You’re standing on a beach at sunset. You breath in the fresh, cool breeze coming off the ocean. Staring out at the horizon, waves wash across your bare feet. You bury your toes in the dark sand. You laugh because it looks like you have no feet. Wiggling your toes some more, you bury in deeper. And deeper still.
You’re in almost to the knees now and still sinking. Are you stuck? You’re stuck. This is crazy. Wait…what’s the sound. It’s so dark, has the sun set yet? Looking back out to sea, you see a large towering mass heading your way. A tidal wave, and you’re stuck. You’re stuck and you’re panicked. You’re panicked and you’re screwed. But wait. Wait just a gosh darn minute. Are you dreaming? You are dreaming, aren’t you? Pop, you’re out of the sand. Alright! Swoosh into the air. Sweet! You’re awake while dreaming. You’re wake dreaming!
Some consider it remarkable, while others think it mundane. Still others have no idea what a lucid dream actually is. Roughly 58% of the population have had at least one experience with lucid dreaming. If you’ve ever become aware that you were dreaming while you were dreaming, you fall into the category of “lucid dreamer”.
Some would describe being aware while sleeping as a ecstatic experience. Taking flight, for example, is one of many activities lucid dreamers find joy in. Imagine running and jumping off a cliff, diving and the soaring back up higher, into the clouds. Your dreams could potential be the best virtual reality system ever. Anything you can imagine, you can do in your sleep. If you’d like to embark on these nocturnal adventures yourself, there are few things that will help you out.
Dream Recall
Lucid dreaming comes more easily if you are able to remember your dreams. People who remember there dreams are far more able to engineer a lucid dream. Maybe you’re one who easily remembers your dreams in clear detail, but if you’re not, that’s okay. You can teach yourself that skill.
Upon waking up, write down or record as much of your dream as you can. It doesn’t matter how little you write, the act itself will be of benefit. As you continue, you will find remembering your dreams a lot easier. Write things quickly, taking notes rather than writing a full story. The idea is to mark down things that will jog your memory when you read it later on. Keeping a pad and a pen near your bed will allow you to start jotting down your dream notes immediately, before the dream starts to fade. Once you’ve got the outline down, you can take your time writing the full story down. You can keep these stories in your dream journal.
Dream Cues
Keeping a journal of your dreams has an added benefit. After recording a few of your dreams, you can go back over them in search for “dream cues”. Dream cues are reoccurring patterns that can alert you to the fact that you’re dreaming. People, places, objects and experiences can all be valuable cues in your dreamscape. Whenever you notice that dream cue, awake or asleep, ask yourself if you’re dreaming. For example, in my dreams I often go underwater. So, whenever I go underwater, I ask myself if I’m dreaming. Keep it up until it becomes a habit. If you habitually do it while awake, you’ll also do it when you’re asleep.
Dream Test
So you think you may be dreaming. How can you tell? You might want to refrain from taking a leap off a building. There are far saner ways to know if you’re in a dream. One of the more common methods dream testing is by turning on a light switch. Light switches don’t work in dreams. Strange but true.
Another popular dream test is to doublecheck the time. If you look at your watch, look away, and look back again, the time will have changed. That’s another strange thing about dreams. Clocks don’t work.
There is so much more about lucid dreaming that can be discussed. A quick search and you’ll find an avalanche of information on the subject. Still, the best way of understanding lucid dreams is by having one of your own. Experiencing any type of lucidity in your dreams will make it that much easier to recreate it. What are you waiting for? Go to bed and wake up!
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