1/5 I realize that I dream, but continue to follow the dream "script"; no conscious choice.

In this level, it’s almost entirely indistinguishable (for me) to tell this dream from a normal dream. I can usually determine lucidity because I remember making comments to myself about what I’m viewing when I wake up and recall the dream.

Example of a 1/5 lucid dream…
I was in the band with the Beatles :) The stage had an odd set-up, and if we went too far past the marked stage tape “barriers,” we’d be too close to the audience. I was acting kind of goofy and testing each of the guys on where they should stand, and they were all doing it wrong. But I was being really goofy about it, and after I corrected George Harrison, I thought to myself, “Even if this is just a dream, I’m acting really stupid, I should stop.”

2/5 I still follow the dream script (knowing that I dream), but I can make minor choices in keeping with dream reality. (This is where I know I'm dreaming, but I still have a plot to follow, and that's keeping me from really thinking things through and making my own conscious decisions as to what I want to do. I may transform into a dragon in order to kill puny fools blocking my path though, for example.)

This level is a lot easier to distinguish lucidity because I was able to control the dream, however, I wasn’t lucid enough to break from the plot and work on some personal goals. The thought just never even occurs to me.

Example of a 2/5 lucid dream…
I’m flying over the ocean and through the clouds. I decide that I haven’t spawned my wings out of my back for a really long time now (mainly because I don’t need them to fly, anymore). I spawn them, and continue flying.

3/5 I have the choice of following the dream script or not, can make major choices based on awareness of my potentialities in the dream state e.g. might choose to try a dream experiment instead of continuing the dream scenario, etc.

In these, I can make a decision whether to stop the plot and play around in the dream, or just go along with it, but at least it’s a choice, at this level. Really, the only thing (for me) that separates a 3/5 and a 4/5 is the fact that I don’t think about personal goals. I mostly just work within what the dream has given me.

Example of a 3/5 lucid dream…
Before I got lucid, I started floating around a kitchen singing a song. I realize the absurdity of what I’m doing and snap into awareness. I see that in this room, there’s a glass patio door and wonder if I can go through the glass. So I do :)

4/5 I'm fully aware that I dream and of the location and state of my physical body; also remember most knowledge from waking life, at least as it relates to goals that I had set for my lucid dreams.

In these, it’s all freedom! I find that when I get this kind of awareness, it’s best to give the dream some extra time to stabilize, because it has the strongest potential to crash. It’s also the hardest phase to control, for some reason.

Example of a 4/5 lucid dream…
In the non-lucid part, I’m staring at a gravel road. I suddenly think, “What are the chances of this being a dream right now?” I’m surprised by the answer :) A DC asks me a question and I tell her that I need to leave and find someone (it’s a goal of mine to conjure my brother… long story). I go back inside the cabins, but I don’t find him. The dream “crashes” into a false awakening, but as luck would have it; I decided to dream chain, so I was back into a new dream :) I left the location the dream gave me by flight and set off to find my brother.

5/5 I'm aware of myself as an integrated whole, at least on level with how I would be during a waking focus. Thinking, feeling, creating aspects of self are working as a unified whole. Extraordinary (even for dream reality) abilities and experiences often manifest.

I think I may have only had one of these. I found that control was immensely powerful, remembered goals easily and got so many things accomplished.

Example of a 5/5 lucid dream…
I realized I was dreaming because I saw two versions of my deceased dog trying to play fetch with me. I decided, having no other goals at this point, to fly to the moon to see if I could find Nomad, Raven or Mosh. I flew to the moon easily! I ended up at the amusement park. I met Nomad and Raven there (not shared, unfortunately), and it was under siege. Raven flung me in the air and teleported me to where Mosh was. He and I chatted for the remainder of the dream, and I saw entities from his dreams that I was unfamiliar with, but they appear in his dreams all the time. I could also feel myself waking up by way of feeling like I would fall asleep in the dream. Mosh urged me not to pass out, but I did :(


Dream Content

It is useful in knowing how dreams are created when trying to learn how to recognize that you’re in one!

There are many other spiritual beliefs in where dreams come from, however, for the sake of this course; I’ll stick to the basics!

Day Residue
What happened today, or what has been happening recently. Usually these are dreams about school, work, or general day-to-day activities. The dream may disguise these events to fit with a schema. Some people find it beneficial to keep an awake journal to sort thoughts or leave the troubles behind for the night. The idea of doing many reality checks throughout the day plays on the idea of dream residue. If you do them a lot, it will carry over into your dreams. As in, you will randomly do a reality check in your dream and discover you’re dreaming!
Watch this video on Day Residue here: http://www.dreamviews.com/vbtube_show.php?tubeid=103

Schemas
Universe laws
The content of our dreams is largely created by the relationships that our brains create between objects, scenes, and other elements. We call these relationships schemas. Some of these schemas may seem strange to the conscious mind, but to the dreaming mind, they make perfect sense. Our dreaming brain constantly changes things around us based on schemas, this is how dreams can seem to have completely random circumstances, but still seem to have a continuous flow.
Supplemental reading: http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/infini...reaming-46571/

Faulty Logic
The part of the brain that houses your logic and reasoning “shut off” when we’re asleep. It’s called the prefrontal cortex. This is why pink elephants and flying trees can be accepted or reasoned as something perfectly acceptable when we dream. Because we may dismiss weird things in dreams, it’s very important that when doing reality checks (while awake) that you don’t always just check when you think something is weird. You should do them when you see weird things, yes… but you should also do them when you think about them!
This is why its important to do reality checks to normal things while we’re awake :)
Watch this video on Faulty Logic here: http://www.dreamviews.com/vbtube_show.php?tubeid=104

False Memories
Sometimes, dreams feel the need to set a plot, so they barrage us with back ground info.
Or, when you question something (like who is this person, or where did this table come from?), dreams are only so eager to supply you with that information, so you can move along with the plot.
Watch this video on False Memories here: http://www.dreamviews.com/vbtube_show.php?tubeid=105

Id
The id, the ego, and the superego. The ego creates conscious awareness, it analyses what is going on and mediates between the superego and the id. The superego creates mental boundaries, keeping you from doing things that are socially unacceptable and taboo. The id is purely instinctual and runs off of emotion and primal needs. The ego and the superego tend to dominate your waking life, but they are logical, and are focused around the logical centre of the brain, which is shut off. Ergo, the id dominates your dreams.

Emotions
Because the id is the overpowering psychic factor in dreams, emotions tend to be unnaturally powerful in your dreams. This is especially true for emotions like anger and lust, which even in waking life can take temporary control of you. We've all heard the term temporarily insane, this is much more common in dreams. Most people can recall doing terrible things in dreams when they get angry.

Lust
Because lust and the primal urge to mate is strong in dreams, sexual temptations may arise very frequently. Many lucid dreams are transformed into lucid sex dreams because of the overwhelming desire to have sex. This is also due to the unrestrained id.

Fear
One of the most powerful emotions is fear and like the other emotions, it is amplified in dreams. That's why nightmares can be so frightening. Not only is the fear amplified in nightmares, but many schemas are all linked by fear so things that frighten you will constantly show up.

Fear doesn't have to be a nightmare; it can also come from real life anxiety. Some believe that dreams are used for rehearsal of events that we are nervous about such as a presentation in front of lots of people or a job interview.

Attention
Your dream is composed of things entirely created by your brain, therefore without paying attention to them, they cannot exist. Ignoring something entirely will make it disappear; there is no reason for the brain to go through the process of keeping something alive, if it has no link to it. This is a common mistake in sex dreams. Focusing on what you are doing in the act of having sex, causes everything else in the dream to fade away, causing your dream to destabilize.

Likewise, the more attention you give to something, the more your brain will do with it. Focusing on something gives it greater detail. Most elements in your dreams are just concepts of the full element, that's because your brain doesn't need to see every detail of it; it just needs to know that it's there. Because of faulty logic, it accepts it as complete, even if it's not.

This is why closely examining your surroundings is a good way to stabilize your dream, your world gets more detailed and therefore, more stable.
Supplemental reading: http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/nature...control-57283/


Live Chat

The live chat session will take place on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 @ 1am. Please use a time zone converter (like this one! The World Clock – Time Zone Converter) to determine what time that is for you! Meanwhile, please start recording your dreams in your workbook threads. If you can’t recall anything, please write how you attempted to recall your dreams for that day.

/join #dvaintro tabletop


Assignment

Go through your dream journal and analyze where the content of your dreams comes from. Is it mostly day residue? Do you notice a lot of false memories or faulty logic in them?

Reserved for movement.

Welcome back for another class of eyeball torture and text walls. Let’s begin :)


Dream Journals

Dream journals are the single most powerful tool you have to improve dream recall. And recalling more dreams leads to having more lucid dreams. How? Consider this: What if you’re already having lucid dreams, but you can’t remember them?

There’s no wrong way to journal, it’s all a matter of personal choice. I tend to prefer writing lots of details, because I will recall more details in later dreams. For example, say I dreamed about someone buying a plate of food at a buffet. I will describe what was on the plate, what other foods were served, and also how much might have been paid, if that detail arose.

The other benefit to dream journals is the ability to start picking out dream signs. Dream signs are things that happen a lot in your dreams. More on that, in a bit. From your journal entries, you can start to glean information on things that you tend to dream about a lot. If these signs happen to show up a lot in waking life too, then bonus! You can start training yourself on how to recognize dream signs and reality checking to them when you see them during the day. The goal is for it to carry over into your dreams and check on them at night.

Dream journals also prevent memory loss. There sometimes comes a dream so awesome that you may never truly forget it. However, you might lose memory of some of the finer details. This is true for most dreams. As soon as we wake up, we already start forgetting details from our dreams, which is why it’s so important to try recalling your dream upon waking up. Even if you don’t have time to journal straight away, try to write as many short notes as possible to trigger your memory for later.

Lastly, some people use their journals to track times. It could be very beneficial to you to track what time you go to bed, wake up for a WBTB, go back to sleep, and then also when you dreamed each dreams. If you take any LDS’s (lucid dreaming supplements), note what you took and at what time. Also if you had any difficulties in getting back to sleep.


Dream Signs

Dream signs are common things, people, pets, places, themes, etc. which show up often when we dream. They could be things you see a lot in waking life, or not. These are individual dream signs, and are personal to you.

Universal dream signs are things that tend to happen to everybody when we dream. These can include (but aren’t limited to)…
Lights may not turn on or off.
Machinery doesn’t operate properly.
Hard to use cell phones.
Elevators act erratically.
Time looks weird, or changes drastically.
Text looks funny or changes when read twice.
Hands look funny.
You can breathe through blocked airways.
Driving… for some reason, we don’t often drive well in dreams.

Metaphors and symbolism
Dreams can sometimes be showing you one thing, but the overall message from you subconscious might be more profound. For instance, the other night, I had a dream about sorting silverware, but I may have been sorting out thoughts and feelings.. or those things need to be sorted out.

There are also dream dictionaries that you can buy or look up online. These definitions are often based on the history of a certain symbol, be it a religious, literary, cultural or spiritual history.


Recall

Recalling dreams is sometimes very difficult for people, but there are a few things you can do to improve it.

Keep an awake journal and record your day. Try to be as detailed as possible. This can be a double-whammy, as this often helps sort out your feelings from the day or things that may be bugging you, and keeps your mind fresh and clear for dreaming!

Take notes in the middle of the night. Just enough that would help trigger your memory of a dream. I usually include people present, location, and something major that happened. They can be recorded with a voice recorder, cell phone app, or good old pen and paper. Whatever makes it easiest for you. Keep it beside your bed, whatever you do.

It’s important to record notes as soon as you can. From the moment you wake up, you will start to lose details of your dreams.

Upon waking up, start running the dream through in your mind. It’s often easiest to ask yourself, “What was I just doing?” Remember the last scene, and run the dream backwards in your head until you can’t remember anymore.

Sometimes, what happens with me, is I remember everything completely out of order. That’s fine too, just make notes until you can’t remember anything else.

If you wake up without a scene, try getting back into the position you woke up in, and let yourself drift. It might not be safe to do this without a snooze alarm! Sometimes, going back into the position you woke from will trigger a scene.

If you still wake up with nothing, ask yourself if certain dream signs may have been present. Run through a list of all your really popular ones.

You can also run through a list of things that might be currently prominent in your waking life. Chances are, you might have dreamed about something bothering you. This also holds true if there’s an event coming up you’re looking forward to.

Remember that when you wake up, it’s important to not think about the day ahead or all the things you need to get done. Set aside some extra time for yourself (like, 15 minutes or longer) for recall and journaling.

You may find it helpful to wear a sleep mask to block the sunlight from your eyes. Sunlight is a major recall killer for me.

Lastly, don’t stress about forgetting a dream. If you still cannot recall anything, make an entry about there being no recall. Note whether you woke up feeling happy, sad, indifferent.

You may also find that during the day, you will see or hear something that will trigger your recall. Try to remember what it is until you get the chance to write it down!!


Live Chat

The live chat will take place on Friday, September 24, 2010 at 1am UTC (equivalent to Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 6pm, PDT, in US/Canada).


Assignment

Go through your dream journal and see if you can notice any reoccurring signs that are popping up. Make a list! :)
Bonus marks: Find out which sign occurs the most and incorporate reality checking to the sign into your daily routine.

Sorry it’s late :(


Class Three


Sleep Cycles – How they work

Sleep cycles are broken up into two main phases of sleep. NREM and REM sleep. NREM sleep is broken up into 3 categories…

N1
The first phase as we are falling asleep. Commonly referred to as “dozing.” Brain waves are starting to bridge between alpha and theta waves. During this phase, you may experience sudden muscular twitches (hypnic jerks), and hypnogogic hallucinations.

Hypnogogia
Sight – you may see random specks of light, lines, geomatic patterns, etc playing on the inside of your eyelids. They can be richly coloured, or monochromatic. You may see yourself moving through tunnels of light.

Tetris effect – anyone who has spent a day at an amusement park has likely experienced this. You spend all day on rides and your body is being whooshed back ad forth. As you are settling in for the night, your body still feels in motion. Can also be feeling the sway of the waves, still feeling the rocks after a day of mountain climbing, etc.

Sounds – can vary from barely audible whispers to exploding noises. Common ones are hearing faint music, speech, doorbell, etc.

Sleep paralysis – Paralysis of our muscles so we don't act out our dreams. Often accompanying SP may be the crushing feeling on your chest (or feeling suffocated), tingles or vibrations, imagined speech or other noises, imagined presences or invisible entities, intense emotions (usually fear or euphoria), and some people may feel too hot or too cold.

Other sensations
People have reported experiences with other senses, like certain smells, flashes of light, images in response to real sound, numbness, changes in perception to your body size/proportions, feeling like one is floating, or OOBE (out of body experiences), or a falling sensation, often accompanying a hypnic jerk.

N2
Characterized by sleep spindles (where the brain inhibits processes to produce a more tranquil sleep) and K-complexes (which suppresses arousal of the brain in response to things that our sleeping brain may evaluate as danger and memory consolidation (especially prevalent when one is learning new things). Muscular activity decreases, we lose conscious awareness and our external surroundings disappear.

N3
also known as “deep sleep,” “slow-wave sleep” and “delta sleep.” Characterized by the lowest brain waves, between 0-2.5 hz. Most difficult level of sleep to wake up from.

People have reported feeling extremely groggy and mental functioning can be severely impaired for up to 30 minutes following waking from this state.

After sleep deprivation, there is a sharp rebound in slow-wave sleep, which lends to the importance of having this state. If one were to increase their SWS over the course of a few nights (this reducing the REM sleep), then one experiences REM-rebound, once the inhibitor is removed (inhibitors usually are things like melatonin).

There used to be an N4 but since 2008, phases 3 and 4 have been combined together.

In this phase, your eyes are often drifting very slowly back and forth beneath your eye lids.

REM Sleep
To put things into perspective, our cumulative time each night spent in REM sleep is around 90-120 minutes (an hour and a half to two hours). REM stands for rapid-eye movement, hence the name of the phase of sleep as that is exactly what is happening. The eyes are darting back and forth under our eyelids. This is how devices like the Nova Dreamer know how to signal us that we are in REM sleep/dreaming.

As the night progresses, SWS sleep gets shorter, and REM sleep gets longer (during each 90 minute sleep cycle).

Brain waves associated with REM are quite similar to those found when we are awake, which leads to why we experience REM atonia.

In REM, we experience our most vivid dreams… a world that engages all of our senses so convincingly, we often do not realize we’re dreaming until we wake up! So imagine how bad it would be if we didn’t become paralyzed :P

Sleep deprivation is sometimes viewed as desirable for oneironauts, as it is thought that people who sleep less also sleep more efficiently. The brain transitions to stage 3 (and subsequently, REM) faster that those who sleep more.

Before you all go off and start pulling all-nighters, it is extremely wise to research the health risks associated with sleep deprivation.


Induction Techniques

DILD – Dream Induced Lucid Dream

Pros – No loss of sleep, and not a lot of prep involved.

Cons – They are random, and rely on your ability to recognize dream signs and perform reality checks. The hardest part of this technique is getting your mind our of auto-pilot and becoming aware.

How to increase the chances of DILDs
Increase your awareness! This can be done with mindfulness meditation, increasing the amount of reality checks you do in a day (ex. Reality check every time you walk through a door, into a new room etc). Be aware of what it feels like to be alive. Use all your senses. Live in the moment and be aware of now.

Before you go to bed, clear out your thoughts. Keep an awake journal, if it helps. Or, practice letting go of your worries and focusing on a restful sleep. You can pick up your worries again in the morning.

Before you go to sleep, think about something you would like to dream about tonight. It may be a goal, or recognizing a dream sign or realizing you’re dreaming. Try to think about it until you fall asleep.

You may also wish to couple the technique with a WBTB.

MILD – Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream

Pros – the MILD technique (developed by Stephen LaBerge) has proved to be extremely effective in producing lucid dreams. People who have this technique down can have multiple LD’s a night with it.

Cons – it takes a lonnnnng time to become effective. You may start off with a few LD’s a month. Maybe 1 a week. It can take years to have multiple LD’s a night.

How to MILD
Use Mantras
They can be what you desire, but a typical mantra is, “The next time I dream, I will realize I’m dreaming.” As you are relaxing and falling asleep, focus on your goals (much like the DILD technique), and repeat your mantra. It should be the last thing you think of before you fall asleep.

You may wish to combine your mantra with a repetitive visualization. In the middle of the night, as you are falling back to sleep, recall a dream where you could have caught a dream sign, but now imagine yourself catching it and becoming lucid. Repeat this as you are falling back to sleep.

There are courses being offered on MILDs and DILDs, so I won’t go into too much extra details than this.

WILD – Wake Initiated Lucid Dream

Pros – a good WILD’er can have a lucid dream nightly (and multiple times a night). Often WILDs are the most stable and closer to that level 4 and level 5 state we were talking about.
You get to control them from the get-go.
Sometimes, a failed WILD results in a DILD :) Which is actually my current technique, lol :P

Cons – very, very difficult to learn and master.
Each WILD is different!
Sometimes, they just can’t be stabilized.
You risk losing awareness as you fall back to sleep.
SP, for some people, is a very scary thing (try to remember, this happens every night, only this time, you’re aware of it).

There are so many ways to accomplish WILDs that I’m really only going to focus on the basics of this technique.

They should be attempted during a WBTB. You may find the greatest success if you stay awake for an hour, but it is up to you (depending on if you would be able to fall back to sleep or not).

After the WBTB, lay somewhere you won’t be disturbed. You may wish to use an eye mask and earplugs, but it’s up to you.

Practice a relaxation technique. There are many types. I prefer a breathing technique that releases energy on exhales. I also scan my body for signs of muscle tension.

Occupy your mind with something. This could be the “1, I’m dreaming… 2, I’m dreaming” technique. Some people like to recite lyrics or poems. Some people like to think of a song. You shouldn’t focus too hard on it, because you ARE still trying to fall asleep… just… consciously.

Soon, you may experience the hypnogogic hallucinations I mentioned earlier. This is good! Whatever type you get, there is a way to use them for a transition. Again, each is different and for the sake of time and length, I won’t delve too deep into them.

Once you have transitioned, it’s a good idea to stabilize, just like any other dream :)

DEILD – Dream-exit induced lucid dream

Pros – very fast entry into a lucid dream. It is considered the shortened WILD.
Often used as a method to prolong lucid dreams!! :D It is reportedly much easier to chain back into a dream where you were already lucid.

Cons – there is a very, very small window of time to do a DEILD. If you’re not dreaming within a minute or so of waking up, it’s gone.
Sacrifice of dream recall if you accidentally lose awareness and fall back to sleep into a normal dream.

To DEILD, you should try to find an alarm that can turn itself off. Or, you can attempt this when you wake naturally. But once a dream ends, the easiest way to DEILD is to try to imagine yourself back in that dream. It may end up only being a daydream for 10 seconds or so, but usually it will re-solidify back around you.

If you did not recall a dream upon waking, then you may wish to imagine yourself back in an old dream or any scene, until it forms around you.

You can also just wait for a new scene to take you, but this one is slightly trickier, as you may lose your awareness upon re-entering.

A good way to combat this loss of awareness is to remind yourself it’s a dream as you are trying to re-enter one. Don’t focus too hard, or you might wake yourself up.

WBTB – Wake Back to Bed

This is more of a supplementary technique to the actual induction techniques. But combining this with one of the above dramatically increases your chances of having a lucid dream.

Again, if you are able to, it’s best to stay awake for an hour, but if that would make it too hard to fall back to sleep, then don’t stay awake that long. A WBTB can be as short as going to the washroom and back into bed.

During the time you are out of bed, you should be thinking about dreaming, your goals, doing reality checks, etc. You might find it helpful to solve some math problems to wake up your prefrontal cortex. Usually, if I’m going to do a MILD, I start repeating my mantra at this time, because I find it easier to focus on it when I get back in bed.


Things to be aware of…

False awakenings
False awakenings happen when you “wake up” from a dream. You will swear you’re awake. However, sometimes, dream plots end, and we dream about waking up in bed. A very active community member named Walms attributes his high LD count to training himself to catch false awakenings.

You can train yourself to catch a false awakening by doing a reality check (like a nose pinch) upon waking up.

INRALDs
A newer concept to the lucid dreaming community, "I'm Not Really Awake Lucid Dreams" are essentially false awakenings, only they don’t have dreams preceding them. You may most commonly experience an INRALD off of a “failed” WILD attempt. You will swear you’re awake and failed to transition into a lucid dream. However, you may actually be dreaming about failing your WILD attempt. So ALWAYS reality check when you decide to give up on a WILD.


Live Chat

The chat will take place on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 @ 1:00am GMT. This is equivalent to Tuesday, September 28, 2010 @ 6:00 PDT.


Assignment

Review your current sleep schedule. Taking what you know about DILDs and WILDs, which technique would best work for you for inducing lucid dreams?

Bonus: Knowing this, you may want to look into signing up for that specific course when it’s offered next :)

Well, folks, that does it for the intro topics to lucid dreaming. You now are familiar with what lucid dreaming is, verifying the different levels of consciousness that could be present in a lucid dream, journaling, dream signs and recall, the various stages of sleep, and a few of the basic (and successful) induction techniques.

Now it’s time to move on to stabilization and control!


Stabilization

So, you’ve recognized you’re dreaming… first off, fantastic!! :goodjob2: But, now you need to make sure the dream is secure and stable before you start trying to fly or summoning people. Stabilizing isn’t only good for securing the dreamstate, though. I like to use it as a refresher feeling for how dreams really feel.

A little blurb on awareness
One of the best things you can do for yourself and recognizing more lucid dreams is to be more aware during your waking day. This is the main WHY behind doing all those reality checks. Increasing awareness.

When you do a reality check, try to hold on to that feeling of awareness for as long as you can. Immerse yourself in the waking world. Start activating all of your senses. Is it cold out? Windy? Can you smell anything? What do you hear? What do you see? Does it make logical sense?

Stabilizing using your senses
You’ll want to do this same thing when you become lucid. Start turning on all of your senses and immerse yourself in the dream. Use your sense of touch, smell, sound… and finally sight. I always like to take a moment and marvel at the world the dream has created for me.

Stabilizing by interacting with the dream environment
If things are getting shaky, then focus on something smaller, like your hands, or an object. Try to interact with something in the dream environment, like touching a chair, or a wall.

Stabilizing with hand-rubbing
Rubbing your hands together is another good and popular way to keep a dream in progress.

Stabilizing with spinning
You can also try to stabilize your environment by spinning in a circle. This technique is hit or miss. It works for some, it doesn’t work for others.


What if the dream fades out anyways?

Don’t get frustrated!! Frustration is the number 1 killer of any chance of bringing the dream back. Three things can happen here.

You can use the DEILD technique to chain back in
As soon as you realize you’re staring at your eyelids, relax and imagine the scene you just left. See it in your mind’s eye around you, and remind yourself in the back of your head that this is the lucid dream you just left. You MAY need to nudge the dream a little by imagining how the scene may have progressed had you not woke up; but for the most part, the dream should come back just fine without that.

DEILDing didn’t work, so now do a reality check
A vast majority of my lucid dreams “end” with a false awakening. So, if DEILDing didn’t work, make sure you’re truly awake before you start writing things down. It sucks having to record your dreams twice.
Pro-tip: You should always RC upon awakening, anyways ;) You never know when it could be a false awakening.

RC proved you’re awake… now what?
Unfortunately, there may be a time where you didn’t realize it’s a dream until it’s too late. Sometimes, when you wake up, your body is just going to wake up. Remember this experience though, because you can use it towards your next MILD.


Some Control Techniques

Alright, so you’re lucid, and it’s stable. Now what? If you didn’t have a goal or a task in mind, it might be fun to see how you can manipulate the dreamstate, and see what kind of abilities you have up your sleeve. But if you can’t seem to fly yet, or blast fire from your fingers, there are ways of getting what you want…


Passive Control

These are the easier ways of controlling a dream. They are also the “safest,” as dreams don’t often like to be told what to do. Exerting too much control may cause them to break down. So, asking nicely may be the best way to try things, first.

Affirmation
Your dream will create things that you know are there. When you are in your house in a lucid dream, you know that the kitchen is next to the dining room, and therefore, it is so. This works for everything. You can create an object or a person by knowing that they are through the nearest door or just around the corner.

This may prove difficult at first because there is a difference of saying and believing. You have to know 100% that what you want is somewhere in your dream. If there is any doubt in your mind, then it won't show up.

Asking
Instead of forcing a dream character to do something, ask them to. Instead of trying to fly somewhere, walk there. Instead of summoning an object, look for it. This is much easier for the dream to do, because it mimics real life. The brain tried to keep things are real as possible (specifically when the logical centre of the brain is on during a lucid dream) so forcing your will on it can cause the dream to destabilize.

Schemas
Schemas are very important for control. When trying to affirm something in your dream, it is important to do it according to how your schemas view that element. If you aren’t able to blast energies with magic, think about a “universe” where that might happen. You could “become” a wizard with a wand, for instance.

I tend to use Sailor Moon as a schema universe (yeah, really! I know, it must be a huge shock…). I can transform, and now I suddenly have abilities that I didn’t have as regular old dream-me.

If you read journals by some powerful dreamers like WakingNomad, Walms or Raven Knight; they all have created a dream persona for themselves. You may consider doing the same. While you are dreaming, this is who you are and what you’re capable of.


Active Control

Active control is the type of control that most people think of when they hear dream control. This is where the use of magical powers comes in. Dreams are just very realistic manifestations of your own imagination; so technically, you are limited only by your imagination.

Attachment
This is similar to schemas, but it has more to do with the way that you know that the universe works. You know that objects can't float and that telekinesis isn't real. You know that people can't fly and that teleportation is impossible. In order to actively control your dreams, you have to let go of these attachments. You have to free your mind of everything that you ever learned of how the universe works. You must truly realize that everything that you see and do in your dream is just a figment of your imagination. Realizing this will free your mind and allow you to become the omnipotent master of your dream world.

Flying
This one took a long time for me to accomplish. There are a few things you can try…

Things to try on your own…
Push off the ground and levitate. Get a feel for the weightlessness. Now try to move.
Run and jump.
Swim in mid-air.

You might need some help…
Spawn wings out of your back (you may need to become a character than can do this).
Ask the dreamspace for a backpack that has rocket boosters.
Look in a dream medicine cabinet for the bottle of pills marked “Flight vitamins.” Pop one :)

Teleportation
This one is tricky. You can either try to teleport yourself, or use a portal.

Teleporting yourself…
Spin in place – imagine where your new scene will be before you start spinning!
ADVANCED: Close your eyes and snap your fingers.

Getting help…
Ask a DC or your DG to teleport you.
Find a door – try opening and closing it a few times.
Walk into a new room, “knowing” that you’ll find a portal in there.
Walk through a mirror.
ADVANCED: Create a portal with your hands.

Telekinesis
This one is fairly simple. I just imagine that my hands are like magnets, attracting the objects I want to manipulate. I’m not entirely sure how others do it, to be honest!

Summoning
Tricky one, again. A few things to try…

Summoning objects…
If it’s small enough, reach into your pockets and see if it’s in there.
Go look for it in another room.

Summoning people…
If you are in a house, tell yourself that you were expecting a visit, and “hear” the front door knock. It may actually knock :)
Go look for the person in another room. Expect to find them.
Ask them a question. See if they will come answer it for you.
Ask a DC if they have seen the person.
Ask the dreamspace for help in finding the person, or ask it to help you conjure a DC.


Having goals and tasks

Whether you are new or experienced at lucid dreaming, you may sometimes find yourself at a loss for what you can do, now that you’re lucid. This where having goals or tasks to achieve may come in handy!

They also can be quite hard to remember. One of the ways I remember my goals, is I journal them, and read them often. I also incubate one main goal that I think about every day until it’s complete.

Tasks and goals are only limited by your imagination! However, if you’re looking for a good starting point, there is a monthly challenge thought up by dreamers each month, and you have the entire month to get them done. The Lucid Task of the Month forum is right here:


Live Chat

The live chat will take place on Saturday, October 2 @ 1:00am GMT. This is equivalent to Friday, October 1 @ 6:00pm PDT. This is the last class!


Assignment

Assignment: Think of 2-3 goals that you would like to accomplish. They could be anything! If you need some inspiration, check out some tasks from the Task of the Month forum. How would you attempt each goal?


Extension

By now, you all should have a good collection of dreams in your journals to work with. There will be a week extension granted to finish off all your assignments and receive your final grade. Remember that all 4 assignments must be completed to pass the course. Bonus marks are given to those who showed up to class, so if you attended all 4 classes, you may skip one assignment.

You no longer have to keep a dream journal in your workbook for the duration of the extension, so long as you have enough dreams to work with to complete your assignments properly.

The extension deadline is: Friday, October 8, 2010.


Comment box

Please remember that if you would like to share your experience with me, or this course, to leave a comment in the comment box! http://www.dreamviews.com/f81/comment-box-96881/ it's very helpful for me, to know where I can improve, if need be. Also, it lets me superiors know if I did a good job or not. Please be honest; if there was something you didn't like, I won't be hurt :hug: