Many dreams are complete nonsense. They don't make much sense unless you look back on them and say, "Oh. I've been dreaming about death because there's going to be a big change in my life, not because someone is dying." In these dreams, you're just along for the ride, going wherever it takes you.
But rarely, you might find yourself knowing you're dreaming within a dream. Roughly half of people know they've had this experience called lucid dreaming and they have these dreams once a month.
For those of you that don't, here's help for you to do everything you've ever wanted to in a dream. And for you lucid dreamers, read below for how to do it more often.
3 Ways to Have Lucid Dreams
Lucid dreams happen during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase of the sleep cycle, which is the last of the 4 stages.
Generally, each sleep cycle lasts 90 minutes. The longer you sleep, the longer your REM stage lasts.
First and foremost, your success is dependent on being able to have deep, uninterrupted sleep. Sleep hygiene plays a major role as does your bed.
An old, tired mattress can cause restless sleep. So can a mattress that doesn't match your body's sleep preferences. That's why we offer a 100-night guarantee on every mattress-in-a-box. You get to try out our mattresses for 100-nights to make sure they're giving you the sleep you've been dreaming about.
Without further ado, here are the top 3 ways to help you take control of your dreams.
1. Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
This is the most commonsense way of helping yourself create lucid dreams, after you read it.
It has three parts. Each is just as important, so don't neglect any of them – especially the last step.
- Repeat to yourself, over and over again, "I will remember my dreams" or a similar phrase. If you combine this with taking deep, calming breaths, you should be able to fall asleep quicker than normal.
- Help anchor that by visualizing yourself recognizing you're dreaming within your dream. Imagine what you'll do when you start lucid dream. Just be sure to be calm about it or you'll keep yourself awake.
- Remember your dream. This goes for every dream you have, not just your lucid dreams. Do your best to remember them. Describe them when you wake up. Think about them while you brush your teeth.
2. Wake Back to Bed (WBTB)
This one may be the trickiest of them all because it requires you to wake up in the middle of the night. Thus, it is not recommended to be done frequently and should only be used when you're particularly curious about something or if you've developed excellent sleep habits.
Since sleep cycles last approximately 90-minutes, set an alarm for 4.5 to 6 hours later. The goal is to wake up during REM sleep.
Since it will be your 3rd or 4th sleep cycle, your REM phase should be longer at this point, making it easier to hit.
When you wake up, stay up for 20-30 minutes. Reading is an excellent activity at this time of night. Stay away from your phone. It doesn't have to be exactly that long, so don't worry about perfection.
When you lay back down, think about your dreams you've had up until this point in the night. Or revisit a recent dream you want to explore. The MILD technique can help you increase your chances of lucid dreaming.
3. Journal Your Dreams
The biggest key to being able to lucid dream (other than being able to sleep) is being able to visualize your dreams.
Journaling your dreams can not only help you recognize patterns in your dreams and show you what you're dreaming about most often, it can also help you recall your dreams better.
So this helps in two ways:
- You can take control during the dreams you're having the most frequently.
- You'll find slipping into your dreams more easier
Benefits of Lucid Dreaming
Other than being able to finally fly or do anything you've ever wanted to do, but haven't managed to, what benefits are there to lucid dreaming?
Because you're able to control yourself in your dream state (and because you should be able to remember your dreams better and track them), your nightmares should lessen in both frequency and potency.
Since you have complete freedom, you're able to fully unlock your creativity and should see an increase in it during your waking life too.
Sleep well and have sweet dreams!