CHAPTER IV
Induction Techniques
Preliminary
There are some things which are common to many techniques and these will be handled first.
Waking Up and Getting To Sleep
Firstly, you need to know how to wake yourself up and then to go to sleep just 10–60 minutes later. Probably the easiest method is a fairly quiet alarm clock. You can put it on the other side of the room to force you up. However, you could also use the MILD technique (see below) to try and wake yourself up immediately after your dreams. This should also help with your dream recall. You might want to drink lots of water or some tea, which is a diuretic (makes you go to the toilet). However, you might just wake up in the morning feeling very uncomfortable! Also note that the diuretic effects of tea come from caffeine, which may affect your ability to sleep.
If you have trouble getting to sleep in the first place, don't drink water for about an hour before you think you'll turn your lights off. In fact, do drink water an hour before, to stop you from getting thirsty later on. Avoid caffeine and sugar before bed.
If it still takes very long for you to fall asleep, you can take advantage of this by reading books about lucid dreaming before going to sleep. This could greatly increase your chances of getting a lucid dream. You definitely need a light next to your bed to read until you're too sleepy to carry on, as getting up to turn the light off can often wake you up fully.
Reality Checks
Reality checks are a method of discerning between dreams and reality. It is extremely important to perform these.
One could say they are the “keys” to lucid dreaming. It is also extremely important to make sure that you expect these to produce dream results — you accept your reality, even when it is a dream. It would be counterproductive to expect real-life results in a dream, as the outcome of a reality check can be modified by the placebo effect. It won't affect outcomes in real-life (unless you are mentally ill!), but you will probably have a higher success rate in dreams.
So here are some reality checks. You should be familiar with the entire list even if you only use a few.
Breathing |
Can you breathe through a tightly shut nose? |
Reliability 5 |
Speed 5 |
Discreetness 3 |
Overall 4.34 |
Jumping |
When you jump, do you float back down? |
5 |
5 |
1 |
3.67 |
Reading |
Do sentences change when you read them? Read, turn away and repeat it to yourself, and then turn back and read it again. Do this twice. |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4.34 |
Light Switches |
Does a light switch work? |
5 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
Vision |
Do you have perfect vision? This only works for people who have at least slightly blurry vision in the waking world. |
4 |
5 |
5 |
4.67 |
Hands |
Are your hands a strange color, have too many fingers (sometimes they disappear and reappear when you try to count them!) or have other abnormalities? Can you push your finger through your other hand? |
4 |
5 |
5 |
4.67 |
Time |
Does your watch or clock tell a reasonable time? Are you even able to read the time off it? Sometimes clocks have the wrong number of hands or have strange symbols. Note: Digital clocks often work better for this reality check. |
4 |
5 |
4 |
4.34 |
Powers |
Are you able to fly (just visualize it), unlock doors or have other magical powers? Try to walk through a wall, window or mirror. |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
Mirrors |
Do you look normal in a mirror? |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
Nose |
Can you see your nose with one eye closed? |
2 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
Memory |
Are you able to remember how you got here, why you are here and what happened an hour ago? This is not always a reliable reality check! |
2 |
3 |
5 |
3.34 |
Choose a few reality checks which you will do regularly. Keep doing reality checks until you are convinced that you aren't dreaming. You should always carry out more than one reality check. If you find that it is not a dream, look around you and think of what would be different if it was a dream. If you do this it will make it more likely that you will do a reality check in a dream.
Apart from doing reality checks throughout the day, you also need to do a reality check immediately after you wake up. This helps you become lucid in false awakenings, when you begin to act out the following day in a dream.
If you have trouble bringing reality checks into your dreams then before going to bed imagine yourself in a dream, noticing odd details and doing a reality check. Then do a reality check in real life. If you do this a few times before bed you will find that you will do it more often in dreams.
If you are in a situation where you cannot do a reality check, such as at a public speaking, try to do one as soon as possible. You can do some reality checks very discreetly, such as feeling your fingers to make sure you have five. If you start to say “well, I can't do a reality check now” you should not be surprised when you make this mistake in a dream!
Which reality checks are best?
When selecting reality checks, the most important properties of a reality check are reliability, speed, and discreetness.
On the table above, these are scored out of 5.
I have trouble remembering to do reality checks throughout the day. What reminders can I use?
You are lucky to have an interesting day and forget about lucid dreaming! It isn't advisable to explicitly write “reality check” or “lucid” on your hand, as this could create an over-dependence on this reminder, which may not exist in a dream. However, you might want to just draw a dot or small circle on your hand. This should be enough to remind you to do a reality check.
Another technique is to write down three things you do regularly in a day. Examples include hearing your name, going through a doorway, turning on a TV, beginning to read a book, and seeing a stranger. In the morning, choose three such events and intend to do a reality check whenever they happen in the following day.
I did a reality check in a dream but it said that I was not dreaming. What went wrong?
Some reality checks work perfectly for some people and awfully for others. These are mostly the light switches one and the hands one. If you find that the light switch works or that your hands are perfectly normal, you need to change to a different technique.
I did a reality check in a dream but I didn't quite realize I was dreaming. What went wrong?
An example of this is looking into a mirror and seeing some huge boils or a grey mist on your reflection and not realizing that you are dreaming. This is rare if you actually intended to look into the mirror as a reality check. You need to be more careful when doing your reality checks in real life or pick more reliable reality checks which show more obviously that you are dreaming. Also try to pick reality checks that are easy to do. For example, don't pick the Time RC (Reality Check) if you never wear a watch, and don't pick the Mirror RC if you hardly look in the mirror or you know that you won't find a mirror in your dream.
Techniques
When you read through these techniques, remember that “best technique” and most techniques could be used to have 2–5 lucid dreams every night!
However, you will probably want some advice as to which technique you should try first. A major choice is whether you want to use a method which starts from a dream or a method which starts from being awake. If you master a technique which starts from being awake, you are able to have lucid dreams wherever you can sleep. For other techniques, you have to rely on your luck to give you lucid dreams after you have done your technique. Here are some advantages and disadvantages for specific techniques:
Technique |
Summary |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Best for... |
WBTB (Wake-Back- To-Bed) |
Wake after some sleep and then return to bed. |
• Simple • Can be very reliable, especially when used with other techniques |
• Disrupts sleep cycle |
People who want to strengthen other techniques, or who wake up in the middle of the night anyway. |
Autosuggestion |
Let yourself genuinely believe that you'll become lucid—without intending to become lucid—so that you really will. |
• Simple |
• Less effective than some other techniques (such as MILD) |
People who are highly susceptible to hypnosis or who don't have the energy for other techniques. |
MILD (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams) |
Fall asleep while focused on your |
• Simple |
• Can be boring |
People with a good prospective memory (remembrance of future intentions). |
WILD (Wake- Initiation of Lucid Dreams |
Keep your consciousness while falling asleep and go straight into a dream. |
• Lets you truly induce lucid dreams at will |
• Can cause frightening experiences • Can take long to master |
People who want to reliably have lucid dreams. |
VILD (Visual Induction of Lucid Dreams) |
By repetitive visualization, incubate a dream in which you do a reality check. |
• Also lets you induce lucid dreams at will • Works extremely well for some people... |
• ...but not very well for others • Visualizing can keep you awake |
People who have good visualization skills. |
CAT (Cycle Adjustment Technique |
Adjust your sleep cycle to encourage awareness during the latter part of your sleep |
• Requires relatively little effort other than adjusting your sleep cycle • Is very effective |
• Requires you to wake up early on some days • You're only likely to get a lucid dream on every other day (though this could easily be more frequently than with other techniques) |
People who have a very regular sleep cycle. |
Remember, it'll help a lot to have your recall up to at least one dream a night before attempting these techniques. The usual acronyms in forums for this are DILD (Dream- Initiated Lucid Dream) and WILD (Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream). All the techniques that induce WILDs are described under WILD on this page.
WBTB
WBTB stands for “Wake-Back-To-Bed”.
Wake yourself up after 4 to 6 hours of sleep, get out of bed and stay up for anywhere between a few minutes to an hour before going back to bed. It's preferable that you do something related to lucid dreaming during this time (such as reading about lucid dreaming), but it is not required. This is best combined with other techniques; many people have amazing results with a MILD/WBTB combination.
The WBTB technique significantly increases your chance of a lucid dream, and using MILD (see below) in conjunction with it puts you at good odds if you're planning to sleep an hour or more after your WBTB session. However, you might need plenty of sleep time and therefore you may only be able to use it at weekends.
I am sometimes awake for very short times, but cannot pull myself together enough to get up and out of bed.
What can I do?
Put a bright piece of paper on the wall or ceiling so that you will see it when you wake up. Other stimulus could be a hot water bottle, an alarm clock or a light turned on under your bed. After you get a lucid dream with this method, you'll find it easier and easier to get out of bed because you'll have more motivation.
Autosuggestion
Rated green. This technique has been successful in scientific research and/or is part of a commercial book about lucid dreaming.
This technique describes how to use autosuggestion to have lucid dreams. It can be especially effective for people who are highly susceptible to hypnosis, but for most people, MILD will probably be more effective.
As you're falling asleep, suggest to yourself that you will have a lucid dream either that night or in the near future. You can use a mantra (such as “I will recognize that I'm dreaming.”) if you want, but make sure you don't try too hard to get a lucid dream. Instead of putting intentional effort into the suggestion, try to genuinely expect to have a lucid dream. Let yourself think expectantly about the lucid dream you're about to have, but be patient if you don't get one right away.
You could also use autosuggestion to improve dream recall. Just use the technique as described above, but instead of suggesting that you'll have a lucid dream, suggest that you'll remember your dreams when you wake up. You could also use a mantra with this, such as “When I wake up, I will remember what I dreamt.” Just be careful not to put too much intentional effort into the mantra — try to genuinely expect to remember your dreams instead.
MILD
This technique has been detailed in Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge.
MILD stands for “Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams", or sometimes, “Mnemonically Induced Lucid Dream". The MILD technique was developed by Stephen LaBerge, and is described fully in his book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming.
With the MILD technique, as you're falling asleep, you concentrate on your intention to remember to recognize that you're dreaming. Repeat a short mantra in your head, such as “Next time I'm dreaming, I will remember I'm dreaming.” Think about what this means (i.e., that you want to remember that you're dreaming—in the same way you might go to a grocery store and suddenly remember that you need bread), and imagine that you're back in a dream you've had recently, but this time you recognize that you're dreaming. For example, imagine yourself flying and realizing that it's a dream because you're flying. Keep repeating and visualizing the mantra until you're sure that your intention is set in your mind or you fall asleep. If you stop repeating and visualizing the mantra, then still try to make sure the last thing in your mind before falling asleep is your intention to remember to recognize that you're dreaming.
In general the MILD technique can be practiced when you first go to bed at night, or after you have awakened from a dream during the night. If you practice the MILD technique after you have awakened from a dream during the night you should first run through the dream you have awakened from in your mind to ensure that you remember it. Some people find it helpful to jot down a few notes about their dream in
their dream journal.
Once you have committed the dream to memory, go back to sleep following the steps above, except this time visualize the dream you just had. Run through the dream until you encounter a dream-sign that you originally missed. Now instead of missing the dream-sign in your visualizations recognize the dream-sign and become “lucid”.
Repeat these steps until you have fallen asleep, hopefully you will find that you have reentered the dream that you just had and will recognize the dream-sign you marked earlier and become lucid.
WILD
WILD stands for “Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream”, or “Wake- Initiation of Lucid Dreams” to refer to any technique that involves falling asleep consciously. These techniques are similar to self-hypnosis. Some people believe that WILDs are not actual dreams, but are instead astral projection. Various detailed resources are available under that moniker.
For most people, they are far easier to induce in the early morning after waking up or in afternoon naps, as the sleep cycle will continue with an REM period. Once you are experienced with inducing WILDs, you can try to induce them at other times. For WILDs to occur, it is best for your body to be completely relaxed.
When yo