A Beginner's Guide to lucid dreaming. -Tradl3s
--Introduction--
[COLOR="#808080"]Over the years of being into lucid dreaming (Or general Oneironautics), I have learned alot. I wanted to make this thread so it could become a good place for Beginners to go to. Lucid Dreaming is a dream in which you are Consciously aware that you are dreaming. With this awareness, you are able to take control, and do whatever you please, with some practice. How real does it feel, you ask? After stabilization (Will be discussed), it feels just like waking life. But since it's a dream, you can do anything without penalty. You can Be, Do, Have, anything you desire.
Let's go ahead and discuss the techniques.{Note: These are Basic Tutorials. Not full tutorials. Each section should have a link to a full tutorial.}
-Techniques-
These techniques are essential to having lucid dreams. Although there are a few people who have them naturally, you can't just go to sleep and hope for a lucid dream.
WILD
WILD Stands for Wake Induced Lucid Dream. It requires you to wake up after about 4-6 hours of sleep. Have an alarm set to wake you up at around that time limit, and then stay up for 45 Minutes - An hour. It is also said that during this time, going to the bathroom can help. When you go back to sleep, relax, and try to visualize your own dream landscape. Visualize what it will look like in detail. Textures, Lighting, and when you feel ready, try to merge your 5 senses into it. Keep this visualization going for a while, and when you feel ready (Sleepy enough), try to (Metaphorically) Jump into the dream. Like all techniques, this requires practice. You may not get it on your first try.
DILD
DILD Stands for Dream Induced Lucid Dream. This does not require mid-time waking up, so this might work well for you, but can also be annoying to some people. We're all different. There is no major focus in this technique, it simply requires doing things in waking life that can induce Lucid Dreams. One of the most popular here at Dream Views is Reality Checks. It's generally the most common way of using DILD. During your day, (At least 5 times a day is average.) take a moment to ask yourself; "Am i dreaming?" Think thoroughly about it.
Now for the actual reality check. :P There are many different reality checks out there, like Checking if a light switch works, Opening & Closing a door to see if what's behind it changes. Looking at a clock, or a sign. These are very effective, but like i said, can be annoying. Some are capable of remembering to do this, But many need reminders. Whether you set numerous alarms on your phone, find a reality checking app (There are a few out there), or write it on your hand. Most will need a reminder. With time, doing these reality checks will make you realize that you are dreaming.
Vividness
I suppose i should have started off with this, but hey. At least your getting it. :P
Vividness, is (obviously) how clear your dreams are. To some people, their dreams may look fuzzy, or not very detailed, or for me personally, everything in my peripheral vision is darkened out. That may sound cool, (It is sometimes. :D) but these things can actually make your dream harder to remember in the morning than they actually are. (I'll discuss recall after this.) There are ways of enhancing vividness. Some ways can be things like what you eat/drink before bed, or the most popular, Dream Journaling.
Dream journaling is what it sounds like. Writing down your dream (Lucid or not) when you wake up in the morning. You can't honestly say that you remember every dream you've had. Believe it or not, we dream nearly every night. (When we aren't dreaming, we are in a VERY deep sleep.) When we wake in the morning, our brain usually just removes the thought when you wake up. If you just stay relaxed in the morning, and begin to think about the dream you just woke up from, you will most likely start to remember it more.
When you've remembered your dream, write it down as soon as possible. It helps to have your paper&pen next to you for when you wake up. With time, if you keep this up, your dreams will actually become more vivid. That makes them easier to remember. Common newbie mistake is thinking that Vividness = dream recall. This is true in some points, but it's more accurate to say it's the other way around. This isn't a Lucid Dream induction technique, it just helps A LOT.
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There are many more techniques, and most are on the site, but i don't really feel the need to fit them all into this one post.
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--Insomnia--
Insomnia. A horrible thing, really. It is the inability to sleep at night. I have some good news though! Insomnia is actually quite easy to stay away from! Usually when you think of insomnia, you're usually thinking of those times were you were too overheated in bed, Tossing and turning a whole lot, and never got any sleep. Hell on earth, some might say. So what would be some ways to stop insomnia? I'll put them in point form.
-Melatonin. Melatonin is a chemical that is naturally produced by your body. It's what makes us sleepy at night. If you have insomnia, there are Melatonin supplements that you can buy. they come in 3mg or 5mg. This is optional, don't worry, nothing else will cost extra money, i promise.
-Resistance. This is what i use every night, and it helps me a lot. Lie down on your back, in a basic position. (Arms at your side, legs straight.) Don't use any sort of force, just relax. You don't have to look like you're a soldier. Now, every urge you get to move, resist it. Do not move under any circumstances. Eventually these urges to move will go away, leaving you relaxed. This makes it much easier to sleep. If you are in this position and do not fall asleep after about 20 minutes, then SLOWLY go onto your side. If you have an itch, you can scratch it, but try to resist some itches. The goal is to relax your muscles rather than keep them awake.
-Exercise during the day. This is quite simple, really. Get a fair amount of exercise during the day, more than you usually do, and you'll be sleepy at night. Simple as that.
-Warm milk. I don't fully understand how this works, but i know that warm milk can make you sleepy, given that you have had enough. You don't need to drink a lot, one tall glass should do.
--Side Notes--
Now, i'm going to tell you a few more things that help in general. I'll put them in point form again
-Eat a banana before sleep for vividness.
-Drink apple juice before sleep for vividness.
-Try not to masturbate too often. (Once every two days.)
-Avoid stress as much as possible.
-Try meditation or Self Hypnosis affirmations
-Try Mantras
Conclusion
There is much more than this, Go and look around the site and talk to people. Join the chat if you want. I wish grand luck to all of you. I hope you all become great lucid dreamers and try to spread word of lucid dreams to your friends.
Sincerely, Tradl3s.
:flyaway:
