Meaning of a Dream

This article looks at some easy lucid dreaming techniques, helping most people have their first lucid dream between 3 days and 3 weeks.

I have packed as much information into this beginner's article as I can, so don't worry if you feel overwhelmed. Just take it slow.

First, my name is Rebecca. I've been lucid dreaming since I was 14 years old. Over the last 12 years I have researched a lot about dream control. I have practiced many different lucid dream exercises and developed my own ways to become lucid and stay conscious in the dream state for longer, enabling me to have many fantastic lucid dreams at will. The following is my "big picture" take on easy lucid dreaming for beginners. It combines the most popular lucid dreaming techniques and the best value dream control products to leapfrog you to success.

You should improve your dream recall so that you remember at least one dream every night (and preferably more). The easy way to do this is to tell yourself regularly, "I will remember my dreams", especially just before you go to sleep. This plants the intention in your subconscious.

Also keep a dream journal by the bedside so you can write down your dreams when you wake up. Discuss your dreams with friends whenever you can, to really hit home the message that dreams are important to you and must be remembered. Your subconscious will attend to it.

A very easy lucid dreaming exercise, reality checking is the secret weapon of those who tend towards Dream Initiated Lucid Dreams (DILDs). By performing reality checks regularly throughout your waking day, you will enhance your awareness of the waking state and be much more likely to recognize the dreamstate. Soon you will spontaneously perform a reality check in a dream, exposing the nature of the dream reality and giving you instant dream control.

Meditation is the exploration of the subconscious mind. When you meditate deeply, you can experience some fascinating phenomena, including hallucinations, feelings of euphoria and sudden insights. Meditation tunes you in to your waking reality on new levels, and helps you feel more at peace in your daily life.

Research has linked meditation with easy lucid dreaming for several reasons. First, it trains you to enter altered states of awareness on demand. Second, it bridges the gap between your conscious and unconscious brain. And third, it makes you more self-aware, helping you to recognize the unreality of the dream world and become lucid more often.

Start by introducing a simple 10-minute meditation into your daily routine, such as an easy breathing exercise. To access deeper meditative states, I like to listen to brainwave entrainment. I find it deeply soothing and it gives me the opportunity to improve my visualization skills for my next Wake Induced Lucid Dream.

If you are serious about having regular lucid dreams, you do need to do a little research. It can help you latch on to the best induction methods for you, and learn easy ways to control and explore your conscious dream world. If you don't know the ropes, the whole process takes a lot longer to learn.

This part is easy. Lucid dreaming is becoming increasingly popular with books, websites, forums and even TV and movie coverage. You will find more than 100 free lucid dreaming articles on this website. And the more you think about lucid dreams during the day, the more likely you are to become conscious in your dreams at night. The more you understand about this amazing mind phenomenon, the sooner you will take to it.

If you are looking for a great introductory book on lucidity, read Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming by Dr Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold. It's a truly comprehensive and practical workbook for beginners and experts alike. Once you nail the easy lucid dreaming techniques, like dream journaling and reality checking, it's time to begin more involved methods. Get ready for some acronyms (the bane of any beginner's guide to lucid dreams).

So far, I have only offered methods for Dream Induced Lucid Dreams (where you start dreaming normally and become lucid from within the dreamstate). The most popular type of DILD is called Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD), created by Stephen LaBerge. I recommend starting out on this route, because DILDs often give way to spontaneous lucid dreams.

There is also a whole other category known as Wake Induced Lucid Dreams (WILDs). These were originally developed by Tibetan Buddhists in the form of Dream Yoga, which involves training yourself to go directly from waking to a lucid dream state. It involves falling asleep consciously and induces some strange phenomena linked with the out of body experience (OBE).

So there it is - easy lucid dreaming for beginners. Of course, a beginner's guide is only the start. Once you have found some effective ways to become lucid, you will have more questions about controlling and working with the alternate reality of lucid dreams. But that is another article altogether...