UILD (Urination induced lucid dreaming)

Urination induced lucid dreaming (or the ‘UILD technique’) is an interesting method of inducing lucid dreams, although it is considered to be one of the more extreme techniques, more suited to those who have not succeeded using alternative methods. 

The UILD  technique has advantages for those who are not able to use the TILD (thirst induced lucid dreaming) technique for health reasons. Whereas the TILD technique places an emphasis on short-term dehydration, the UILD technique is quite simply the reverse – an over-hydration process. The UILD technique is also a great way to get into the habit of doing regular reality checks. The average person urinates several times per day, through the day. Start by performing a reality check every time you use the toilet to urinate. Before bed, drink plenty of water – enough to make it highly likely you will need to relieve your bladder at some point during your night’s sleep. If this is practiced often, you will find that you will dream of urinating often – when you find yourself using the toilet, perform the reality check. If you find you are asleep, you are lucid! A further benefit of the UILD technique is that the need to urinate should automatically wake you, hopefully sometime after the 5 - 6 hours of deep (or delta) sleep you should be getting every night for rest and recovery. If you wake and need to use the bathroom during the night, then do so. Afterwards, refill on water – colder water seems to work its way through the system a lot quicker, so perhaps try some iced water. If it is possible, stay awake for a short period of time – read a chapter of a book or watch a short TV show etc (preferably something on the topic of dreaming!). A few hours sleep, combined with a period of wakefulness, before more sleep is an effective way of encouraging lucid dreams as it coincides with the Wake Back to Bed (WBTB technique). You should need to urinate again within a short period of time. If you fall asleep before the need to urinate arises then you may discover that you dream of a toilet – perform the reality check, and once aware that you are lucid, experiment with manipulating your dream environment. 

Although the UILD technique is relatively safe to use for healthy individuals, there are some risks for those with certain health conditions, such as kidney disorders. Over-hydration can cause a drop in bodily electrolytes, which can result in an over-balance of water. Additionally, persons suffering from bladder problems may not be able to use the UILD technique, even without consuming excess amounts of water. If you naturally find the need to urinate throughout the night, take advantage of this and start to perform reality checks, as referred to above. The chances are that urination will factor into your dreams frequently and so the best option is to train yourself to respond to your normal everyday needs. One of the major (and most off-putting) risks of using the UILD technique is actually urinating during sleep. Often children wet the bed due to less developed bladder control – and because they may have dreamt of relieving themselves; and of course, the same can happen to an overfull adult bladder (very common in males who have fallen asleep after consuming large quantities of alcohol!) If you feel that this risk outweighs any potential reward from inducing a lucid dream through UILD, or would cause undue embarrassment (for example, if you share your bed), then this technique is best avoided. I personally would not use UILD as a lucid dream induction technique for the above reasons and also because I have trained myself to ‘forget’ I need to urinate (sometimes I will need to pee before bed, but I put it off and fall asleep – the majority of the time I can sleep for 8 – 10 hours before needing to get up and use the bathroom) as a way of strengthening my pelvic floor muscles and improving my bladder function (I have suffered from cystitis my entire life and therefore can feel the ‘need’ to urinate several minutes after peeing – despite having a demonstrably empty bladder. Training myself to ignore my bladder telling me I need to pee helps me overcome the discomfort of the symptoms. Therefore, I do not think the UILD technique would be effective for me. 

I would like to add a further word of caution regarding this technique – I have noticed on many lucid dream websites and forums that some amateur oneironauts have interpreted the UILD technique to require the actual drinking of your own urine prior to sleep. Some have even gone so far as to suggest the vitamins and nutrients in your urine are key factors in the induction of the lucid dream state. This is not the UILD technique and such claims as to the benefits of drinking urine for lucid dream induction are simply unfounded. Whilst there are indeed many advocates of urine-drinking (some nutritionists recommend the drinking of the first urination upon waking!), I am not one of them. The principle behind the UILD technique is merely over-hydration – typically by drinking plain water. You can of course consume any beverage you prefer – but avoid caffeine or stimulating drinks which will inhibit you from sleep; or sugary drinks which will rot your teeth!

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917)

Claes Oldenburg, Soft Toilet (1966)

Richard Billingham, Untitled (Ray's Passed Out)  from Ray's a Laugh (2000)

Sarah Lucas, Human Toilet (1997)

Sarah Lucas, Human Toilet Revisited (1998)

Sarah Lucas, Sucky Thing (2011)

Sarah Lucas, The Old In Out (1998)

Sarah Lucas, Is Suicide Genetic? (1996)

Sarah Lucas, Nature Abhors a Vacuum (1998)

Sarah Lucas, Panoramadrama (2011)