Lucid Dreaming

An informative discussion on lucid dreaming.

As a lucid dreamer, I've learned some tips on how to have more effective lucid dreaming.

1. Get enough sleep. Fatigue negatively impacts the brain's ability to determine its own level of consciousness.

2. Have a "kick." I adapted this term from the movie "Inception" (great film by the way), but I knew what a kick was long before that. Basically, something happens in your dream that lets you know you are dreaming. One of mine is having to go to the bathroom in the dream. Once I start focusing on having to go to the bathroom, and weaving scenarios into the dream to make that happen, I realize that my real-life physical urge is interfering in my dream and it brings me into awareness. Another one is the presence of a lion. Once I see a lion, I usually realize that I am dreaming.

3. Record your dreams. Keep a dream journal. Consistently dreaming about the same thing makes it easier to become familiar with the dreamscape if you are entering a recurring dream. This is also just good dreaming practice in general. I will talk more about dream journaling in future blog entries.