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This account is a showcase of how to have lucid dreams, especially for those who want to have realistic dreams of illegal or dark fantasies. Thought crimes do not exist and using dreams as an outlet can be useful for venting or simply having fun.
For now, the basics of lucid dreams are being explained, but later posts will center dark themes. Read with discretion.
Main Posts:
Lucid Dreaming: What Is It & Why For Dark Fantasies (Works as a continuation to this introduction)
Basic Definitions for Lucid Dream Terms
You Already Had a Lucid Dream: Dreams & How They Work
Tips:
Keeping Afloat: How to Dream Journal + Longer Lucid Dreams
Tips for Shapeshifting/Bodyswapping in Lucid Dreams
Tips For Creating Objects/Living Creatures
Emergency Dream Rescue Methods
Emergency Dream Rescue Methods
Oct. 4th, 2021 04:39 pmExcerpt from Lucid Dreaming: What Is It & Why For Dark Fantasies with additions:
Nightmares are one concern that many beginner lucid dreamers have. What if they become lucid in a nightmare that they can't escape from or use their powers in? After all, lucid dreams mean you're more aware of those scary things happening.
Rest assured, that is unlikely to happen given that a lucid dreamer is on godmode. But, like all things in dreams, something like that could happen - in those cases, many other lucid dreamers have brainstormed ways to have an emergency exit.
Willpower is key to doing many things when lucid and is a requirement for the emergency exits as well. These exits range from:
( Read more... )
If those sound silly, it's on purpose. Silly things are meant to diffuse the tension in nightmares and prevent the scary atmosphere from gaining any more power over your dreamself. With less tension, your dreamself is more likely to regain that godmode ability and be able to wake yourself up.
It's recommended to brainstorm your own emergency exits since personalized dream tactics can make it more memorable in the face of tense dream situations.
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In addition to these letting one escape a troubling scene, one can also use it to teleport to someplace more pleasant. In those places, one can get the bearings for what lucid dream activities they wanted to try. For example, if trying to find a dream character leads you to finding a monster, you can teleport to a location to take a break (perhaps use methods to stabilize the dream if the monster had you waking up a bit), and then go back to trying to find the dream character.
Nightmares are one concern that many beginner lucid dreamers have. What if they become lucid in a nightmare that they can't escape from or use their powers in? After all, lucid dreams mean you're more aware of those scary things happening.
Rest assured, that is unlikely to happen given that a lucid dreamer is on godmode. But, like all things in dreams, something like that could happen - in those cases, many other lucid dreamers have brainstormed ways to have an emergency exit.
Willpower is key to doing many things when lucid and is a requirement for the emergency exits as well. These exits range from:
( Read more... )
If those sound silly, it's on purpose. Silly things are meant to diffuse the tension in nightmares and prevent the scary atmosphere from gaining any more power over your dreamself. With less tension, your dreamself is more likely to regain that godmode ability and be able to wake yourself up.
It's recommended to brainstorm your own emergency exits since personalized dream tactics can make it more memorable in the face of tense dream situations.
-
In addition to these letting one escape a troubling scene, one can also use it to teleport to someplace more pleasant. In those places, one can get the bearings for what lucid dream activities they wanted to try. For example, if trying to find a dream character leads you to finding a monster, you can teleport to a location to take a break (perhaps use methods to stabilize the dream if the monster had you waking up a bit), and then go back to trying to find the dream character.
Tips For Creating Objects/Living Creatures
Oct. 4th, 2021 03:55 pmCreating things out of thin air is one of the most used lucid dream techniques due to the variety it can add to dreams. Here's a few simple methods for creating living or nonliving things:
( Read more... )
Expectations are key to finding what you want in dreams. If you find something you weren't looking for and are having trouble, don't hesitate to try the emergency dream rescue methods.
( Read more... )
Expectations are key to finding what you want in dreams. If you find something you weren't looking for and are having trouble, don't hesitate to try the emergency dream rescue methods.
Lucid Dreaming Tips
Oct. 4th, 2021 02:40 pmThese tips will not appear on the reading page.
During this week I'll add tips for shapeshifting/bodyswapping, creating an object/living creature, and transporting oneself into a fictional world.
The basics to lucid dreaming will be explained before delving into dark fantasies, but these tips may also help for those fantasies. Regardless, the reason behind not putting them on the reading page is because I want to center the tips that are related to dark fantasies.
Regardless of lucid dreaming experience, there are some abilities that can remain difficult for certain people. That's why, whether you have had 100 lucid dreams or 0 lucid dreams, these tips can still be useful.
If interested, check back later for the posts.
The shapeshifting/bodyswapping tips are linked here!
Tips For Creating Objects/Living Creatures are linked here!
I’ve lucid dreamed of being a bouncy ball, a point of light, an expanding star, and a floating eye, and I’ve had many entirely bodiless lucid dreams. [...] On rare occasion, we can even find ourselves inhabiting two different dream bodies simultaneously.
- Excerpt from Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Lucid Dreaming by Clare R. Johnson, PhD. PDF found here.
It can be hard to change one's human body in a lucid dream. Some LDers find that their LD body won't forget their IRL body, leading to dissonant situations such as looking different in a mirror but feeling their old body's limbs. The brain may not be used to the sensations it would have to give the dreamer from the new body.
However, there are LDers who find it easier to change into something inhuman because it's such an extremely different body that their brain finds it hard to slip up into a human one. In addition, many dreamers (lucid or not) can be inhabiting a different body from the start of their dream, no effort for changing needed.
The methods for fully changing one's body depend on the person. More of those methods:
( Read more... )
Many of these tips are meant to induce a degree of dissociation. If this is not wanted, the last 2 bullet points are ways to change the body without needing much dissociation in the process of obtaining the body.
There are no limits to lucid dreams. "The sky's the limit," doesn't apply here either, since one can change their body into the sky. Changing one's body in a lucid dream will never be impossible.
From time to time, I've written that a dream "ends". What I mean by this is that it feels like it ends from the dreamer's perspective. With the exception of being half-awake and feeling waking life bleed into the recent dream, however, it's near impossible for someone to know that a dream ended.
Firstly: it's likely that everyone dreams each night, though most dreams aren't remembered.
When you dream, it usually lasts less than or around 2 hours within the dream. There have been studies where researchers wake sleeping volunteers in order to know whether they dreamt. Up to 50% of people woken from non-rapid eye movement sleep and 80% of people woken from rapid eye movement sleep remember their dreams.
Now remember that most dream details can slip away in a matter of minutes after waking.
Typically, it's inaccurate to say a dream "ends" because it may be that the latest dreams weren't remembered / were quickly forgotten upon waking.
Many dreams aren't captured by our waking memory. Dream recall training isn't to make more dreams, after all - they were already there, buried under the forgetfulness. We simply found better shovels to dig with.
Of course, lucid dreams would count as dreams.
That's right.
It's possible that you have already had a lucid dream.
Several times, I have come out of an LD shivering with anticipation to write the dream down - only to forget that I had an LD at all. It's later in the day that I remember. How many more of those dreams have slipped past me, had I not built up dream recall and remembered later?
While forgetting a lucid experience may sound unbelievable to beginners who hadn't had any (to their knowledge), it's a documented phenomena among others.
We don't know how many dreams there are per night, but remembering 3+ dreams is no stranger when having strong dream recall. 365 nights per how many years you've been on the planet, and you get ample opportunity to have had a lucid dream that you hadn't known about.
In lucid dream communities, it's often said that having the first lucid dream is the hardest step. But now we know better.
The hardest step has been leaped over. You just may have missed it.
Now, you just have to work on digging deep enough to uncover the newer lucid dreams.
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Martin, Joshua M et al. “Structural differences between REM and non-REM dream reports assessed by graph analysis.” PloS one vol. 15,7 e0228903. 23 Jul. 2020, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228903
Nielsen, T A. “A review of mentation in REM and NREM sleep: "covert" REM sleep as a possible reconciliation of two opposing models.” The Behavioral and brain sciences vol. 23,6 (2000): 851-66; discussion 904-1121. doi:10.1017/s0140525x0000399x
Firstly: it's likely that everyone dreams each night, though most dreams aren't remembered.
When you dream, it usually lasts less than or around 2 hours within the dream. There have been studies where researchers wake sleeping volunteers in order to know whether they dreamt. Up to 50% of people woken from non-rapid eye movement sleep and 80% of people woken from rapid eye movement sleep remember their dreams.
Now remember that most dream details can slip away in a matter of minutes after waking.
Typically, it's inaccurate to say a dream "ends" because it may be that the latest dreams weren't remembered / were quickly forgotten upon waking.
Many dreams aren't captured by our waking memory. Dream recall training isn't to make more dreams, after all - they were already there, buried under the forgetfulness. We simply found better shovels to dig with.
Of course, lucid dreams would count as dreams.
That's right.
It's possible that you have already had a lucid dream.
Several times, I have come out of an LD shivering with anticipation to write the dream down - only to forget that I had an LD at all. It's later in the day that I remember. How many more of those dreams have slipped past me, had I not built up dream recall and remembered later?
While forgetting a lucid experience may sound unbelievable to beginners who hadn't had any (to their knowledge), it's a documented phenomena among others.
We don't know how many dreams there are per night, but remembering 3+ dreams is no stranger when having strong dream recall. 365 nights per how many years you've been on the planet, and you get ample opportunity to have had a lucid dream that you hadn't known about.
In lucid dream communities, it's often said that having the first lucid dream is the hardest step. But now we know better.
The hardest step has been leaped over. You just may have missed it.
Now, you just have to work on digging deep enough to uncover the newer lucid dreams.
-
References
Martin, Joshua M et al. “Structural differences between REM and non-REM dream reports assessed by graph analysis.” PloS one vol. 15,7 e0228903. 23 Jul. 2020, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228903
Nielsen, T A. “A review of mentation in REM and NREM sleep: "covert" REM sleep as a possible reconciliation of two opposing models.” The Behavioral and brain sciences vol. 23,6 (2000): 851-66; discussion 904-1121. doi:10.1017/s0140525x0000399x
Basic Definitions for Lucid Dream Terms
Sep. 5th, 2021 06:00 amCut from the intro post for organization purposes.
Basic Definitions:
Due to the varying nature of dream experiences, these definitions are not set in stone. It's encouraged to make your own definitions, such as if that helps to remember them better or if your experiences differ.
LD - Lucid Dreaming acronym. A lucid dream is not simply a realistic dream, although it can be. All that's needed to call dream a lucid dream is being aware that you were in a dream and that this awareness was not intentional from the dream's plot. If it's intentional then it could be the dream using a faux awareness as a smokescreen - making you ignore parts of the dream that you wouldn't if you were fully lucid yet convincing your dreamself that you hadn't ignored a thing.
DC - Dream Character acronym. Any character in a dream is a DC. Most do not count the dreamer as a DC, but some do in the scenarios where your dream counterpart is acting according to the dream's plot instead of how you would normally act, ranging from 'you dreamt as yourself in clothes you didn't have' to 'you dreamt you were Satan'.
Dreamself - Common term for the person you dream as.
Dream Guide - a DC that can act as the dreamer's subconscious trying to help the dreamer learn lucid dreaming tricks. They can take the form of anything, including nonsentient objects. The way they 'teach' the dreamer can be through conversation, actions, symbolism, anything that the dreamer can take meaning in. [Example: an aspiring lucid dreamer wants to learn how to fly in dreams. In a dream that night, a dragon comes up to a dreamer and its presence reminds them that they are dreaming. On another night, the same dragon appears then soars into the sky to remind the dreamer about their goal to fly.]
RC - Reality check acronym. It's anything on one's 5 senses that can be used as a way to question if one is in a dream. Not always a safe method because of the existential questioning, possibly troubling for psychosis. Common RCs include counting your fingers, trying to blow air through a pinched nose, and pushing a finger into your palm to see if it goes through. [Example: a habit of counting your fingers every time you see a clock, which leads to lucidity when you see a clock in a dream and find out your hands have 20 fingers.]
Mindfulness - A meditation technique that many lucid dreamers use in hand with reality checks. This has been found having connections to dream control (Stumbrys, Tadas & Erlacher, Daniel; 2017). It's to focus on the 5 senses and try to amplify the sensations of real life. Practicing this leads to a lucid dreamer potentially having more realistic dreams and being quicker to spot inaccuracies in dream logic. Another part of mindfulness is to distance oneself from the thoughts that you have, in order to build priority on thoughts that matter and to better discard the ones that don't. However, that distancing technique can harm those with dissociative issues as it could induce dissociation. [Example: taking a song that you usually listen to without thinking about it and putting effort into absorbing each musical detail, extremely focused on the song, closing your eyes and keeping still to minimize distractions by other senses.]
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Stumbrys, Tadas & Erlacher, Daniel. (2017). Mindfulness and Lucid Dream Frequency Predicts the Ability to Control Lucid Dreams. Imagination Cognition and Personality. 36. 229-239. 10.1177/0276236616683388
Basic Definitions:
Due to the varying nature of dream experiences, these definitions are not set in stone. It's encouraged to make your own definitions, such as if that helps to remember them better or if your experiences differ.
LD - Lucid Dreaming acronym. A lucid dream is not simply a realistic dream, although it can be. All that's needed to call dream a lucid dream is being aware that you were in a dream and that this awareness was not intentional from the dream's plot. If it's intentional then it could be the dream using a faux awareness as a smokescreen - making you ignore parts of the dream that you wouldn't if you were fully lucid yet convincing your dreamself that you hadn't ignored a thing.
DC - Dream Character acronym. Any character in a dream is a DC. Most do not count the dreamer as a DC, but some do in the scenarios where your dream counterpart is acting according to the dream's plot instead of how you would normally act, ranging from 'you dreamt as yourself in clothes you didn't have' to 'you dreamt you were Satan'.
Dreamself - Common term for the person you dream as.
Dream Guide - a DC that can act as the dreamer's subconscious trying to help the dreamer learn lucid dreaming tricks. They can take the form of anything, including nonsentient objects. The way they 'teach' the dreamer can be through conversation, actions, symbolism, anything that the dreamer can take meaning in. [Example: an aspiring lucid dreamer wants to learn how to fly in dreams. In a dream that night, a dragon comes up to a dreamer and its presence reminds them that they are dreaming. On another night, the same dragon appears then soars into the sky to remind the dreamer about their goal to fly.]
RC - Reality check acronym. It's anything on one's 5 senses that can be used as a way to question if one is in a dream. Not always a safe method because of the existential questioning, possibly troubling for psychosis. Common RCs include counting your fingers, trying to blow air through a pinched nose, and pushing a finger into your palm to see if it goes through. [Example: a habit of counting your fingers every time you see a clock, which leads to lucidity when you see a clock in a dream and find out your hands have 20 fingers.]
Mindfulness - A meditation technique that many lucid dreamers use in hand with reality checks. This has been found having connections to dream control (Stumbrys, Tadas & Erlacher, Daniel; 2017). It's to focus on the 5 senses and try to amplify the sensations of real life. Practicing this leads to a lucid dreamer potentially having more realistic dreams and being quicker to spot inaccuracies in dream logic. Another part of mindfulness is to distance oneself from the thoughts that you have, in order to build priority on thoughts that matter and to better discard the ones that don't. However, that distancing technique can harm those with dissociative issues as it could induce dissociation. [Example: taking a song that you usually listen to without thinking about it and putting effort into absorbing each musical detail, extremely focused on the song, closing your eyes and keeping still to minimize distractions by other senses.]
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References
Stumbrys, Tadas & Erlacher, Daniel. (2017). Mindfulness and Lucid Dream Frequency Predicts the Ability to Control Lucid Dreams. Imagination Cognition and Personality. 36. 229-239. 10.1177/0276236616683388
There have been lucky people who had experienced lucid dreams following their discovery of the concept. This is possible because the subconscious can grapple onto new concepts and pull them into dreams.
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*On why paper notebooks would be more memorable if a physical copy would stimulate the sense of touch moreso than writing dreams on a phone: one reason would be that phones do stimulate the senses more.
Artificial lights, colours that clash with your surroundings, contrasting text, notifications, eyecatching lockscreens, passcode inputs, alarms, and other interesting apps are a few of the things you may encounter on your way to the app you use to write dreams.
That isn't to say a physical method will never have these traits (artificial lights from a doorway, loud noises from outside, etc.) but that a digital one is more likely to have more distractions than a physical journal.
-
Often, beginners are discouraged when their first lucid dream lasts a few seconds. It's a common experience, since many aren't prepared to keep the dream. A burst of emotion is what usually kicks them out. This is likely due to the dream's plot being thrown off by the sudden lucidity, then further thrown off when the lucid dreamer acts out of character. It could be the same reason why dreams about falling usually stop before the impact, or why dreams about sex usually stop at climax - usually, dreams are known to stop when it detects strong sensations / emotions from the dreamer that it wasn't expecting. In a reverse, it's also why nightmares can abruptly stop the moment the dreamer stops feeling scared.
Panic, excitement, and other emotions can be hard to stuff down when their prevalence in a person varies. That's why this section is not about preventing emotions, but to have longer lucid dreams in spite of possible emotions.
Dreamself Actions
Dreams aren't used to being interrupted by lucidity. Becoming lucid is like breaching the containment of a story - of course the storyteller (your subconscious) will be scrambling. You've torn a hole into the fabric of a dream's existence! There are some ways to prolong the dream by playing along with it, without sacrificing your lucid abilities:
State of Mind
Some ways to prolong dreams in the waking world as well, with the exception of dream journals:
But most will not be as lucky. If you haven't had a lucid dream and want one, or have had them yet want tips to achieving LD goals, this post is for you!
Index
1. Dream Journals and Tips for Writing Entries
a. Making Journals
b. Gatekeep Dreams
b. Gatekeep Dreams
2. How to Have Longer Lucid Dreams
a. Dreamself Actions
b. State of Mind
b. State of Mind
Dream Journals and Tips for Writing Entries
Dream Journals are meant to elongate how much one is able to remember from dreams. Like a muscle, dream recall will raise slowly but surely with consistent exercise. With stronger recall, you may experience multiple dreams per night with high clarity. Some LDers have been surprised at how fast it had raised. There's always a chance that it will go as smoothly for beginners.
Making Journals
Nothing special is required for starting a dream journal - they can be made out of anything one can write in. Physical paper, a mobile app, anything. Spicing up the appearance of the journal can be one way to keep the journal on your mind when it starts feeling like a chore - and it will start feeling like a chore, especially once dream recall goes up and there could be multiple entries to make per day.
If the goal is to merely lucid dream, there is nothing wrong with missing days in a dream journal, nor is it wrong to drop the journal altogether. Journals may be a recommended way of achieving lucidity faster, but it isn't the only way.
In addition, unless one's goal includes archiving their dreams, it doesn't matter whether the dreams are separated onto different mediums. If having different dream journals on a mobile app and on a physical journal works well for you, that's good.
However, it's recommended to have a physical journal, as physical writing can be more memorable. A study by The University of Tokyo and NTT Data Institute of Management Consulting, Inc. has found that "the use of a paper notebook promoted the acquisition of rich encoding information and/or spatial information of real papers and that this information could be utilized as effective retrieval clues, leading to higher activations in these specific regions."
This is only a suggestion. In the end, if one wants to write down dreams, having a dream on a digital device is better than having nothing written at all.
Gatekeep Dreams
Furthermore, a physical journal may be less distracting when waking up and beelining to writing a dream. Dreams slip away from the conscious when reality stimulates your senses away from your memory - phone notifications, eyes seared by morning light, bedsheets hugging your limbs, birdsongs, your own thoughts, etc. are all actively eroding your memory of the dream*. Even reading text can count. The more you become grounded in reality, the less you're likely to remember dreams.
This may seem dramatic. But if you've ever woken with an interesting dream that you resolved to write down and then promptly forgot it in a matter of minutes, you've experienced firsthand how fast these dreams can slip away. Distractions could be considered the #1 enemy to keeping a dream journal.
That's why, those who've shared this experience have cooked up methods to gatekeeping dreams, before your brain can chase them off. Here are some:
Making Journals
Nothing special is required for starting a dream journal - they can be made out of anything one can write in. Physical paper, a mobile app, anything. Spicing up the appearance of the journal can be one way to keep the journal on your mind when it starts feeling like a chore - and it will start feeling like a chore, especially once dream recall goes up and there could be multiple entries to make per day.
If the goal is to merely lucid dream, there is nothing wrong with missing days in a dream journal, nor is it wrong to drop the journal altogether. Journals may be a recommended way of achieving lucidity faster, but it isn't the only way.
In addition, unless one's goal includes archiving their dreams, it doesn't matter whether the dreams are separated onto different mediums. If having different dream journals on a mobile app and on a physical journal works well for you, that's good.
However, it's recommended to have a physical journal, as physical writing can be more memorable. A study by The University of Tokyo and NTT Data Institute of Management Consulting, Inc. has found that "the use of a paper notebook promoted the acquisition of rich encoding information and/or spatial information of real papers and that this information could be utilized as effective retrieval clues, leading to higher activations in these specific regions."
This is only a suggestion. In the end, if one wants to write down dreams, having a dream on a digital device is better than having nothing written at all.
Gatekeep Dreams
Furthermore, a physical journal may be less distracting when waking up and beelining to writing a dream. Dreams slip away from the conscious when reality stimulates your senses away from your memory - phone notifications, eyes seared by morning light, bedsheets hugging your limbs, birdsongs, your own thoughts, etc. are all actively eroding your memory of the dream*. Even reading text can count. The more you become grounded in reality, the less you're likely to remember dreams.
This may seem dramatic. But if you've ever woken with an interesting dream that you resolved to write down and then promptly forgot it in a matter of minutes, you've experienced firsthand how fast these dreams can slip away. Distractions could be considered the #1 enemy to keeping a dream journal.
That's why, those who've shared this experience have cooked up methods to gatekeeping dreams, before your brain can chase them off. Here are some:
- Use as much detail as you're able. It's easier to do for beginners who don't have detailed dreams. As it gets more detailed, the more this feels like a chore. However, this is a powerful method to having vivid dream quicker.
- Write dreams in present tense. This has helped to put oneself in the shoes of their dreamself, which then makes it easier to recall the dream as it happened. While past tense would be accurate, it creates a barrier between you and the dream that could discourage your recall.
- Summarize the dream right away. It's recommended to state this before detailing the rest of the dream, since there's the chance of losing your recall while you're writing.
- (My tip) Specify if it's in 1st person or 3rd person. This can be helpful for organizing the dreams you're likely to have. If you want more 1st person dreams, such as for 1st person lucid dreams, then specifying that in the journals will keep your mind on it and increase the chance of your subconscious dragging that focus into the next dream. Possibly, a lucid dream!
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*On why paper notebooks would be more memorable if a physical copy would stimulate the sense of touch moreso than writing dreams on a phone: one reason would be that phones do stimulate the senses more.
Artificial lights, colours that clash with your surroundings, contrasting text, notifications, eyecatching lockscreens, passcode inputs, alarms, and other interesting apps are a few of the things you may encounter on your way to the app you use to write dreams.
That isn't to say a physical method will never have these traits (artificial lights from a doorway, loud noises from outside, etc.) but that a digital one is more likely to have more distractions than a physical journal.
-
How to Have Longer Lucid Dreams
Often, beginners are discouraged when their first lucid dream lasts a few seconds. It's a common experience, since many aren't prepared to keep the dream. A burst of emotion is what usually kicks them out. This is likely due to the dream's plot being thrown off by the sudden lucidity, then further thrown off when the lucid dreamer acts out of character. It could be the same reason why dreams about falling usually stop before the impact, or why dreams about sex usually stop at climax - usually, dreams are known to stop when it detects strong sensations / emotions from the dreamer that it wasn't expecting. In a reverse, it's also why nightmares can abruptly stop the moment the dreamer stops feeling scared.
Panic, excitement, and other emotions can be hard to stuff down when their prevalence in a person varies. That's why this section is not about preventing emotions, but to have longer lucid dreams in spite of possible emotions.
Dreamself Actions
Dreams aren't used to being interrupted by lucidity. Becoming lucid is like breaching the containment of a story - of course the storyteller (your subconscious) will be scrambling. You've torn a hole into the fabric of a dream's existence! There are some ways to prolong the dream by playing along with it, without sacrificing your lucid abilities:
- Touching your hands. Focusing on any sensation in a dream can keep yourself inside for longer, due to grounding yourself into the dream. Hands are one easily accessible tool for such sensations. Try examining the lines along those palms, feeling the grooves along them and focusing on the sense of touch. Rubbing hands together is a common way to focus on touch.
- Incremental changes. Beginners who've stabilized their dream can get greedy and attempt to change it. While it's useful for training lucidity abilities, too big of a change can end the dream. Instead of brainstorming on what to change, a better mindset would be to check what can fit within the dream's setting. Incremental changes after observing what fits for the dream is less likely to end with a disappointing kick.
- Play the role that you were assigned in the dream. You're less likely to be kicked out if you convince your dream that you aren't going to cause any more interruptions. This could be a tricky method, since you run the risk of forgetting that you're in a dream. However, this can be a way to train yourself to be lucid for longer by always reminding yourself of the fact. Couple that with how this prolongs the dream and you have a good way to train lucidity length.
- Get a feel for how your dreams end. There are sensations that are common to the end of LDs, such as a vibrating feeling, unfocused sight, shaking surroundings, muted noise, and sudden incomprehension of the dream. Expert LDers have been prolonging their dreams to what feels like days just by using grounding techniques (such as the first bullet point) every time they feel the dream start to end.
State of Mind
Some ways to prolong dreams in the waking world as well, with the exception of dream journals:
- Keeping the concept of prolonged lucid dreams within your thoughts. Like all habits, keeping something in your conscious mind will make it easier to build a habit. There could be a few minutes within a day that's set aside for thinking about prolonged LDs.
- Reminding yourself of lucid dream goals. An extension of the first bullet. LD goals such as "I want to do [x] fantastical thing in a dream" would obviously not be achieved if the dream ended too soon. Longer LDs are important and deserve to be trained for if wanting to achieve those LD goals.
- Keeping track of dream signs. Depending on the person, there could be tell-tale signs within your dreams that you're dreaming. Dream characters and messages could reoccur. This is more easily spotted with a dream journal.
- Immerse yourself in interactive video game universes. Research has shown that "more time spent playing physically interactive games was related to more frequent lucid and control dreaming." It's due to the video games and dreams both being immersive fictional worlds, thus avid players of interactive games would have an easier time immersing themselves in lucid dreams. A better immersion means being more likely to play along with the dream properly, if wanting to prolong it.
- Sleep in ideal temperatures if able. Temperatures above 23 celsius (75 fahrenheit) or below 12 celsius (54 fahrenheit) can cause shorter hours of sleep. While it's possible to have days - or even years - of time seemingly pass in a short dream, having one's REM sleep interrupted is likely to end the dream.
- (My tip) Rereading some dream journal entries. Rereading entries can bring a surprising amount of memories, even with short descriptions. Are there dreams that you'd like to have gone on longer? Grab that wish and let it motivate your subconscious into putting you back into that dream, perhaps for longer this time.
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References
Keita Umejima, Takuya Ibaraki, Takahiro Yamazaki, Kuniyoshi L. Sakai. Paper Notebooks vs. Mobile Devices: Brain Activation Differences During Memory Retrieval. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2021; 15 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.634158
M Tai, DF Mastin, J Peszka, 0731 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIDEO GAME USE, GAME GENRE, AND LUCID/CONTROL DREAMING, Sleep, Volume 40, Issue suppl_1, 28 April 2017, Page A271, DOI: 10.1093/sleepj/zsx050.730
M Tai, DF Mastin, J Peszka, 0731 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIDEO GAME USE, GAME GENRE, AND LUCID/CONTROL DREAMING, Sleep, Volume 40, Issue suppl_1, 28 April 2017, Page A271, DOI: 10.1093/sleepj/zsx050.730
For this post, I'll delve into the reasons why lucid dreaming is a potent method of indulging dark fantasies, and offer some definitions of terms that will pop up repeatedly over the course of the account. More definitions can be found on this list.
While I frame these posts as if talking to a reader, I'm not here entirely as a teacher. I am going to use this account as opportunities to get back into lucid dreaming, research further than I've ever gotten, and maybe detail some of my dreams. If there is a reader interested in lucid dream tips, we'll be on that journey together.
First,
a Letter to Those with Dark Fantasies (skip this part if just wanting the reasons and definitions):
( Read more... )
Why Lucid Dreaming:
Lucid dreaming is when the dreamer comes to the realisation that everything around them is a dream. For some adept lucid dreamers, this realisation comes at the start of the dream. Following the lucidity is a massive potential for the dreamer to take reigns of their environment. If they want the personalities of dream characters to be different, they can do it. If they want to change their dream appearance, they'll own the new look. If they want the dream to look more realistic than real life, the dream bends to their will.
Details under the cut:
( Read more... )
In summary, lucid dreams can be a place to put out any fantasy one would have - whether it be dark secrets, practicing a job interview, and more - that could take a while to achieve, yet reap rewards such as preparation for life and increased insight. In addition, it provides fun that might not be found in real life. While there are parts to lucid dreaming that one could be careful about, such as declining health from deliberate induction methods or being stuck in nightmares while lucid, there have been ways to circumvent the cons by trying other methods. Like all things, lucid dreaming is not right for everyone. For those who would benefit from trying, however, the lucid dream communities that have withstood years are readily on the internet to provide tips for going from a LD beginner to a LD expert.
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References
Aviram L and Soffer-Dudek N (2018). Lucid Dreaming: Intensity, But Not Frequency, Is Inversely Related to Psychopathology. Front. Psychol. 9:384. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00384
Bourke, Patrick & Shaw, Hannah. (2014). Spontaneous Lucid Dreaming Frequency and Waking Insight. Dreaming. 24. 152-159. 10.1037/a0036908.
LaBerge, S. (2014). “Lucid dreaming: paradoxes of dreaming consciousness,” in Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence, eds E. E. Cardeña, S. J. E. Lynn, and S. E. Krippner (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association), 145–173. doi: 10.1037/14258-006
Smith, B.V., & Blagrove, M. (2015). Lucid dreaming frequency and alarm clock snooze button use. Dreaming 25, 291-299.
Soffer-Dudek, N., Wertheim, R., and Shahar, G. (2011). Lucid dreaming and resilience in the face of exposure to terrorism. J. Trauma. Stress 24, 125–128. doi: 10.1002/jts.20601
Tart, C. T. (1988). “From spontaneous event to lucidity,” in Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain, eds J. Gackenbach and S. LaBerge (New York, NY: Springer), 67–103. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4757-0423-5_5
Tholey, P. (1988). “A model for lucidity training as a means of self-healing and psychological growth,” in Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain, eds J. Gackenbach and S. LaBerge (New York, NY: Springer), 263–287
While I frame these posts as if talking to a reader, I'm not here entirely as a teacher. I am going to use this account as opportunities to get back into lucid dreaming, research further than I've ever gotten, and maybe detail some of my dreams. If there is a reader interested in lucid dream tips, we'll be on that journey together.
First,
a Letter to Those with Dark Fantasies (skip this part if just wanting the reasons and definitions):
( Read more... )
Why Lucid Dreaming:
Lucid dreaming is when the dreamer comes to the realisation that everything around them is a dream. For some adept lucid dreamers, this realisation comes at the start of the dream. Following the lucidity is a massive potential for the dreamer to take reigns of their environment. If they want the personalities of dream characters to be different, they can do it. If they want to change their dream appearance, they'll own the new look. If they want the dream to look more realistic than real life, the dream bends to their will.
Details under the cut:
( Read more... )
In summary, lucid dreams can be a place to put out any fantasy one would have - whether it be dark secrets, practicing a job interview, and more - that could take a while to achieve, yet reap rewards such as preparation for life and increased insight. In addition, it provides fun that might not be found in real life. While there are parts to lucid dreaming that one could be careful about, such as declining health from deliberate induction methods or being stuck in nightmares while lucid, there have been ways to circumvent the cons by trying other methods. Like all things, lucid dreaming is not right for everyone. For those who would benefit from trying, however, the lucid dream communities that have withstood years are readily on the internet to provide tips for going from a LD beginner to a LD expert.
-
Aviram L and Soffer-Dudek N (2018). Lucid Dreaming: Intensity, But Not Frequency, Is Inversely Related to Psychopathology. Front. Psychol. 9:384. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00384
Bourke, Patrick & Shaw, Hannah. (2014). Spontaneous Lucid Dreaming Frequency and Waking Insight. Dreaming. 24. 152-159. 10.1037/a0036908.
LaBerge, S. (2014). “Lucid dreaming: paradoxes of dreaming consciousness,” in Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence, eds E. E. Cardeña, S. J. E. Lynn, and S. E. Krippner (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association), 145–173. doi: 10.1037/14258-006
Smith, B.V., & Blagrove, M. (2015). Lucid dreaming frequency and alarm clock snooze button use. Dreaming 25, 291-299.
Soffer-Dudek, N., Wertheim, R., and Shahar, G. (2011). Lucid dreaming and resilience in the face of exposure to terrorism. J. Trauma. Stress 24, 125–128. doi: 10.1002/jts.20601
Tart, C. T. (1988). “From spontaneous event to lucidity,” in Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain, eds J. Gackenbach and S. LaBerge (New York, NY: Springer), 67–103. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4757-0423-5_5
Tholey, P. (1988). “A model for lucidity training as a means of self-healing and psychological growth,” in Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain, eds J. Gackenbach and S. LaBerge (New York, NY: Springer), 263–287
