Lucid dreaming is a surreal experience the first time you do it. But, once you become use to it, it is one of the most exhilarating experiences you can have. Although lucid dreamers experience lucid dreaming naturally there are lucid dreaming techniques that anyone can learn. Truly, anyone can learn to lucid dream.
The experience is so exhilarating and has so many real world benefits that people often look for techniques which would help them induce lucid dreaming.
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Top 5 Lucid Dreaming Techniques
I have included 5 of the best lucid dreaming techniques and you should try them all as most people find that only one or two of them work – it’s an individual thing.
I have not just listed my top 5 but also given you an explanation of how to use each one.
If you have difficulty inducing a lucid dream using these techniques then you really need to invest in a good lucid dreaming course that can guarantee you will experience lucid dreams if you follow their simple, but essential, steps.
1. Reverse psychology
Reverse psychology is one of the most effective lucid dream induction techniques.
Reverse psychology is also practiced in the business world where vast amounts of money are at stake, such as marketing thus demonstrating that it is highly effective.
This technique utilizes the power of negative suggestion in order to induce lucid dreaming.
When you use reverse psychology, you would try to suggest to yourself, that lucid dreaming is not allowed or restricted to you.
Owing to our normal preference as human beings to rebel against personal freedoms and restrictions we are usually attracted to breaking rules or slightly stepping over the line.
This can help induce a lucid dream.
There is also an axiom in psychology that states “what we resist persists”.
This phrase was coined by the world famous the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung and proposes that anything we give a negative connotation to and resist against stays prominent in our life and can actually grow in intensity.
Using reverse psychology utilizes this axiom. If we resist lucid dreaming then we are more likely to have a lucid dream.
How to use reverse psychology to lucid dream
You have to repeat to yourself constantly throughout the day that you want to avoid lucid dreaming.
If you want to utilize this method in a foolproof way, it is a better idea to even write down those suggestions repeatedly.
This would ensure that you are more attracted towards lucid dreaming and you are able to induce it.
This also has the added effect of forcing your mind to visualize you experiencing a lucid dream – as we think in pictures.
As you will see in later visualization is a powerful tool for inducing lucid dreams.
2. Hypnosis induced lucid dreaming (HILD) technique
Hypnosis is an extremely powerful mind toll. It can help with inducing lucid dreaming quite easily.
Hypnosis can also provide you with greater control over the subconscious mind.
Most people know that hypnosis can be used to help you eliminate a myriad of bad habits but they are unaware that it can be used in the opposite direction as well.
Hypnosis can be used to help you form new positive habits, inducing lucid dreaming.
You can use hypnosis to make lucid dreaming a permanent part of your nightlife.
Three steps to using hypnosis for lucid dreaming
The step-by-step procedure for using the HILD lucid dreaming technique includes:
i) Achieving deep relaxation approximately 30 minutes before your usual bed time
If are normally in bed ready to sleep at 11 PM then you will have to try this technique at 10.30 PM.
Start by lying down on your bed on your back.
Then begin to tense your body for a few seconds before allowing it to relax.
Tense on in a in breath and relax on an out breath.
This will help you in releasing stress from your body and will help you in achieving a state of deep relaxation.
ii) Enter a trance state through deep relaxation
After achieving deep relaxation, your body will be calmer and your mind will be clearer.
Thereafter, you should be able to enter a trance state using multiple methods like counting down from 10 to 1 while mentally telling yourself you are entering trance.
iii) Use the power of positive affirmations to reprogram your subconscious mind
Once you are in the trance state, you have to use positive affirmations to induce lucid dreaming.
Mentally repeat some simple affirmations that you have previously memorized such as:
“I am entering a lucid dream right now at a beach or I am about to enter a lucid dream traveling on my vacation.”
You have to consistently repeat this technique each night until you eventually induce lucid dreaming.
Of course you can go to a qualified hypnotherapist and get the whole thing done for you or, better still (and much cheaper), you can simply use a self-hypnosis lucid dreaming recording – these are very effective.
iv) Enter a lucid dream directly from the hypnotic state
With the help of positive affirmations you would be able to enter the lucid dream but if you’re too excited or emotionally unstable, you would end up messing it.
Thus, with the help of hypnosis, you would be able to enter the lucid dream quite easily by following the above 3 steps.
3. Rausis technique for lucid dreaming
The Rausis technique was developed by Jean Rausis.
The researcher from Switzerland had a wide variety of experience in manipulating the conscious state of the mind.
The main advantage of this lucid dream induction technique is that even beginners would be able to induce lucid dreaming in the very 1st step.
Four steps to using the Rausis technique for lucid dreaming
Things you need for the Rausis lucid dreaming technique:
- Alarm
- Smartphone
The method to use this technique includes:
Setting your alarm
You have to set 3 alarms so a smartphone is often best for this as you can set multiple alarms.
The alarm times to set are as follows:
- First alarm – 2 Hours prior to your usual waking time.
- Second Alarm – 3 minutes after the Second Alarm time.
- Third Alarm – Your usual waking time
Obviously you need to set your alarm to wake you at your normal waking time. It is the other 2 alarms that will induce a lucid dream.
Use the first alarm to condition your body for lucid dreaming
The first alarm should be set for approximately 2 hours before your normal waking time as this is the time you will most likely be entering your last R.E.M. dream state where dreaming occurs.
When the alarm sounds you will most likely be awakened while in the middle of a dream.
If you find that you were not dreaming play around with the timing of the alarm over the next few days.
When the alarm sounds all you have to do is hit the snooze button and while falling back asleep tell yourself that the next alarm you hear will be in your dreams.
You need to ensure that the alarm is pretty audible so it will wake you.
The exact time at which you set the alarm depends upon your normal waking time.
So, the time is up to you but you have to get the interval right.
Hitting the snooze button before you full awake
When the 1st alarm rings, you have to hit the snooze button as soon as possible so you do not wake fully.
You want to avoid becoming fully alert – maintaining a hazy, dreamy state is best.
As you drift back to sleep tell yourself that the next alarm sound you hear (or song if you are using a smart phone with a song alarm) will be in your dreams.
This will create an expectation in your mind and help you to become lucid.
Use the second alarm to induce lucidity
After a period of 3 minutes, you should be wakened by the second alarm.
Since you have convinced your mind that the next alarm you hear will be in your dream, this second alarm can induce lucid dreaming by making you conscious that you are dreaming.
The main principle of this technique is that even lucid dreams are normal dreams. You see you are able to hear external noises when dreaming and it is normal for the mind to incorporate these noises into dreams.
This is one of the easiest ways to induce lucid dreaming but can take some practice to get the timing of the second alarm exactly right.
4. Wake back to bed (WBTB) lucid dreaming technique
Another great lucid dreaming technique which you can try out is the wake back to bed technique often called the WBTB lucid dreaming technique.
This technique is similar to Rauis technique mentioned above but varies from it slightly.
The principle of this lucid dreaming technique is pretty simple. You will be waking yourself into a fully aware state before going back to sleep again.
If you can do this (I can’t as once I am awake …. I am awake for the day), the activity of hormones in your body along with the break in the REM sleep will help you to induce a lucid dream quite easily.
Three steps to use the wake back to bed technique to induce lucid dreaming
The procedure to use this technique includes:
Set your alarm for a time that is 2 to 3 hours before your usual waking time
This step is pretty straightforward and if you normally wake up around 7 AM it is a good idea to set the alarm around 5 AM.
When the alarm sounds turn it off and go back to sleep
When you wake you do not have to get out of bed, just turn off the alarm, write down and dreams you had in your dream journal (I use one from amazon) and try to go back to sleep while thinking that you have to enter a lucid dream.
While drifting off to sleep repeat lucid dreaming affirmations
Throughout the day you can repeat positive lucid dreaming affirmations to reinforce your WBTB practices.
Think about lucid dreaming throughout the day as well.
Although this step is not completely necessary (and not necessarily part of the WBTB lucid dreaming technique) it can prove to be very useful.
Warning about wake back to bed technique:
One thing however which you need to keep in mind is that since you’re interrupting your normal sleeping cycle, using this technique, again and again, might not be a healthy solution for you.
5. Wake induced lucid dreaming (WILD)
The most popular and widely used lucid dreaming technique is the wake-induced lucid dreaming technique better known as the WILD method.
This technique involves keeping your mind awake while the rest of your body goes to sleep.
Once you are able to master this technique, you will be able to induce lucid dreaming at will.
Four steps to use the wake induced lucid dreaming technique for controlled dreaming
The wake-induced Lucid dreaming technique involves only 4 simple steps.
- Lie down on your bed and relax your body as best you can.
- Relax your muscles and stay immobile – allowing your body to sink into sleep.
- Visualize bright colors as well as different shapes. This will keep your mind active as your body goes to sleep.
- Continuing with this visualization until you fall asleep. Your visualizations will begin to form images as sleep takes over your body and you begin to dream.
While practicing this technique, you have to constantly focus on keeping your mind awake.
When you are able to focus on specific thoughts (colors and shapes) throughout the practice of this technique you will become aware that a dream is starting to form in your mind.
At this stage the realization that you are beginning to dream is enough to induce lucidity.
This lucid dreaming technique is pretty effective and can even be used effectively by beginners.