Though it's difficult to induce a lucid dream directly from the waking state when you first go to bed at night, it is very possible to achieve a wake-induced lucid dream (WILD) during your wake-up interval in the morning or when napping in the mid-afternoon. In order to induce a conscious dream from the waking state, and especially when attempting it during a daytime nap, it's first necessary to completely relax your physical body. There are several very effective relaxation techniques described on this site.
When you are completely relaxed, lie comfortably on your back in bed. Lift one hand and forearm until it is pointed upward, held perpendicular to your upper arm. Keep your arm in this position as you drift off to sleep. When you lose conscious awareness, your arm will naturally fall back to the bed, which will most likely wake you up. When this occurs, begin the technique again. The purpose of this exercise is to teach yourself how to retain your conscious awareness as you transition into the sleep state, to maintain a perfect balance between a physically sleeping body and a consciously aware mind. You'll eventually become able to remain mentally awake long after your body falls asleep.
Another useful technique is to perform a specific mental task as you fall asleep. Though it may come as a surprise, something as simple and repetitive as counting sheep can be helpful. Counting your breaths can be equally effective. The goal is to continue the activity even as you drift into the sleep state. As long as your conscious awareness is active, the likelihood of achieving a lucid dream is increased.
You can combine the act of counting with the "I am dreaming" affirmation. As you lie in bed, think to yourself, "One. I am dreaming. Two. I am dreaming. Three. I am dreaming. Four..." and continue counting in a gentle, relaxed manner. As you fall asleep, hold on to your conscious awareness for as long as possible but don't concentrate so hard you can't fall asleep.
Actively involving your mind in a specific visualization can be even more effective because it provides the mind with ready-made scenery for your dream. As you lie in bed, visualize yourself walking along a path in the location of your choice. It may be a path in a lush forest, a path down a spiral staircase, a long corridor within a large mansion, or any other path that allows you to explore your surroundings as you move deeper and deeper into the setting you have created within your mind. Maintain your conscious awareness as you observe the details of your environment, even as you fall asleep. Repeat the "I am dreaming" affirmation as you explore the scene within your visualization, and eventually that visualization may transition into a dream.
You can also try falling asleep with your eyes open, a technique Erin Pavlina describes in her podcast. I haven't successfully induced a lucid dream with that particular technique yet but it might work for you. The podcast is brief and offers an excellent introduction to lucid dreaming.
Stay tuned for the next article in the series, which will include techniques to help you remain lucid so you can enjoy your lucid dreaming experience for as long as possible.
This post is Part 12 in the series Mastering the Art of Lucid Dreaming.
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hi i enjoyed the read
Interesting article. I have only had one wild before and am research ways to have more. I am definitely going to try the hand raising exercise as that sounds like a particularly good idea.
Cheers,
Brett.
Brett Jackson’s last blog post: Improving Dream Recall
I broke my leg a couple of summers ago and was on hydrocodine and would get drowsy from the drugs and would take many naps during the day. I would have random and reoccuring dreams occasionally. They are fun.
Sometimes what I do is set my alarm way earlier than I need to be up so that I can keep waking and falling asleep every 9 minutes, which is the amount of snooze time. I have 2-4 somewhat lucid dreams in the morning.
Dan, what you have experienced is a nod. It is what many opiate users experience and enjoy. They can be very fun but if you become addicted they can be terrifying when you go through withdrawal.
Sounds pretty legit. Ive actually punched my self in the face while asleep and it woke me up similar to the technique described in the passage except i was dreaming i was being assaulted. I know it is more common in women for a dream like that to occur so ha. What i want to know is why can’t i remember some dreams although i remember others regardless if they are important or not. Some times i remember some for short periods of times but others forever. Also, i never appear in my dreams like others can see me but when theres a mirror i cant see myself or im someone else and sometimes i go part blind during dreams like i see things then things start going dark kind of like my range of vision is lowering each time i blink kind of like retinitis pigmentosa. These symptoms are very common throughout my dreams and i want to understand what they mean.
I think you “think” you punched yourself in the face due to your dream but that’s physically impossible as you need REM sleep to dream and your body enters a state of paralysis in REM sleep, making movement unlikely, let alone punching yourself.
Ive been setting my alarm multiple times in the morning to induce dreams. weird that i realized that before reading anything about lucid dreams. this is the first time i ever researched the subject. Is it weird that ve witnessed my death in several dreams? I die and then i leave my body and i can see myself lifeless.
Great article! I will definitely have to try some of these techniques. What’s strange is that all the times I have lucid dreamed, I didn’t even try to lucid dream…. it just happened. LDs I have had include flying, falling, running, swimming, etc ….it usually is action-filled or suspeseful somehow. I had a dream once where I was walking through a large dark shaded fog filled place with rows of titanic trains in rows for as far as I could see, it was quite enchanting. Some of these dreams I would be aware that I was thinking that I was dreaming. I am even able to wake myself up in the middle of dreams that would otherwise result in my death! I think what I need to learn is to control what happens in my dream…By the way, do you know what it means if a blue demon thing tries to kill you in your dream? It was like real life, I woke up feeling like I was dead when in fact I woke up right before it was going to kill me.
Hey Richard, unfortunately, your brain deliberately but subconsciously erases dreams after a short period of time because it recognizes it as an unnecessary memory. It is also very common to have 3rd person experiences or to be someone else. Lastly, when you begin to, “Go blind”, this is your body doing one of two things. a.) waking up/ending the dream, or b.) changing the dream to another one. A common technique to stay in the dream is to begin touching everything you see or rub your hands together. This will stimulate the body to stay so it begins to think that it’s a real place again.