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The vast majority of people think of dreams as something mysterious which is not within our power to control. Whether we have nightmares or very pleasant dreams, a lot of us think of our dreams as ’sound and thunder’, so to speak ? and believe that they are something which we cannot exert any kind of control over. In fact, this is not the case at all. Through the method called lucid dreaming, dream control is something that anyone can have.
What does this term ‘lucid dreaming‘ really mean and in what way does it happen, and what are the benefits to this? Are people really able to obtain control, and make their nightly travels in the dreaming arena into an ongoing, never ending adventure? Stay tuned to this article for your answers of these often asked questions on the topic of controlling dreams.
What Is Dream Control?
Dream control only means that you have full knowledge of what you are dreaming, and through lucid dreaming, you become able to manipulate what goes on in the dreams. At the same time you are sleeping, you are able to recognize that you are going through a dream, not real events, and you can completely control all the activities being shown to you, even to a finale.
People who suffer from nightmares frequently can find relief with dream control. Once they learn to use this powerful technique, they can banish their nightmares and get the restful sleep they need.
Common Ways of Bringing About Lucid Dreaming
Binaural audio is a new technology which has been proven effective in helping people to reach a lucid dreaming state. Binaural audio involves listening to two different frequencies simultaneously. When the listener hears these two frequencies, they begin to relax and their brainwaves synchronize with each other, which induces the REM sleep state which is needed for lucid dreaming and dream control.
Before the availability of binaural audio on CDs and DVS, the methods of choice for bringing about lucid dreaming were meditation and self-hypnosis; these are effective methods, but it can take a long time for people to master these techniques to the extent necessary to have lucid dreaming experiences at will.
There are a number of other techniques which have been used by experts to help people achieve dream control. All of these techniques work towards the goal of training the mind to understand that they are dreaming so that they can enter a state of lucid dreaming.
This training will begin, of course while you are wide awake. You need to set a cue for yourself ? an action which you will perform or a certain thing which you will say that will be your reminder that you are dreaming so that you can begin using dream control.
You can tell yourself that you will do or say a certain thing in your dream to remind yourself and begin lucid dreaming as you start to fall asleep. Once you do or say this cue, you will come to the awareness that you are dreaming and begin to have a lucid dream.
Known as MILD (mnemonic induction of lucid dreaming) this technique was developed by Dr. Stephen LaBerge and it has allowed many thousands of people to begin lucid dreaming and using dream control to rid themselves of recurring nightmares and achieve a feeling of empowerment.
A dream diary can also help you to get started with lucid dreaming. Immediately after you wake up, write down each and every detail that you remember from your dreams. After doing this for a while, you?ll train your mind to remember your dreams; this is the first step to dream control and soon you?ll start having lucid dreams!
When you know how to use dream control, you can dismiss your nightmares and have incredible experiences which would never be possible in the physical world ? you can go anywhere and do anything that your imagination can conceive!
Many experts agree however, that there can be a drawback to too much lucid dreaming, as with anything else doing with life, and that this can head towards the wrong results. It is always been a valuable thing to naturally dream, through it we learn many things about ourselves that would stay dead and buried otherwise. Have fun with your lucid dreaming. This is an unique experience just schedule yourselves some nights for normal dreaming too!
Lucid Dreaming, also known as conscious dreaming is the practice of remaining aware of oneself as well as the fact that one is dreaming while dreaming. While in a dream, you are conscious of the fact that the things you see and experience are only a dream. You can have some control over your dreams once you are able to practice lucid dreaming, unlike in ordinary dreams.
The power of having mastery over shaping the events of your own lucid dreams is part of the very definition of the metaphysical. All of the normal dream-time rules, like “timelessness”, “teleportation”, and so on still apply: so, step into an existence where your usual limitations have suddenly vanished without a trace.
Is lucid dreaming as straightforward as all that? Is lucid dreaming something which can be experienced by anyone?
As a matter of fact, lucid dreaming isn’t all that hard, as long as you have a burning desire to learn these amazing, tried and true techniques of expressing your innermost desires.
First, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish here. Are you just trying to make your dreams a playground through lucid dreaming, or is there a specific goal which you are aiming to achieve through lucid dreaming? Whatever your reason, you should be clear and determined about it.
Once you have this, you can begin actually learning lucid dreaming. It begins with Dream Recall, or remembering a dream you had the night before. Only when you’re able to do this can you progress into learning actual lucid dreaming.
The process will be slow. However, you can achieve it by keeping a Dream Recall Register. Here you will list daily all the details you can recall about your dreams. Eventually, you do realize you can remember the most vivid of dream details. You can train your mind to be aware while you are dreaming by doing periodic reality checks.
For a lot of people, hypnosis helps them to prepare their mind for lucid dreaming much more quickly. Sometimes, as few as one or two sessions may be needed to get you being able to recall all of your dreams every day. Once you can do this, you are ready to begin trying lucid dreaming.
On occasion, you may suddenly find yourself wide awake during a lucid dream. However, you will easily be able to recall all the essential details of your dream with the power you have achieved thus far. You can simply relax and fall back asleep, while you continue in the desired direction in your dream. Upon awaking you will realize that you have experienced the power of conscious dreaming the previous night.
Another productive means for having lucid dreams is to go back to sleep for a few hours after you arise in the morning. These dreams will leave you wondering if they were really dreams or if you have self-styled your thoughts to manifest in form. These are the dreams that are closest to lucid dreaming.
Simply set your alarm to sound off a couple of hours before you normally awake. When your alarm goes off, wake up, switch it off and then go back to sleep to enjoy your lucid dreams. Keep in mind that it is very helpful to keep a record of your sleeping patterns to determine the best time for you to have lucid dreams.
You can actually fight off sleeping disorders such as insomnia by lucid dreaming. If you struggle for sleep during normal sleeping hours you can tell your mind that sleeping equals lucid dreaming. You mind will take care of your thoughts that might prevent you from going to sleep.
Lucid dreaming used to be something which took a very long time to learn. Recent technological advances, particularly in the field of audio technology have made lucid dreaming something which anyone can easily accomplish.
One of the quickest and most reliable methods of inducing lucid dreaming is to listen to binaural beats audio.
A slightly different sound frequency is played in each ear, which soon brings you to a state of complete relaxation. This resonates your brainwaves to the same frequency which allows lucid dreaming to occur.
Before binaural audio technology, meditation was the method of choice for those wanting to learn lucid dreaming, and this was a process which could sometimes take years to master. Many simply gave up, not having the determination to pursue the practice.
Binaural sound waves, especially in tandem with hypnosis can prepare your mind and allow you to begin lucid dreaming very quickly, sometimes even on the first try!
Any dream in which you are conscious that you are dreaming and can manipulate the dream is considered a Lucid Dream. Used contextually in this instance the word lucid refers to simply means that you are conscious and aware. The true extent of your lucidity actually varies according the stability of the dreaming session, your experience with lucid dreaming, how well you can influence the dream, and how much you remember when you wake up.
The most striking aspect of having a lucid dream is this very control. Knowing that the things going on around you are only a part of your dream is something which is quite unlike anything else. You are at the wheel of this ship and have full control over what happens. Other than your imagination, there are no boundaries to what you can do in your Lucid Dream experiences.
Take a minute to consider the possibilities. While everything that happens in a Lucid Dream may seem real and can be experienced by all of your senses, there are no lasting effects to your actions; you can do anything you want without fear of injury when lucid dreaming and there are no limits on the things you can do. This is truly a virtual reality experience which no other can even come close to.
Lucid Dreaming is an incredible skill and many more people are learning to experience it. The Lucid Dream is very rarely experienced by those who are unaware of it or who have not taken the time to learn how to do it. Can you imagine how fun and thrilling it would be to be able to have a lucid dream whenever you wanted to?
Lucid Dreams are your gateway to amazing and unforgettable experiences. You can talk to anyone from the past or present, have unbridled erotic experiences and even explore other planets; anything that your mind can conjure up can happen ? you are in control of your dreams!
It can be fairly complicated to achieve controlled Lucid Dreams on a regular basis. Up until recently many people spent months in training and using special self-conditioning procedures before even experiencing one single Lucid Dream. Even then, most people never even succeed once, let alone on a regular basis.
So are there any simple ways of experiencing a Lucid Dream?
Many people who have experienced a Lucid Dream swear by eating certain foods just prior to the dream. If you would like to try this they usually recommend orange juice, milk, cheese, and mustard. These seem to produce the best results.
Other foods of note are pickles, ice cream, popcorn and fish. Although they are not as effective as the three foods and drinks described above. Some people say that they improve your overall dream recall and “prepare” your brain for future lucidity. The main problem is of course that they are high in fatty acids, salts and sugars which definitely doesn’t assist you in getting a good nights rest!
Assistant Technology
Your chances to experience Lucid Dream session improves with the new advancing technology. There are now devices on the market that alerts you that you are dreaming and which can induce a Lucid Dream Session. These are quite innovative in that they are simply masks which monitor your eyes. When they detect REM or Rapid Eye Movement, which is an indicator of dreaming, a red diode blinks into your eyes. This beam is registered in your brain and serves as a reminder that you are in fact dreaming and that you are still in control. It is then that you can take control o the dream.
The most exciting developments have been in audio technology. Sound waves at slightly different frequencies are played in to each ear of the listener ? a technique known as binaural beats. This can open the experience of Lucid Dreaming to many people.
What this process does is to synchronize the two hemispheres of the brain. And almost instantly, just by listening to these special frequencies, puts the brainwaves into a state known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep which is the state needed to achieve a lucid dream.
If you’ve always wanted to try out Lucid Dreaming, binaural sound offers the quickest and easiest way to begin.
For most people, dreams are mysterious ‘mini movies’ that play in their minds while they’re sound asleep, seemingly without their control, with some being rather pleasant, and others, not so much. However, we now know that it is actually possible to make dream control a complete reality, bringing about what is known as lucid dreaming.
But, what does the term truly mean and how does it work, and what, if any, are the benefits, and is it really possible for anyone to achieve this means of making our nightly journeys into the world of dreaming our own continual series of fascinating adventures? Read on for the answers to these common questions about the art of dream control or lucid dreaming.
Exactly What is Dream Control?
Dream control, using lucid dreaming, means that not only are you fully aware that you are dreaming, but that you’re also able to control what happens during the dream. While totally asleep, you realize that what seems to be going on is actually a dream and you are solely in control of the events that play out as well as the final outcome.
There are people who do suffer from nightmares and frequently. This method is powerful and simple, and just the method they may need to relieve themselves of these disturbingly bad and distressing dreams.
Common Ways of Inducing Lucid Dreaming
A rather effective method known for achieving lucid dreaming involves the use of binaural audio, which entails listening to two different frequencies at the same time in order to synchronize the brain waves, bringing about a deep sense of relaxation, as well as a state in which lucid dreaming is possible known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
Before this use of modern technology was discovered and available on CDs or DVDs for the purpose of dream control, self hypnosis and meditation were the most widely used techniques for lucid dreaming, although many people report finding it too difficult to achieve this state using these two particular means of dream control.
Many additional techniques, since then, have been developed as methods for inducing lucid dreaming by those experts in both fields of psychology and science. And regardless of any of the earlier methods used the basic purpose still remains the same. To train the mind while in the state of sleep to be aware of being in a dream. The state needed to begin lucid dreaming.
To do this, we must, of course, begin while we are wide awake, with the key being to remember to do or say something in a dream, which will trigger the recognition necessary within the mind and allow us to then control what happens next.
It’s often a simple matter of telling yourself, just before going to sleep, that you will be dreaming soon and in that dream you will remember to do or say something specific, and when that happens, you will instantly realize that it is a dream.
This particular method to dream control is referred to as MILD, or mnemonic induction of lucid dreams, which was discovered by scientist Dr. Stephen LaBerge. With this approach, your brain is then in complete control as to what occurs in the dream, meaning that nothing could or would come of harm to you as it’s simply all in the mind and you are only limited by your own imagination.
There are other means of accomplishing lucid dreaming and one would be to keep a journal or a dream diary, in which to record your dreams. By keeping this notebook (and a pen or pencil) nearby on the table by your bed you will be able to write down what you remember about the dream right after you wake up, when it is fresh in your mind. Do this for several nights and soon you will remember what you wrote and you will have a similar dream and then you will be able to control your dream and the activities in that dream.
Chase away the bad guys in nightmares, travel to whatever location you desire, go to your imagined hideaways, talk to famous people if you want, and basically be unshackled by worldly concerns. Through controlling your dreams, you can accomplish this, it gives you the ability to be in control of your nightly dream world and all that happens there.
There is one potential drawback to lucid dreaming, say the experts. As with life in general, it holds true that an opposite effect is, an actuality, when you get too much of a good thing. The natural dream state is when we find out things about ourselves, things which would normally have been hidden from us and may never have surfaced. This is the main reason for you to enjoy your lucid dreaming, but you should also take some time off from lucid dreaming to dream in a natural state. Just remember to take a break and enjoy.
Perhaps more commonly known as lucid dreaming, conscious dreaming includes the ability to realize that you are dreaming while you are doing so and the ability to take control of your dreams, dictating the happenings. Once you are able to realize that you are dreaming, you can go anywhere or do anything in your dream.
While having the ability to control your dreams may sound farfetched, it?s actually something which is within your reach. Lucid dreaming isn?t that hard to do and these dreams are a great place to express your true self and your desires. There are techniques which have proven effective at producing lucid dreams.
The first thing you should do is to figure out what your goals are in learning conscious or lucid dreaming. Do you hope to have more enjoyment from your dreams, or is conscious dreaming a vehicle for you to achieve some of your other life goals?
After you define the reasons for wanting to learn to dream consciously, you can learn the steps to get your mind on the right level. You need to be in the right state of mind to be able to lucid dream. A good place to start is recalling your dreams. This means to remember any dreams you have had.
Remembering your dreams is the first step in having conscious dreaming experiences. The easiest way to train yourself to do this is to keep a dream diary. Keep your dream diary right by your bed and as soon as you awake from a dream, write down everything you can remember about it.
You will soon find you are remembering your dreams more clearly and in more detail. You can use your journal to help you remember more. Once your mind is used to remembering your dreams you are ready for the next step and that is to be aware you are dreaming. You may wake up in a dream so to speak but still know it is not real and only a dream.
Together with a dream diary or by itself, hypnosis can be a valuable tool in dream recall and conscious dreaming. In just a few sessions of hypnosis, most people find that they can remember each and every little detail of their dreams. After this can be done, conscious dreaming will start to happen more readily.
You may wake up suddenly when you are having a conscious dream in the beginning. This is not unusual. Go over the events in your dream as you drift back to sleep. If you focus on them hard enough, you will go back into the same dream and perhaps control the events and the outcome of them.
A third way to train yourself to conscious dream is to awaken yourself a couple of hours earlier than normal, then falling back to sleep. You are able to stay more aware in your dreams in this period of sleep, in fact you may feel you are half-awake and half-asleep. You may feel as if you are lying in bed thinking or daydreaming. If you are able to do this regularly, you will find lucid dreaming will come easily.
Be aware of your sleeping habits. You?ll be able to determine when you are most likely to have lucid dreams. However, don?t lose too much sleep ? fatigue and conscious dreaming don?t mix.
You will be happy to know that lucid dreaming is helpful for insomnia as well as other sleeping disorders. If you can dream consciously, you can condition yourself to turn off nagging thoughts that keep you awake at night.
You may think that learning lucid dreaming takes years of practice, but in fact it?s not so hard at all to learn ? with just a little practice, you can be a conscious dreamer too!
In fact, conscious dreaming is something that everyone can do. Just practice and use these techniques to develop your own lucid dreaming abilities ? you?ll find that it has a lot to offer.
