psychology
The ULTIMATE List of Things To Do While Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming has so many real-world applications provide great benefits, such as reducing anxiety, boosting creativity, spiritual healing, sensory manifestation, or simply working on the solution to a particular problem in life. Lucid dreaming has also been used to help treat recurring nightmares, PTSD, and depression.
Stabilize your dream world & observe before getting excited and jumping to try things. Engage your senses and take in everything to adjust to your dream body, look at the colors, taste your surroundings. Spinning stabilizes and changes the scene of a LD.
A group of oneironauts from around the world, co-created this list of amazing possibilities of goals to work on in your dreams! From fun stuff, to mental health healing, spiritual work, to real world resolutions!
Contributors: Amina M, Vilma , Martin Stewart, William K

SUPER POWERS
Grow wings on your back, or jump & fly
Use telekinesis
Use rocket boots to fly at insane speed
Change form in front of the mirror
Learn to control lightning & make it rain
Teleport places
Shapeshift & change your appearance
Throw fireballs, do magic & spells
Shrink or grow bigger
Walk through walls
Grow multiple limbs
Breathe fire and ride dragons
Airbend/waterbend with the avatar
Stretch your body like rubber
Learn martial arts like in the matrix
Fight as a super Saiyan
MIND , BODY & SOUL
Ask the dream to show your future children
Inner child work, meet yourself as a child
Clone yourself and play yourself in chess
Shadow work
Ask for my dream to show me my biggest fear
Ask my subconscious to manifest a physical representation of itself. Or try the command “HIGHER SELF NOW!!” with confidence.
Practice skills & master sports
Have those hard conversations and resolve problems from your waking life
Resolve traumatic memories
Practice exams and tests
Work with archetypes
Anima animus work
Meet yourself from someone else’s point of view
Ego dissolution
Bend objects and move them with your mind
Visit your sleeping body
Conjure a school, walk in and see what it teaches you
Stick your finger in fire and describe how it feels
Eat ice cream very quickly
For low self esteem: conjure the most beautiful confident person you can imagine. mimic them and learn from them. Understand that the same confidence exists within you.
Become an inanimate object, such as a rock
Learn to drive a car.
Heal physical wounds, send energy to your body
ASK SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
Solve real life problems by asking the dream: “why am I having trouble with x?” “What is the source of my issues with xyz?” “Show me a clear path of what I need to do to achieve this goal?”
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Summon ancestors & spirit guides
Meditate
Ask to speak to angels
Past life work
Do yoga and tantra
See the Gods/God
Esp Premonitions /Precognition
Create a dream body from the elements
Pray
Absorb and observe, without intervention
Become one with source energy
Chant mantras
Manifest Bhodisattvas
Go to temples
Feel gratitude for your lucidity & the universe
Visit the heavens and underworlds
DREAM CHARACTERS
Tell a DC they are in your dream, try to increase their awareness or hypnotize them
Ask a DC for life advice
View the dream from the perspective of different DC
Ask for a dream guide
Ask Dc to show you a day in their life
Talk to animals or people telepathically
Become a character in your favorite movie
Show empathy and compassion towards DCs.
Meet aliens make first contact
Help a dream character manipulate the dream
Confess your love to a dream character and observe their reaction.
Go on a date with your favourite book/TV show/movie character
Teach another DC how to fly
Have a massive water fight with the whole neighbourhood
Take out your phone or camera and take a photo of a dc or yourself and see how it looks like
Go up to a mirror and change the appearance of your reflection, then pull that reflection out of the mirror thus spawning a dc
Change a DC’s appearance, age, ethnicity and sex.
Meet your identical twin.
Resolve Issues with people in your waking life, or find a loved one who has passed
CREATION & MANIFESTATION
Summon a Jet & travel the world
Summon a magic wand and do magic with it.
Summon an animal and make it big and ride it.
Meet celebrities
Become an animal
Transform to opposite sex
Ask for money or lottery numbers
Create your dream home & life
Ask the dream to play you a platinum song that doesn’t exist yet, or create a master art piece, then try to recreate it in waking life.
Go on an unlimited shopping spree
Make it rain money
Speak other languages
Invent a new color
Drive the fastest racecar on a huge space track
Give birth
Create a persistent world that you can come back to in every dream
Create a portal by drawing a shape on the wall or summon a portal gun
Send a mass group chat text to fellow lucid dreamers
Create a mirror when you are in a place without one and you need it
DREAMSCAPE
Ask the dreamscape to remove everything that comes from your thoughts
Ask the dreamscape to take you somewhere new
Try to have 2 dreams at the same time
Go through a mirror into other places, look at reflection in mirror
Time travel to another time, freeze time
See earth from space
Dream in B&W
Go to a movie theatre or a great gatsby party in 1920’s
Create a world with its own laws of physics and a different society and creatures
Enter someone else’s dream, or a pets dream
Do architecture/building
Walk onto an alien spaceship
Explore the ocean & breathe underwater
Become the walls of your house, or a tree and see what they have seen
Watch your birth or death
Explore the Stars and other planets, skydive from space
Explore the center of the Earth.
Make a giant plant to grow to the clouds like in Jack and the Beanstalk & see what u find
Visit a fictional world like Harry Potter’s world
Get a seed, plant it and after watering see what grows out of it, then eat it and describe what happened.
Make a MineCraft World & play in it
FEEL GOOD
Fly through the aurora and see how it feels.
Engage all your senses, and describe everything you smell, taste, see, touch & hear
Taste delicious food
Smoke weed with legends
Meditate/pray
Swim with mythical creatures
Ask dream to show you true pure peace
Go to a luxury spa
Ride a sailboat through the universe
Nap on a cloud
Swap senses (taste vision, hear flavors, feel different scents etc)
Take any psychedelic
QUESTIONS TO ASK/COMMANDS
Show me what I need to work on in life
Show me my dream guides/spirit guides
How can I grow my business/make more money
What is the most beautiful art/music I can create
HIGHER SELF NOW
All unconscious dream characters disappear!
Scream into the dream: Clear dream now please (to clarify vividness of dream)
Show me the UNKNOWN
Show me the future
Take me to a place made of pure divine love
Treat your dreams with patience and an open mind. Your dream characters are a representation of yourself and your subconscious, treat them with love. Your dreams affect your waking life and your psyche. You can feel pain in dreams also, so it is not recommended to hurt yourself or others, or do things of negative intentions. Dreams are powerful gifts that can be used to channel positive energy, do healing work, have fun and better your waking life.
Always remember to experiment things for yourself. One persons dream may react completely different, and you may have another experience. Dream sharing is powerful but we cannot let other experiences scare us or put expectations. Always do your own conscious experimentation 🙂
This list is a collaboration! Please, help us add to it and co-create the ULTIMATE list of things to do while lucid dreaming.
You will be credited as a collaborator. Submit below

Lucid Dreaming Magazine
Robert Waggoner’s Lucid Dreaming Magazine! (Sept 2022) Previous Next Amina’s Lucid Dream Feature Read More Issues

The ULTIMATE List of Things To Do While Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming has so many real-world applications provide great benefits, such as reducing anxiety, boosting creativity, spiritual healing, sensory manifestation, or simply working on the

Books, Movies & Suggestions
The #1 place to learn is by looking within. Remember, anyone can write a book, so it is important to have an empathetic framework of

Citations & Research
Neurology & Dreams Our brains keep working on problems while we sleep, shows research on dreaming rats by Matthew A. Wilson, PhD (neuroscience, MIT). Recording directly into

Vilma’s WILD Method
Usually I have some sleep prior my WILD to not be tired after all day. Then I use the bathroom if I need to. Go

Staying lucid for longer & controlling the dream better!
This is for people who are already lucid dreamers, and want to practice having more control, and longer lucid dreams
Books, Movies & Suggestions

The #1 place to learn is by looking within. Remember, anyone can write a book, so it is important to have an empathetic framework of discernment for the content we consume. Your own experience and deeper research will tell you a lot. In addition here’s a list of resources in order to draw inspiration for your own spiritual practice. If you have more, help us add to it!
For trauma healing Read these books (this is a good order to read them in)
1. Codependent No More
2. Adult Children of Emotionally Unavailable Parents
3. The Body Keeps Score
4. Conscious Loving: The Journey to Co-commitment
5. All about Love
Anti-Racism Resources
More Books
- Dreaming wide Awake By David J Brown
- Liminal dreaming – Jennifer Dumpert
- Astral Dynamics: The Complete Book of Out-of-Body Experiences
- Robert Monroe: Journeys Out of the Body: The Classic Work on Out-of-Body Experience
- Lucid Dreaming Gateway to inner self- Robert Waggoner
- Higher self NOW- William & Susan Buhlman
- le_abridged.pdf (lifeblissprograms.org) Living Enlightenment
- Exploring the world of lucid dreaming by Stephen Laberge (free link in folder)
- Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming (Tuccillo, Zeizel & Peisel)
- The Tibetan yogas of dream and sleep
- Art of dreaming- Jill mellick
- Robert Waggoners Lucid Dreaming Magazine The Lucid Dreaming Experience (luciddreamingmagazine.com)
- Cosmic messengers- Elizabeth Peru
- Dream hackers guide to higher consciousness- drew candle
- Mutual Dreaming -Line Lane Magallon
- The Art of Lucid Dreaming, Clare Johnson
- Becoming supernatural -Joe Dispenza
- Power of the subconscious mind Dr Joseph Murphy.
- The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
- “Demystifying the OBE” by Luis Minero
- Secrets of The Soul & Adventures Beyond the Body By William Buhlman
- ” Hacking The Out of Body Experience: Leveraging Science To Induce OBEs” by Robert Peterson
- Reality Transurfing 1: The Space of Variations
- Tibetan book of living and dying
- The Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa
- Andrew Holecek Dream Yoga
- Why Buddhism is true by Robert Wright
- Give and take
- The Bhagavad Gita
- 101 essays that will change the way you think
- The Power of supplements, advanced lucid dreaming by thomas Yuschak
- Tao te Ching- Lao Tzu
- The 4 Agreements
- The 7 spiritual laws of success
- Who moved my cheese?
- Ask & it is given
- The richest man in Babylon
- Rich Dad Poor Dad
- A wrinkle in time
- The Only Way to Learn Astrology” vol. 1, 2 and 3 March, McEvers
Books About the Science of Dreams
The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Their Dreams for Creative Problem Solving-And How You Can Too is a compact book full of examples of people who came up with a new idea in a dream. From scientists to filmmakers to writers, these stories inspire to sleep on a problem. Deirdre Barrett, PhD (psychology, Harvard Medical School) tells us how.
When Brains Dream, Understanding the Science and Mystery of Our Dreaming Minds is a science based exploration of how our dreaming minds find new solutions while we sleep.
Psychiatrist Robert Stickgold, PhD (Harvard Medical School) and psychologist Antonio Zadra, PhD (Université de Montreal) give a thorough background of the sleeping brain, plus a new model for dreams from a problem solving perspective.
Working with Dreams and PTSD Nightmares, 14 Approaches for Psychotherapists and Counselors gives an overview of the different ways to work with dreams in therapy. Great for counselors, but also for people who want to learn about the many options.
Sexual Dreams: Why We Have Them, What They Mean by Gayle Delaney, PhD, was published in 1994 but it still a great source of information.
Dream Work in Therapy: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action is a written for therapists and explores the cognitive-experiential model developed by Clara Hill, PhD (psychology, University of Maryland).
Movies & Shows
- Waking Life (amazon video + YouTube) https://youtu.be/W_4Cbyn4iPo
- Dream Corp LLC (hulu)
- The OA (Netflix)
- The Matrix
- Inception
- Surviving death (Netflix)
- Behind her eyes (netflix)
- The day I died (documentary on ndes)
- Vanilla sky
- Minority report
- Third eye spy (Amazon prime)
- https://www.zee5.com/global/tvshows/details/buddha/0-6-109. (Buddha series)
- Through the Wormhole (Morgan Freeman)
- Astral city (YouTube)
- Synchronic (Netflix )
David lynch movies in this order: Lost highway , Mulhollan drive & Inland empire
YOUTUBE
- Charlie morley tv documentary (https://youtu.be/fZty0e_jR2g)
- This is an extensive playlist of Neville excerpts that I started to sort by their importance to me: (By William K.) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlaVPY3lAynXF-VV2RZtksmQz_70IQBwp
- LD binaural beats with affirmations https://youtu.be/lEc_pywzgkk (3 hr) https://youtu.be/hzlL8_SRU7g (8 hr)
Citations & Research
Neurology & Dreams

Our brains keep working on problems while we sleep, shows research on dreaming rats by Matthew A. Wilson, PhD (neuroscience, MIT). Recording directly into the rat’s hippocampus and visual cortex, he found that their dreaming brains process information and start making new connections.
Dreaming and waking brains work pretty similar. If for example you see a face in a dream, it fires up the facial recognition parts of your brain.
A team of Swiss, Italian and US researchers could predict if a test subject was dreaming of people, just by looking at their EEG scan.
For a summary of this clever research study see this article in Cordis EU Research Results.
Research Papers

Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep
Dreams take us to a different reality, a hallucinatory world that feels as real as any waking experience. These often-bizarre episodes are emblematic of human sleep but have yet to be adequately explained. Retrospective dream reports are subject to distortion and forgetting, presenting a fundamental challenge for neuroscientific studies of dreaming. Here we show that individuals who are asleep and in the midst of a lucid dream (aware of the fact that they are currently dreaming) can perceive questions from an experimenter and provide answers using electrophysiological signals. We implemented our procedures for two-way communication during polysomnographically verified rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep in 36 individuals. Some had minimal prior experience with lucid dreaming, others were frequent lucid dreamers, and one was a patient with narcolepsy who had frequent lucid dreams. During REM sleep, these individuals exhibited various capabilities, including performing veridical perceptual analysis of novel information, maintaining information in working memory, computing simple answers, and expressing volitional replies. Their responses included distinctive eye movements and selective facial muscle contractions, constituting correctly answered questions on 29 occasions across 6 of the individuals tested. These repeated observations of interactive dreaming, documented by four independent laboratory groups, demonstrate that phenomenological and cognitive characteristics of dreaming can be interrogated in real time. This relatively unexplored communication channel can enable a variety of practical applications and a new strategy for the empirical exploration of dreams.
Practicing a Motor Task in a Lucid Dream Enhances Subsequent Performance
Nocturnal dreams can be considered as a kind of simulation of the real world on a higher cognitive level. Within lucid dreams, the dreamer is able to control the ongoing dream content and is free to do what he or she wants. In this pilot study, the possibility of practicing a simple motor task in a lucid dream was studied. Forty participants were assigned to a lucid dream practice group, a physical practice group and a control group. The motor task was to toss 10-cent coins into a cup and hit as many as possible out of 20 tosses. Waking performance was measured in the evening and on the next morning by the participants at home. The 20 volunteers in the lucid dream practice group attempted to carry out the motor task in a lucid dream on a single night. Seven participants succeeded in having a lucid dream and practiced the experimental task. This group of seven showed a significant improvement in performance (from 3.7 to 5.3); the other 13 subjects showed no improvement (from 3.4 to 2.9). Comparing all four groups, the physical practice group demonstrated the highest enhancement in performance followed by the successful lucid dream practice group. Both groups had statistically significant higher improvements in contrast to the nondreaming group and the control group. Even though the experimental design is not able to explain if specific effects (motor learning) or unspecific effects (motivation) caused the improvement, the results of this study showed that rehearsing in a lucid dream enhances subsequent performance in wakefulness. To clarify the factors which increased performance after lucid dream practice and to control for confounding factors, it is suggested that sleep laboratory studies should be conducted in the future. The possibilities of lucid dream practice for professional sports will be discussed.
Thesis 1: Sensory-motor skills which have already been mastered in their rough outlines can be refined by using lucid dreaming.
Thesis 2: New sensory-motor skills can be learned using lucid dreaming.
Thesis 3: Sensory-motor actions can be perfected by test runs carried out in a lucid dream state.
Thesis 4: The flexibility of an athlete’s reactions can be substantially improved by varying body movements in lucid dreams.
Thesis 5: Lucid dreaming can also be used for practicing mental movements which make sensory-motor learning easier.
Thesis 6: Lucid dreaming can be used for improving the organization of the phenomenal field with respect to the execution of sports movements.
Thesis 7: By changing the personality structure, lucid dreaming can lead to improved performance and a higher level of creativity in sports.
Consciousness and abilities of dream characters observed during lucid dreaming Lucid dreamers were directed to set different tasks to dream characters they met while lucid dreaming. Dream characters were asked to draw or write, to name unknown words, to find rhyme words, to make verses, and to solve arithmetic problems. Part of the dream characters actually agreed to perform the tasks and were successful, although the arithmetic accomplishments were poor. This tests the assumption that dream characters have their own consciousness. Regardless, dream characters should be handled as if they were rational beings.
Dreaming and waking brains work pretty similarly. If for example, you see a face in a dream, it fires up the facial recognition parts of your brain.
A team of Swiss, Italian and US researchers could predict if a test subject was dreaming of people, just by looking at their EEG scan.
For a summary of this clever research study see this article in Cordis EU Research Results.
Dreaming, mind wandering, spotanious inspration: these are all moments of activity in what’s called our brain’s default mode network. We connect old information with new, and are open to unexpected ideas. Research study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
Our eye movements reveal our emotions during sleep, shows research from the French Sorbonne University.
The Committee of Sleep: A Study of Dream Incubation for Problem Solving (Dreaming, 1993). In this study, college students were asked to sleep a week on a personal problem. Even after the first try, half of them managed to dream about the issue, and a third found a solution.
Sleep inspires insight and our mind solves problems while we sleep, even if it’s a math problem. (University of Münster, Germany).
Good morning creativity: task reactivation during sleep enhances beneficial effect of sleep on creative performance. Scent can help you wake up with creative ideas. (Radboud University, The Netherlands).
More Sources
Aspy, Denholm J. “Findings from the International Lucid Dream Induction Study.” Frontiers, School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, 1 July 2020, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01746/full.
Brylowski, A. (1990). Nightmares in crisis: Clinical applications of lucid dreaming techniques. Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa, 15(2), 79–84.
Chasseguet-Smirgel, J. (1995) ‘“Creative Writers and Day-dreaming”: A Commentary’, in Person, E.S. Fonagy, P. &Figueira, S.A. (eds) On Freud’s “Creative Writers and Day-dreaming”, New Haven and London, Yale University Press. 107-121.
Dumpert, Jennifer. Liminal Dreaming. North Atlantic Books, 2019.
Erlacher, D., & Schredl, M. (2010). “Practicing a motor task in a lucid dream enhances subsequent performance: A pilot study.” The Sport Psychologist, 24(2), 157–167 doi:10.1123/tsp.24.2.157
Erlacher, Daniel, et al. “Time for Actions in Lucid Dreams: Effects of Task Modality, Length, and Complexity.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 4, 2014,
Johnson, Clare R. Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Lucid Dreaming: a Comprehensive Guide to Promote Creativity, Overcome Sleep Disturbances & Enhance Health and Wellness. Woodbury: Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., 2017.
Jung, C. G. The Undiscovered Self. Routledge, 2014.
Jung, C. G., et al. “Approaching the Unconscious.” Man and His Symbols, Stellar Classics, Bowdon, Cheshire, England, 2013.
Konkoly, K., & Burke, C. T. (2019). Can learning to lucid dream promote personal growth? Dreaming, 29(2), 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000101
LaBerge, S & H. Rheingold, (1990). Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-37410-X
Linklater, Richard, ed. “Waking Life.” IMDb. IMDb.com, March 7, 2002. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243017/.
Nir, Y. and Tononi, G., 2010. Dreaming and the brain: from phenomenology to neurophysiology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14(2), pp.88-100.
Sackwild, L., and T. Stumbrys. “The Healing and Transformative Potential of Lucid Dreaming for Treating Clinical Depression”. 2021. International Journal of Dream Research, vol. 14, no. 2, Nov. 2021, pp. 296-08, doi:10.11588/ijodr.2021.2.81533.
Schädlich, M., “Motor learning in lucid dreams – quantitative and qualitative investigations.” Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Heidelberg, Germany, 2017.
Shrader, Astin. “Träuma: A Visual Study in Dream Therapy.” Savannah College of Art & Design, 2019.
Soffer-Dudek, N. (2020). Are Lucid Dreams Good for Us? Are We Asking the Right Question? A Call for Caution in Lucid Dream Research. Frontiers in Neuroscience.
Staunton, H., 2001. The Function of Dreaming. Reviews in the Neurosciences, 12(4).
Stumbrys, T., Erlacher, D. and Schredl, M., 2015. Effectiveness of motor practice in lucid dreams: a comparison with physical and mental practice. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(1), pp.27-34.
Stumbrys, Tadas, Daniel Erlacher, Melanie Schädlich, and Michael Schredl. “Induction of Lucid Dreams: A Systematic Review of Evidence.” Consciousness and Cognition
Vilma’s WILD Method

Usually I have some sleep prior my WILD to not be tired after all day. Then I use the bathroom if I need to. Go back to bed and I lay on my back in bed (This is my most uncomfortable position, so it is least likely for me to pass out). Then I wait long enough to get a sensation, indicating, that I’m getting close to transition into lucid dream. It can be absolutely anything, if you was able to WILD before, you probably know what I’m talking about, the feeling can be any kind, it can vary every time or stay the same, since it’s hard to put it into words, I can only tell that it can feel like a light, pleasant feeling in your chest or a comfortable relaxation all around your body, like a pleasant “glow” sensation or even a numbness on your limbs.
Then I roll to my right side, more on my stomach area (this is my most comfortable position, I might sometimes do it on my left side but usually on my right). Your sensation can disappear but fret not, it will come back shortly. By moving after having that feeling, you are telling your body that you are still awake and it should not put your body to sleep, in a sense, you are temporarily, halting your transition but, as I mentioned, it soon comes back. Now I tell myself, to set an intention internally and it essentially boosts your chances, like an auto suggestion recommended in MILD, “Now I am initiating WILD”.
Then I proceed to plan what I want to do in my lucid dream, this acts as a booster too and pushes your motivation and hype even more, which helps tremendously to have a successful WILD (visualise your ld tasks successfully being done, if its too difficult tell it in your mind, you can repeat your tasks in your mind to remember them when you actually gonna enter your lucid dream). After all that keep still, if you need to swallow your saliva do it, if something itches, don’t hesitate to scratch it, ignoring it will be very disrupting, unless you are really good at ignoring.
I pay attention to my body and keep all the tensions away, specially pay attention to your entire face muscles, including your mouth and jaw area, those areas tend to hold even light tension, without us noticing when we don’t pay attention, which makes transition longer. I suggest listening to progressive muscle relaxation on youtube, such as this:
Then do your best to not pass out and you should go in the dream fully lucid from awake.
Just like any other lucid dreaming method, WILD takes daily practice to start having lucid dreams, so do not search for any “magical” trick to have your first lucid dream fast, it simply does not exist.
Lucid dreaming is a skill, just like any other life skill, it takes practice, some people may take longer to be able to pull off their first then others, that’s just how it is.
Thank you for reading!
-Vilma

Lucid Dreaming Magazine
Robert Waggoner’s Lucid Dreaming Magazine! (Sept 2022) Previous Next Amina’s Lucid Dream Feature Read More Issues

The ULTIMATE List of Things To Do While Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming has so many real-world applications provide great benefits, such as reducing anxiety, boosting creativity, spiritual healing, sensory manifestation, or simply working on the

Books, Movies & Suggestions
The #1 place to learn is by looking within. Remember, anyone can write a book, so it is important to have an empathetic framework of

Citations & Research
Neurology & Dreams Our brains keep working on problems while we sleep, shows research on dreaming rats by Matthew A. Wilson, PhD (neuroscience, MIT). Recording directly into

Vilma’s WILD Method
Usually I have some sleep prior my WILD to not be tired after all day. Then I use the bathroom if I need to. Go

Staying lucid for longer & controlling the dream better!
This is for people who are already lucid dreamers, and want to practice having more control, and longer lucid dreams
Staying lucid for longer & controlling the dream better!
Dream Stabilization
You finally had a lucid dream! You got so excited that the dream started to weaken and fade, waking you up.
To stabilize the dream bring your awareness to your senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing & vision. Focus your attention on something specific. Rub your hands together, study them in detail, lick the concrete, or feel any textures around you with full mindful awareness. Research has found that mindful movement inside lucid dreams stimulates the conscious brain. It draws a higher awareness to your dream body, grounding your consciousness inside the dream. Focusing on textures around you is a great way to do this, while also staying calm and making the dream more vivid. Spinning around is also known to stabilize the dream.
to STAY lucid for longer you can constantly remind yourself that you’re lucid as the dream progresses. Once you have a long lucid dream, it may become harder to remember every detail. A good way to stay lucid, while also improving dream recall is to mentally replay the dream narrative as you progress through the dream. Once your lucid dream has many scenes and feels more than just a few minutes long, use keywords to remember important people, places, objects, and emotions when you wake up. Mentally repeat the keywords to yourself while lucid, so you can remember as much as possible when it comes time to record your dream.
If your dream starts to weaken, don’t lose hope too quickly, because many times you can pull yourself back into the dream once it starts to fade. The first sign of a fading dream is blurriness, loss of vision, faded colors, and darkness. Try focusing on your hands, and if you still see anything, whether it’s a faded finger or even total blackness, you are still dreaming, so remind yourself of that. Use all your mental energy to pull yourself back into a dream with full confidence. Instead of assuming you will wake up, assume that the dream is just changing into a new scene.
Incubation & planning
Just like a pilot has a flight plan, it is important to define your goals for becoming lucid. It is so frustrating to finally become lucid and you get too excited that you either wake yourself up, or have no idea what you want to do, or what you can do. Why do you want to become lucid? Do you want to manifest something amazing into your life and have more realistic visualizations and experiences with it? Do you want to talk to spirit guides or loved ones who have passed? Maybe you just want to have fun and skip the mental work. Whatever it is, have a game plan and know how to stabilize the dream.
A night routine & a morning routing are ideal for setting an intention before bed. Your subconscious mind listens to you, especially right before bed. Have you ever realized you retain information better when you can sleep on it, such as studying before bed for a test? If you are just starting out, you can set the intention to remember your dreams, or have a lucid dream. Your emotional state and how calm you are whilst falling asleep plays a huge role in the content of your dreams, and also in your awareness levels of lucidity. Practice meditations before bed, and anything to get your mind clear and fully aware of your surroundings. Try a visualization evening meditation Practice feeling lucid to set the stage for a lucid dream. Imagine yourself in your lucid dream, how do you feel, what do you want to do? Imagine yourself and prepare to stay calm and not get too excited. That way you will be mentally prepared to stabilize your dream space. How to get lucid & stay lucid: stabilizing the dream
Trying out techniques, there are so many options to explore for your trial and error. Find out which ones work, which ones don’t. This is why dreamwork is a life long personal practice.
Dream Control
Why cant I get Lucid? I keep trying with no results. Why cant I summon or carry out my commands while lucid?
Your dreams are your internal therapist. They will bring up anything you need to address in life or business you need to complete. When it comes to lucid dreaming tasks and missions, Emotional regulation matters, and Your mindset matters, when trying to summon or create something in a dream, any doubt or belief that you will fail can manifest. Try not to get frustrated and have fun with it. Eliminate the word “problem”. Words have power and if you believe you cannot have a lucid dream that will affect the experience you have. IF you tell yourself “I can’t get lucid, I suck at this, I can never fly in a dream” That is what you will see. If you have not gotten lucid in a while, remember that even droughts have something to teach us & it is all a part of your journey. Even the most experience lucid dreamers have periods of inactivity. Spend some time working on your non lucid dreams and remember that those matter too! Lucid Dreams and non lucid dreams work in perfect harmony with eachother like ying & yang. Do not give up on your dream work and you will soon get lucid again! Do not overthink, compare yourself to others or stress yourself out. Let go of fear, and have fun with your dreamwork practice, embracing anything it has to show you. Remember, it is easy and simple and it is your dream world! Lucid dreaming is encoded in all of us naturally, and that should be what you tell yourself. Your subconscious is always listening.
When it comes to trying to become lucid, be patient & be careful not to beat yourself up for missing obvious signs, or not acting this way or that way in the dream—that’s key. It’s not about blame, but about noticing our patterns, and knowing there will be another opportunity to make a different choice the next time we lay down to sleep. Dreamwork is a consistent game played over time, with results coming from consistency and trial and error. It is more like a career mode or story mode VR game, rather than a one time attempt pass/fail. Mind body connection allows the mental problems to manifest themselves as physical symptoms. The mind is in our body and directly tied to every conscious and unconscious move we make.

Lucid Dreaming Magazine
Robert Waggoner’s Lucid Dreaming Magazine! (Sept 2022) Previous Next Amina’s Lucid Dream Feature Read More Issues

The ULTIMATE List of Things To Do While Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming has so many real-world applications provide great benefits, such as reducing anxiety, boosting creativity, spiritual healing, sensory manifestation, or simply working on the

Books, Movies & Suggestions
The #1 place to learn is by looking within. Remember, anyone can write a book, so it is important to have an empathetic framework of

Citations & Research
Neurology & Dreams Our brains keep working on problems while we sleep, shows research on dreaming rats by Matthew A. Wilson, PhD (neuroscience, MIT). Recording directly into

Vilma’s WILD Method
Usually I have some sleep prior my WILD to not be tired after all day. Then I use the bathroom if I need to. Go

Staying lucid for longer & controlling the dream better!
This is for people who are already lucid dreamers, and want to practice having more control, and longer lucid dreams
MILD & Prospective Memory Technique
MILD & Prospective Memory Technique
Various techniques have been developed and tested to induce lucid dreams in recent years dif things work for dif people. Consistency. A lot of people who are new to LDing ask what the easiest induction method is. It’s hard to answer that question because different methods work for different people. Having said that, I have always thought that MILD is the perfect method for beginners. As long as you keep trying, there really is no wrong way to do it and you will eventually succeed.
In the Mnemonic Induction Lucid Dream (MILD) technique, one rehearses a dream and visualises becoming lucid while repeating a mantra expressing the same intention, such as: “Next time I’m dreaming I want to remember that I am dreaming.” For best results, it should be performed while returning to slumber during the Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB) technique, whereby one sets their alarm clock to one or two hours before their normal waking time, gets up for a few minutes, and then goes back to sleep.
This is one of the most reliable and versatile things you can do that can lead to amazing dream experiences. The great thigs about this method: All you need is a few minutes before bedtime. MILD is also complimented by WBTB and reality checking, but it can do very well as a stand alone method.
A word about consistency: one of the biggest pitfalls I see is when a person tries one method for a week or two, then decides it’s not working, and switches to another method. They jump from one method to the next and believe that nothing is working for them. It’s very important to understand that lucid dreaming is a skill. Were all naturals to an extent, but with any mental or physical practice , consistency and practice makes perfect. The mind needs time to internalize what you are trying to learn before it can give you good results.
With lucid dreaming, even though you may not have lucid for the first few weeks, just affirm to yourself that you ARE making progress. It is a life long journey, be patient. Practice and consistency are extremely important with MILD. To get the best results, you should be doing it every single night. If you wake up in the morning with no lucids, don’t think of it as a failure. If you did the MILD before bed, then consider it a success because you got your practice done. Your lucids will come when your mind has begun internalizing your practice.
Preparation
set aside atleast 5 minutes just before bedtime for the MILD. If you want the best results, I recommend a little more time, maybe 10-20 minutes total.
MILD is very a mental practice. It’s important to make your attempt when you feel relaxed and your mind is free of daily worries and nagging thoughts. Spend a minute or so (or more if you are a meditator) letting go of any thoughts and worries. Make it a rule to not worry about your daily life when it’s bedtime. If you need to, jot down your worries and thoughts in your dream journal so you can read any reminders or worries in the morning. You might try imagining that you are throwing your troubles and your thoughts away in a well or a box near your bed. If you are still being plagued by worries and thoughts, affirm to yourself that the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone around you at this moment is to get a good night’s sleep and be relaxed and happy in the morning.
On WBTBs: If you wake up naturally during the night, it would increase your chances of getting lucid if you repeat the MILD when you go back to sleep. If you have the need or want to, you can set an alarm at night to increase your chances of being lucid when you go back to sleep. It’s not necessary, but it can help a ton.
It’s very important to keep a dream journal for MILDing, especially if you are coupling it with reality checking. When you keep a dream journal, your recall gets better, and with that, it will be easier to MILD and lucid dream in general. Like working out at the gym, dreamwork Is a whole practice, not just one technique or method.
The next part depends on how easily you fall asleep. If it takes you a long time to fall asleep (10+ minutes), then you may lie down and get comfortable as usual, and do the MILD as you fall asleep. Don’t worry about trying to keep it up to the very last moment you fall asleep, because that will keep you awake. But try to make sure you keep your mind on it for at least 5 minutes before letting your mind wander or dropping off.
If you are the type who falls asleep within a few minutes of hitting the pillow, you may not want to lie down for the MILD. Instead, turn off the lights, sit comfortably on your bed, and after at least 5 minutes, go ahead and lie down to sleep, keeping the MILD going as you fall asleep. Ease into it and try to say your mantras and visualize a dream or mantra until the very last crescent of consciorunes.
The Method
Once you have settled down your mind and you’re comfortable, turn your attention to lucid dreaming. You can visualize a new dream ot Recall a recent dream, in as much detail as you possibly can. Imagine yourself exploring the dream as if you had been lucid in it. Believe that you are back in the dream again, only lucid. Believe that, in only a few minutes, you will soon be dreaming again, and imagine yourself knowing it’s a dream, doing whatever you want. You can come up with any scenario you wish for this. It may be helpful to imagine yourself completing whatever tasks or goals you have. This can be really helpful if you want to go back to a certain dreamscape.
Another variation of this is to use a movie, video game or book. You can make up a completely imaginary environment, perhaps something from your daydreams. Imagine yourself lucid in the environment, doing whatever you want to do. It helps if you see yourself doing fun or interesting things, because it keeps you motivated.
You don’t have to imagine the same thing in every MILD attempt. If you did, things might get boring and your mind will not be in an active state. So don’t be afraid to change it up, use a different dream memory, or imagine new things.
If you have time during the day and you want to give your MILD a boost, you can practice it in the middle of the day. Simply daydream yourself into a lucid daydream. It will help build up your visualization and creative skills, which are useful for not only MILDs, but dream control.
Using Autosuggestion
Using autosuggestion or mantras, either alone or with the visualization, will help you MILD. Remember that the mind listens and will give you results based on what you are telling yourself. Be specific, be intentional. Such as “ I will remember all my dreams tonight” or “ I will have many lucid dreams tonight” or “ I am a natural lucid dreamer”
“I’m dreaming” –> the best for coupling with visualization, really drives it home.”This is a dream””I’ll be dreaming soon.”
This method is pretty simple, but it can be powerful once it’s mastered. Anyone can master it if they put in the time to practice it. You can do MILD while you’re exploring other methods, so that if the other methods don’t work well for you, there’s always that guarantee of getting lucid eventually from your MILDs. Typically I recommend doing MILD for at least 2 months to give it sufficient time to work, but for some it may take more time. Sooner or later it will work–it’s just that for whatever reason it takes longer for some people.
Prospective Memory

The MILD technique works on what we call ‘prospective memory’ – that is, your ability to remember to do things in the future. By repeating a phrase that you will remember you’re dreaming, it forms an intention in your mind that you will, in fact, remember that you are dreaming, leading to a lucid dream,” says Dr Aspy, Visiting Research Fellow in the University of Adelaide School of Psychology. There are other ways to help work on your prospective memory, and one of them is setting targets to try to remember things in the future.
This technique is great for reality checks. Prospective memory works almost like a code or a script; you assign an IF, THEN script to your own mind – for example, “IF I see something weird, unusual, or inexplicable (a dreamsign), THEN do a reality test to see if I am dreaming”. And because you want to remind your future self to do that reality check in that moment, you take a second to plant the seed, even go as far as imagining the next time you will see your dream sign and do that reality check. Practice that visualization. Then you are more likely to do that reality check at your desired target.
Daily decide on four things that when you experience them you will do a reality check. This could be looking in the mirror, getting in a car, hearing a dog bark, dream signs or random things etc. many people say it works when they set targets early In the morning write down the four things that will trigger you to do a reality check. Then throughout the day note each time you remembered to check your reality. Try to use different targets each day, to increase the chances of doing reality checks in your dreams.
As an ongoing training exercise or skill practice instead of a pass/fail test. Pick a target (next time I cross a doorway for example). When I cross the doorway I do a reality check or pay extra attention to myself and my surroundings and trace things I’ve done (or thought) backward to the last target. Then set a new target (next time I’m outside for example). Pick targets that will have you doing 4-5 reality checks daily if you remember it. If you realize you missed a target, do the RC anyways TO BUILD THE habit, and set a new target. Don’t be hard on yourself for missing a target!
If you catch a target, take a second to mentally replay your day from that moment back to the last target you caught. This helps keep lucidity & it helps build the brain muscle of recalling your dream as it’s happening, by recalling your day as it’s happening in between the targets. And this skill will carry over into your dreamspace. This builds dream recalls and incubates lucidity at the same time. Trust me, once your having long long hours long lucid dreams, this skill comes in handy as it becomes hard to remember the whole dream. o improve your dream recall, especially for long lucid dreams, try to mentally replay your dream, or remember keywords as the dream is unfolding.
When it comes to lucid dreaming, youre training your consciousness, so memory/attention exercises or meditations are always beneficial. Remember, when it comes to lucid dreaming and reality checking it’s a skill you are practicing. Not a test. Count your successes. Do the RCs, etc when you remember about the target, even if you missed it. Both MILD and memory targets are great for beginners and don’t require too much effort. The key is to make it a part of your daily routine, but also make it mindful rather than let your reality checks occur on autopilot. Make it intentional and be consistent. & that will get you lucid in the dream world.

Lucid Dreaming Magazine
Robert Waggoner’s Lucid Dreaming Magazine! (Sept 2022) Previous Next Amina’s Lucid Dream Feature Read More Issues

The ULTIMATE List of Things To Do While Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming has so many real-world applications provide great benefits, such as reducing anxiety, boosting creativity, spiritual healing, sensory manifestation, or simply working on the

Books, Movies & Suggestions
The #1 place to learn is by looking within. Remember, anyone can write a book, so it is important to have an empathetic framework of

Citations & Research
Neurology & Dreams Our brains keep working on problems while we sleep, shows research on dreaming rats by Matthew A. Wilson, PhD (neuroscience, MIT). Recording directly into

Vilma’s WILD Method
Usually I have some sleep prior my WILD to not be tired after all day. Then I use the bathroom if I need to. Go

Staying lucid for longer & controlling the dream better!
This is for people who are already lucid dreamers, and want to practice having more control, and longer lucid dreams
Sleep, Breathing & Energy
Sleep, Breathing & Energy
Energy in motion is the BEST energy
When people tell me they can’t sleep at night, the first thing I always ask is how active are you? Is your energy in motion, do you have a balance between rest and energy expenditure? Studies have found that regular exercise for prolonged periods can improve sleep quality and reduce excessive daytime sleepiness for people with insomnia, also improving mental health. our body is designed to be used as a unit. When you have endurance, you breathe better, you sleep better.
Science shows that enough sleep helps you enhance memory, creativity, mental health, and disease protection.

Sleep Cycles
When you sleep, you cycle between REM and non-REM sleep. You can have intense dreams during REM sleep since your brain is more active. REM is important because it stimulates the areas of the brain that help with learning and is associated with the increased production of proteins.
Understanding how your sleep cycles work is helpful for those who want to tap into their dreams, and have more lucid dreams. Lucid dreams can help you solve problems, talk to loved ones who have passed, practice a skill, and heal from mental and physical trauma. There are so many healing benefits.
Most of the time while you’re awake, your brain is in Beta frequencies.
Alpha brain waves are calm, relaxed when you’re awake and daydreaming, but more in a trance.
Your brain tends to produce Theta waves when you’re sleeping or dreaming as well as when you’re transitioning over from wake to sleep. Theta waves are also seen in deep stages of meditation.
Delta waves are associated with the deep sleep stages and REM.
Hypnagogia & Hypnopompia are great places to start experimenting with dreams. It is when you’re half-awake, falling asleep. Maybe you will start to see random dream flashes or get sudden muscle jerks. The weird stuff is normal here, and if you start to linger here you may find some mystical experiences. Check out the book called Liminal Dreaming, by Jennifer Dumpert.
Circadian rhythm & Sleep Hygiene
Your inner circadian clock is based on a system that resets every 24h based on the sun light/dark cycle. Having good sleep hygiene means setting your body up for a good night’s sleep that makes you feel restored. There are many habits you can develop that help you keep this energy balance. Such as going to bed and waking up around the same time every day.
Hydration: We get dehydrated as we sleep, so drink water or tea when you first wake up to promote blood flow and rehydrate. Also, I know it should be obvious but make sure to feed your brain as well! Reduce caffeine as much as possible, especially at night.
Exercise: You don’t have to be a 6 am run person to get enough stretching and physical exercise. A natural energy boost in the morning has shown to have better sleep at night and feel more alert during the day.
Short naps in the middle of the day are healthy for the circadian rhythm, even a 15-30 min nap break can restore your energy. During a nap, REM sleep problem-solving abilities kick in easily. A surprising amount of benefits shows that it’s better to take time to rest in the day, and you actually will be MORE productive than trying to work and push through trying to be productive. in preparation for ultramarathon events, runners considered sleep extension as the main sleep strategy to prepare for ultramarathons.
At night our body produces melatonin triggered by lack of light. This is why it’s good to avoid screentime (blue light) before bed or sleeping in a lit-up room. It will affect your melatonin production. Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland, especially in response to darkness, and has been linked to the regulation of circadian rhythms. Your circadian clock uses light and dark signals to predict what to do in the future: when to prepare you to be active and when to prepare you to sleep.
It’s important not to use your bedroom for anything other than sleeping and sex. American Academy of Sleep Medicine explains that this is because you wire your brain to understand that this is a sacred space. We spend 1/3 of our life asleep, so it’s important the environment is conducive to that. If you’re on your bed watching TV, or scrolling through your phone, the blue light will interfere with your melatonin levels and mental state. Darkness is better for higher quality sleep.
Another sleep hygiene tip is regulate your temperature. An ideal sleep temp is 65 degrees Farenheit, or a cooler temperature than you may be used to. Although many people like to be sweating and warm while they sleep, it’s easier on your body to drop the thermostat by a few degrees can make a huge difference in sleep quality. Keep your room clean and tidy to promote a relaxing state of mind. Even making your bed in the morning can train your mind to be clear and motivated for the rest of the day. The bed is your temple, associate it with a positive & relaxing thing. It makes a difference.
Breathwork in running and sleep
Running is breathwork, you have to learn to breathe properly and strengthen your heart and lungs
Breathwork is many times used in spiritual practice which can allow you to move beyond your mind and body and help you connect to your inner self. Many people who practice breathwork experience spiritual awakenings and the ultimate state of mediation and relaxation. Our lungs produce the most DMT in our entire bodies, that’s why they call it the “runners high” because by taking care of our bodies in this way, we are unlocking deeper parts of ourselves resulting in this euphoric natural high feeling.
Fast-paced breathing creates a hyperventilation state that shifts the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body. It is thought that the reduced oxygen levels may induce states of altered consciousness.Thus breathwork was created to raise our consciousness & reach incredible breakthroughs and euphoria without ingesting anything at all. Its been a part of many traditions all over the world for centuries. Our own lungs and spinal fluid produce DMT.
Why would we have an extremely strong psychedelic substance being produced in our brains? Why does the human body and brain make DMT? No one really knows for sure, but it must have a function or more likely multiple functions. after psychedelic became illegal, people couldn’t really experiment on the pineal gland and DMT, so the information wasn’t really accessible until recent scientific revelations. DMT naturally occurs in many plants, animals, and in humans. It’s endogenous, meaning it’s made within the human body. So it’s more than just a natural plant psychedelic – it’s in us.
No discussion about the power of breath is complete without including Wim Hof. The Wim Hof Breathing Method includes a combination of specific breathing practices, cold therapy, and a commitment to activities that challenge comfort zones to overcome fears and limitations and unleash inner power. Benefits of his method include increased energy, heightened focus, increased willpower, enhanced sleep, and improved immune function. Mind-blowing studies conducted on Wim Hof and his method have documented his ability to voluntarily influence his sympathetic nervous system and immune system through breath and mind control alone.
Practicing while lucid
So many studies have shown athletes and sports groups who experiment with training or practicing a skill in their lucid dreams. When you are consciously practicing in your sleep, your brain doesn’t know the difference between training in real life and in your dreams. Your brain actually created the same neural pathways and muscle memories of having practiced in waking life. I read a study about a snow skiing team, as well as a gymnast, who used their lucid dreams to practice scary stunts. Visualising the stunt helped release the fear and prepare the body for the stunt. Lucid dream practice is like the power of visualization on steroids because you are feeling the motions as vividly as if you are doing it in real life. Your brain will carry over the practice and you will improve at the skill in real life. The dream space tends to release the fear of failure, kind of like a practice mode since the athletes knew they were dreaming and could perform the stunts with more confidence and no limiting beliefs. Much of success in athleticism is mental, and this is evident through dreamwork.

Runners & Sleep
As an athlete, how much sleep you need exactly varies from person to person, as does the perfect sleep routine. An average of 7-8 seems to be a sweet spot to get the most out of your day. If you run many miles a day, you probably need more sleep than someone who doesn’t run. Listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. You’re likely short on Z’s if you fall asleep the second your head hits the pillow, you find yourself dozing off during meetings or at the movies, you rely on caffeine to get through the day, or you hit the snooze button more than once. “If your body is literally going back to sleep immediately after being asleep all night long, you are probably not getting enough sleep. if you’ve slept fewer than about six hours, you might benefit more from staying in bed an hour longer than from forcing yourself to stumble out on a run on lack of sleep which impairs cognitive function and reaction times, which could put you at risk of a collision if you’re crossing busy streets or running on a crowded path.
When it comes to sleeping more OR working out more I don’t have time is a bad excuse, you make time. Show me your screentime. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You don’t have to stop running—remember, runners tend to sleep better—just consider whether you should scale back expectations, or run for stress relief rather than trying to stick to an aggressive plan.
WELCOME TO THE DREAM WORLD
Starting your Dreamwork Practice
How to Get Started
Lucid dreaming gives you power in your sleep, which is where you spend about a third of your entire life. Instead of being driven away by the abnormal constructs of a dream, you are there, present and awake, somewhat like your normal day-to-day reality. This is a powerful moment where you can literally take full control of the dream and create anything you want.
To lucid dream on a consistent basis is an art, that takes practice and consistency. Similar to working out, your brain is like a muscle that needs training and direction on what to focus on. If you are new to lucid dreaming, you may be expecting quick results or getting frustrated if you have not had your first lucid dream. If you are already a lucid dreamer going through a dream drought, do not worry, even periods of non-lucidity have a lot to teach us, and it is a good time to strengthen your mind and waking life lucidity. Whatever the case, it is important to remember that it takes patience and getting frustrated will only hold you back. There are many techniques to get lucid you will find online, and it may take some trial and error to find out which ones are best for you.
There is no right or wrong or best or worst because lucid dreaming is a personal practice depending on your goals and personal dreamwork. Everyone’s brain works differently, yet, there are two things that every lucid dreamer should take seriously, and that is dream journaling and effective reality checks. Emphasis on the effective.
Dream journaling over an extended period of time can reveal patterns, through recurrent dreams or the repeated appearance of important details in your waking life, and the more familiar your mind becomes with these patterns, the more awareness it might begin to have in wielding them while asleep.
1: Start a dream journal.
Recording dreams is crucial for lucid dreaming. Not only will it improve your recall, but it will help you identify dream signs. Dream signs or dream symbols can be any person, object or situation that occurs in someone’s dream on a regular basis. Dream signs are usually unique to an individual and vary from person to person. For example, if many of your dreams include your sister, or being in the car, that could be a dream sign for you. Recognizing your dream signs is a big part of learning to lucid dream. Many lucid dreamers use dream signs to recognize when they’re dreaming and become spontaneously lucid. Dream signs provide cues to lucidity, sparking your rational brain to chip in with the realization: “I am dreaming!” The more attention you pay to spotting dream signs, and dream journaling, the more you’ll notice them and the more lucid dreams you’ll have.
You can create a voice recording, a phone note, a sketch, or write on paper, just record it the best way that works for you. Try to capture the emotions you were feeling in the dream, which will help to properly interpret and understand your dreaming mind. It is most effective to record dreams the second you wake up while it is fresh because the more time passes, the more you will forget.
Dream journaling is also amazing to read back on old dreams and form connections or remember things you would have otherwise forgotten.
Try to capture the emotions you were feeling in the dream, which will help to properly interpret and understand your dreaming mind. Dream journaling over an extended period of time can reveal patterns, through recurrent dreams or the repeated appearance of important details in your waking life, and the more familiar your mind becomes with these patterns, the more awareness it might begin to have in wielding them while asleep.
2: Reality checks
A reality check is an exercise that if performed correctly, will lead you to realize you’re dreaming within the dream (DILD Dream Induced Lucid Dream). When you are awake, it may feel silly because you know you are not dreaming, but in a dream, you are also convinced you are awake.
Throughout the day, find ways to truly test your environment to see if it is a dream or reality. You can pinch yourself, count your fingers, try to breathe with your nose shut, really anything that may act differently in a dream. The more often you form the habit of reality checking, the more likely you will do it in a dream and realize something is not right.
Using your dream symbols to trigger reality checks is most effective because it will cause you to do a reality check while dreaming, resulting in a lucid dream. For example, if you see cats in your dream often, perform a reality check every time you see a cat.
It is good to try two things as a backup. For example, when I pull my fingers, in a dream it will stretch like rubber, which immediately tells me I am dreaming. The more often you form the habit of reality checking, the more likely you will do it in a dream and realize something is not right. Most people initially try to set an alarm on their phone to remind them to do reality checks. This is not effective, because it is unlikely you will have that reminder in a dream. That is why using your dream symbols to trigger reality checks are most effective, because it will cause you to do a reality check while dreaming, causing you to become lucid. For example, if you see cats in your dream often, perform a reality check every time you see a cat.
3: Experiment with techniques
The reason there are hundreds of lucid dream induction methods is that everyone is different, and different things work for each individual dreamer. You must experiment consistently to find what works for you. Do not give up after one attempt. Incubation can take time to train your brain to increase awareness while dreaming.
A lot of people who are new to lucid dreaming ask what the easiest induction method is. It’s hard to answer that question because different methods work for different people. As long as you keep trying, there really is no wrong way to do it and you will eventually succeed. It’s very important to understand that lucid dreaming is a learnable skill. Here are some examples of two popular lucid dreaming techniques!
WBTB
Wake Back to Bed is a method that involves waking up in the middle of the night to interrupt your REM sleep, and consciously returning to bed with the intention of having a lucid dream. There are many variations of this method, so it is good to experiment with the timing of it. WBTB is often used in combination with other techniques such as MILD or WILD. The idea behind WBTB is to increase your mental alertness before returning to sleep in the middle of the night.
Before going to bed, set an alarm for 5-6 hours after you fall asleep. This is when you are most likely to be in REM sleep and can enter the dream world in the prime phase for lucid dreaming. Upon awakening, try not to use your phone, or any bright light that may wake you up fully. Enjoy a quiet activity, read about lucid dreaming, use the restroom or meditate. Research suggests the chances of lucid dreaming depends on the level of alertness and not the specific activity. Therefore, be mindful and intentional with this time. Most people stay awake anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes, depending on what works best for them. As you return to sleep, tell yourself that you will be lucid and know that you are dreaming.
MILD
In 1980, Stephen LaBerge created a technique called Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD). It was one of the first methods that used scientific research to induce lucid dreams. The purpose of this technique is to incubate the idea in your mind to later remember you are dreaming. With this technique, one rehearses a dream and visualises becoming lucid while repeating a mantra expressing the same intention, such as: “Next time I’m dreaming I will remember that I am dreaming.” You can think of a recent dream you had, or set an intention for a new dreamscape you would like to enter. For best results, it should be performed while returning to slumber during the Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB) technique, but it can also work well as a stand-alone method.
This is one of the most reliable and versatile methods that can lead to amazing dream experiences, making it great for beginners. This method is quite simple, and all you need is a few minutes of mindfulness before bedtime. If you are the type who falls asleep within a few minutes of hitting the pillow, you may not want to lie down for the MILD. Instead, turn off the lights, sit comfortably on your bed, and after at least 5 minutes, go ahead and lie down to sleep, keeping the MILD going as you fall asleep.
We’re all naturals to an extent, but with any skill, consistency and practice make perfect. The mind needs time to internalize what you are trying to learn before it can give you good results. Read our past blog post on the Most Popular Lucid Dream Induction Techniques.
4: Meditation & mindfulness
Self-awareness in your waking life is significantly linked to increasing awareness in the dream state. Practicing mindful meditation before going to sleep will put you in the right mental state for transitioning into the dream world. Meditation is a useful strategy to induce a lucid dream. Keep in mind, though, that no foolproof method to lucid dream at will exists. This may work for you, or it may not. It may work some nights, but not others. Lucid dream meditation should be practiced regularly for the best results. Studies show that regular meditators have more frequent lucid dreams than people who are new to meditation.
Start small if you are completely new to meditation. Sit still in a comfortable, quiet spot. Close your eyes and focus attention on your breathing. Pay attention to each breath in and out for a few minutes. For mindfulness mediation, sit still in a comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed or distracted. Focus on your senses and thoughts in the moment. Let the thoughts go through your mind without judgment.
Even 10 minutes of meditation and mindfulness per day can make a difference and make it easier to have lucid dreams. Mindfulness can be described as the ability to be aware of the present moment and experience it with an open and non-judging attitude. This is a key component of lucid dreaming and both skills are related.
5: Dream Plan
It is important to consider your reasonings for wanting to learn to lucid dream. Have a plan for when you do get lucid so that you are prepared. Many beginners become lucid and wake up within seconds because of shock or excitement. A dream plan helps you plan out what you want to do in your lucid dream so that you are not fumbling around without direction. Having a dream plan about what you will try to do while lucid is helpful because not only are you expecting to become lucid, you are also setting yourself up to stay in the dream longer. Start by identifying what motivates you to learn to lucid dream? Maybe there are spiritual reasons, maybe you want to experience the freedom of flying, or maybe you want insight on your life path. Whatever it may be, think about what that looks like in action. When you are in the dream, what do you do? Who do you talk to? What magic tricks will you try? Will you fly around, will you talk to animals? To put your dream plan into action, write it down before you go to sleep. Meditate on it, and even incorporate it into your evening routine. Use it as a movie scene that you visualize as you are falling asleep. Let your ideal lucid dream be the last thing on your mind to influence your dream content.
For inspiration on the possible things you can try while lucid check out The Ultimate List of Things to do While Lucid

Lucid Dreaming Magazine
Robert Waggoner’s Lucid Dreaming Magazine! (Sept 2022) Previous Next Amina’s Lucid Dream Feature Read More Issues

The ULTIMATE List of Things To Do While Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming has so many real-world applications provide great benefits, such as reducing anxiety, boosting creativity, spiritual healing, sensory manifestation, or simply working on the

Books, Movies & Suggestions
The #1 place to learn is by looking within. Remember, anyone can write a book, so it is important to have an empathetic framework of

Citations & Research
Neurology & Dreams Our brains keep working on problems while we sleep, shows research on dreaming rats by Matthew A. Wilson, PhD (neuroscience, MIT). Recording directly into

Vilma’s WILD Method
Usually I have some sleep prior my WILD to not be tired after all day. Then I use the bathroom if I need to. Go

Staying lucid for longer & controlling the dream better!
This is for people who are already lucid dreamers, and want to practice having more control, and longer lucid dreams