Have you ever tried lucid dreaming? It can be an interesting experience.
Lucid dreaming is being aware that you are dreaming. Typically, this occurs in the middle of a regular dream. Often the actual theme of the dream is beyond the individual’s control. However, it may be possible to influence the dream – to change the characters or course of events – including the ending of an unpleasant dream.
Suggested steps for becoming aware of, and increasing the frequency, of lucid dreams include:
- In the daytime, when you’re fully awake, stop ask yourself the question: “Am I dreaming?” In time, you should find that you’ll also start to ask that question in the middle of a dream.
- Keep a dream journal. Keep a pen and paper next to your bed so you can record any dreams you have. You should do this immediately on wakening up. This can help you to identify some common themes, people, places, situations or events that you often seen to dream about. Since these are unique and specific to your dreams, they’ll act as triggers to alert you when you’re dreaming.
- Notice when you are more likely to be dreaming. Research shows that we are most likely to have a lucid dream during a nap, a few hours after waking, and usually in the morning. Also, lucid dreams are common during REM sleep – which is most pronounced at the end of a night’s sleep.
- Experiment with Laberge’s lucid dreaming technique. Basically, this suggests that you set your alarm for 4 ½ or 6 hours after falling asleep. When the alarm goes off, write down as much about your dream as you can remember. Then, while you are lying in bed relaxed, imagine that you are back in that dream. Tell yourself, “I will know that I am dreaming when I fall asleep again”. This usually increases the chances that you will have a lucid dream.
Coaching Skills International 
I started being able to lucid dream as a kid. I think that’s why I haven’t had what I’d call a classic nightmare in 35 years. A great movie to watch if you want to reflect on lucid dreaming is Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life.” It was there that I learned how most of what you see for words in dreams in gibberish and that you can’t control lights in most dreams. Seriously, if you’re having a lucid dream, try to read something in your peripheral vision. You’ll see it’s mostly just scrambled garbage. And try flicking a light switch. They don’t work. I like being able to control these things, but it sometimes makes me confused when I’m in that space where you’re like 80% asleep and still 20% awake because I can’t tell if I’m having a dream or not. Also, I often get visions from my lucid dreams when I’m awake and it takes me some time to figure out if I’m remembering something that is real or part of a dream. Or…maybe I’m just crazy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gosh, that’s really interesting. Thanks for sharing your experiences. It sounds like you’re a pro at lucid dreaming 😉 If you experiment regularly, I can see how it might sometimes mess up the distinction between dreaming and reality.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The other odd thing that happens a lot is that I reference dreams inside my dreams, or I’ll fall asleep in my dream, and have a dream-within-a-dream. I’ll wake up from that dream, yet not realize I’m still dreaming. It’s actually frustrating some times because I don’t feel like I get many solid, restful nights of sleep.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow. That is so bizarre! I’ve never heard of that before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh…another one. Sometimes my dreams have closing credits, like in a movie. It’s rare…probably 1-in-100, but it happens a couple times a year.
LikeLike
Perhaps these dreams could become novels or movies 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do this too 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have always been a vivid dreamer and every once in a rare while I will spontaneously have a lucid dream. When I am taking the time and effort to encourage a lucid state I am successful way more often. I have had success with all the techniques you have listed here. My favorites are the first two. The more I record my dreams the more I can remember, not just details but the amount of dreams I am having during the night. I used to go throughout the day and stop every now and then, focus on my hands, and ask myself “Am I dreaming?” My friends and I referred to this as a reality check. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s really interesting 🙂 It’s definitely something you can continue to develop over time – and I’m sure it’s a great creative tool!
LikeLiked by 1 person