The (Alternative) Guide to Lucid Dreaming

Yes, I know HeavenLord has a guide on Lucid Dreaming, and I have to admit, his is written well and it covers the basics (this is a compliment to you, HeavenLord). I've been into the subject for a fairly long time and I would like to cover the subject too. This is also a guide which covers the basics, but I think I may shed some light on other aspects and also set you off in the right direction to investigate the matter in other locations.

Get ready!

--Subject: LUCID DREAMING

1.) What is lucid dreaming?
2.) Isn't it dangerous/scary/stupid/waste of time/etc. ?
3.) How does it help with anything?
4.) How do I do this?
5.) Supplements
6.) Tips and Links


1.) What is lucid dreaming?
Lucid dreaming is essentially being aware that you're dreaming (Wikipedia). Now this may not sound so interesting to you, but imagine being able to take a nightmare into control or escape to the peaceful and serene countryside and fly. Perhaps you'd like to play in a 'real life Halo'? From lucid dreaming comes controlling dreams. Controlling dreams lets you have infinite opportunities to do whatever it is you want (TopCola).

2.) Isn't it dangerous/scary/stupid/waste of time/etc. ?
No, it definitely is not. In fact, it is the opposite of all these things. If you want to see how it helps with anything, read on.

3.)How does it help with anything?
How could you possibly ask such a question? Lucid dreaming is governed by solely your imagination. It lets you, say, invent a teleporter and go from point a to point b in a matter of milliseconds. Face fears you have in real life, too. In fact, I think a better question is, "How do I lucid dream?"

4.) How do I do this?
There are quite a few ways, actually. However, I must make sure you realize these two things: not every method will work for you, and either make sure you keep a dream journal OR make sure you have good dream recall and can remember up to 3 DREAMS PER NIGHT! I cannot stress this enough; what point is there to lucid dream if you cannot remember you're experience? Anyway, this isn't the best explanation(I should know!), but, here are the main techniques:


DILD: Dream induced lucid dream- when you realize, "Hey, this must be a dream!" and do all sorts of wacky things (Dream Guide Team)

MILD: Mnemonic induced lucid dream- when you repeat a mantra such as, "I will LD (lucid dream) tonight" and it turns out to work for you (Dream Guide Team)

WBTB: Wake back to bed- this may sound slightly useless, but waking up in the night and going to sleep increases your chance of an LD by a lot (Dream Guide Team)

CAT: Cycle Adjustment Technique- changing your internal sleep schedule to wake up your mind before the body (Dream Guide Team)

WILD: Wake induced lucid dream- some of you may have witnessed your body fall asleep, as in "the old hag" experience, where it feels like a monster is sitting on your chest, or hypnagogic imagery, or even sleep paralysis. This is where many techniques derive from (Dream Guide Team)

FILD: Finger induced lucid dream- one such variation of the WILD, usually combined with the WBTB method; the subject stops thinking except for usually a mantra such as "I will LD tonight" and just lightly moves his/her fingers, as if playing a very sensitive piano, usually only with the index and middle finger (Dream Guide Team)

DEILD: Dream Exit induced lucid dream- if you can easily tell when you're awake but have difficulty noticing when you're dreaming, this technique could work well with you. If you've woken up, fallen back asleep fairly quickly and reentered a dream with consciousness, then you know what I'm talking about. This method generally works with me, as you have a 99.9% chance of doing it if accompanied with WBTB (Dream Guide Team)

For a (perhaps) better selection, refer to this list

5.) Supplements
Lucid dreaming comes directly from the brain. Eating certain things before you go to sleep will help with recall, clarity, and of course, the chance of you getting an LD (ninja9578). Also, 'Audio Aids' can help with altering brain wave patterns, therefore making it more likely to LD (ninja9578).

A detailed dietary supplement list can be found here
The 'Audio Aid Repository' can be found here

One thing, though, that I feel would help a lot with LDers who'd like to rely on substances, is, believe it or not, Trader Joe's Cherry cider. Drank in copious amounts, this has given me dreams clearer than day itself and the realness has frightened me not only in the dreams, but in real life in remeniscence. Definitely try it if you'd like to experience quirky, mysterious, long (which is a good thing, in this case) and exciting dreams. If you can't find this, try taking a minimum of 2 tall glasses of either pure or 100% organic (yes, this really does help) fruit juice before bed. Less of a placebo effect as much as neurotransmission; the extra money pays for your dreams, does it not?

6.)Tips and Links
I can't go as in depth with the tips as these links can- that and my excuse for not having much time and writing this spontaneously. Just remember one thing, though: if you're imagination is limitless, then brace yourself for some pretty awesome dreams. If you're creative, too, there's a whole world of fun to be unlocked.

The weirdest part is that it's all in your head. ^_^

Links:
Dreamviews
LD4All
Lucid dream- Wikipedia

Thank you for coming this far and reading my first article. I hope I enriched your life

*There's so many things about LDing that I left out, feel free to ask.

Works Cited​

Dream Guide Team. "Lucid Dream Induction Techniques." Dream Views. 31 Aug. 2008. 22 Dec. 2008 <http://www.dreamviews.com/community/showthread.php?t=66857>.
"Lucid dream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia.org. 22 Dec. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dreaming>.
Ninja9578. "Audio Aid Repository." Dream Views. 21 Mar. 2008. 22 Dec. 2008 <http://www.dreamviews.com/community/showthread.php?t=55276>.
Ninja9578. "Supplement / Herb / Drug Repository." Dream Views. 2 Apr. 2008. 22 Dec. 2008 <http://www.dreamviews.com/community/showthread.php?t=56235>.
"Why attempt to have Lucid Dreams?" Dream Views. Ed. TopCola. 22 Dec. 2008 <http://www.dreamviews.com/whylucid.php>.

 

pointless guide, no information added from mine. Btw, I didn't use sources from my guide, it was all written from me and a couple of books. How about be more creative and choose a different topic instead of ripping others and writing mediocre guides on them?

 

Wow. Great feedback. Though, if you ask me, it shows to much about your personality.

?
You didn't use sources? Are you proposing that everything you wrote came entirely from you? YOU discovered all those methods? PROPS TO YOU! But wait, you said you used books. Without citing them, it's plagiarism.

Also, I noticed you failed to see that I've been focusing on the description of things. I see you failed to list the induction methods. I see you failed to link to other sites so others could learn about lucid dreaming if your 'Oh-so detailed' guide didn't quench their thirst. I see you failed to properly describe lucid dreaming. I see you failed to tell people WHY to do things. I also see that you failed to go into depth on the thought-provoking items in your guide and that you decided instead to mention things 'which weren't scientifically proven'. Did you *want* to confuse some of your readers?

Don't, ever, call someone a fake without proof.

 

Come on guys. Keep the fighting out of UE.

You did not cite your guide correctly and you could be considered a plagiarizer. Here is a guide on how to cite correctly: http://www.sythe.org/showthread.php?t=530628

Your guides layout is nice, but it could use a touch of color, and indenting the information would make it easier to read IMO.

 

Cited now. Also added some color.
The indents will come as soon as I can use them ^_^

 

Very nice. Glad to see people wanting to give others credit!

 

Very nice guide. I read HeavenLord's guide as well, and when I saw this I thought it'd just be a rip off of HL's, but I like this guide a lot better. It was short, sweet, and to the point. The thing I really like about this guide is that it's just the bare basics and then the helpful stuff.

I feel like most other lucid dream guides are just too boring and too painfully obvious. You told us enough to know what you were talking about, and I liked that you provided links and sources. I mean, anyone who knows anything about lucid dreaming doesn't need 4 pages of useless, pointless crap that everyone knows. And if someone doesn't know it, you have the links there which helps.

Anyway thanks for introducing me to methods I didn't know, and thanks for not wasting my time like every other lucid dream guide out there. 9/10

 

Very Nice..Well organised 9.7/10
Nice Color

 

Thanks for such high ratings!
Glad you liked it ^_^

 

Organization is great.
Points where reached.
Color was a great addition.
Score: 9/10.

 

Thanks!
I'm glad people like it!

 

Very detailed guide, thanks for putting up.

 

Thanks ^^


EDIT: Thanks SuF; easybib was really useful for citations and the such. I'm going to use it again for a research paper I'm writing.

 

nice guide, ignore heaven, he just wants attention. lol if there was only one guide to something then life would be boring, more guides = more ways

9/10 could use maybe some random pictures of stuff about lucid and maybe a little more info =)

 

Thanks!

 

HL had this guide really and done it much better honestly.

 

Eh, I disagree. HL just had the generic stuff that you'd see if you've spent even 10 seconds learning about lucid dreaming. And instead of wasting time and space like HL did, Uber Panda had stuff that wasn't just what everyone knows. Anyone who knows anything at all about lucid dreaming can't learn anything from HL guide, and for those who don't know anything, Uber Panda provided good, strong links. And then he went further, onto the more effective stuff. Uber Panda's guide helped me learn more about lucid dreaming and now I'm better at getting them. HL's guide taught me squat -- nothing unique about it.

Just my opinion though.

 

Nice way to advertise your guide, but you were very mistaken, Just because you did not cite in MLA format does NOT mean that your citation was not valid. By law the sources have to be there, and stated that they are sources that is ALL. MLA is just a way of keeping things organized which everyone recognizes, it is NOT required by law whatsoever so his cites were fine.

As for the guide, I liked it a lot better than the other one I read, and it's quite interesting, I'm going to have to try some of your ideas to induce the sleep should be fun . Thanks a lot for an excellent and interesting guide

 

Hm, I suppose MLA is just another form.

Oh, and thanks

 

I have had it a few times but I don't know why or how I got there Anyway I controlled sex in front of a camp fire