Meaning of a Dream: dreaming

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Self Hypnosis for Lucid Dreaming

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Hypnosis, lucid

Self hypnosis is another great tool for lucid dreaming.

Like meditation, it draws on the same relaxation response that helps calm your body, reduce stress hormones, and focus your mind on affirmative thoughts. You can use it to program your dreams and increase your self-awareness, teaching your subconscious to recognize when you are dreaming (and thereby trigger lucidity).

Hypnotizing yourself is different from meditation because it uses auto suggestion to plant certain thoughts and affirmations. So if you want to use self hypnosis for lucid dreaming, plant suggestions like: "I can remember my dreams" and "I can recognize when I'm dreaming" and "All my dreams are vivid".

For a professional hypnosis recording, check out my Lucid Dreaming Hypnosis MP3 (which readers can get for free as part of The Lucid Dreaming Fast Track). It uses guided visualizations and auto suggestions to incubate a lucid dream every night you listen.

Hypnosis is the act of sending your brain into a trance, similar to sleep. It makes you more suggestible than normal. It is not unnatural, evil, or mind control!

Hypnosis gets a lot of dubious press - most people are familiar with stage hypnotists, who often make fun of people in a trance state. They convince their victims to perform embarrassing tricks such as flapping around like a chicken or humping a chair.

In the real world, hypnosis has much more productive uses in therapy and personal development. It gives you the ability to talk to your inner self and program your subconscious mind. So let's dispel a few myths about hypnosis:
You are self aware during hypnosis. The deeper you go, the more you will become immersed in an inner reality. But you are always aware of the hypnotist's voice and instructions and what you do. You have complete control over yourself during hypnosis. You may be more suggestible but you still decide what you say and do. You can't be convinced to do anything that breaks your moral code. You can't get stuck in a hypnotic trance. Even if the hypnotist were to keel over midway through a session, you would surface from the trance naturally, just as you wake up after a night's sleep. Everyone can be hypnotized to some degree. We all enter unconscious hypnotic trances every day, whether we are watching TV, going through our morning routine, or staring out the window. Some of us are just more willing to go under than others. It is simply a relaxed state in which we are open to ideas.
In self hypnosis, you become closer to your inner voice and more suggestible. You'll enter a deep, relaxing trance, causing the release of endorphins (the natural happy chemicals). You can then plant any number of powerful auto suggestions to improve your life - in this case, to encourage lucid dreaming.
While there are a lot of details to learn about hypnosis that will make your session much more effective, here is a quick run-down of the essentials.
Find a comfortable place to sit or lie. Don't cross your arms or legs - have an open posture that is easy to stay in for the next 20 minutes.
Allow your eyes to close naturally. Take three deep, slow breaths - releasing any tension and anxiety as you do. Observe the thoughts that enter your mind and gently release them without any interaction. Let yourself float.
Focus on releasing physical tension throughout your body. Starting from your toes, visualize each muscle relaxing and melting into the furniture. It brings a pleasant, warm feeling of relaxation. Systematically release each muscle group, heightening the sense of relaxation every time. Spend extra time on your shoulders and upper back, which tend to hold a lot of tension. Visualizing soothing water or a golden glow may help to free up the muscles.
Visualize yourself at the top of a staircase. This represents your consciousness. As you descend each stair one at a time, drift deeper and deeper into your soothing, relaxing trance state. Count the steps if you like, starting from 10. Try rolling your eyes gently back into your head and keep your body still.
Once you reach the bottom of the staircase, you are ready to begin your auto suggestion script. Softly repeat one or more of the following phrases in your mind (choose whichever feels right for you):
"I can remember my dreams""I can have lucid dreams""I can become conscious in my dreams""I can realize when I am dreaming""I can control my dreams"
Of course, you can introduce any type of auto suggestion. Just remember to make every phrase positive
and in the present tense:"I am calm and relaxed""I am strong and confident""I am in control of my destiny""I can have everything I want""I am healthy and energetic"
Repeat your chosen affirmation as many times as you want. Revel in the feeling of deep relaxation. Visualize yourself achieving your goal.

When you're ready, prepare to wake up from your trance. Tell yourself you will count to 10, and with each step you will slowly return to full awareness. Then count upwards as you climb the steps in your mind.

Take a deep breath when you reach the top, then open your eyes. Sit for a moment if you like - and remember to stand up slowly
.
Self hypnosis is a deeply relaxing state. I used self hypnosis in my early days of lucid dreaming and became very familiar with the voice on the tape. Even in the first few seconds of hearing the hypnotist's voice, my mind was triggered with a rush of thoughts and feelings about having more vivid dreams and becoming lucid.

So I think it's good to fall into a self hypnosis routine - perhaps by listening every night just before sleep. Your mind will quickly relate the sound of the hypnotist's voice with relaxation and dreaming. In NLP this is called anchoring
and it's a good way of quickly inducing a feeling or state of mind. There is no better time to do this than when you are in bed ready to dream.
For a deeply relaxing hypnosis recording, check out my very own Lucid Dreaming Hypnosis MP3.

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The Benefits of Lucid Dreaming

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: Benefits, dreaming, lucid

The benefits of lucid dreaming are far-reaching. You can take on a new life in lucid dreams, free of all your fears and inhibitions, confident that you can do absolutely anything. This has a real positive impact on your waking life. But that's not all...

Conscious dreaming is a fascinating experience. The realism is shocking, yet you are in a completely safe and controllable environment. Alternate realities here we come! It's against this background that you can face your fears, enhance your creative problem solving skills, improve your confidence and practice new skills.
That's not to mention the enormous fun that comes from playing within your own virtual reality dream world and how it relates to your own subconscious mind. Soon you will see it is all interconnected - conscious and unconscious - enabling you to use this playground for profound personal growth and insights.
And then there is the obvious benefit: pure wish fulfillment. Act out your greatest fantasies in full color. You don't need inspiration for that, do you...?
Scientists understand the benefits of lucid dreaming; some have used it to enhance their problem solving skills in extraordinarily creative ways.
Take Friedrich Kekule's discovery of the structure of the benzene molecule; Otto Loewi's experiment on nerve impulses; and Elias Howe's invention of the sewing machine. These dream-inspired inventions highlight the stunning power of the dreaming subconscious mind.
Once you learn the basics of lucid dreaming, you can solve problems on demand - and on a whole new level. That's because you are not limited by your logical conscious brain. Instead, you can solve problems creatively in a 3D environment, or by drawing deeper insights directly from your subconscious mind. Just ask any question to your lucid dream and wait for the answer...
Conscious dreaming is an exceptionally powerful way to improve your creativity. Painters like Salvador Dali, William Blake and Paul Klee created famous artwork inspired by dreams.
Even musical composers - like Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner - pointed to dreams as the source of their inspiration. In fact, some of the most beautiful music I ever heard took place in my lucid dreams. They reveal our most creative side because of the free-flow of ideas arising from the subconscious mind.
To improve your creativity in lucid dreams, you can follow two avenues. First, make an announcement in your dream: "show me something amazing!" Your subconscious will respond in unpredictable but often deeply inspiring ways.
Alternatively, set a lucid dream intention. If you are a painter, take a trip to your own lucid dreaming art gallery and see what you find. If you are a musician, play the piano with Chopin and create a complex new arrangement. By encouraging your conscious dream to show you these things, the response will come as if automatically, straight from the dreaming subconscious.
Remember I said the benefits of lucid dreaming are far-reaching? This one may push you to your logical limits.
Conscious dreaming allows you to face your fears in a controlled setting. If you are afraid of heights, why not jump out of an airplane?
In the alternate reality of lucid dreams, you can slow down time for a controlled fall, and float gently to the ground. Once you have done this at 10,000 feet you will be surprised how you feel about heights in the waking world.
How does it work? One explanation is that dealing with a worst case scenario in a positive way creates new neural patterns in your subconscious mind. Reinforcing that belief with more experiences that seem real can dissolve the fear altogether. From skydiving to snakes, you can face your fears and reprogram your subconscious reactions, knowing that absolutely no harm can come to you.
Alternatively, why not ask that spider what he represents? He may give you an astonishing response that finally allows you to rationalize your fear.
Do you lack confidence in the waking world? If so, you can use conscious dreaming to release your inhibitions and be totally free in a realistic dream world.
If you want to improve your public speaking abilities, you can rehearse the event in a lucid dream. Having practiced your speech in a realistic environment, you will find you have more confidence when it comes to making the speech in real life. Remember - practice makes perfect.
Lucid dreams are a playground for experimentation. You can try out any concept imaginable - from business, to sports, to relationships - anything you like. By rehearsing a situation or simply toying with different outcomes, you can improve your confidence in any number of waking scenarios.
By the same token, you can practice new skills in lucid dreams. In Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming by Dr Stephen LaBerge, there is a testimony from a surgeon. Before going to sleep, he would review his surgical cases for the next day. Then he would practice them in precise detail in lucid dreams. He has a solid reputation as a surgeon because of this, being able to refine and polish his techniques and perform procedures much faster than the average surgeon.

By now, you can see how the benefits of lucid dreaming are limitless. Take a look at this website for martial arts training in lucid dreams. It features images and descriptions of its virtual training rooms, so you can go there next time you are lucid. It also explains how the precision muscle movements you make during dream training is ingrained in your brain - just as if you had been training in the real world.

The lucid dream world is made up of many alternate realities. Every time you "wake up" in a new dream scene, you will find strange goings on and new landscapes to explore. They are all completely tangible and life-like.
Just like in science fiction, you can teleport to parallel worlds, explore different timelines, visit alien planets and travel to other dimensions. This is a thrilling proposition that enables you to explore the nature of the physical universe, as your vast subconscious mind sees it. You can even induce an out of body experience (OBE) in a lucid dream and explore the so-called astral realm.
As you can see, there are many great benefits of lucid dreaming. I'm most thankful for lucid dreaming because it showed me something very special about the nature of the human mind. I realized that we are fully capable of creating a vivid virtual reality, complete with all five senses, inside our heads. If you think lucid dreaming is anything like normal dreams, or daydreams, think again...
I love the sheer freedom created by lucidity; how it enables me to fly high like a bird without fear of falling - or run through solid objects. I can visit anyone and do anything I want. And beyond the novelty of wish fulfillment, it provides me with a direct channel to my subconscious mind, enabling me to heal past fears and anxieties and regard myself in a whole new light. It's mind-blowing stuff.
Like anything worth doing, learning to wake up in dreams is not necessarily easy. But with practice and patience, anyone can do it. In fact, just by discovering the concept you have already planted the seed to have lucid dreams tonight...

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Privacy Policy for The World of Lucid Dreaming

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, lucid, Policy, Privacy, World

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The Lucidity Institute: Lucid Dreaming Workshops

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Institute, lucid, Lucidity, Workshops

Each year, the Institute runs a series of lucid dreaming workshops in Hawaii, aptly called Dreaming and Awakening. The next event will take place over 9 days from March 10-19, 2010, and will be hosted by Dr Stephen LaBerge himself.

Becoming adept at lucid dreaming requires focused attention and practice - something that is difficult to maintain during our busy lives. So The Lucidity Institute has created an ideal opportunity to cultivate your lucid dreaming skills and enhance your mindfulness in everyday life.

Using the most effective techniques and technology, derived from both Tibetan Dream Yoga and Western science, Stephen LaBerge and his team present methods to develop the mental skills that foster lucidity and direct your consciousness within both dreaming and waking states.

The workshops held by The Lucidity Institute are typically an international mix of 20-25 adults with a passion for inner world explorations and more mindful waking lives. Many who come to the program, either by themselves or with a partner, discover new friends who share what may seem an uncommon interest in the extraordinary possibilities of lucid dreaming.

During the lucid dreaming workshops, you will have the chance to use the much-anticipated NovaDreamer II and get involved in ongoing research on a natural substance that stimulates lucidity and mindfulness in dreams. Participants in previous workshops have enjoyed phenomenal success at lucid dreaming.

The lucid dreaming workshops in Hawaii are held by several lucidity experts. The best known is, of course, Dr Stephen LaBerge, a world renowned expert on lucid dreaming. His groundbreaking research at Stanford University demonstrated the validity of lucid dreaming to the scientific world, and his books Lucid Dreaming and Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming are best sellers.

Dr LaBerge is a dynamic speaker, known for his humor and ability to stimulate thought and to make scientific concepts relevant to the individual. Through the years his research team has developed highly effective techniques, including technological aids, for building lucid dreaming skills.

LaBerge also has extensive personal experience with lucid dreaming, having learned to have lucid dreams at will, and among his thousands of lucid dreams are many which have been delightful, inspiring, enlightening, and life changing. He is an unabashed advocate of lucid dreaming, believing that the world would be a better place if more people developed the art.

Moving on to other speakers, Patricia Keelin is a dedicated and accomplished oneironaut, and a long time associate of Stephen LaBerge and The Lucidity Institute. In recent years, she has shared her experience and endless enthusiasm for lucid dreaming by teaching workshops, facilitating at TLI's Dreaming and Awakening programs, and through numerous radio and television interviews. She has participated in research experiments as a lab subject and worked extensively with the NovaDreamer.

Meanwhile, Dominick Attisani, a seasoned lucid dreamer and avid meditator, has been exploring the inner worlds for more than thirty years. Familiar with yogic and shamanic approaches of inducing border states of consciousness, his special interest lies in transitional states of consciousness. These include hypnagogia, and Wake Induced Lucid Dreams often associated with out of body perceptions.

Through the sharing of personal experiences and practical guidance, Dominick provides motivation, direction, and individual support to workshop participants, along with data feedback using the Super NovaDreamer.

If you're interested in attending TLI's famed workshop in 2010, registration costs $2,200 which includes full board accommodation. This is the special discounted price which expires after October 31, 2009 - after that, places cost $2,450.

In exchange, you will get lucid dreaming tuition from the famous Dr Stephen LaBerge himself, along with fellow experts at The Lucidity Institute. It's said to be a great experience, meeting other lucid dreamers and picking up some terrific insights into your lucid dream induction skills. Visit The Lucidity Institute website for more details of the upcoming Dreaming and Awakening workshop.

If you're unable to attend the workshop, I encourage you to read Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Dr Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold, as it will provide a clear understanding of your dreaming mind and its amazing potential. It will also introduce specific and effective techniques for inducing lucid dreams at will.

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Waking Sleep Paralysis: The Holy Grail of Lucid Dreaming

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Grail, lucid, Paralysis, Sleep, Waking

If you're new to lucid dreams and OBEs and you're wondering what to do first, well here it is. Here is the big secret that I wish I had known when I first got started with lucid dreams and OBEs. You're about to find out why waking sleep paralysis is the holy grail for new OBEers because it's how you can access your subconscious without having to practice using any visualizations at all.

If you've ever woken up in the morning and found that you couldn't move or make a sound for a few minutes, you've had sleep paralysis. This used to happen to me and I had no idea why or what it was. But as it turns out, this was the trick that opened the door to frequent OBEs for me after having insomnia for years.

Sleep Paralysis Protects You During Sleep

The question is "what is sleep paralysis and how can you use it?" Sleep paralysis is a protection mechanism your body uses when you fall asleep. If you were to dream you're doing something very active, such as running, and you weren't in sleep paralysis then you would move your limbs when you're asleep and you'd wake yourself up. To prevent that from happening, your body disconnects your voluntary muscle system from your mind so that you can dream all you like without waking yourself up.

Usually You Enter "Mind Asleep, Body Asleep"

Normally you're not aware that of this happening because by the time your body shuts itself down in sleep paralysis, your mind is already asleep and unaware of what's happening. In other words you enter a state of 'body awake/mind asleep' before entering 'body asleep, mind asleep'.

"Mind Awake, Body Asleep" is What We Want

The whole trick to lucid dreaming is to enter a subconscious focus without losing awareness. Here's how waking sleep paralysis does this for you.

Sleep Paralysis Puts You in a Subconscious Focus Automatically

When you're awake your brain is in what's called a 'beta' state. Beta means your dominant electrical brain waves are oscillating at around 14 to 30 cycles per second.

When you enter sleep paralysis, your brain automatically puts itself in "dream mode" which is called a 'theta' state. Theta is slower than beta and is around 4 to 7 cycles per second.

Knowing this secret allows you to avoid one of the major mistakes most people make when first starting out in OBEs.

Most Books Say to do OBEs in One Step... This is a Major Mistake!

Most books on OBEs say to simply induce an OBE in what is basically a one step process. Going directly from a waking state to an OBE is possible but it's difficult so this is not what I recommend you start out with.

The Trick is to use Two Transitions to Success, Not Just One!

Instead, you'll progress much faster by making it a two step process. You first use the sleep commands we'll cover later to trick your body into falling asleep and enter sleep paralysis.

You then use exit techniques we'll cover later to convert waking sleep paralysis into an OBE and separate from your physical body.

Most People Discover Sleep Paralysis by Waking Up in it!

Now, how do you do that? The way you'll usually become aware of sleep paralysis is that you wake up in it and find you can't move or make a sound.

Waking sleep paralysis often feels like there's a heavy lead blanket on you. It's not that there is really anything on you or that your muscles have become weaker. The feeling is because your brain has to send a stronger nerve signal than normal to get the same muscle movement. That makes it feel like you're having to overcome some kind of resistance when you try to move.

This feeling also usually makes it feel like it's harder to breathe but it's actually a natural sleep process. Sleep paralysis happens every single time you fall asleep.

Is Sleep Paralysis Dangerous?

You may be wondering if waking sleep paralysis is dangerous and if there's a way to break free. Sleep paralysis is not dangerous because it's something your body does every night. Plus, here is a secret "safety release" trick you can use to free yourself from paralysis so you always have a backup plan.

How to Break Sleep Paralysis 100% of The Time: Use Deep Breathing to Contrast Sleep Breathing

The only way your body knows for sure if your mind is awake is if you move. This is a problem when you're in 100% sleep paralysis which is preventing you from moving. Luckily waking paralysis is limited to your voluntary muscle system like your arms and legs. Your breathing is semi-involuntary so you still have control over it even in deep paralysis.

If you enter sleep paralysis and decide you want break free and wake up, simply change your breathing pattern to something other than the sleep breathing pattern your body is in. The most effective way I have found to do this is to begin breathing deeply and slowly.

After 10 or 15 seconds your body will notice the change and bring you out of paralysis. Not many things are 100% reliable in lucid dreaming but this has worked for me every single time.

How to Find Out if You Have Sleep Apnea

A very few people have reported that they woke up in sleep paralysis and noticed that they weren't breathing at all. The problem is not the paralysis itself, but that they had an existing health condition called 'sleep apnea'.

Sleep apnea basically means that you stop breathing when you're asleep. So this is one of the side benefits of using waking sleep paralysis to have OBEs: you'll find out whether or not you have sleep apnea.

Keep in mind there's a big difference between the normal "heavy lead blanket" feeling that comes with sleep paralysis versus not breathing at all. If you find you stop breathing entirely then you may have sleep apnea and should see a doctor about it. If you only feel the heaviness sensation then everything is normal.

"Accidental" Versus "Deliberate" Sleep Paralysis

So far we've talked about the case where you somehow manage to wake up in sleep paralysis. However that's basically an uncontrolled and accidental process. The question is what can you do to make it happen more consistently?

Toward Consistency: What if The Body Falls Asleep First?

The idea is to flip the sleep order around so that instead of entering "body awake, mind asleep", you enter "mind awake, body asleep".

When this happens you're actually aware of the process your body goes through when it falls asleep. This is our main secret trick for doing visualization-free lucid dreams and OBEs. This transition is the most important skill to learn in this part of the course.

Why? Because when you can put your body to sleep without losing consciousness at any point, you have 100% perfectly clear dream recall. This is called a Wake Induced Lucid Dream or WILD. It's as easy to remember what you did in a WILD as it is to remember the last 15 minutes or so of normal waking awareness. With this method, you don't have to think back through and hazy dream phase like you normally do with most dreams.

If You Actually Succeed... What Does it Feel Like?

So what does it feel like to actually watch your body falling asleep?

Instead of waking up in sleep paralysis and with the heavy lead blanket feeling, when you induce paralysis consciously you actually have the sensation of the heavy lead blanket being laid on your chest. It often feels like it begins at your feet, comes up over your chest and ends at your head. When that process is complete you're in sleep paralysis.

So how to get this process to happen consistently? Here is the key. And this one fact is so important and so critical that I'm giving it a big fancy name. It's called the "Fundamental Theorem of Sleep Paralysis".

The Fundamental Theorem Of Sleep Paralysis

The Fundamental Theorem of Sleep Paralysis is that if you wake up and fall asleep without moving at all, sleep paralysis becomes extremely likely.

Sleep Paralysis is Most Likely when The Body was Recently Asleep

And when I say, without moving I mean you wake up and don't move your eyes, don't open your eyes, don't scratch any itches, you don't move at all in any way. The idea is that your body doesn't really know for sure if your mind is actually awake or not. If you don't give it any signals otherwise, it will assume that the mind really is still asleep and re-paralyze itself.

The Next Step: The "Stop, Drop & Roll" Sleep Commands

The foundation skill you need to develop this knowledge into a full-blown induction is to fall asleep quickly. So in the next section I'll show you how you can make your body first ask for permission to asleep and then I'll show you how you can tell it "yes it's time to fall asleep". This trick is called the "stop drop and roll" sleep command and once you have it you'll never have a problem with insomnia again and you'll dramatically accelerate your OBE progress.

Nick Newport is the author of Lucidology, a website dedicated to teaching people how to have lucid dreams and out of body experiences from a waking state. To learn more about Nick Newport's visualization and timer techniques, subscribe to his website for free at Lucidology.com.

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The First Lucid Dream: How to Start Lucid Dreaming for Beginners

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: Beginners, dream, dreaming, First, lucid, Start

There's no question that your first lucid dream will be the hardest to achieve. But that's not exactly helpful is it - hardest compared to what?

Until you start lucid dreaming, you have zero basis for comparison. And that's why, it seems, a lot of beginners flounder in this realm for a few weeks or months before deciding that lucidity is an impossible dream, and they give up.

I'm writing this article to help you over the brink from vague fuzzy dreams, to the heady world of lucid dreaming. I'm going to give you some specific advice and equip you with some advanced knowledge - so the next time you are on the verge of a lucid dream, you are automatically prepared to jump right in...

First, commit yourself to learning this incredible new skill. You'll be very lucky to start lucid dreaming the first day you hear about it (although it happens, thanks to the subconscious incubation technique). But most people will need to start with some background reading and mentally prepare themselves - this website is a good start. The most popular section of which is lucid dreaming techniques.

To summarize those links in a nutshell, you should be:

Writing at least one regular dream per night in your dream journal Performing at least 10 reality checks throughout the waking day Doing at least 20 minutes of meditation per day

Those are the bare minimum requirements to start lucid dreaming, in my mind. The links above also explain how to perform the famous MILD and WILD techniques, plus how to identify and manipulate your ideal REM periods for lucid dreaming. If you do all that and still don't have your first lucid dream, read on.

Lucid dreams are exceptionally vivid. When someone reports a vague lucid dream, where they sort-of knew they were dreaming, or sort-of had control, it is a form of subconscious lucidity, or semi-lucidity. These types of dreams can be quite disappointing because they undermine the brilliance of true lucid dreaming.

For beginners, we want to artificially stimulate that feeling of lucidity in a subconscious dream; to catch a glimpse of a realistic dream world where you will understand the power of the subconscious mind to create tangible landscapes - where everything you touch is real. The best way to do this is with dream herbs.

My favorite dream herb to date is Calea Zacatechichi. This is safe and natural herb discovered by Mexican shamans to induce vivid and meaningful dreams. These dreams may not be lucid (it takes conscious recognition to realize that you're dreaming) but they are leagues apart from regular dreams.

In my Calea Z dreams, I've lived alien lives that seemed to last for years, and followed complex and dramatic plots involving many characters. The dreams can be completely normal or out-of-this-world... and they are always exceptionally vivid. They may lead you to your first lucid dream; but if they don't, they will certainly give you a taste of what a meaningful dream is like.

Another excellent way to start lucid dreaming if you are on the brink is to increase your consciousness within a regular dream. The most famous method is called reality checking. But there are other ways to increase the clarity and focus of your dream so that is develops into a true lucid dream.

First of all, the opportunity must present itself within a regular dream. If you're reading lots about lucid dreaming during the day (and especially before sleep) then you're already putting your subconscious mind in the optimum state. When you have that vague inkling that you're dreaming, or you begin to will things to happen in the dream (but they just don't work), seize the moment by:

Quickly looking at the palms of your hands and studying the detailRubbing your hands together and feeling the frictionShout out "I'm lucid!" or "Clarity now!" to the dreamscapeSpin around and feel the sensation of movement

There is a method to this madness... Each of these techniques stir the higher conscious brain in one way or another. And that is the switch that will turn your regular-but-vaguely-lucid dream into a vivid lucid dream.

Your First Lucid Dream Once you have stabilized yourself within your conscious dream, stay calm and explore your environment. Don't try to do anything too fancy too soon, like teleport to the moon.

Initially just walk or float around, touching nearby objects, and soaking up the atmosphere. Relish the fact that your fuzzy internal dream has just been transformed into a living, tangible reality.

This will help you stay in your first lucid dream for as long as possible. For many people who start lucid dreaming, the early ones only last a few seconds - usually because they get too overwhelmed or excited, and jolt themselves awake. You now have the benefit of knowing that you must consciously make your first lucid dream last longer. Remember this - and build your lucid experience slowly.

For step-by-step tutorials in lucidity, check out The Lucid Dreaming Fast Track, my digital course that shows beginners the fastest way to lucid dreams.

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The Lucid Dreaming Kit Review

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, lucid, Review

This is my review of the Lucid Dreaming Kit - one of the original online lucid dreaming courses. The kit is centered around an ebook called "How to Lucid Dream in 7 Days" by Bradley Thompson. It also contains an Audio Stimulation CD containing binaural beats and verbal lucidity cues.

This is an intensive guide that guarantees your first lucid dream in 7 days or your money back. That's quite an overhyped claim - and I'm not convinced it will work for everyone that fast. But it is at least possible to have your first lucid dream within 7 days, and taking the course certainly won't hurt your chances.

Bradley Thompson's lucid dream kit is a quick-start guide to lucid dreaming. It contains a lot of nuggets of information for beginners to boost your dream recall and help you start having lucid dreams. However, if you are already knowledgeable in lucid dreaming then this is not the course for you. It really is an intensive guide for beginners.

The main component is a practical ebook called How to Lucid Dream in 7 Days that you must read every day for a week. If you fail to commit to this schedule, I can tell you right now this won't work.

In each lesson, you'll learn a little more about how lucid dreaming works, and how to apply it to your sleep time. This is not intellectual - in fact I found the ebook to be dumbed down so don't expect to learn any in-depth science of the sleeping brain. However, it does give you an (albeit superficial) footing to get started.

Specifically, the Lucid Dreaming Kit teaches you:

How to remember all of your dreams Four methods for going lucid on demand The logical feedback technique How to stop yourself from waking up from a lucid dream The drink that boosts your dreaming How to turn nightmares into lucid dreams

As you know I'm a lucid dreamer already, having on average 1-2 lucid dreams per week (sometimes more, sometimes less). I did indeed lucid dream that week, four separate times, but I can't definitively say it was due to the Lucid Dreaming Kit.

However, I went through the workbook step-by-step as if I was a total beginner. There was one bit I was really impressed with - how fast my dream recall increased. Usually I remember one or two vivid dreams each morning. But when I used Bradley's method, I recalled 4-5 dreams in one night. This has never happened to me before, and it was really quite easy.

So, although Bradley is first and foremost an internet marketer, I do believe he is a lucid dreamer, or at least consulted with one to write this book.

The kit also includes the Audio Stimulation CD. This is a 72-minute binaural beats recording to help you meditate, relax into the dream state, and become lucid.

You know me, I love brainwave entrainment, so I'm biased. It was indeed relaxing and hypnotic for me. However, I can find flaws with the Audio Stimulation CD:

The CD is old school and uses binaural beats as opposed to the latest technology of isochronic tones. There is growing evidence to suggest that binaural beats don't actually produce a true brainwave entrainment effect at all - instead it's a kind of Ganzfeld Effect. To learn more about what this actually means for your lucid dream meditation, read my article on binaural beats. It doesn't mean it's not deeply relaxing or can't be used for lucid dreaming; it's just not entirely proven that the sounds on this CD cause a scientifically-proven entrainment effect. (If you want this, check out Meditation Power's lucid dreaming isochronics.) Perhaps this is why they can get away with using spoken words on the CD. True brainwave entrainment shouldn't include any words (or music, for that matter) because they create a distraction to the frequency following response. If there is no entrainment going on, then they can talk all they want. I didn't find the verbal lucidity cues lucid very helpful. The most likely explanation is they didn't coincide with my dreams, which is a bit of a haphazard way of doing it anyway. The only time I did hear them was when they occasionally woke me up. (On the plus side, waking up in the night can help you to lucid dream more, because you have more opportunities to DEILD and incubate another lucid dream while you fall asleep. But I'm sure that wasn't the intention here.) There are now several lucid dreaming apps which do the same thing, only better, because they are timed to coincide with your dream sleep. Your smart phone can actually detect when you're in REM sleep and most likely to be dreaming, based on movement transferred through the mattress. It can then deliver verbal lucidity cues which you naturally integrate into your dream world. Such apps start at a few dollars and so undermine the value of this as a useful lucid dreaming CD.Overall I'm torn on the Lucid Dreaming Kit. On the positive side, it does provide value to beginners because it:

Condenses a whole lot of information for the complete newbieDoesn't bog you down with unnecessary and complex terminologyOffers an intensive schedule for inducing lucid dreamsDramatically improves dream recall with one simple methodGenuinely seems to help some people have their first lucid dream in a weekIt clearly condenses a lot of knowledge into bite-size nuggets of information, and is delivered in one intensive week of tutoring. That's the best thing about this course.

On the negative side, it is very expensive. This is a course produced by an internet marketing outfit who are very good at making their products look slick and professional, and charge a premium for that "must have it" factor. At $59.95 this course is not cheap.

I guess the question to ask is: what are you prepared to pay to increase your chances of having your first lucid dream this week? Investing in a course can motivate you to follow through on all the techniques, and that's a good thing. But if you're just going to dabble with it for a couple of days and forget about it, then it's not a good investment.

I would be remiss not to mention that the Lucid Dreaming Kit does include several other digital resources (like the dream diary, reality checker, and lucid dreaming screensaver) but these are more just freebies thrown in as an afterthought.

The makers do also offer a money back guarantee. This gives you 90 days to trial the course, and if it doesn't work for you, send it back to them and get your money back (minus original shipping & handling). I'm confident they do honor this offer.

If you have no problem with the price then give it a go. Order at the Lucid Dreaming Kit website.

If you haven't yet made up your mind, why not check out my other lucid dreaming course reviews. You'll see there are many other options out there.

Since writing this review, Bradley Thompson has released an eight-hour version of the Audio Stimulation CD to help you have more lucid dreams.

As I alluded to my in review, the original 72-minute CD is a little clumsy. It's not an exact science - because it can give you reality prompts when you're not dreaming. It's also less effective for those who find it difficult to get to sleep or who wake up frequently at night.

The new eight-hour version is said to be much more effective which more accurately positions the verbal reality prompts over a full eight-hour sleep period. In Bradley's words, "...rather than randomly trying to catch your mind while in REM, we're aligning your sleeping patterns so we can be SURE they're in REM when we send out the audio prompts."

Notably, the new CD does still use old school binaural beats.

Unfortunately, instead of just including the new version in the (already pricey) Lucid Dreaming Kit, Bradley and his team decided to charge extra for the Eight-Hour CD. It costs $29.95 and is available to order here.

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The Lucid Dreaming MP3 Review: Lucid Dreams with Isochronic Tones

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Dreams, Isochronic, lucid, Review, Tones

Brainwave Entrainment for Lucid Dreams, OBEs and Meditation

This is my review of The Lucid Dreaming MP3 by Meditation Power. This is an isochronic brainwave entrainment recording, designed to induce states of meditation as you relax at night. From this quieter mental state, I find you can more easily open the gateway to lucid dreams.

I highly recommend it for beginners in lucid dreaming and those wanting to explore altered states of consciousness.

Dream research shows that meditation improves your ability to enter altered states of awareness on demand, making it an excellent primer for lucid dreaming. This can be applied to both types of lucid dream induction - DILDs and WILDs.

I've used brainwave entrainment for almost a decade (and much of my active lucid dreaming life). It's a useful tool for exploring that dreamy borderland sleep-wake state from which blissful meditation, lucid dreams and OBEs can arise. I also use it for relaxation, escaping the stresses of everyday life, and dream programming.

Listening to brainwave entrainment helps you to relax your mind and body faster, and enter a deeper meditation than you might otherwise achieve. If you haven't experienced real meditation before, it's quite hard to grasp what effect entrainment can have. I recommend you try it out yourself and analyze your experience, which can differ between individuals as meditation is a very subjective realm.

Generally though, brainwave entrainment designed for lucid dreaming can take you to new states of consciousness by creating:

Deep physical and mental relaxationClarity of thought and a sense of inner peaceHypnagogia (seeing swirling colors and patterns)Feelings of drifting / floating above the bedEmerging dream scenes and lucid dreams Meditation Power's Lucid Dreaming MP3 uses the latest brainwave entrainment technology, called isochronic tones, to produce a scientifically proven effect.

Every day, your brain passes through many difference frequencies which dictate your level of brainwave activity. Your most active mental state is usually in the Beta range (13-40 cycles per second) which is associated with high concentration. When you become more relaxed, yet alert, with openness to creativity, you enter the Alpha range (8-13 cycles per second).

Meditation, dreams and light sleep are associated with Theta frequencies (4-7 cycles per second) while deep sleep is marked by Delta (0.5-4 cycles per second). Armed with this knowledge, sound engineers have created recordings that shape your level of consciousness with descending frequencies.

This effect has been measured in the lab using EEG machines, and over the years people have extracted all kinds of applications for the technology - from inducing lucid dreams and OBEs, to creating super learning states for students.

Brainwave entrainment doesn't use any spoken words, so it's unlike hypnosis. In fact, it's a far more automatic response, so you don't need to do anything special to feel the effect (other than lay down peacefully, as if you are going to sleep).

My preferred Lucid Dreaming MP3s sound like distant white noise, disguised by the relaxing sounds of rainfall, waves or flowing streams. Meditation Power's MP3 is ideal and unlike some recordings, contains no distracting music or verbal cues (which can disrupt or completely ruin the effect anyway).

As I mentioned before, everyone responds to brainwave entrainment a little differently. The most important factor is probably how relaxed and attuned you allow yourself to become; how willing you are to just "go with it". Nonetheless, there are some common features we can all look out for when listening.

Within the first few minutes, you'll begin to feel mentally relaxed and your mind chatter will disappear. This is normally quite difficult to achieve through a silent breathing meditation unless you are well-practiced, so it's very good for beginners.

Soon, you'll be led into a deeper state of mental and physical relaxation, marked by hypnagogic imagery (the swirling light patterns that appear when you fall asleep at night) as well as imagined tactile sensations such as floating or drifting.

This is a great place to be for lucid dreaming. You'll have a sense of timelessness and freedom, because your mind is still and you can enjoy just "being". It's a powerful stress reliever. And best of all, you'll find you can start to create dreamscapes with your mind, either out of the blackness or as an evolution of your hypnagogia.

The deeper you go, the more imaginary physical sensations you'll feel. If you keep your awareness with your body in bed, you may feel your arms and legs are in totally new positions. This can lead to other out-of-body phenomena, and it is possible to develop this into an Out of Body Experience, if you choose.

Personally, I prefer to create a dreamscape in my mind and propel my consciousness into a "dream body". This body may be running, swimming or walking through a dreamscape - it all helps to dissociate my mind from my half-asleep body in bed, so I can enter the lucid dreamworld.

Whichever method you choose - lucid dream or OBE - both scenarios mark the transitional state of entering a WILD. For my step-by-step induction method, see this article on Wake Induced Lucid Dreams.

Here are some useful tips to boost your success with The Lucid Dreaming MP3:

Listen in the early morning (after 5am) or during an afternoon nap. This is when your body's chemistry is just right for a lucid dream, after at least 4-6 hours sleep for most people. Your brain is also raring to dive into REM sleep. (I also recommend listening before sleep at night, but primarily as an opportunity to wind down and meditate.) Relax your body as if you're going to sleep. Take some deep breaths, get comfortable (I usually lay on my back) and focus on the relaxing sounds. Imagine your whole body going numb / becoming invisible / being weightless. Any fidgeting should quickly settle down after 1-2 minutes. If you have an itch, scratch it, but then return to your comfortable position. Set the scene with visualization. To ease your mind into the meditation, create an imagined scene that matches the sounds you're hearing. With this MP3, I like to imagine sitting under a pergola in an Oriental garden, watching the rain pour down around me. When visual hypnagogia arises, go with that instead. You can create any desired dreamscene when the meditation is deep enough. For detailed instructions, see my article on How to Visualize.This Lucid Dreaming MP3 is available at the Meditation Power store. I've evaluated many brainwave entrainment products and this one is my favorite because:

It uses isochronic tones - the latest in brainwave entrainment technologyIt's the most peaceful sound - which helps me relax fasterNo headphones required - so play it out loud on your smartphoneNo verbal distractions or music - which can ruin the entrainmentNo experience required - ideal meditation practice for beginnersIt's good value - $19.95 for a lengthy 45-minute recordingBy listening to brainwave entrainment regularly, you will see some serious development of your meditation skills, which is a great primer for lucidity via DILDs. It is also excellent for exploring altered states of consciousness and inducing WILDs. It is scientifically verified and completely safe to use, without the need for any chemically mind-altering drugs. I highly recommended it for lucid dreamers.

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Why Do We Dream? Modern Theories of Dreaming

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dream, dreaming, Modern, Theories

Why do we dream? Ancient civilizations saw dreams as portals for receiving wisdom from the gods. In modern psychology, Sigmund Freud famously theorized that dreams were the "royal road to the unconscious". Modern theories suggest it's not as complicated as that. Are we getting closer to understanding dreams?

Freud - aka the father of dream research - gave psychoanalysis as one explanation for why we dream. But Freud had little understanding of the REM and NREM sleep cycles - and modern day dream research has pointed us to a number of other theories of dreaming. But first, let's start with the original theory of dreaming.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind. The controversial psychoanalyst said that our brain protects us from disturbing thoughts and memories by repressing them. Freud also believed that we are almost entirely driven by unconscious sexual desire.

If you asked Sigmund Freud "why do we dream?" he would say our dreams are a secret outlet for these repressed desires. Freud used dream analysis to interpret the underlying language of dreams - which is very different from normal conscious thinking. I discuss this idea more in dream interpretation.

To support his dream research, Sigmund Freud split the human psyche into three parts: the Id, Ego and Super-Ego.

ID - Newborn babies are born with only an Id. The Id is a sense of mind that causes us to act on impulse: to follow our primary instincts and ignore the consequences. The Id runs on the "pleasure principle" - it doesn't care about anything but its own satisfaction. EGO - As they grow up, toddlers develop an Ego. This is the part of the psyche that allows us to understand that other people have needs, and that acting impulsively can hurt us. This "reality principle" makes sure we meet the needs of the Id without conflicting with the laws of the Ego.SUPER-EGO - By the age of five, we develop the Super-ego. This is our moral brain, that tells us the difference between right and wrong. However it doesn't make special allowances - it is up to the Ego to decide.

This concept can be demonstrated with The Iceberg Metaphor...

Just like an iceberg, the conscious mind is only the tip. It is a small part of who we are. There is much more under the surface.

Way down below, we have little or no conscious awareness of the Id, which influences all our decisions.

The Ego is free floating in all three levels - both conscious and unconscious - monitoring our behaviors by day.

Every night when we sleep, we disconnect from our conscious tip of the iceberg. The lights go off and we are protected from external stimuli (like noise, temperature and pain) as well as internal stimuli (like emotions and fears). We do this by creating our own internal worlds - our dreams.

Freud said dreams are a way to express the unconscious emotions arising from the Id - otherwise we would be constantly disturbed by them in our sleep and soon wake up. So why do we dream? To protect our sleep.

Carl Jung (1875-1961) thought he could answer the riddle: why do we dream? Jung was a great follower of Freud and his dream analysis, but he eventually broke away to form very different theories.

"I want to keep my dreams, even bad ones,
because without them, I might have nothing all night long"

Joseph Heller

Jung claimed that the function of dreams is to compensate for parts of the personality that aren't properly developed in real life. However, this conflicts with the fact that our waking life and our dreams show consistent thoughts and behaviors. For instance, if we are aggressive in real life, we will have violent dreams.

John Allan Hobson (born 1933) Hobson emphasizes the role of neurochemicals in the brain and random electrical impulses originating in the brainstem. He does not say that dreams are the random firing of neurons - but rather the brain's cobbled attempt at making sense of them.

He later acknowledged the increased activity of the limbic system (a primeval part of the brain which produces emotions) during REM sleep. This served to give the meaning of dreams an emotional basis, rather than a random neurochemical one.

So, does this provide us with any psychological basis for dream interpretation? Was Sigmund Freud right to suggest that dreams symbolize our repressed fears and desires? Do our dreams contain our darkest secrets just waiting to be unlocked?

Actually, Hobson believes Freud had it wrong. He may even have impeded our scientific understanding of the nature of dreams by propagating such ominous theories. Hobson is all for a psychological meaning to dreams, but just that it needn't be locked away under layers of secretive subconscious meaning.

Instead, Hobson takes a Jungian approach: dreams reveal far more than they hide - and can actually be highly transparent. However, it's difficult to link this conclusion to Hobson's biological explanation for dreaming.

But the theory does make sense. Next time you dream of being chased, isn't it likely that you are - metaphorically - running away from something in real life that's causing you anxiety? And if you dream of being pregnant - for a woman at least - is this a natural expression of your desire to have babies?

With simple interpretive analysis, dreams may not be so mysterious after all.

There are many theories of dreaming - some overlap with others and some are just plain bizarre. Dream research has given us these core theories:

In 1977, Hobson & McCarley put forward some dream research that would seriously challenge Freud's dream understanding. They said that dreaming is the result of random impulses coming from the brain stem.

Using an EEG machine, the researchers were able to track the regular REM states of people during sleep. They used this data to form a predictable mathematical model and conclude that dreaming is a freak physiological (bodily) occurrence - rather than a psychological function.

According to them, the fact that we see images and hear sounds in our dreams is simply the brain's way of understanding noisy electrical signals. They said that dreams are random and meaningless.

However, many scientists point out that dreams often do make sense. In fact, they can follow very intricate plots, however illogical. This suggests that our higher brain is playing a role. Hobson's theory (above) attempts to reconcile this by having a neurochemcial and an emotional basis for dreaming.

We may dream to de-clutter our brains. Every day we are bombarded with new information, both consciously (eg learning) and unconsciously (eg advertising).

This modern dream theory suggests dreaming is a way to file away key information and discard meaningless data. It helps keep our brains organized and optimizes our learning. This theory hasn't been proven by dream research. If it were 100% correct, our entire day would be replayed to us during our REM sleep!

Critics of this theory also point out that our brains are not the same as computers, and to draw a comparison to filing, processing and storage space is likely to be inaccurate. They also point out that although some of our dreams relate back to the waking day (Freud called this day residue), the majority of our dreams are not about real events.

A number of researchers think that dreams are for problem solving.

One scientist in particular, named Fiss, claimed that our dreams help us to register very subtle hints that go unnoticed during the day. This explains why "sleeping on it" can provide a solution to a problem.

Unfortunately, there are also arguments against this theory of dreaming. For a start, most people only remember a very small number of their dreams. So if our dreams contain important answers - why don't we remember them better?

Dreams may be a way of coping with trauma. Based on the intensity of our emotions, we will generate dreams to cope with certain situations.

For instance, if you escape from a house fire and the experience shakes you up, chances are you will dream about it that night. The more traumatic the event, the more emotions are felt, and the more important it is to get over it. Dreaming about the fire will help you come to terms with what happened and prepare you for it ever happening again.

Of course, this doesn't explain why we dream of fantastic or mundane things - only that nightmares can be a kind of rehearsal for trauma.

Here are some more examples of how humans interpret dreams in different cultures around the world:

Shamans use dreams to diagnose illness. It is thought that the subconscious brain has an awareness of malfunctions in the body long before the conscious brain. In this sense, shamans are psychoanalysts, much like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The ancient Egyptians used dreams to make predictions about the future. They thought dreams were messages from the gods, which contained vital wisdom and prophecies. Similarly, people in the Western world in the 1900s used dreams to find game, predict the weather, and tell the future.

Dream research offers many theories - but still no definitive answer to the question: why do we dream? Scientists generally seem to agree that dreaming is a form of thinking during sleep, even that is the knock-on result of random electrical impulses.

Dreams contain at least some psychological meaning, but this doesn't necessarily prove a purpose, such as problem solving. Overall, our understanding of dreams is still quite vague.

In a way, Freud gave dreams an unfortunate legacy. He taught us to associate them with psychological problems and anxieties. But in reality, most of our dreams are healthy and engaging - aren't they?

Dreams are a mixed bag. The truth is, science still doesn't have a definitive answer to the question: why do we dream? Most dream research shows that it is worthwhile to remember your dreams - at least, until we figure out what they are for! And if you plan to have lucid dreams, your dream recall is vital...

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Wake Up! Exploring The Potential of Lucid Dreaming DVD Documentary

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: Documentary, dreaming, Exploring, lucid, Potential

Wake Up! Exploring The Potential of Lucid Dreaming is a fascinating lucid dreaming DVD from Kira Sass and Chris Olsen.

The documentary was shown twice at the IASD Conference in Chicago in 2009 and has created quite a buzz - not least because it's one of those unique opportunities to learn about the power of lucid dreaming on DVD.

"The film is a mixture of personal lucid dream experiences, insights, and relevant research," Director and Producer, Chris Olsen, said in the September 2009 issue of the quarterly magazine, Lucid Dream Exchange.

"Some of the lucid dreams described in the film include several spiritual experiences; a child who discovers lucid dreaming and its healing potential in the midst of struggling with terminal illness; a psychotherapy patient who confronts and embraces a threatening dream character; an artist who frequently browses an art gallery of his dreams and paints the picture he finds there; and a woman who works through the grief of losing her father by encountering him in a lucid dream." Indeed, they cover a stunning range of lucid dreaming applications. These interviews will inspire many new ways to use your lucid dreams - beyond the initial novelty value that most people attribute to dream control.

"In that dream space, something truly incredible and mysterious is happening."

~ Robert Waggoner

The documentary focuses on how lucid dreaming can potentially impact on waking life - honing in on three areas: creative expression, psychotherapeutic healing, and spiritual growth. It also features numerous interviews with lucid dreaming experts, which took place at the 2007 IASD Conference in Northern California.Wake Up! Exploring the Potential of Lucid Dreaming features interviews with prominent dream researchers such as Robert Waggoner, author of Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self, and Fariba Bogzaran, author and founder of the Dream Studies program at John F Kennedy University. "Let's wake up! Let's wake up in our relationships, let's wake up in where we work, let's wake up in where we live."

~ Fariba Bogzaran

It also features other lucid dreaming experts who consciously encounter the dreaming imagination - the source of countless scientific, artistic, psychological and spiritual breakthroughs throughout history. In this lucid dreaming DVD you will share the journey of a handful of pioneers who are exploring the wonders and mysteries that dwell at the intersection of dreams and consciousness...

Kira and Chris plan to submit their 35-minute lucid dreaming documentary to a number of film festivals and help raise awareness of this powerful mental state.

Check out the movie trailer for Wake Up! Exploring The Potential of Lucid Dreaming and buy the DVD online at Lucitopia.

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What is Lucid Dreaming? A Quick Start Guide to Lucid Dreams

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Dreams, Guide, lucid, Quick, Start

What is lucid dreaming? Is it scientifically proven? Can anyone learn to lucid dream on demand? How long does it take? What else can I use dream control for?

I'm sure you have plenty of questions about lucid dreaming and this article aims to answer them all... Welcome to my quick start guide to lucid dreams!

Lucid dreaming is the ability to consciously direct and control your dreams. It transforms your inner dream world into a living alternate reality - where everything you see, hear, feel, taste and even smell is as authentic as real life.

Lucidity occurs during altered states of consciousness when you realize you are dreaming - and your brain switches into waking mode inside the dream. In normal dreams, your self awareness is shut down. That's why they often feel fuzzy and distant. But when lucid, the conscious brain wakes up during sleep!

This is a safe and natural state. It is not a literal out of body experience - because you are always asleep in bed. And if you want to, you can wake yourself up. When you become lucid, your senses become alive. You can explore the inner workings of your subconscious mind with total freedom.

Tibetan Monks have used dream control for more than a thousand years, in a philosophy called Dream Yoga. It is certainly not a new phenomena. However, the modern term "lucid dreaming" was not coined until the 20th century by the Dutch psychiatrist, Frederik van Eeden, meaning mental clarity in dreams.

The concept of lucid dreams became popularized by Celia Green in the 1960s, who pointed out the scientific potential of self awareness in dreams. She was the first to make the link with both REM sleep and false awakenings.

The first scientific evidence of lucid dreaming was produced by the British parapsychologist Keith Hearne. He did it by catching eye movement signals from his volunteer, Alan Worsley, in a lucid dream state in laboratory conditions.

But Hearne's research slipped under the radar of the mainstream science journals, and it was Dr Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University who became famous for replicating this experiment and formally publishing his findings.

A prolific lucid dreamer himself, Stephen LaBerge founded The Lucidity Institute in 1987 to explore the question: what is lucid dreaming? His mission is to research the nature and potential of consciousness in dreams... A riddle that may one day offer considerable advances in our understanding of the human mind.

Yes, I believe so. We all have dreams (whether we remember them or not) and so I think we all have the capacity to become conscious within them. Children have reported lucid dreams. And certain medications for degenerative conditions like Parkinson's Disease can cause lucid dreams. Age is certainly not a factor.

Having a lucid dream is not actually all that hard, once you tap into the right mechanism. Research shows that everyone will have at least one lucid dream in their lives, just by accident. And to have lucid dreams on demand, all you have to do is get into the habit of recognizing the dreamstate.

There are many ways you can achieve this subconscious recognition, such as:

meditationself hypnosisbrainwave entrainmentvisualizationsreality checksdream herbsdream journalingYou can practice one or all of these methods during the waking day or just before you fall asleep, in order to plant the seed of lucidity. It is up to your subconscious mind to trigger you during sleep. This subconscious programming gets easier over time.

In fact, many people are able to have their first lucid dream between three days and three weeks. With practice you will be able to induce lucid dreams on demand - and it gets easier the more you do it.

At first, many people are drawn to the idea of lucid dreaming for the escapism it offers. In your virtual reality dream world, you can realistically fly over cities, meet your favorite celebrity in the flesh, or become a ninja assassin. It is way more realistic than day dreaming or playing your favorite video game.

But once you get over the novelty value, you'll understand that lucid dreaming has many personal development applications, such as:

creative problem solvingincreasing your creativityfacing your fearsimproving your confidencepracticing new skillsdeveloping your sense of selfexploring your own subconscious

Robert Waggoner details this subject in his book, Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self. He introduces new ways to interact with your lucid dreams and how to use dream figures for communicating with your inner self.

If all that isn't appealing to personal development enthusiasts, I don't know what is! Lucid dreaming is a powerful psychological tool and enlightening experience. As a beginner, intermediate or expert oneironaut, I hope you find this website and its complete guide to lucid dreams useful in your own personal quest for self awareness in the unconscious dream world...

For step-by-step tutorials in lucidity, check out The Lucid Dreaming Fast Track, my digital course that shows beginners the fastest way to lucid dreams.

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PRESS RELEASE: World of Lucid Dreaming Launches Online Store

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Launches, lucid, Online, PRESS, RELEASE, Store, World

Launch of Online Store November 2009 - World of Lucid Dreaming, the website that teaches anyone how to have lucid dreams on demand, has launched its own lucid dreaming store. The new online store showcases lucid dreaming books, eBooks, movies, CDs and MP3s.Rebecca Turner, creator of World of Lucid Dreaming commented: "I'm delighted with the new online store because it highlights some of the most important lucid dreaming products and literature available today."It raises awareness of this heightened state of awareness which has incredible applications in personal development and even psychotherapy.

Dream control is not merely a novelty pursuit; it has the power to connect people with their subconscious inner self in dreams - that's the kind of thing that changes lives."The new store is promoted on the website, World of Lucid Dreaming, which has developed a strong following since its inception in 2008. "The website currently receives around 60,000 visitors per month, and that number is rapidly increasing," Rebecca said. "It bears out the incredible popularity of lucid dreaming from all fronts - regardless of age, sex or location - it seems everyone wants to learn lucid dreaming once they hear about it. I'm sure that the website fans will like the new store, which presents a huge rage of lucid dreaming related media and I hope to build on this in future.

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The Erin Pavlina Interview: Lucid Dreaming, Astral Projection and Psychic Dreams

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: Astral, dreaming, Dreams, Interview, lucid, Pavlina, Projection, Psychic

Erin Pavlina became an accomplished lucid dreamer in her early teens and by the age of 15 learned how to astral project at will. Later, Erin began developing her abilities as a psychic medium and appeared on the Criss Angel Mindfreak show where she demonstrated her abilities for 1.7 million TV viewers.

In this exclusive Erin Pavlina interview, we hear some techniques for becoming lucid every night and some of Erin's favorite lucid dream experiences. She also discusses the validity of psychic dreams and how to use lucid dreaming as a gateway to astral projection.

Erin Pavlina: I was doing a science fair project on dreams back in junior high school and I came upon a concept called lucid dreaming, knowing you are dreaming while dreaming or maintaining your consciousness while dreaming. I was utterly fascinated with the idea, so I began working on it every night. It took me 3 months before I had my first lucid dream.

Erin Pavlina: You always remember the first right? Well I sure do. In the dream I was in the passenger seat of a car that my mom was driving. She got out of the car, and I didn't, even though I knew I was "supposed" to get out of the car too. I stayed in the car and pinched myself. I felt nothing. Then I tried to slap myself, and that didn't hurt either. I excitedly concluded I must be dreaming. I looked around hurriedly, but my excitement woke me up. I think my lucidity lasted all of the 3 seconds, but it was enough for me to realize that lucid dreaming was more than possible, it was a reality, and all I had to do was continue to work at it.

Erin Pavlina: If I wanted to I could easily have at least one lucid dream every night. Sometimes I spend my entire night lucid dreaming, but I don't think it's fair to the subconscious mind hijacking its opportunity to send you important information, so I limit myself considerably. Usually I let myself lucid dream 3 nights per week, give or take a little. Or I allow myself one lucid dream per night and let the rest of my dreams happen the way they want to happen.

Erin Pavlina: In the beginning I used to keep my eyes open until the last possible second before falling asleep. This allowed me to take some of my consciousness into the dream state. Consequently, my lucid dreams would usually happen in the beginning of the night. Telling myself that I will become lucid helps a lot. And experience is really the best way to become lucid. Now that I've had hundreds if not thousands of lucid dreams (it's been almost 25 years!) I can trigger one fairly easily. I'm at a point now where I can pre-program a dream, which is where I imagine ahead of time exactly the dream I want to have so that I will either have that dream outright or I can trigger it the moment I become lucid. Or I just determine the general content (flying dream, celebrity dream, superhero dream, etc) and let the lucid dream unfold as it wants to.

Erin Pavlina: It's vital that you can at least remember the dreams you're already having. If you can't remember your dreams you probably aren't ready for lucid dreaming. Either keep a dream journal or a recorder by your bed and start making your regular, non-lucid dreams a part of your consciousness.

Next, intend to have a lucid dream. Before going to bed, tell yourself that you will become lucid during at least one of your dreams.

Create dream triggers. Knowing that you'll be questioning oddities in your dreams may help trigger lucidity, whether that's a two-headed person, seeing the sun and moon in the sky together, not feeling pain, flying, being on a date with Brad or Angelina, etc. I once had a dream that I was back in school (common) and couldn't remember my locker combination and was late to class. I remember thinking in the dream, "Wait a minute, I'm not in grade school anymore, this must be a dream." Even though I was lucid, I couldn't make the dream conform to my will. So I marched into the principal's office and said, "I want to talk to the person in charge of this dream." The dream froze, a man walked out of the office and said, "Okay, let's talk." I then discussed with him what the purpose of the dream was, skipping the symbolism and panicky feelings of being late to class. It was an amazing interaction with the dream construct itself.

Don't give up. Keep going. Once you've attained lucidity you can do it again. Keep trying. And have a plan for what you'll do when you find yourself lucid.

Erin Pavlina: Oh there's so many it's hard to choose, but lately I've been enjoying spending time with the Winchester boys from the Supernatural
tv series. I go ghost hunting with them. In fact, I've dreamed entire episodes of Supernatural complete with commercials and scenes to next week's episode! I was so annoyed at the commercials in my dream that I lucidly installed a Tivo so I could fast forward through the commercials. Recently I was lucidly dreaming the Smallville series finale, which hasn't even aired, and it was so intense that I actually paused the dream, backed it up, and watched it again. It's utterly amazing what you can do in a lucid dream. The sky's the limit! It's great exercise for your mind.
Erin Pavlina: In my dreams I sometimes connect with other conscious entities inside my dreams. I wasn't expecting that, and it's thankfully rare. I've always seen the dreamscape as my own personal playground. To know that other beings can communicate with me while I'm in the state was surprising and sometimes unnerving.

I've also had experiences where I've shared my dream with another person who was also dreaming. And it was because of lucid dreaming that I was able to make the transition to astral projection. Once you've located and identified your conscious mind it makes astral projection easier because you can identify which parts of you are your body versus your conscious soul.

Erin Pavlina: I've had many psychic dreams. Sometimes I felt like I was just a witness to something of importance. In one dream I was driving down the street and looked in my rearview mirror to see my trunk was up. The next day I was actually driving down the street, remembered my dream, looked in the rearview mirror and saw that my trunk had mysteriously come open. It was trippy. For more about my precognitive dreams, read this article.

Erin Pavlina: I do sometimes receive psychic information either in a dream or in a lucid dream. Most of the time it's information, not a warning about an event or disaster, and it is very reliable. I've noticed that since I became a professional psychic I've begun doing actual readings in my dreams! I go through the same "tuning in" procedure that I normally do in my readings, then I read for someone in a dream. Sometimes I know who I'm reading for and it's a real live person and sometimes I don't know the person I'm reading for but the information comes through just as clearly as during a regular reading. I've actually had people write to me and tell me they received a reading from me in a dream! So I'm obviously out there "working" even while sleeping. My higher self sure gets around.

Erin Pavlina: My first encounter with astral projection wasn't the most pleasant.

But I soon got used to it and got myself to a point where I could project several times a week. I was often encountering negative entities on the astral plane, however, so I eventually adopted some tactics and techniques (along with an astral sword) that I used to kick some butt. I was like Buffy the Astral Demon Slayer. Fun times. As an adult, I was able to increase my vibration to a point where I stopped encountering negative energies. This became a much healthier way to use astral projection. I don't project much anymore, but periodically I check to make sure I can still do it. Gotta keep in practice in case something attacks.

Erin Pavlina: This is an area where a lot of people get confused. I ended up writing an article about the three different states of dreaming and being astral. Read more here.

Erin Pavlina: If I were trying to learn this from scratch, today, I would definitely learn lucid dreaming first, because you have to be able to step into your consciousness while leaving your body behind. In lucid dreaming you're stepping into your conscious mind and leaving your body asleep and in astral projection you're stepping into your conscious body while leaving your physical body behind. It's close but not quite the same thing.

Next I would connect clearly with my spirit guides or you can connect with your angels, because having someone on the other side watching your back while you project is just a good idea!

I would raise my vibration so that my default state is love, joy, peace, etc, not fear, anxiety, anger, shame or guilt, because you'll attract negative entities doing that.

And lastly I would have a reason for projecting. The body does not want to let go of the spirit, so it hangs on pretty tight. To overcome that tether you're going to have to have a pretty strong reason for getting out. I don't recommend toying with astral projection. It's not necessary to astral project to live a proper life. However, I completely understand the thrill of it, so project safely if you're going to do it.

Erin Pavlina: Learning how to lucid dream is totally worth the time and effort. What else do you have to do while sleeping? I'm so incredibly grateful to have this skill. I wouldn't give it up for anything. With lucid dreaming you get to experience anything you can possibly imagine, things that would otherwise be impossible for you in the waking world. You're only limited by your imagination.

To learn more about Erin visit Erin Pavlina, a website dedicate to providing education, information, support and advice to help you increase your consciousness, spiritual wisdom, and awareness of your connection to the divine.

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Escaping From Nightmares with Lucid Dreaming

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Escaping, lucid, Nightmares

Becoming lucidly aware while dreaming is probably the most effective way of escaping from nightmares. In fact, many of my early lucid dreams arose from moments of sheer terror in a nightmare, which triggered my conscious brain to think: hang on, what on Earth is going on here? I must be dreaming!

Knowing that I now had control of the dream, I then had two options. I could either take the short cut and shout "WAKE UP!" - or I could confront the source of my fear and figure out the meaning of the nightmare in real time. At first I took the short cut but as I built more confidence I began to question my nightmare figures and learn some really insightful things about my subconscious.

In this article I'll explain the best way for beginners (including children) to become lucid in their nightmares and take control of that evil bogeyman. You'll soon learn that nightmares are actually a very handy backdoor to lucid dreaming, and that the nightmares figures themselves provide an excellent opportunity for some self-psychotherapy, in order to heal real life fears and anxieties.

In the West, the meaning of nightmares is to reveal our darkest inner fears in literal and symbolic forms. We all deal with them at some time in our lives, but few people consider lucid dreaming to escape from nightmares.

The most common nightmare is the classic fear of being chased - either by a monster, witch, demon, vampire, madman or other fearful entity. According to dream analysis this reveals our evolutionary fear of being hunted by the wild predators from our ancient past.

Other nightmare themes include the death of loved ones, falling, being physically injured, creepy crawlies, and being trapped. Some people experience recurring nightmares which signifies an ongoing psychological issue. Fortunately, lucid dreaming offers the perfect platform for dealing with recurring nightmares.

You are more likely to suffer from nightmares when you are:

Sick (especially fever)Stressed or anxiousHaving relationship problemsTraumatized by violenceTaking drugs or alcohol

Drinking alcohol takes its toll by suppressing all REM sleep for the first few hours of the night. By the time the alcohol wears off, you begin your REM-rebound, with vivid dreams that are more emotionally intense than usual. This can lead to nightmares if you have any particular issues making you feel anxious.

Certain medications can also increase nightmares, such as L-dopa for Parkinson's Disease, and beta blockers for heart conditions. However they may also raise dream intensity, which causes greater self-awareness and lucid dreams.

Since I began lucid dreaming, I've learned some good ways to deal with nightmares. The first step means becoming lucid - so that you can think clearly in the dream and apply some conscious logic. For adults and children alike, the best way to do this is ask yourself if you are dreaming during the waking day. This is called a reality check. In particular, check your reality when unexpected things happen or when you feel particularly emotionally charged or fearful.

Another way to increase your self-awareness in dreams is to become highly self-aware during the day. Look at your hands right now. Examine the skin in detail, see all the tiny little hairs and indentations. Rub your fingers together and pay attention to the sensation it creates. You have now intensified your awareness of your hands. Do this with other things; appreciating the space around you and in particular how you interact with it. You will be able to perform this same task when lucid in a dream, and the richness of the dream reality may be shocking.

Next time you are experiencing a nightmare, you are much more likely to have a sudden jolt of self-awareness. You'll question the reality of the dream and with that comes instant lucidity. Your senses will become supercharged and the dreamworld will intensify and become much more lifelike. (If you only become semi-lucid, try these techniques to increase your lucidity.)

Now you have two options to escape from your nightmare:

Wake Yourself Up - This is the knee-jerk response I always used to do. In that moment of lucidity I shouted "WAKE UP!" and blinked hard in the dream. I would immediately wake up in bed. Face Your Fears - Later, I came to realize that the source of my fear was just another part of my own psyche. It gave me the courage to talk to the nightmare monster and ask what it wanted. With my therapy complete, I then flew away and explored my lucid dream world how I wanted.

Note that confronting a nightmare figure doesn't stop you from having nightmares ever again - but it does last to rest the issue at hand.

In facing my fears, each nightmare-turned-lucid-dream became a personal triumph and nurtured a healthy mentality of dealing with anxiety. To show you the outcome of such events, here are two real life examples of lucidly escaping from nightmares.

Escaping from nightmares is actually how a lot of children and teenagers begin lucid dreaming naturally. It is the emotional intensity of the dream that can trigger lucidity, and from there the lucid dream world is your oyster...

So keep practicing reality checks and raising your self-awareness. Next time you have a nightmare it could yield a very pleasant surprise. And if you can, have the courage to confront your nightmare figure - it is a wasted opportunity not to!

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Brainwave Entrainment for Lucid Dreaming and Meditation

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: Brainwave, dreaming, Entrainment, lucid, Meditation

Brainwave entrainment is a scientifically proven way of inducing altered states of awareness. It facilitates deep states of meditation, which many lucid dreamers agree is the gateway to the dream world. Best of all, it requires little mental preparation - only your willingess to relax as you drift off to sleep at night.

This section examines the most well-known forms of brainwave entrainment, such as isochronic tones and binaural beats, and what scientific studies back them. I'll also recommend the best times to listen to entrainment and what lucid dreaming techniques to combine them with (if any) to maximize your chances of success.

While brainwave entrainment isn't essential to becoming a lucid dreamer, the meditation it creates can rapidly accelerate your development of altered states.

A guide to isochronic tones for dissociative meditation and lucid dreams. What makes the best isochronic tones? What do they sound like? Where can you get them?

A closer look at binaural beats for lucid dreaming. Just how effective are binaural beats and why do people still use them when we have newer, more powerful technologies?

Highlights of the 2009 German study which proved a link between lucid dreaming and GAMMA band brainwave frequencies.

My review of Meditation Power's lucid dreaming MP3 with isochronic tones. Deeply relaxing and ideal for practicing dissociative meditation, DILD and WILD lucid dreams.

Xphirience is a new meditation technology developed by the Swedish musician Marcus Knudsen. Read my review of his proprietary Bliss Code sound technology.

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Disclaimer for the World of Lucid Dreaming

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: Disclaimer, dreaming, lucid, World

This website provides educational information on lucid dreaming. You alone are 100% responsible for what you do or don't do with it.

This website is intended to provide educational information on topics related to lucid dreaming. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical, financial, or other professional services. If expert assistance is required, please seek the services of a competent professional.

The publisher has endeavored to make the material on this site accurate. The information should be used only as general guide, however, as the publisher cannot guarantee that this information is free of typographical or content errors. Furthermore, each piece of content contains educational information only up to its original publication date.

Product reviews on this site typically include affiliate links that generate commissions for the publisher when visitors purchase those products.

THE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS". THE AUTHOR(S) AND THE PUBLISHER WILL ASSUME NO LIABILITY NOR RESPONSIBILITY TO ANY PERSON OR ENTITY WITH RESPECT TO ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE RELATED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY TO THE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE. NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE. THE PUBLISHER WILL PROVIDE NO REMEDY FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING SUCH FROM NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, EVEN AFTER NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

If you don't wish to be bound by the above, do not use this website.

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Easy Lucid Dreaming: A Beginner's Guide to Lucidity

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: Beginners, dreaming, Guide, lucid, Lucidity

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...

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Lucid Dreaming App: Singularity Experience

Posted by Python Automation with the help from ChatGPT | Labels: dreaming, Experience, lucid, Singularity

Singularity Experience is a lucid dreaming app for the iPhone that aids dream re-entry.
This classic DEILD technique allows you to dream consciously on demand, with each lucid dream having multiple episodes.

Dream re-entry is not a new technique; it has been independently discovered by multiple lucid dreamers who all swear by its effectiveness. It is known under many names: Dream Chaining, DEILD or WILD Chaining.

The names are different, but the technique is the same: upon being awakened from a dream, you can re-enter the same dream consciously by visualizing the last scene of a faded dream. The body wants to preserve continuity of dreaming, and the dreamer takes advantage of that by falling back asleep consciously. Thus, dream re-entry is a form of Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming, except that the period of wakefulness is typically less than two minutes.

The problem is that normally we do not wake up in the middle of dreams. It requires an external cue or an application of willpower to wake up from a dream in the middle of a dream episode. While a lucid dreamer within a dream may wake up at will, a regular dreamer would not even think about that. Because most regular awakenings happen shortly after
REM, in a light sleep stage that follows, most of us have never had the opportunity to re-enter a dream consciously.
Singularity Experience gives you a tool to successfully wake yourself from your dreams and re-enter them lucidly. It has two key features:
An algorithm to identify when you are dreamingA trigger alarm that is self-disabling
Put the app on your mattress, plug in the power and go to sleep.

The app monitors your sleep by continuously analyzing your movements over the course of the night and detecting REM sleep. During light sleep stages you move more. During deep sleep and REM you move less. The app recognizes this pattern and predicts when you will be dreaming based on your sleep habits.

When the app is certain that you are dreaming, or will be dreaming soon, it starts to play a reminder. This is a combination of light and audio. Light gently fades in and out and wakes you just a little bit. A short audio cue completes the process. The alarm is so short that you do not need to interact with the phone to turn it off; it will turn off by itself. (If you do not hear the reminder, you can adjust the duration or pick one of the more intense audio tracks.)

That's the app's role. The rest is up to you...

Once you are awakening from a dream, you need to remember your intention to re-enter the dream lucidly and quickly recall the last scene of a faded dream. This is a difficult task, as you may be in a semi sleep paralysis state, and it will take a few moments to collect your thoughts.

To help you with this process, I've included a self-hypnosis script along with the app. You can hypnotize yourself with your eyes open by simply reading the script out loud, making it easier to recall your intention of dream re-entry.

Here's the mental technique I use for dream re-entry:
You must be able to recall at least a small fragment of a dream. If you don't, you may not be in the right sleep stage to attempt re-entry. Don't move, and don't open your eyes. You must feel comfortable and not feel like you need to use your bathroom. Don't start thinking about anything other than the dream that you have just woke up from. Don't try to backtrack the story of the dream. While laying still in bed, in the same position as you have woken up from, start to visualize the last scene of a faded dream. Simply keep in your mind the still image of the dream, or at least a fragment of the image. You need a stable environment to visualize. Within that environment, some object or a group of objects are the easiest to visualize. Don't try to visualize movement - instead look for solid, still objects. For example if you think about your computer desk at home, the arrangement of lamps and peripherals is not easily recalled. But the solid plane of the desk with a blank panel of a monitor is easy to recall. Another example may be an intersection of two city streets. The streets intersecting produces a nice plane of solid color which you can visualize easily, while cars, houses, street lamps or the sky are harder to imagine. Soon your brain will start filling in the details within your visualization. Keep at it. Your experience effectively masks the WILD transition phase, and what you are seeing happens as your body falls back asleep, while your brain is engaged in a visualization exercise. Your visual and mental experience may be different from the one I describe, but the end result is the same: you'll find yourself in a stable dream environment. When you feel the environment around you is stable enough, you can actively move your eyes and look at different parts of the scene. The scene is no longer visualized, it exists around you. It is 3-dimensional and has depth. You may or may not feel a story associated with the scene.
At this point you can start to test your state by gently moving your fingers. If you still feel your body in bed, stop moving and just keep looking around realizing that you are looking at a dream. Keep testing your state. When you finally become immersed and can no longer feel your body in bed, you can move your entire dream body and start moving within the dream consciously. If you feel like two minutes have passed and you aren't in a dream yet, open your eyes and perform a reality check on a digital clock. Sometimes you can re-enter a dream of laying in bed and visualizing a dream! A digital clock is an easy way to identify such a dream and allows you to continue the dream lucidly from your bedroom.
While the dream re-entry technique takes quite a long time to explain, when it is performed in real life, it is rapid - anywhere from a few seconds to two minutes.

The key to successfully executing this technique is maintaining an uninterrupted flow of visualization. This helps you re-enter the scene that you are imagining. If you do not visualize long enough, you will find yourself in a dream about a different scene, complete with background history, which will trick you into thinking that you are in reality (a non-lucid dream). By expecting a certain scene to appear, and visualizing that scene, you enter it lucidly, because you associate that scene with your lucid dreaming induction attempt.

Singularity Experience runs on the iPhone4 and iPod4 and doesn't require any external components. It uses original algorithms and design patterns.

Here is a brief comparison of its features compared to a wrist actigraph, a similar tool on the market launched a few years ago. This demonstrates how fast the technology is improving, with a 100-fold increase in functionality at one-hundredth of the cost. I believe this trend will continue with apps, and it is the reason I chose to name this the Singularity Experience.
Costs $500 (annual subscription)Collects 32 sleep scoring metricsCollects 2 sleep scoring metricsFully interactive touchscreen UIRequires data upload in morning
Here are some of those special features in more detail:

Six degree of motion actigraph with multiple sleep scoring metrics - processes data in real time and is able to respond to your sleep stages by playing audio/light/vibration reminders. Or turn off the reminders and use the app to collect data about your sleep. This is like having a mini sleep lab in your pocket. The app continuously collects data and makes it available to you in CSV files that you may plot to see how your sleep unfolds on any given night.

Comprehensive sleep history - simply tap a button at night to mark an event: a dream, awakening or a period of being unable to fall asleep. All information is stored and is presented to you as a sleep history with multiple days of data arranged in a table. This information has multiple uses: it shows you when you dream, helps you estimate your sleep cycles and find your optimal awakening time. I was surprised to find that I often wake up at 9:38 +/- 15 minutes, without using an alarm. Regardless of the time when I go to bed, my body wants to wake up at that time. Knowing this, I can better predict when I would be dreaming, and find optimal bedtime as well.

Astro-Biological clock - a brand new gadget that is an evolution of a clock. It is a sophisticated analog clock which shows when you will be dreaming, helps you pick wake and bed times, as well as estimate the depth of your sleep. The Astro-Biological clock is explained in more detail in this video:

This is an emerging technology. To date I've used it mainly to collect data about my sleep, with limited lucid dream induction attempts. However, I stand by the dream re-entry technique and belief this lucid dreaming app can help.

In my experience the audio and light cues played by the app are frequently integrated into the dream content, but in seemingly random ways. The orange lights have caused me to dream of orange racing stripes on cars, gun muzzle blasts, making PowerPoint presentations about my app, and receiving text messages from dream characters. These are all potential lucid dream triggers.

By adjusting the trigger to fully wake you from the dream, you are provided with the perfect opportunity to induce a DEILD (Dream Exit Initiated Lucid Dream). As a new technology, I am keen to share this with as many people as possible and receive feedback on your app-induced lucid dreams.

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Meaning of a Dream

The Meaning of a Dream is going to the same particular way that the people chooses for themselves. Life is depending on hope and hope is depended on dream so the Dream is the way where the life is going....

Self Hypnosis for Lucid Dreaming

The Benefits of Lucid Dreaming

Privacy Policy for The World of Lucid Dreaming

The Lucidity Institute: Lucid Dreaming Workshops

Waking Sleep Paralysis: The Holy Grail of Lucid Dreaming

The First Lucid Dream: How to Start Lucid Dreaming for Beginners

The Lucid Dreaming Kit Review

The Lucid Dreaming MP3 Review: Lucid Dreams with Isochronic Tones

Why Do We Dream? Modern Theories of Dreaming

Wake Up! Exploring The Potential of Lucid Dreaming DVD Documentary

What is Lucid Dreaming? A Quick Start Guide to Lucid Dreams

PRESS RELEASE: World of Lucid Dreaming Launches Online Store

The Erin Pavlina Interview: Lucid Dreaming, Astral Projection and Psychic Dreams

Escaping From Nightmares with Lucid Dreaming

Brainwave Entrainment for Lucid Dreaming and Meditation

Disclaimer for the World of Lucid Dreaming

Easy Lucid Dreaming: A Beginner's Guide to Lucidity

Lucid Dreaming App: Singularity Experience

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