Welcome to the third and final part of my lucid dreaming series. Over the few days, you should have been practising a few techniques that can help you to control your breathing and your mental state. By now, you should be feeling relatively present throughout the majority of your days. Additionally, you should have been keeping a dream journal which should have a couple of entries. Don’t worry if not, using the information in this last article, you should be able to piece every together. You can then continuously practice these techniques day in, day out. Over time, you’ll build up your awareness so much that lucid dreaming will then become possible.
In today’s article, we’ll explore how to induce your mind into a lucid dreaming state. There are two types of induction you can attempt. These are known as WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dreams) and MILD (Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dreams.
WILD
This is considered the most difficult form of lucid dreaming induction. You’ll need to practice your techniques strictly to achieve this. However, there are two primary advantages of using WILD. Firstly, you’ll be able to choose in your dreams when you want to become lucid. This means you can be simply observing a dream and then choose to become directly involved. The second advantage is known as Peak Lucidity. This means your dreams will be the most vivid and therefore the most engaging.
TECHNIQUE: WILD
Step 1
Firstly, get into your bed and lay in corpse pose. This is where you lay on your back with your arms comfortably at your sides. You’ll want your body to be loose and relaxed. Another way of achieving this is setting the alarm about 5-6 hours into your sleep. You can then turn it off and return to your sleep. This is because your body will already be in the relaxed mode.
Step 2
Close your eyes and stare into the blackness. Use your meditative practices to observe and release any thoughts and feelings that pop into your mind. Try and clear your mind as much as possible. Inhale and exhale through your nose very slowly. For this, inhale for four seconds. Hold for seven seconds. Exhale for eight seconds. Counting your breath like this will also help you to stay focused.
Step 3
As you repeat this, you’ll start to see that strange buzz of colours you normally see when you have your eyes closed. Stare at these colours. At this point, you should feel your body starting to fall asleep. Concentrate on your breathing and these colours. Try not to lose consciousness.
Step 4
As you’re on the verge of falling asleep, start to create a mental image of what you want your dream to be. Start at the ground. Do you want a beach or grass? Slowly branch outwards from your feet. Are there trees, buildings or mountains around you? Slowly add in detail piece by piece, ensuring you can see each clearly before you envision the next. As you keep going, you should find yourself asleep and in a lucid dream.
TECHNIQUE: MILD
This is the ideal technique for beginners just starting out. MILD works by setting memory cues in your mind so, when you’re asleep, you can remember that you’re supposed to be lucid dreaming. This is where you’ll need the practices you have been doing. If practised enough, they should continue in your sleep. Note, you can also add an action to remember to be present. This could be looking at your hands or looking at your watch. Something simple that reminds you to be aware. These actions will naturally reoccur while dreaming, causing you to become lucid.
Step One
Get into bed and position yourself in corpse pose as above. Close your eyes and stare into the blackness. Now, with easy breathing, repeat a phase in your head. These should be something along the lines of ‘I will have a lucid dream tonight’ or ‘I’m Dreaming Now’.
Really mean the words that you are repeating to yourself. Maintain the easy breathing and stay focused. Your meditative practices will have taught you how to do this. Any thoughts or feelings that come into your head, simply observe and dismiss. You need your mind clear. As you repeat, you should find yourself quickly falling asleep.
Step Two
As you’re about to fall asleep, while repeating your chant, start to visualise your dream, similar to the method above. As you fall asleep, your conscious mind will also become part of that dream. If this happens successfully, you’ll be lucid dreaming!
Note
Another method that some people use is using lucid dreaming induction music, such as binaural audio. These can be easier found online, such as here. This is effective for some people and not to others; it simply depends on your mind.
And with that, I conclude my meditating to lucid dream series. You may not be able to enter lucidity on your first attempt but don’t give up hope. I practised for many months with the odd lucid dream, maybe once or twice a week. Sometimes none. After about six weeks, I was able to start lucid dreaming near constantly. We’d love to hear your feedback and some of your dream stories and how you got on with the techniques! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!