How to have Lucid Dreams: How, How Often, and How Cool!

YOU and lucid dreaming

How to get there

1. Question your state right now: "Am I Dreaming?" To become lucid you should realise that you are dreaming. The best way to do that is to get into the habit of asking yourself, throughout the day, "Am I dreaming?"
2. Set yourself a 'Dream Cue': A dream cue is something you can use as a signal to yourself to let yourself know that you are dreaming. Your dream signal can be whatever works for you. Throughout my day, my watch beeps every hour. Whe i hear the beep, I look at the back of my hands and ask myself "are these my real hands, or am I dreaming?". Because I do it so often, and because my watch still beeps (on the desk next to my head) whilst sleeping, I end up looking at the back of my hands in my dream too. And my lucid dream begins :-)
3. Master dream recall: Recording your dreams in a Dream Journal. To become aware of your dreams, you should know what your dreams are like and should be able to recognise them. Spending some time recording your dreams in a journal can do this. Start a dream journal. For more info on why you need a dream journal see my lens on how to remember your dreams. This is the most effective among all lucid dreaming techniques. A reliable effort to remember lucid dreams will help your waking mind to become more friendly with your dreaming awareness and will also allow you to become more aware of your dream content. Lucid dreaming will be more successful when you can recall a dream per night.
4. Get up during the night: Morning naps after a period of being awake are more productive and provide the best pay-off. Drinking a glass of water before going to bed will probably help you wake up naturally, before morning, with enough time to go back to sleep, because you'll probably need to go to the toilet at about 5:00 o'clock in the morning!
5. Visualisation: This technique is especially effective. Imagine yourself waking up, writing down a fantastic, colourful, lucid dream into your dream journal. Say to yourself as you start getting ready to go to bed "I will have a lucid dream tonight, then I will write it down in my dream journal". And say this many many times to yourself, until you fall asleep.
6. Plan a lucid dream activity in advance: Lucid dreams can be planned in advance. If you tell yourself what you want to dream about, and that you want to write it down the next morning, you are far more likely to have a memorable dream about it. You should add to the visualisation technique above by saying to yourself "I will have a lucid dream tonight, and I will fly to the top of a mountain. Then I will write it down in my dream journal".
7. Be patient and persistent: Lucid dreaming is a skill that requires time and focus to master; even though many people experience success the first night or during the first couple of weeks.