Conscious dreaming (often called lucid dreaming) is the ability to know that you are dreaming even in the midst of one ? and along with this comes the power to control the dream! When you know you?re dreaming, the possibilities are endless.

It may sound like something out of science fiction; but conscious dreaming is very real and is something that you can do with a little practice. Lucid dreaming is not hard to do ? and being able to control; your dreams can help you to find out more about yourself and serve as a valuable place to express yourself. There are some techniques which are tried and tested for bringing about lucid dreams.

Before you get started, you should decide why it is that you want to enjoy lucid dreaming. Do you want to use your conscious dreams to help you achieve goals in life, or just as a way of enjoying your dreams more?

Once you have a clear idea of your goals, you are ready to start practicing the techniques which lead to conscious dreaming. The first step for many is dream recall, which involves training yourself to remember you dreams in detail.

Learning to remember your dreams will help you to begin conscious dreaming. One thing which works for most is keeping a dream diary. Keep this beside your bed so that as soon as you awake (before your dreams can start melting away in the sun as they tend to do), you can write down all of the details you remember.

This technique will help you to start remembering your dreams very quickly. One you have learned to remember your dreams, it will become easier and easier to become conscious that they are happening. Many people find themselves not long after starting to keep a dream diary ?awakening? in the middle of a dream and starting to take control of it.

You may accidentally wake up from a conscious dream, but do not despair, this is normal, especially at first. Picture the dream in your mind and follow it as you go back to sleep. You will more than likely fall right back into the same dream and be able to control whatever is going on there as you wish.

Yet another conscious dreaming method is to force yourself to awaken earlier than usual, such as two hours or so. After you have awoken, go ahead and fall back to sleep. This has the effect of making you more aware of your dreams. You may have the illusion that you are lying in bed daydreaming but you are actually asleep and dreaming. Lucid dreaming is very likely to occur if you do this consistently.

Another useful technique to induce lucid dreams is to wake up a few hours earlier than you habitually do and then going right back to sleep. In these hours before your usual waking time, lucid dreaming is much more likely to occur. You may not even be able to tell if you were lying awake or dreaming!

Try to keep track of your sleep schedule ? this will help you to figure out when the best times for conscious dreaming are. Be sure not to deprive yourself of too much sleep, as you are actually less likely to have lucid dreams when sleep deprived.

Those afflicted with insomnia and other sleep disorders may be pleased to hear that conscious dreaming can help them to get a better night?s sleep ? it makes it easier to clear away the worries which can keep you from getting to sleep at night.

Many think of lucid dreaming as something which takes years of practice to learn; but in fact, it isn?t that hard. It just takes a little practice to become a conscious dreamer.

Anyone can have lucid dreams with a little practice. Using these techniques, you?ll find yourself in control of your dreams before you know it!