Research has found that our dreams contain repressed thoughts and wishes (of our subconscious mind) and contain signs that can be interpreted to give us a better understanding of ourselves.
Research also states that approximately five minutes after the end of a dream, we forget 50 percent of its content and approximately ten minutes or so later, we’ve forgotten almost 90 percent.
This is where dream recall comes in. Learning how to remember your dreams is absolutely essential if you want to learn lucid dreaming.
Two of the most basic induction techniques for lucid dreaming include maintaining a dream journal and finding a lucid anchor.
Journal Your Dreams
Maintaining a dream journal is easy and fun.
It helps you remember your dreams and is a great tool for finding the hidden meaning of your nighttime adventures.
We spend about one-third of our lives asleep and research has proved that our brain cells continue to function even though we are fast asleep.
Besides, keeping track of your dreams is one of the most important approaches to lucid dreaming.
So how do we go about maintaining a dream journal?
First go out and get yourself a nice writing journal. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just nice. Something you look forward to writing in.
Because jotting down your dreams on scraps of paper or on whatever you can lay your hands on will not help your cause at all. And don’t, under any circumstances, use this journal to jot down anything else. No recipes. No to-do lists. No phone numbers.
Keep your dream journal (along with a good pen) on your nightstand or in the bedside drawer for easy reach. This is so that you can write in it as you wake up. Don’t underestimate how fast you can forget your dream.
You don't need to write down your whole dream just a few keywords should be sufficient. So if you dreamt
“I am a mermaid with a shiny long tail made up of beautiful pink scales. I live in an underground kingdom made of pearls and oyster shells. I hear my friend the clown fish calling. Now I’m sunning on a rock.”
you could write down the keywords mermaid, pearls, shells,pink, clown fish
And if you were lucky enough to have experienced a lucid dream, note it down. Confirm in writing the exact moment in the dream when you realized you were dreaming.
Make a note of how you came to this realization. Be sure to document any thoughts you may have had and your emotional state at the time. These are the details that will help you (in later stages) to control your dreams.
Once you’ve written enough you can go over your entries and try to find patterns.
You can analyze and interpret your dreams and even use your dream journal to try and induce lucid dreaming by jotting down your goal for your next lucid dream as it will help crystallize your intent to both your conscious as well as subconscious mind.
So go ahead and start a dream journal. And remember, it doesn’t have to be neat or beautifully written.
So long as you record what you remember as often and as you can.
Foods to help with dream recall
Try to include some foods in your diet that are known to improve dream recall.
chicken, tuna, cod and cheese are all good foods to help remember your dreams.
Finding a dream anchor
Having a lucid anchor acts as a subconscious trigger that your brain can relate to.
Start by telling yourself that you will awaken from your dream with a full memory. This is key.
Then use the environment around you to anchor your lucid dreams. From the cute poster on the wall to the ticking of the alarm clock by your bed to the LED light on your phone charger, anything and everything can be used as an anchor.
If it’s the picture on the wall, ensure that it’s the last thing you see before you go to bed at night and the first thing you lay eyes on each morning.
Glance at it even if and when you wake up from your sleep during the night. And each time you look at it, tell yourself that you will awaken from your dreams with a full memory.
This dual act of looking at the poster and citing your intention each time you look at it acts as a trigger for your subconscious. It reminds your brain to focus on your dreams while planting a subconscious plan of action or POA.
If you don’t wish to go for a physical anchor, why not opt for a mental anchor instead. It can be as basic as seeing “1+2 =3” in your head. Simple stuff that does not require much thought (since you are trying to fall asleep).
Or how about an evocative anchor? Our sense of smell is one of the most powerful triggers there is. Being the only sensory channel wired directly into the part of the brain responsible for "tagging" anchors with emotional states, smell can be a very powerful anchor.
Anchoring comes from the fascinating branch of psychology called Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) referring to the process of associating an internal response with an external (or internal) stimuli.
So if you ever have trouble remembering your dreams, just use a lucid anchor.
A reality check is a break from passive acceptance and a critical look at your current circumstances.
The goal is to determine whether you are awake or dreaming. That might seem too simple, but daily reality checks while awake can help you incorporate them into your dreams.
Everyone performs them differently, but the hallmark of a good reality check is to ask a simple question with an impossible, pre-determined response.
Maybe that sounds a little confusing. The question could be- can my hand go through this wall? Then you push your fingers/hand against the wall.
In real life, clearly your hand will not pass through a solid object. It is much more likely to occur in a dream, however. Some people ask themselves if they can read a clock face or digital watch, or read a sentence the same way twice, or even jump in the air to see if you fall back down as is normal with gravity or if you float/hover.
The basic tenet is that the action/response is something that could not occur in waking life, but could occur in a dream.
Once you are aware you are dreaming as you dream, you assert a certain power over the dream and can begin to manipulate it as you please.
The best way to institute reality checks is to
a) choose 2. If for some reason in the dream you cannot push your hand through a wall, you should move on to the second test as a fail safe.
B) Ask yourself several times throughout the day if you are awake or dreaming, perform your checks, and really mean it. Truly think about what you’re doing. Don’t just shove your hand against a wall, shrug, and mosey on. You must be present in the question and aware of the depth of your own question. Because it can go wrong. Here is my story of when I was a beginner and how it can go wrong:
Reality checks can go wrong
When I first started to learn lucid dreaming. During the day I practiced reality checks.
I would ask myself “Am I dreaming?” And then I would see if I could push my hand through the wall. Of course I couldn't because I was awake.
So night time came and I went to bed as usual. And I remember my dream as clear as anything.
I was standing at my bedroom window looking out at the scenery. It was beautiful there was a lake and a forest stretched out ahead. Now in reality from my bedroom window all I can see is my local store and a few houses.
Anyway as I was looking at this forest I asked myself 'Am I dreaming' and I pushed my hands against the glass to see if they would go through the window.
But my hands wouldn't go through. So I came to the conclusion that I must be awake. And that was the end of the dream!
So what went wrong?
Well in my waking state I would never really think about weather or not I was dreaming - because of course I was awake. It was obvious!
So I expected that I couldn't walk through the wall and this carried over into my dream. I expected that my hand wouldn't go through the window. So it didn't because of course I was awake!
So always make sure you actually question if you are awake or asleep. Because your dreams can feel as real as your waking state anyway.
Another good practice is to to to read something in your dream. This is a lot more effective than trying to push your hand through a wall or any of the other reality checks because it is very hard to read in a dream. And if you try to read a sentence twice you will find that the words have changed.
If you have trouble remembering to perform these reality checks, you could leave yourself post-it notes around your house/apartment/dorm or on your desk at work. Eventually you won’t even need these small reminders at all!
Many lucid dreamers use dream signs to become lucid.
A dream sign could be anything from emotions, locations, characters, objects but the key is that it appears often in your dreams
Recognizing dream signs in your sleep takes a bit of practice. But once you get used to it it can be a useful tool to induce lucid dreams on a regular basis.
Here's what you need to do.
The best way to find your own personal dream sign is to go back and look through your dream journal and notice what shows up often.
Below I have included some common dream signs:
Places
Do you regularly dream about places you have never been? Or virtual places that just don't exist in the real world? It could even be familiar places that you regularly visit.
Objects
Maybe you dream about strange objects or things that are out of place. A car that has no doors or a cup that melts away when you touch it.
Dream characters
Most people dream of other people. Characters that are familiar to you or ones that you have never seen in real life.
These are just a few examples.
Once you have found your dream sign you need to do a reality check that relates to your dream sign. For instance if your nightly dreams mostly consist of strange objects look for things in your daily life that seem out of place or unusual in any way. If you are watching a movie and in the movie objects are flying round the room or something else strange happens in the movie then do a reality check.
The more you notice things in your waking state the more you will notice them in your dreams. It is recommended that you do reality checks at least 10 times a day.
Although dream signs can be a powerful way to induce lucidity a lot of problems can still arise with dream signs.
The problem with dream signs is that you never know when they are going to show up in your dream.
Some people have problems finding a dream sign at all. And some find that they have multiple dream signs so they are not specific enough to be an effective technique.
Fortunately there is a more reliable way we can find a dream sign and that is to create our own dream sign one that is easy and guarantees that it will show up in your dreams from day one and every day after.
And that is to either invest in a REM dreamer, a vibrating watch, or if you don't want to spend any money use your mobile phone with it set to vibrate.
We will go over each one in more detail.
Vibrating phone or watch
Associating the feeling of vibration with being aware in your dream can be a great way to trigger a lucid dream.
vibrations are common when preforming a WILD. Most people when they are close to WILD experience their whole body beginning to vibrate.
It doesn't hurt and is completely normal. And is a good sigh that you are close to lucidity.
If you have ever experienced the vibration feeling when preforming a WILD then you may have already associated vibrations with lucidity and investing in a vibrating watch may be enough to trigger lucidity.
Try setting the watch to vibrate after 5- 6 hours of sleep. You should feel the watches vibration in your sleep.
This vibration will either carry over into your dreaming world and this may get you to question weather you are dreaming. Or it could wake you up for a brief moment in which case just lie on your back and start to focus until you are lucid.
Another alternative if you don't want to invest in a watch is to attach a mobile phone to yourself set to vibrate.
REM dreamer
Another great way is the REM dreamer.
From times immemorial, the desire to deliberately recognize and control our dreams has been a part our collective longing. From thousands of years people have been trying to figure out the mysteries of lucid dreaming with little success, until now.
Thanks to the progress of neuroscience and technology, we can learn how to lucid dream every night via devices such as the REM Dreamer. This means we can all enjoy a truly profound experience, the wonder of controlling the flow of our own dreams.
Behold the REM Dreamer, your new best friend! Inside what looks like a normal sleep mask are hidden infrared sensors, lights and speakers.
As soon as you enter the fifth sleep cycle, namely the REM, the sensor will activate the light and speakers which will tell you that you are dreaming. The mask will literally become your dream sign, allowing you to awaken just enough to experience lucid sleep.
No longer will you struggle with lucid dreaming, waiting for a random dream sign that may or may happen – the lights are there and all you need to do is train yourself to recognize them when they appear.
Like all lucid dreaming masks, its success relies on your ability to sleep normally wearing a mask. While most people have no problem doing this, there are some people out there who find it difficult to sleep anyhow, let alone with a mask on their face, especially if they sleep on their bellies. Still, if you give it time, you’ll get used to the mask soon enough as it’s not only feather-light but also very comfortable and it allows your skin to breathe.
Besides learning how to sleep with a mask you must also and recognize the visual and audio cues as a sign you are dreaming. The latter is not difficult, but it does require some practice and patience. So if you are thinking of buying a REM dreamer. Try watching this video first at least 10 times a day to see if you can stick to your reality check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kIVe1RrIAc
This flashing red light that you will see in the video is exactly what you will notice in your sleep while using the rem dreamer.
Provided you accommodate easily to your new sleep buddy, you can expect to dream lucidity within a few weeks.
Many people report successful stories after a couple of weeks of using. Most stories are about waking up in the night, pressing the reality check button on the REM Dreamer and finding it doesn’t work. This allows them to recognize that they are actually dreaming and are beginning a lucid dream. However, success is not guaranteed unless you decide to commit to the process in order to get the results you desire
All things considered, The REM Dreamer is a revolutionary device that has given many people the opportunity to experience lucid dreaming and the chance to use this natural state of consciousness to create and explore the wondrous lucid dreaming world.
Dream leaf is the most effective lucid dreaming supplement there is.
It's interesting to learn how this dream leaf works but basically as soon as our minds go into dreamland there is a neurotransmitter that works in the brain which causes us to be unconscious while dreaming. Dream leaf blocks this special neurotransmitter, and this can make your mind awake and body asleep which is what everyone who wants to lucid dream aims for.
Not only does it help with lucid dreaming it also helps with dream recall giving you highly vivid dreams. And can also help with balanced sleep
Dream leaf supplements comes as 60 capsules, which is 30 red pills and 30 blue pills which makes it a months supply. You take
one blue pill when you go to bed and take one red pill 4 hours later. The blue pill helps to get you in a deep sleep and also helps with creativity. The red pill is where the fun begins and promotes lucid dreaming and also increases dream recall.
Click here to read more about dream leaf
The ingredients include : Mugwort, 5-HTP, Choline Bitartrate, Huperzine-A, and DHEA
My story
I first tried dream leaf supplement when I was a beginner. I had practiced for a few months with lucid dreams but had had no success. I was so desperate to have a lucid dream after reading about how much fun people were having. and felt I need a little help in the way of supplements.
After reading reviews about various different products I decided to purchase dream leaf. The supplements came a week later and I couldn't wait to get started. That night at my usual bedtime I took the blue pill. I didn't notice it having any effect on my sleeping pattern and I fell asleep an hour later like usual.
The next thing I remember is my alarm going off 4 hours later. So I took the red pill. I was amazed at how well it worked. I admit I didn't have a lucid dream. But as a beginner I went from having no dream recall to having the most vivid dreams I have ever experienced before. I was happy with that because if you can have good dream recall your half way there to experiencing a lucid dream.
After that I decided to practice reality checks with a red flashing light so that I could use the Rem dreamer together with the dream leaf
I decided to time it just right. So that when I woke up after 4 hours I would take the red pill and half an hour later when I was back asleep my REM dreamer would flash the red light. This was enough to trigger powerful lucid dreams every night.
Pros
Cons
To get the best out of dream leaf. And to guarantee lucid dreams in just a couple of weeks use dream leaf with REM dreamer or vibrating phone.
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