You have decided you want to be a lucid dreamer, otherwise known as a conscious dreamer. Knowing what you would like to do is good, the question remains on how do you accomplish this?

You also need to think about exactly why you want to become a lucid dreamer. What are the benefits of lucid dreaming? To help us find the benefits, let us first look at ‘normal’ sleep.

Sleep itself is not so interesting; you get ready for bed, lie down and close your eyes. Then you may have uncontrolled dreams or not and several hours later you awaken.

Normal sleep just seems to serve the purpose of simply refreshing ourselves in order to live out the next day. But what if you could control that period of time that you have dreams?

What if you could be an active instead of passive participant in your dreams? What if you could take control of your dream instead of being controlled by it? Someone who has managed to become a lucid dreamer can do all of this – they are not bound by anything except for their imagination.

So if you want to become a lucid dreamer how do you do it? There are actually two ways. The first way is having a dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD), which is where the dreamer is in a dream and then realizes that they are, restoring their sense of consciousness within the dream.

The second way is having a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD); where the dreamer goes from being awake, to being asleep with no change in consciousness. In other words, the dreamer enters their dream as if it were a door, rather than just “waking up” in a dream.

So what are the actual methods used to induce these two types of lucid dream experiences?

Dream Recall

One of the best ways to begin learning to become a lucid dreamer is by practicing dream recall. This is simply the ability to remember your dreams. When you remember your dreams and learn more about the commonalities which can be observed in your dreams, it is easier to recognize a dream and start to take control over the direction of it.

A dream journal is perhaps the best way to learn this skill. Use this to write down every detail of your dream that you can remember immediately after you wake. If you wait., it will become increasingly difficult to recall.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)

Developed by renowned lucid dream researcher Dr. Stephen LaBerge, this technique works by telling yourself to recognize a certain object or situation when you see it in your dreams. When you see this object, it triggers the realization that you are in a dreaming, allowing you to begin lucid dreaming.

Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB)

This simple process has you taking no action except to set an alarm that will waken you in less time than you normally sleep. For most of us about five or six hours will do it. After the alarm awakens you do not try to fall back to sleep. For about an hour you should read, watch TV or concentrate on lucid dreaming then go back to sleep.

According to Dr, LaBerge, this method has a 60% success rate. The idea here is to wake yourself in the midst of a REM cycle so that upon returning to sleep, lucid dreaming will be easy to achieve.

Cycle Adjustment Technique

This was created by Daniel Love, and what it is, is setting your alarm to wake you up an hour and a half before your normal time. Once you’ve adjusted to waking up early, alternate your alarm to wake you up normally and early. During times you are to wake up normally, you’re body will already be ready to wake up early, and therefore, you will be likely to be awake in your dream.

Wake-initiation of Lucid Dreams (WILD)

As described earlier wake initiated lucid dreams are matter of keeping your mind conscious as you fall asleep. This may be the most fun way to achieve lucid dream state.Imagine if you will that, your dreams are like a movie you are planning to watch. You get comfortable, turn on the television set, (sleep), first you have a dark screen (eyes closed) and now it is a matter of getting through the previews to the movie.

There are any number of ways to keep your mind alert, count, controlled breathing techniques or concentrated relaxation are all great ways to keep the mind alert. It is a bit like hypnotizing your self. This works best if you are not exhausted, try it during an afternoon nap.

Technologies like strobe lights and dreaming masks can also help you to become a lucid dreamer.

Listening to binaural beat frequencies through a head set is the simplest and most consistent way to create a lucid dream.

These binaural sounds induce lucid dreaming by causing the hemispheres of your brain to synchronize, making your brainwaves reach the state required for lucid dreaming.

Put all or many of these techniques together and you are ready to begin your journey into the wonderful world of lucid dreaming. It is a simple process that anyone can do.