How To Induce A Lucid Dream
Author: Trevor Johnson

Lucid dream induction is the art of making yourself dream
lucidly. In other words, it's how to consciously start dreaming
or how to "break into" a dream you realize you're having and
take control.

One of the common techniques for inducing lucid dreams is
called MILD, which stands for mnemonic induction of lucid
dreams.

Don't worry, it's easier done than said!

In essence, this is like putting an alarm note in your cell
phone. You're setting yourself a mental note to do something in
the future.

Specifically, whilst you are in a dream state in the future.

Decide that you are going to briefly wake up the next time you
notice you're dreaming. As soon as you wake, recall as much of
the dream as possible. If you're regularly using a journal
already, this should be a reasonably simple thing to do.

Then allow yourself to drift back off into sleep. Dr LaBerge,
who invented this technique, claimed this is the best time to
set your intention for your dream.

As you start to drift, tell yourself something along the lines
of "Next time I'm dreaming, I will actually remember that I am
dreaming". The exact wording you use is a lot less important
than just remembering to tell yourself this, over and over again
as you drift back into a sleeping state.

As you repeat that phrase or mantra, see yourself back in the
dream you've just been having. Or, if nothing is particularly
clear about that dream, another one that you've had recently. If
that doesn't work, visualize yourself as though you're watching
a movie of yourself dreaming.

Don't concentrate too hard, otherwise you'll stop yourself from
going into a dream state and will find yourself wide awake
through too much concentrating. It's far better to fall asleep
during this process than keep yourself awake with it.

Ideally, do the next step whilst you're still in the process of
falling asleep.

See yourself in the dream and notice something that clearly
indicates it is a dream. Anything will do for this: a dragon
wagging its tail whilst cooking a unicorn with its breath would
be exceptionally clear. But its your dream, not mine, so notice
anything that gives you a clear signal that you are in a dream
state.

Say confidently to yourself "I'm dreaming". But continue with
this twilight zone experience and allow yourself to drift
further into the land of slumber.

You can use this process to set the intention of your dream at
the same time if you want to. It's not essential to do this, but
it can help point your dreams in the direction you want them to
follow.

Keep repeating the process of setting your intention of
remembering to notice when you are dreaming and to tell yourself
that you've actually recognized it's a dream when you do notice.
With a little practice, you'll start to become accomplished at
spotting when it's a dream, not reality. You should then be able
to enter a lucid dreaming state almost at will.


About The Author: Find out more about lucid dreaming at
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