A Simple Explanation to Lucid Dreaming

Whether you want to time travel to another era, meet your favourite celebrity or fly to a distant planet, you can do it all while you're asleep. Lucid dreaming is a method of controlling the content of your dreams, so you consciously create the events in your dream. Apart from opening up a fantastical dream world adventure, lucid dreaming can help you practice for the real world by trying out conversations or actions in a safe environment before you tackle them in real life.

Try it...

The trick is to be able to recognise you are in a dream state, then you can control the events in your dream.

1) In the morning, write the word 'dream' on the back of your hand. Or you could choose a different word - one that's meaningful to you.

2) Every half an hour throughout the day, look at the word written on your hand and be conscious that you are awake. Seeing this word written on your had is a trigger to your brain that you are awake. Looking at the word becomes second nature - you do it all the time. So the idea is you will continue this habitual behaviour when you are dreaming. But this time there will be no word written on your hand, so you'll realise you are dreaming. By giving yourself awareness while in a dream state, you can take control of the dream.

Or try this...

Throughout the daytime, think of a relative or friend whom you would like to see in your lucid dream. Bring them to mind every half hour during the day. Think to yourself: the next time I see this person I will be dreaming. If you repeat this often enough, you will realise you are dreaming when this person appears. So you'll be having a lucid dream.

Direct your dream

Once you become aware you're dreaming, you can take control of how events unfold. One way of focusing your mind is to spend ten minutes thinking about what you would like to dream about before you go to sleep. For example, you could practise for a job interview, or imagine a romantic date going well. Or try asking your subconscious a simple question, such as, 'is this the best career for me?'

Make Notes

Have a pencil and paper beside your bed to write down information from your lucid dream as soon as you awake. Think about:

*Who appeared in the dream

*What was said?

*What happened?

*How did you feel?

*What do you think this dream means for you?

Why bother Lucid Dreaming?

Controlled dreaming can help you solve problems or face fears or give you new perspective on events in real life. For example:

*Problem solving

Now you are in control of your dream, ask your subconscious questions, such as: am I in a healthy relationship? Or, why can't I find a partner? Why do I always clash with this person at work? During the dream you can try out various scenarios to find the best course of action for your waking life. If you are upset about an issue, or if you tend to re-enact damaging behaviours, such as addictions, lucid dreaming is a good time to get to the bottom of your problems. In the dream state you will be more open. So you will be able to admit root causes of problems that you might not allow your conscious mind to consider.

*Peaceful Mind

If you have unresolved issues with a loved one who is deceased, you can see them in a lucid dream to get closure. Tell them what you always wanted to say, or imagine them talking to you. Speaking to them can be soothing and bring you a sense of peace. This can be especially beneficial if you feel there is unfinished business between you. You know it's not real but it can be very therapeutic.

*Cure phobias

Face your fears in a lucid dream and beat them. You'll know your phobia is not physically present in the dream so you can touch that spider if you have arachnophobia or stand on that cliff top if you have vertigo - safe in the knowledge neither things are real. Hopefully this dislodging of fear in the dream world may shift your thinking in the real world to free you of your phobias.