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Lucid Dream Techniques
Step 1: Question Your State
"Am I Dreaming?"
To become lucid you have to realise that you are dreaming.
The best way to do that is to get into the habit of asking yourself:
"Am I dreaming or awake?".
Simple, yes? Well, yes and no. It's easy to ask the question but it's
also too easy to automatically answer "of course I'm awake". You
need to stop and think.
You will always feel awake. You need to prove it to yourself.
Reality Tests
How can you test whether or not you're dreaming? The old idea of pinching yourself doesn't work - you can feel a
pinch in a dream. Here are a couple of alternative suggestions:
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- Replay the last few hours or minutes.
How did you get here?
Where were you previously? Where are you going? In a dream,
the answers to these questions are difficult if not impossible.
- Try reading something.
Reading more than a few words of text
in a dream is difficult, the letters tend to flow and mutate. It's
especially difficult if you try to read the same
sentence or page twice.
- Check for your dream signs
See the dream signs page for more detail.
- Try to fly
Flying is one of the easiest things to do in a dream, yet few of us
manage it in "real" life. Be sensible - don't try jumping off
the roof. Just stand still and imagine yourself lifting off
the ground. If you are dreaming, chances are it'll work.
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You can probably think of other ways of testing your state -
use whatever works best for you. Don't worry about what other
people will think, they won't have any idea what you're doing.
For this questioning to work you need to do it frequently.
Get used to quesioning whether you're dreaming or awake any
time something unusual happens, any time you find yourself in a
surreal or bizarre situation. You might even like to write
the question "Am I awake?" on the back of a business card
so that you see it every time you open your purse or wallet.
Get into the habit of questioning your waking state frequently
and thinking carefully about the answer. You might find tha
alone habit is enough induce lucid dreams. However most people
need to also use the other techniques on this site.
Next: Lucid Dreaming Step 2 - Recording your dreams
Here Be Dreams - Dreams - Lucid Dreams - Techniques - Question Your State
All original material Copyright © Trevor Mendham 2003-2005. See home page for contact
details.
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