When during sleep you are completely aware that you are dreaming and in some cases even have the power to control the images that you see in your lucid dreams, you are said to be lucid dreaming.
When you are fully aware that you are dreaming and moreover can control your dreams, then the greatest thing is that you can do anything and everything in your dreams knowing fully well that nothing can affect you in reality after you wake up. Hence the ability of inducing lucid dreaming is one of the great gift one can be born with which gives him/her an out of the world experience.
In the light of all the above it can be understood why people so strongly want to develop the skill of inducing lucid dreams. It acts as a doorway in your life through which you can occasionally visit a world where you can do and enjoy whatever you want to and then come back to your normal life. Ability to induce lucid dreams can be developed by regular practice of the below mentioned five techniques.
Firstly, being able to recall your dreams is one primary and important aspect in inducing lucid dreaming. Even if you do experience a lucid dream but is not able to recall after waking up then there’s no point at all. Hence, dream recall capability is to be developed first and the foremost. This can be done by regularly maintaining dream journals, affirming the mind in remembering your dreams, recording yourself saying what you dreamt about each day with an audio recorder are some of the things that you could do in this respect.
Secondly, the most difficult to develop and thereby the most rare is the WILD or Wake Initiated Lucid Dream, where the individual is fully awake and aware and in control of themselves while they pass from the state of wakefulness to that of the dream realm. Ability to do so mostly includes the ability to control and manipulate the dreams as well. Extremely difficult to achieve, it involves being awake during the hypnogenic stage which is the border between wakefulness and sleep. In other words, if you can keep your mind awake during this time simultaneously letting your body rest and go to sleep then WILD can be achieved. You can keep your mind awake and focused during the hypnagogic stage by visualizing yourself ascending a flight of stairs and counting the no. of the same, chanting in your mind or even counting your breadths.
Thirdly, the MILD technique can also be used for inducing lucid dreams. Short for Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams, this involves affirming your mind to remember one particular object from your dreams. In this way, whenever your mind sees it in your dream, you will understand that you are dreaming.
Inducing Lucid dreams can also be done by a alternate sleeping-waking exercise. In this case, you should go to sleep in the usual time but only for a few hours. Set your alarm and get up in between a deep sleep phase and then occupy yourself with something for 45mins to an hour or so after which you go back to sleep again. In this way, your mind or your brain will not be completely sure whether you are asleep or not, suddenly when you get up from intense sleep. This will help in inducing lucid dreaming when you go back to sleep again.
Lastly, in today’s time of advanced technology a discussion can never be complete without stating what solutions the technology has in store for you. In inducing lucid dreams, mention may be made of the binaural beats which essentially refers to input of two different and slightly offset sound vibrations in each year via headphones which goes to the brain and results in the synchronization between the two hemispheres. This binaural beats lead your brainwaves to reach the state which is conducive to lucid dreaming. Other technological stuff such as specialized lights or dreaming masks can be used. Whatever might be the technique you use in inducing lucid dreaming, be sure that you go on affirming your mind completely about remembering your dreams and being aware of them.
