Learning how to lucid dream can be a exhilarating
and life-affirming skill. According to Wikipedia lucid dreams are dreams in which the
person is very much aware that they are in a dream while the dream is
in progress. This is also known as a conscious dream. When the
dreamer is lucid, they can actively manipulate the experiences in the
dream environment. Lucid dreams can be extremely real and vivid
depending on a person's level of self-awareness during the lucid
dream.
Lucid dreams (LD's) can begin many ways. A
dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the
dreamer eventually concludes that they are dreaming, while a
wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a
normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent
lapse in consciousness. Mnemonic Initiated Lucid Dreams (MILD) can
occur when the dreamer affirms, via willpower and/or special
techniques, that they will become lucid that night. Lucid dreaming
has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well
established.
In plain
English, a WILD lucid dream is when you wake up in the middle of the
night, slip back to sleep and right into a lucid dream. Our sleep
sound recordings are particularly good for this as the bio-mechanics
of REM sleep are enhanced. Dreaming lucid is a must on any
enlightened person's to-do list. It is the perfect balance of the
conscious and sleeping states of mind.
The easiest way that I know of inducing lucid
dreams is by asking yourself repeatedly (once every 30 minutes or so)
in the hours leading up to sleep 'Is this real or a dream?'
This is called a reality check or an RC. If you do it enough
you might find yourself asking the same question in a dream. Once you
realize it is a dream the fun begins. It is not unusual to wake from
a lucid dream feeling gleeful and wanting to 'jump back in'.
But how? Again, our sleep sound
recordings can help there, too. Just relax, visualize
the setting and let yourself go while trying to remain
conscious.
We would
like to submit to the lucid dreams community that we have innovated a
new way to experience dream consciousness. We call it Virtually
Induced Lucid Dreams (VILD)
A lucid dream technique using our
recordings:
During the process of
sleep lucid dreams will occur between the Theta brainwave state
and the Delta brainwave state. When you first feel yourself
drifting off to sleep you are in Theta. When you are asleep you
are in Delta. One of the first things the human brain likes to
do upon falling asleep is dream. Dreams occur in the
secondary visual cortex in the occipital lobe near the
back of our brains. Visualizing a scene, or simply imagining,
also occurs in the secondary visual cortex. By visualizing your
are prepping your brain for dreaming.
Have your desired virtual dreamscape ready in
your bedside CD player. Set your alarm clock to wake you up 4
hours after you fall asleep. Upon awakening click 'play' (if
you have a partner you will probably want to get a pair of 'ear
bud' headphones). While the recording plays simply relax and
visualize the scenery. Remind yourself that you desire to
be aware of the dream. When lucid dreams do occur they might be
in the form of the intended virtual dream, or they might not
be. What is occurring is the balance of conscious auditory
stimuli and the onset of REM sleep. The last sense to go to
sleep is your hearing.
While our
dreamscapes are primarily for relaxation, meditation and sleep onset,
our CD's and MP3 downloads can promote the onset of lucid dreams by
providing a balance between guided imagery and sleep inducing natural
sounds. You can visualize using our train sounds, the sound of an airline, or our more
conventional nature
sounds. We have dozens of unique sounds including city sounds and even carnival sounds.
Someone
once asked me what the wildest ride I ever took was. While I knew the
conversation was about theme park rides my answer was lucid dreaming.
Its a powerful and life-affirming experience to be awake and in a
dream. I have never had a 'bad' lucid dream. While almost any of our
virtual dreams can induce a lucid dream it will be up to the listener
to discover what works for them.
