Lucid Dreams- Lucid Dreaming Tips for Beginners

A lucid dream is a dream where the dreamer is aware they are experiencing a dream.  That moment of awareness can last only an instant, or can continue the whole night.  Some dreamers stumble into lucid dreams by accident, but for others it may take some time.  If you have never had a lucid dream before, or if you have and want to find out how to have more, then I have a few tips to help you get your next lucid dream.

1. Keep a Dream Journal

 One of the most important things a dreamer can do to improve their chances of having lucid dreams is to keep a dream journal.  Dream journals help dreamers to improve their dream recall and better acquaint themselves with the dream world.  I’ve kept a dream journal since I was twelve, and these days I find myself in lucid dreams almost every night.  The key to stumbling into lucid dreams on a regular basis is to know the dream world and its quirks and inconsistencies so well that you realize you are dreaming often.   So learn how your dream world works!  Write down your dreams when you wake up and be sure to include as many details as you can recall.

 2. Read Your Dream Journal

 Now that you’re learning your own personal dream world, you need to remember to study it often.  Read over your favorite dreams during the day or just before you go to bed.  This goes back to learning about the dream world and enhancing your knowledge of dreams.  Writing the dreams down is a good start, but you can take it one step further by reading back over those dreams.

 3. Remember to Question

 Most lucid dreamers recommend frequent reality checks to beginners.  Reality checks are simple tricks like flipping light switches, trying to push your hand through windows, and holding your nose and trying to breathe through it.  In reality, the light switch usually works, the window is solid, and you find yourself quite unable to breath through the nose you’ve plugged.  In the dream world, light switches rarely work, windows can be mushy or non-existent, and you may be able to breathe with your nose plugged.  However, I’d like to recommend taking it a step further.  In one of my first lucid dreams I flipped a light switch and wonder of wonders it actually turned on.  I tried pushing my hand through a window and found it quite solid.  When both reality checks passed I could have easily lost consciousness and continued the dream in the usual muddy haze, but I knew discerning the differences between the real world and the dream world goes beyond flipping light switches.

Think about how consistent and structured reality is in comparison with the dream world.  In the real world you can walk out of a room and back inside and find nothing has changed.  In the dream world walking out of a room and walking back in can put you in an entirely new place.  In the dream I mentioned above, I knew I was dreaming because there were dozens of people that I had not seen in years sitting in my living room.  Alarms were going off in my mind, even though the light switch worked.  Whenever something strikes you as inconsistent, whether it is a light switch or the state of your home, remember to question it.

4. Wake Up

If you have trouble triggering lucid dreams in your regular sleep schedule then I highly recommend the “Wake- Back to Bed” method.  Set an alarm for a time early in the morning like 5AM or 6AM depending on when you really have to get up.  When that alarm wakes you up then get up and spend a little bit of time out of bed.  Go to the bathroom, write down whatever dreams you’ve had so far, etc.  Then, get right back in bed and go back to sleep.  Your mind will dive straight back into REM sleep, the dreaming sleep, but you will be more alert and aware.  This method works very well, even for beginners.

5.  Get to know the world of dreams!

My personal interest in lucid dreaming came from my interest in dreams themselves.  I found dreams entertaining, inspiring, and intriguing.  Whatever your reason is for exploring lucid dreaming, whether you want to learn to control dreams or just get to know yourself better, you can benefit from learning about dreams in general.  Find out more about the science of dreaming and learn theories about why we dream and what dreams may mean.  Tell your friends and family about some of the fun dreams you have, and ask them to share their own dreams and theories about dreams.  Listen to the lucid dreaming experiences of others.  When you dive into the world of dreams headfirst in your waking life and dreams become an integrated  part of what you think about then you’re more likely to realize you are dreaming the next time you go to sleep.