The Dreamhacker Series | Reality Checks (3)

Hi, and welcome to the all-new, relaunched Dreamhacker Series, a beginner-level, back-to-basics, foundational course of tutorials, teaching you everything you need to know about dreamwork - from dream recall and dream incubation to lucid dreaming induction techniques and methods. 

This Dreamhacker Series tutorial concentrates on Reality Checks. A Reality Check is a technique used to check if you are asleep and dreaming, or awake. Reality Checks operate by increasing self awareness. 

Remember, every time you go to sleep, perform steps 2, 3 & 4 from the first tutorial - The Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1). 

Reality Checks involve using an observation - typically one which relies on sensory input and conscious awareness. This is because lucid dreaming usually involves some form of observation which triggers conscious awareness in the dream state. One form of Reality Check which can lead to conscious awareness (i.e. lucidity) is recognition of a Dreamsign - a Dreamsign is something  which might be highly subjective to the dreamer, or universal to everyone, which make the dreamer aware they must be dreaming. A Dreamsign is a bizarre, odd, extraordinary or simply impossible aspect of, or occurrence in a dream which alerts you to the fact you must be dreaming, because the Dreamsign could not possibly occur in waking reality. There will be a separate, detailed video and Blog post focusing specifically on Dreamsigns.

Using Reality Checks is fundamental to learning how to induce lucid dreams, and they are really simple, requiring little effort or time expenditure. The most difficult thing about Reality Checks is remembering to incorporate them into your daily waking life. Many beginner lucid dreamers skip Reality Checking or perform very cursory Reality Checks, because they are already aware they are awake and not in a dream and therefore do not appreciate the importance of performing the Reality Check properly to make sure. 

This misses the point of Reality Checks. The idea is to persistently and frequently perform waking Reality Checks so as to develop a strong habit which will hopefully penetrate your dreams. The aim is for the habit of Reality Checking to penetrate your dreams, so you are programming (or hacking) your brain into performing Reality Checks while in the dream state. This requires performance of waking Reality Checks even if you are 100% certain you are really awake. Remember, in a normal, non-lucid dream, it always feels like waking reality, even though it is not. Your dreaming self does not question whether you are awake or dreaming unless you are fortunate enough to spontaneously become lucid, and this is a reminder that performing Integrating Reality Checks into your daily waking life is vital, because even if you are sure you are awake, you want to train yourself to always be sceptical and take steps to ascertain (or 'reality check') to confirm this. It is also important to perform a Reality Check every time you wake up - remember that false awakenings (when you think you have woken up, but you are actually still asleep and dreaming) can be very deceptive, but also provide an excellent opportunity for entering into a lucid dream state.

Reality Checks are vital to lucid dreaming because they enable you to differentiate between wakefulness and dreaming - in a dream, a Reality Check will lead to a 'Eureka moment' which serves to trigger lucidity. 

Choose a suitable Reality Check as your first step. A Reality Check must be something which will lead to different results when performed in waking reality and in a dream. You should choose a Reality Check which always has the same predetermined outcome/result in waking reality. If you know a Reality Check can lead to only one outcome if performed awake, then if something different or unexpected occurs - this is your cue to trigger lucidity. 

Here are some common examples of Reality Checks with a brief explanation for how they work:

The Fingers-Through-Palm Method

This is possibly the most popular form of Reality Check, as it can be performed easily at any time, with no need for anything other than your own hands! This is my preferred form of Reality Check.

Simply try to push the fingers of one hand through the palm of the other. In waking reality, the predetermined singular outcome is that your palm is a solid object which provides resistance, preventing your fingers from sliding through it when you push them. There is no other outcome possible in waking reality. Therefore, if you perform this Reality Check and your fingers do push/slide through your palm, then you must be asleep and dreaming!

Be mindful of the fact, that while there is only one outcome possible in waking reality, your dreaming mind might play tricks on you when performing this method in a dream. I have performed this Reality Check in a dream (while already lucid, trying to prove this to a resistant dream character), and found that my fingers did not push through my palm, therefore behaving exactly as I would expect them to in waking reality. A Reality Check may fail in the dream world, because you have some form of mental barrier. It might also be that in a vivid dream, your Reality Check produces a bizarre or impossible result which should alert you to the fact you are in a dream, yet your dreaming mind just accepts events without the logical fact-checking part of your brain being activated. Therefore, it is advisable to perform 2 Reality Checks to provide you with a fail-safe - some dreamers combine 2 different forms of Reality Check for this purpose. 

The Hand-Gaze Method

Look at your hands - do they look normal as you expect them to? I have seen my hands appear to be long spoons in a dream. This is a sign you are dreaming. 

The Nose Pinch Method

This involves pinching the nose (or closing your mouth if you are a mouth-breather) and attempting to breathe. If you can breathe with this restriction, this is a sign you are dreaming.

The Reading Method

It is usually very difficult to read normally in a dream - even if you can decipher the meaning of text in a dream (i.e. you know what the text says), looking closely at the words/letters you see in a dream often yields bizarre results. The text might be gibberish/nonsensical, or move around on the page. Try to read the same text twice - you might find that it completely changes, which is a sign you are dreaming. 

The Numeracy Method

Try to perform a simple mathematical sum (2 + 2 is sufficient for a Reality Check, it doesn't need to be anything complicated - the easier the sum, the better!) If you try to add up or count something but find your answer is bizarre or impossible - this is a sign that you are dreaming.

The Mirror Method

Look in a mirror. In waking reality, you obviously expect to see your normal appearance. However, in a dream you often get bizarre or impossible results. Often when I happen to look in a mirror (in lucid dreams, as well as normal, non-lucid dreams), my appearance is often dramatically altered. I have had different hair, skin and eye colour; facial features; and body size/shape as well as changing age and gender. If you see something other than your normal, expected appearance in a reflection - this is a sign you are dreaming. 

The Light Switch Method

Try turning a light switch on/off - does it function as you would expect it to in waking reality? Often objects or devices operate very differently in a dream, providing you with a sign you are dreaming. 

The Jumping Method

When you jump in reality, you know gravitational force will pull you back down to earth. In a dream, jumping may result in you floating, levitating or being able to fly - a clear and indisputable sign you are dreaming.

The Clock Method

Looking at a clock or watch can be a decent Reality Check. Try and read the time - if you can't do this, or the numbers appear distorted or behave in bizarre ways, this can be a sign you are dreaming.

Programme yourself to perform regular, frequent Reality Checks throughout your waking day - it is advisable to perform as many Reality Checks as possible - at least 10 per day is a good starting point. The danger is that you might be tempted to only perform perfunctory Reality Checks - make sure each of your Reality Checks is done with the requisite care and attention. Don't make assumptions - reach a solid, logical, well-evidenced conclusion on each Reality Check. 

Some people use reminders for Reality Checks. You might use a specifically-designed app to guide you through regular Reality Checks, or set yourself your own reminders on your mobile phone, such as using an alarm or a screensaver (some people use a prompt such as 'are you dreaming?' to remind them to perform a Reality Check every time they see this message). You might prefer to combine Reality Checks with routine and regular every day activities, such as entering a different room, using a flight of stairs, going to the toilet or having a drink etc). You could draw a Reality Check symbol on the back of your hand as a trigger. There are no hard and fast rules here - the key is finding what works for you and motivates you to perform regular and frequent Reality Checks.

Increase your conscious awareness and mindfulness through questioning reality - this should be done at the same time as the Reality Check, and is equally important to the physical Reality Check itself. 

The brain creates neural constructs based on cognitive and experiential learning - i.e. patterns of thought which are shaped by your reality. In many waking situations, we do not question the nature of our reality or conscious awareness, because we are accustomed to it, and therefore take it for granted. This is also the case in normal, non-lucid dreams - we accept the reality we are in without critically thinking about it. Regularly questioning the nature of reality raises your conscious awareness - the very skill we are attempting to learn for successful lucid dream induction. Therefore, programming (or hacking) your brain into doing this while awake will enable this practice to transfer into the dream state and Reality Checks will become second nature. 

When you perform your Reality Check, engage with your immediate reality and actively question it. Use your senses here - sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Pay careful attention to your surrounding environment and what you are experiencing. Focus on your thoughts and feelings in the moment. Is everything normal and as expected? Are you experiencing anything bizarre and unexpected? Specifically ask yourself 'am I dreaming?' (or 'am I awake?' - either works!) and come to a definite conclusion based on your observations and reasoning. You might verbalise your answer to really consolidate it in your mind. Reality Checks in dreams sometimes fail because we have not adopted sufficient mindfulness to increase our conscious awareness. 

Combine Reality Checks with other lucid dream induction techniques/methods - Reality Checks might work in isolation, but in practice, it is best to combine them with other methods so as to optimise your chances of successfully inducing a lucid dream. The Dreamhacker Series will be providing you with a number of techniques and methods for lucid dream induction in due course, but at this stage, it is important to incorporate daily Reality Checking into your routine so that you begin the process of programming (or hacking) your brain and creating the right mental environment for lucidity. 

It can take a while for Reality Checks to work effectively, but don't give up hope if you do not have immediate success! Make sure you have good dream recall (see below), as if you don't remember your dreams well, it could be that you perform a Reality Check in a dream, but wake up not remembering this happened!

Here is the accompanying Dreamhacker Series | Reality Checks (3) video which provides this tutorial in audio-visual form:

Here are the previous videos/posts in the Dreamhacker Series:

The Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1)

Here is the accompanying Blog post - The Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1)

The Dreamhacker Series | Hacking the Sleep Cycle (2)

Here is the accompanying Blog post - The Dreamhacker Series | Hacking the Sleep Cycle (2)

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The Dreamhacker Series | Hacking the Sleep Cycle (2)

Hi, welcome to the Dreamhacker Series! This tutorial provides 2 easy techniques for hacking the sleep cycle, to optimise your chances of (1) remembering a vivid dream; and (2) experiencing a lucid dream. 

Remember, every time you go to sleep, perform steps 2, 3 & 4 from the first tutorial - The Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1). 

'Hacking the Sleep Cycle' basically means re-programming or adjusting your sleep cycle in order to optimise your best chance of experiencing a lucid dream. Dreams typically occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of the sleep cycle. This is the stage of the sleep cycle closest to a waking state, so it is characterised by significant brain activity as well as muscle atonia (sometimes referred to as 'sleep paralysis', which prevents us from acting out our dreams). The longest stage of REM sleep is just before we wake up. This is beneficial, as it means not only is this the most fruitful period of REM sleep in terms of the length of time spent in that stage, but also due to it being just prior to waking, we tend to awake directly from our last dream, making it easier to recall as it is fresh in our minds. 

The 2 techniques I will describe in this tutorial work on the basis that you will be aiming for remembering a dream from the final stage of REM sleep, and eventually, inducing a lucid dream during this stage of REM sleep. 

The tutorial will use the typical 8 hour sleep cycle as a reference point. This is because this is the 'average' number of hours recommended for an adult to sleep each night/day and therefore a healthy, balanced sleep cycle can be illustrated by diagram using 8 hours of sleep as a template. I will be using the hours of 0:00 - 08:00 am as reference points to explain these techniques. If you sleep for fewer or greater number of hours, then you may need to adjust the times employed in these techniques to suit your own individual sleep cycle, which may take some trial and error. 

Here is a diagram of the 8 hour sleep cycle:

You will see that I have marked the relevant stage in the sleep cycle - which here is shown taking place approximately between 07:00 - 08:00 hours. Some people experience a slightly longer stage of REM sleep in the early morning - perhaps up to 90 minutes (so from approximately 06:30 - 08:00 hours based on the above diagram).

The Wake-Back-to-Bed Method (WBTB)

The Wake-Back-to-Bed Method is a very popular way of hacking the sleep cycle. It works by encouraging you to stimulate your conscious brain at just the time you would normally be experiencing REM sleep. You temporarily delay the final period of REM sleep and then, when you return to sleep (the 'back to bed' aspect), you go straight from your conscious state into the longest, optimal stage of REM sleep in your sleep cycle, which can lead to the occurrence of multiple vivid - or even lucid - dreams

You can try this in 3 simple steps:

1. Go to bed (here, at 00:00 hours) with an alarm set for just prior to when you would experience the final stage of REM sleep. This should be approximately 6 hours into the 8 hour sleep cycle. The aim is to wake up after you have experienced all your stages of deep sleep. Based on the diagram above, your alarm should be set for 06:00 hours. 

2. Wake up after 6 hours of sleep at 06:00 am and stay awake for a short period of time. You must be fully awake, but able to go back to sleep for another short period, so the key here is finding balance. Use the bathroom, have a drink of water, check your phone - whatever will wake you up fully. Stay awake for any amount of time between 10 minutes and 1 hour (preferences vary here). Now set your alarm clock for 08:00 hours.

3. Go back to sleep until your alarm clock wakes you up from your brief sleep (which will be 1 - 2 hours long, depending on how long you stayed awake). Make sure you focus your mind on your intention to remember a dream while falling asleep. Later, when using lucid dream induction techniques, you can do these in conjunction with the Wake-Back-to-Bed Method. When your second alarm clock wakes you up (at 08:00 hours) you will wake up from either a vivid or lucid dream!

Advantages of the Wake-Back-to-Bed Method include:

Perfect for beginners

It has immediate and dramatic effects on improving recall of vivid dreams

You can pause and resume your use of this method, for example, reserving it for convenient times in the week when you have the ability to disrupt (or hack) your sleep cycle without interrupting your daily routine

It can be effective, even without use of other lucid dream induction techniques

You don't need a rigid time for going to sleep - as long as you can get a full cycle of sleep, this can be done at any time

You get your full 8 hours of sleep

Disadvantages of the Wake-Back-to-Bed Method include:

You are disrupting your sleep cycle which may interfere with your daily routine

It can be disruptive to anyone sharing a sleeping space

The Cycle Adjustment Technique (CAT)

The Cycle Adjustment Technique was developed by Oneironaut, Daniel Love, author of Are You Dreaming? Exploring Lucid Dreams: A Comprehensive Guide (2013). This method works by adjusting the sleep cycle and subtly influencing the body's chemistry in order to increase conscious awareness at the end of the sleep cycle - during the final stage of REM sleep. Again, this method can - and indeed should - be combined with your dream recall steps and also your lucid dream induction techniques when you begin to incorporate them into your dreamwork.

You can try this in 2 simple steps:

1. Reset/adjust your 'body clock' - set your alarm clock 90 minutes earlier than you usually would. Based on the 8 hour sleep cycle and times in the diagram above, if you go to bed at 00:00 hours and wake at 08:00 hours, set your alarm for 06:30 hours. Wake up at this earlier time every day for 7 days (week 1).

2. Alternate between normal/early wake up times - for week 2, you will alternate between waking up at the earlier time (06:30 hours) and your usual time (08:00 hours), so day 1 (06:30 hours); day 2 (08:00 hours); day 3 (06:30 hours); day 4 (08:00 hours); day 5 (06:30 hours); day 6 (08:00 hours) and day 7 (06:30 hours).

On normal days, when you wake up at 08:00 hours, your body will expect you to wake up earlier (at 06:30 hours), due to your 're-programming' during week 1. Your mind will be more stimulated than usual, and more likely to become conscious - i.e. lucid - while you are dreaming during that final stage of REM sleep between 06:30/07:00 - 08:00 hours. 

It is recommended that you 'refresh' your sleep cycle re-adjustment, by returning to step 1 (week of waking 90 minutes early) every few months.

Advantages of the Cycle Adjustment Technique include:

Perfect for beginners

This method works without needing to learn any other techniques (although, like the Wake-Back-to-Bed Method, it can - and should - be combined with lucid dream induction techniques to optimise your chances of success

Disadvantages of the Cycle Adjustment Technique:

You are disrupting your sleep cycle which may interfere with your daily routine

It can be disruptive to anyone sharing a sleeping space

This method requires 2 weeks of consistent practice, so can be onerous (certainly more so than the Wake-Back-to-Bed Method)

You spend 1 week waking up earlier than usual, then do the same on alternative days on week 2, which can be exhausting until you get used to your adjusted sleep cycle

You should go to bed at the same time each night, which can be rigid


Here are 2 additional techniques/methods you may wish to try:

The Afternoon Nap Method
You can also try afternoon naps - if you are 'caught up' (i.e. you've had a sufficient amount of) deep sleep on the previous nights (and therefore are well-rested and restored), an afternoon nap of about 1 - 2 hours is the perfect time for some REM sleep and dreaming! Remember to use your dream recall and/or preferred lucid dream induction techniques before your nap, while you are preparing to fall asleep! Almost everyone enjoys the luxury of a nap; the main disadvantage of this technique is the fact you need to be sleepy enough to fall asleep outside of your normal sleep routine, and the fact that incorporating a nap into your waking day might disrupt your nightly sleep cycle.

The Periodic Waking Method
Another technique you might try is one which I have referred to as the 'Periodic Waking Method'. This is where you experiment with periodic waking throughout the sleep cycle. As you can see from the diagram above, REM sleep occurs at regular intervals throughout the sleep cycle, typically in 90 minute intervals. Some oneironauts (dream explorers) utilise the sleep cycle for dreaming/lucid dreaming by calculating roughly when those REM stages will occur during their sleep cycle, then wake themselves up just before their predicted REM sleep stage will occur. Using the diagram above, you will see that the first period of REM sleep occurs approximately 90 minutes - 3 hours into the 8 hour sleep cycle. Using the Periodic Waking Method means setting an alarm to wake you up just before this first period of REM sleep (so sometime between 90 minutes and 3 hours after you have fallen asleep), performing your dream recall/preferred lucid dreaming induction techniques as you fall back asleep. Unlike with the Wake-Back-to-Bed Method, there is no need to fully wake up, or stay awake for any period of time - in fact, this is discouraged, as you are already significantly and dramatically disrupting your sleep cycle by using this technique. After your first periodic waking, you will set subsequent alarms at 90 minute intervals to coincide with when you will next experience REM sleep. This technique requires a lot of guesswork and trial and error in addition to the disruption of your sleep cycle, as sleep cycles are not nearly as rigid as the above diagram would suggest, and are dependent on many variables. This means that this technique will not be suitable for everyone and might be best practiced on occasions when it is convenient to disrupt the sleep cycle and lose some of your sleep time.

Here is the accompanying Dreamhacker Series | Hacking the Sleep Cycle (2) video which provides this tutorial in audio-visual form:

Here is the previous video in the Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1):

Here is the accompanying Blog post - The Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1)

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The Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1)

Hi, and welcome to the all-new, relaunched Dreamhacker Series, a beginner-level, back-to-basics, foundational course of tutorials, teaching you everything you need to know about dreamwork - from dream recall and dream incubation to lucid dreaming induction techniques and methods. 

The first tutorial in the Dreamhacker Series concentrates on improving your dream recall.

Good dream recall is essential for anyone hoping to induce a lucid dream - if you cannot recall your dreams, you may experience lucidity in a dream, and simply forget it ever happened!

Many people state that they 'never' or 'rarely' ever experience a dream - this is simply not true - the problem is, they just do not have decent dream recall!

The following steps will help you immediately and dramatically improve your dream recall, so that you can better remember your dreams!


1. Prioritise the best time in your sleep cycle for experiencing and remembering a dream - I have produced a separate Dreamhacker tutorial for this -  'The Dreamhacker Series | Hacking the Sleep Cycle (2)'. The Wake-Back-to-Bed Method is a means of hacking the sleep cycle so that you wake up just prior to the longest period of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep which takes place right at the end of the sleep cycle. The REM stage of the sleep cycle is characterised by rapid eye movement, high brain activity and muscle atonia - it is the stage in the sleep cycle when you are most likely to experience vivid dreams. If you wake yourself just prior to this period of REM sleep, and then go back to sleep for 1 - 2 hours, you are likely to recall a vivid dream, because you are forcing yourself to go straight from waking into REM sleep. When you wake up for the second time, you are waking up directly from your dream, so hopefully it will be fresh in your memory. Be aware that certain foods, vitamins, supplements, medications and substances (notably, cannabis and alcohol) may have an impact on the quality of your REM sleep. For example, cannabis is known to inhibit REM sleep, which is why many recreational users rarely remember any dreams. Cutting down or quitting cannabis leads to the REM Rebound Effect, where you 'catch up' on the lost periods of REM sleep, leading to bizarre, intense, vivid dreams (I will cover the REM Rebound Effect in detail in a subsequent video and post).


2. Set an intention to remember your dreams - this simply means concentrating your mind on the fact you will remember your dreams! Each night, as you are relaxing and preparing to fall asleep, use a mantra such as 'I will remember my dreams when I wake up' which you silently meditate upon (just run through your mantra in your mind as you are falling asleep, repeating it until you eventually fall asleep). Remember to do this every time you are going to sleep. Good advice is to try and fall asleep in as dark a room as possible - any light emission can affect your melatonin levels, and consequently, the quality of your sleep and dreaming. 


3. Consolidate your dream memory upon waking - when you wake up, remain in the position you find yourself in, and try not to move around or open your eyes. Dream memories are very transient and fleeting, and any distraction (thoughts, sights, sounds etc) can cause the dream memory to instantly fade. Our brains are not supposed to store dream memories, so you are essentially 'hacking' your brain, by training it to hold on to these dream memories. While laying in the position you woke up in, with your eyes closed, run through what you can recall about your dream in as much detail as possible, in an attempt to consolidate your dream memory. You might find it useful to speak your dream out loud. 


4. Record your dreams in a Dream Journal - this is fundamentally important, not just for improving dream recall, but also so that you can analyse your dreams and enhance and enrich your dreamwork generally. Keep your Dream Journal within easy reach by your bedside - this in itself is a good way of reinforcing that intention to remember your dreams, as the Dream Journal symbolises this. Record your dream in your Dream Journal as soon as possible in as much detail as possible. You might give your dream a date and a title. If you cannot recall your dream in sufficient detail to describe the narrative/plot, just note down whatever you do remember - any sights, sounds, smells, sensations, colours, emotions, dream characters etc. You might illustrate your dream memory if this is easier than describing it in words. A Dream Journal can be a dedicated notebook, or simply a piece of paper you leave beside your bed. Some people might prefer to use modern technology, such as voice recording apps on their mobile phone to verbally record their dreams - choose whatever works best for you. The key is to use your Dream Journal on a daily basis. Reading your Dream Journal before bed is another effective way of concentrating your mind on dreamwork, and focusing your intention on better remembering your dreams. I will be providing a tutorial which teaches you to use your Dream Journal to analyse Day/Dream Residue and Dreamsigns!


5. Focus your mind and concentrate on dreams in your waking reality - using your mantra and Dream Journal are key here! The idea is to think about dreaming as much as possible during your waking hours - setting the intention and focusing on it will greatly assist you in hacking your brain/mind for dreaming - think of it as a form of constant mental re-programming! One way you can do this is to talk about dreams more - find like-minded people or fellow oneironauts to discuss your dreamwork with. Perhaps find a local dream workshop or participate in some online dreaming communities; read books or watch movies/documentaries about dreaming - the key is to incorporate dreaming into your waking reality! A modern technique for focusing the mind on dreaming/lucid dreaming during the waking day is to incorporate technology - this could involve using a lucid dreaming app (I will be reviewing lucid dreaming apps on this Blog) or simply setting yourself reminders (such as alarm cues or a customised screensaver) to remember your dreams.

Here is the accompanying Dreamhacker Series | Remembering Your Dreams (1) video which provides this tutorial in audio-visual form:

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The Dreamhacker Series

I have relaunched The Dreamhacker Series - a beginner level, back to basics, foundational series of tutorials which aim to teach you all aspects of dreamwork, including dream recall, dream incubation, lucid dream induction, dream control and much much more! You can find the Dreamhacker Series of videos on the Tallulah La Ghash Youtube channel (linked below) - I have also posted my first video here on this Blog post for ease of access - please do watch it, like it and share it, as well as subscribing to my channel and turning notifications on. Also note that I will be doing more live broadcasts where you can come and chat to me in real time. I am planning to do regular 'Tallulah's Dream Palace' broadcasts where we can discuss dreaming and lucid dreaming and I can give you live tips, techniques, help, advice and guidance on how you can enrich and improve your own dream experiences. Remember, you can ask me anything - leave me a question (or comment/suggestion/feedback) in the comments sections of my Youtube videos or on social media (linked below).

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Gaming & Lucid Dreaming (Instructions for Game Induced Lucid Dreams - GILD)

Video gaming may provide gamers with extraordinary self-awareness and control in their dreams, according to Jayne Gackenbach, a psychologist at Grant MacEwan University in Canada. Both video games and dreams are forms of alternative realities. Gackenbach states: ‘If you're spending hours a day in a virtual reality, if nothing else it's practice [for lucid dreaming]. Gamers are used to controlling their game environments, so that can translate into dreams’.

Gaming simultaneously targets and augments several abilities which are crucial to success in lucid dream induction. First, gamers develop better concentration and focus, by engaging in a goal-oriented task amongst many distractions. Secondly, gamers have a highly developed sense of ‘proprioception’, or knowing where their avatar is in relationship to the game matrix. Gaming appears to develop field independence - a psychological trait that has already been correlated with high levels of lucidity. Finally, gamers tend to have a positive attitude and excellent self-esteem after playing, a trait that bleeds over into other aspects of your life, such as alertness and awareness levels.

Gackenbach first became interested in video games in the 1990s, having already studied the phenomenon of lucid dreaming. The last decade of game-related research has since yielded several surprises, although the findings represent suggestive associations rather than definitive proof. Gackenbach presented her research, as a featured speaker at the Sixth Annual Games for Health Conference in Boston in 2010.

Several intriguing parallels between lucid dreams and video games first emerged when Gackenbach examined past research on games - both lucid dreamers and gamers seemed to have better spatial skills and were less prone to motion sickness. The two groups have also demonstrated a high level of focus or concentration, whether honed through lucidity-training activities, such as meditation, or through hours spent gaming. These correlations encouraged Gackenbach to survey the dreams of both non-gamers and hardcore gamers, beginning with two studies published in 2006. She prepared by conducting larger surveys in-class and online to get a sense of where to focus questions.

The first study suggested that people who frequently played video games were more likely to report (a) lucid dreams; (b) observer dreams where they viewed themselves from outside their bodies i.e. in third-person perspective; (c) and dream control that allowed people to actively influence or change their dream worlds. All of these qualities are suggestive of watching or controlling the action of a video-game character. A second study tried to narrow down the uncertainties by examining dreams that participants experienced from the night before – this focused more on gamers. The study found that lucid dreams were common, but that the gamers never had dream control over anything beyond their dream selves. The gamers also frequently flipped between a first person perspective/view from within the body and a third person perspective/view of themselves from outside - except never with the calm detachment of a distant witness.

Gackenbach told LiveScience: ‘The first time we simply asked people how often they had lucid dreams, looking back over their life and making judgment calls. That's open to all kinds of bias, [such as] certain memory biases, self-reported biases’. Gackenbach eventually replicated her findings about lucid dreaming and video games several times, using college students as subjects. She refined her methodology by controlling for factors such as frequency of recalling dreams.

Gackenbach also wondered if video games affected nightmares, based on the ‘Threat Simulation Theory’ proposed by Finnish cognitive neuroscientist and psychologist Antti Revonsuo. 

Revonsuo suggested that dreams might mimic threatening situations from real life - except in the safe environment of dream world. Such nightmares would help organisms hone their avoidance skills in a protective environment, and ideally prepare organisms for a real-life threatening situation. To test this theory, Gackenbach conducted a study in 2008, using 35 male and 63 female participants. She used independent assessments, which coded threat levels in after-dream reports. She found that gamers experienced less or even reversed threat simulation (in which the dreamer became the threatening presence), with fewer aggression dreams overall. In other words, a scary nightmare scenario turned into something ‘fun’ for a gamer.

Gackenbach explains: ‘What happens with gamers is that something inexplicable happens. They don't run away, they turn and fight back. They're more aggressive than the norms’.

Levels of aggression in gamer dreams – when aggression did occur in the dream state - also included hyper-violence. Gackenbach claims: ‘If you look at the actual overall amount of aggression, gamers have less aggression in dreams. But when they're aggressive, oh boy, they go off the top’.

The gamer dream experience of high ‘hyper-violent’ aggression levels, coupled with little or no fear, inspired Gackenbach to pursue a new study with Athabasca University in Canada. If gaming can act as a semi-protective function against nightmares, then maybe it could help war veterans who experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after experiencing combat. She states: ‘I don't think anyone has looked at whether there's been a protective function. It makes a lot of sense, but it's a hypothesis’.

Psychologists consider nightmares as one of the key symptoms of PTSD, and studies have shown incredibly high rates of nightmares ranging from 71 - 96% among PTSD patients. By contrast, just 3 – 5% of civilians reported the same levels of nightmares. Virtual reality simulators have already been used to help PTSD patients gradually adjust to the threatening situations that plague their waking and sleeping thoughts. If Gackenbach's theory is correct, perhaps video games could also help relieve the need for nightmares. Gackenbach hopes to acquire a sleep lab and a virtual reality lab to verify her results, even if studies about video games and dreams have not proven the highest priority for receiving funds. 

Yet studying video games has attracted more interest and respect from colleagues than studying just dreams alone. Some of Gackenbach's more recent work includes studying the violence levels in games, based upon the video game ratings given out by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, and analysing the effect they have upon aggression within dreams.

Game Induced Lucid Dreaming (GILD)

Some lucid dreamers report success in inducing lucid dreams using video games (GILDs – Game Induced Lucid Dreams). There is no official technique for a GILD, as it seems to be one of the various lucid dream induction methods which has emerged from the online lucid dreaming community, and every resource of forum on this topic provides different instructions. I am going to recommend a way to use GILDs which may enable a DILD (Dream-Initiated Lucid Dream – so a lucid dream which occurs when a dreamer’s conscious awareness is triggered within a normal, non-lucid dream). I have not experimented with this lucid dream induction technique, as I prefer to use a basic cognitive induction method, based on the key principles from MILD (Mnemonic/Memory Induced Lucid Dream) and Tholey’s Combined Technique, coupled with Wake-Back-to-Bed and Reality Checking. However, this method for GILD complements these cognitive techniques, so can be used in conjunction. It can also be performed alongside WILDs (Wake-Initiated Lucid Dreams).

1. Set an alarm/buzzer to sound periodically throughout your gameplay - so, for example, if you plan to play for 1 hour, set the alarm for every 10 minutes; if you plan to play for 3 hours, set the alarm for every 30 minutes or suchlike
2. Play a video-game – preferably an open-world/sandbox game in the first-person before you go to sleep, for as long as you can
3. Every time the alarm sounds, focus intensively on what is happening in your game. Use the gameplay as a basis for a reality check. Normally, during a reality check, you would perform your physical reality check action (such as trying to push the fingers of one hand through the palm of the other), while focusing on becoming consciously aware of your environment/surroundings so that you are able to draw a correct conclusion as to whether you are awake or in a dream. Instead, focus on what is happening in your game – how can you tell the action on the screen belongs to a virtual reality? What is it about the gameplay which is different from your real-life? If you were shooting zombies – your conclusion might be that zombies don’t exist in real-life, therefore shooting them is something which could only happen in a virtual reality
4. Tell yourself (in your mind or out loud): ‘X (describe whatever is happening right now in your gameplay for example, shooting zombies) can only happen in a dream’ (or words to this effect). Consciously remind yourself that if ‘you’ (the gamer and the game character you are playing) found yourself in the game scenario you are playing right now you would be aware that you are dreaming. Hopefully, if you find yourself in a similar scenario, or doing the same action as in your game (for example, shooting zombies) in a subsequent dream, not only would you recognise the shooting of the zombies as a dreamsign (the odd, bizarre, or impossible things which can only happen in dreams) and then be triggered to perform your usual physical reality check which should confirm that this is indeed a dream, enabling you to become lucid 
5. After playing, go to bed – perform your lucid dream affirmations/auto-suggestion if you are also using the general cognitive methods for lucid dreaming as well as GILD. If not, skip to the next step, which is focusing your mind on your recent gameplay. Try and visualise what you have just witnessed on screen in your imagination/mind’s eye and try to ‘mentally place’ yourself into the visualisation, as if you in the environment of the game and part of the action. This should be easier than normal dream visualisation, because the images you have seen on screen are more likely to be imprinted on your mind. If you also experience hypnagogia before falling fully asleep, be aware that you may see the ‘Tetris Effect’ – which often occurs in people who have been performing a repetitive action in their waking lives. This is useful if you are attempting to use GILD to assist with the ‘dream visualisation’ aspect of WILD
6. Remember to set an alarm if you are also combining GILD with a Wake-Back-to-bed
7. If you are using WB2B, when you awaken for the period in between both phases of sleep, perform your usual physical reality check, do your lucid dream affirmations/auto-suggestion again, and then repeat the video game visualisation you did before you initially went to sleep
8. If you are not doing WB2B, or you have woken up from the second phase of sleep in a WB2B, recall your dream and record it in your dream journal, noting any dreamsigns or day residue (the aspects of the dream which are influenced by our recent waking experiences/memories) – in particular, anything which was influenced by the game you played. If you notice game-related or influenced dream content, then this is a sign that you might soon successfully experience a lucid dream using GILD!

Let me know if this technique for GILD works for you, or if you have your own version of Game Induced Lucid Dreaming!

The Dreamhacker Series - A Complete Lucid Dreaming Programme

Buzzfeed Article on Lucid Dreaming

So, I decided to write an article on Lucid Dreaming for Buzzfeed Community in order to share some of my tips, techniques and advice with those who want to begin their own lucid dreaming adventure. 

I would be so very grateful if my readers would visit the Buzzfeed article, and if possible, share it on their social media, like it and leave a comment on Buzzfeed.

I hope you enjoy it!

Click on this link: Dream Hacking: Lucid Dream 101

Lucid Dream Tutorials - Tholey's Combined Technique (LUCID DREAMING FOR BEGINNERS TUTORIAL SERIES)

Tutorial Aims: 

• Experience Level: Beginner (Level 1)
• Explain the basics of Paul Tholey's Combined Technique for Lucid Dreaming (a form of DILD)
• Give an explanation of the separate elements of Critical Reflection, Intention & Auto-suggestion
• Provide a simple 4 Step programme teaching the 3 key elements of Tholey's Combined Technique, which can be used separately (Steps 1 - 3) or together (Step 4)

The Combined Technique for Lucid Dreaming
Paul Tholey (1937 - 1998) was a German Gestalt Psychologist who conducted significant research into lucid dreaming. His Combined Technique includes the core components of Critical Reflection, Intention and Auto-suggestion, which can be used individually - or combined - as this tutorial recommends. When all 3 main elements of Tholey's lucid dream induction techniques are used as part of the Combined Technique, lucid dreams can be induced in beginners within a month, although there is individual variation.

The Combined Technique is often cited as one of the most effective methods of lucid dream induction. It shares some key principles with the MILD (Mnemonic/Memory Initiated/Induced Lucid Dream) Technique, developed by Stephen LaBerge. Although Tholey's Combined Technique is cited frequently within lucid dream literature, it appears that it is less well-known than LaBerge's MILD Technique amongst amateur or beginner lucid dreamers.

The idea behind Tholey's Combined Technique is that the dreamer creates a strong mindset for lucid dreaming. It is a form of mental entrainment.

Tholey emphasises the need to critically reflect on waking reality and compare the waking world with the dream world through systematic observation. He saw the objective (or 'inter-subjective') physical, perceptual waking world as distinct from the phenomenal dream world. In the dream world, events - which are less dependent on sensory perception and physical reality - become possible. These unusual events make it possible for the observant and critically reflecting dreamer to become consciously aware that they are dreaming (i.e. achieve lucid dreaming).

Tholey's method - like the MILD Technique - is a lucid dream induction method designed for DILDs (Dream Initiated/Induced Lucid Dreams). 

Tholey's Combined Technique centres around the concept of reality checking (critical reflection) and the development of cognitive skills which allow the dreamer's mind to become more active whilst asleep. The dreamer combined critical reflection with other mental entrainment methods, such as intention and auto-suggestion to trigger lucidity.

Steps 1 - 3 can be used individually, but Step 4 instructs a beginner lucid dreamer on how to combine them effectively as part of Tholey's Combined Technique.

• Step 1: Critical Reflection

Tholey's reflective methods are a form of sophisticated reality check. Reflection is a waking state method and establishes a pattern of thinking which will continue into the dream state after daily practice. Critical reflection allows the dreamer to become aware of their state of consciousness, sensory perceptions and the reality of their environment. It helps establish cognitive skills for differentiating between waking reality and the dream world.

Tholey recommends choosing a physical or mental activity which will be performed throughout the waking day. He suggests a mental activity may be more easy to perform regularly (because it can be done easily and discreetly, anywhere at any time, without drawing attention). This action, which forms a habit and will be carried over into the dream state make it possible for the dreamer to spontaneously become aware that they are dreaming. Like reality checks, critical reflection requires the dreamer to choose an activity which will have a different result when performed awake or in the dream state. Tholey's examples include:

• Physical - Turn 180 degrees and then attempt to stand still (in the dream, the dreamer's body will continue to turn in the same direction, while the environment/scenery revolves in the opposite direction)
• Mental - Try and remember what just happened in the immediate past i.e. just moments before. Bizarre events or a lapse of memory may occur in the dream state

You can select your own reflection method - the physical/mental activity you favour is the means by which you critically analyse and reflect upon your consciousness. Some people like to mark their hand with a symbol or word which can be used for critical reflection. For example, if you wrote the word 'lucid' on your hand, you could use this as a prompt for performing the critical reflection.

The result of the activity and the period of reflection should indicate if you are perceiving waking reality or a dream. 

The dreamer should ask themselves: Am I dreaming? and then How do I know? The aim is to encourage yourself to become more sensitive to your state of consciousness and perception of reality.

• Step 2: Intention

Intention is a mental state in which a person makes a commitment to performing a specific act in the future. It has elements of planning and forethought. Under Tholey's Combined Technique, intention is another waking state method for lucid dream induction.

The dreamer sets an intention (when awake) to become lucid in a particular dream situation. This 'dream situation' will usually be a specific activity which frequently recurs in the dreamer's dreams - and can act as a form of 'dreamsign' to trigger lucidity. For example, if you often dream of visiting a lake, you may set the intention to become lucid when you next dream of being at the lake. 

In order to set the intention, the dreamer (when awake) should visualise the dream event - as if they were actually seeing it happen in a dream state. This should be done as frequently as possible - at least several times a day. Once you are able to visualise the dream scenario (i.e. visiting the lake), start to include a realisation that you are dreaming - so, visualise the dream scene, and imagine at the same time that you become aware you are dreaming. You are therefore not just mentally visualising the sensory parts of the dream experience, but also creating a mental impression that you know its a dream. 

A variation of this approach is for the dreamer to set an intention to carry out a specific activity in a dream. Using the visualisation method to 'practice' carrying out the specific activity will be useful. Imagine/visualise yourself performing the specific activity in typical dream situations. One way of doing this might be to practice the visualisation of the activity each morning when you wake up and remember your dream from the night before. Therefore, although the specific activity you visualise yourself performing will remain identical, the dream scene in which you visualise yourself performing it will change daily. 

It is up to the dreamer to choose which activity he will perform when using intention as part of Tholey's Combined Technique. The activity may be something you reserve specifically for the dream (i.e. an act which you do not typically do in your waking reality) or an activity which has different results when performed awake or in a dream (i.e. a 'reality check' type action, such as looking at your hands or trying to put the fingers of one hand through the palm of another). 

Intention - like critical reflection - involves a shift of interests/desires (i.e. the performance of the intended activity) from one state of consciousness (waking) to another (dream). Continual practice allows a strong habit to form, which facilitates this shift.

• Stage 3 - Auto-suggestion

Auto-suggestion is another waking state method. It involves planting the idea that that you will achieve lucidity into your subconscious mind. Auto-suggestion is different from intention, as it does not rely on consciously willing something to happen in the future. It works on the basis that any idea which occupies the mind will become reality, as long as it falls within the realms of possibility. 

For Tholey's Combined Technique, it is suggested that you use auto-suggestion for lucid dreaming every day. In particular, auto-suggestion should be used just before falling asleep when it is most effective. 

The dreamer should choose a clear, simple phrase which can be repeated mentally, in a passive way (for example: 'I will become lucid in my next dream'). While mentally repeating this phrase, the mind and body should be relaxed. There is no need to use 'willpower' when performing auto-suggestion - the idea is that you do not need to do anything which requires conscious effort or will, the mere act of passively repeating the phrase will make it materialise. It has been noted that other methods which increase a dreamer's suggestibility, such as (self) hypnosis or autogenic training may lead to more effective auto-suggestion. 

• Stage 4 - The Combined Technique

Perform critical reflection at least 10 times during the waking day. On each occasion perform the 'reality check' type activity which you are using as part of your critical reflection. A mental activity is usually the most convenient - for example, trying to remember what happened immediately prior to the critical reflection activity. Then ask yourself: 'Am I dreaming?' and then 'How do I know?' Make sure you actually critically reflect on the question and answers - becoming more sensitive to your consciousness and sensory perceptions means engaging with them properly, rather than doing perfunctory, ineffective or thoughtless critical reflections (or 'reality checks') just because you are trying to fulfil your daily quota. 

Perform critical reflections spontaneously throughout the waking day, but also when you feel strong emotions or unusual events occur. If you see anything in your waking reality which reminds you of a dream (for example, you have recurrent dreams about pink roses), then perform critical reflection when you see this dream symbol or experience a dream-like event, in your waking reality.

Consider your dreams when awake - and note your recurrent dream events or symbols. Recognising dreamsign-type events (i.e. events which happen in your dreams which are impossible in waking reality) is helpful. Visualise yourself in your dream - either a specifically selected dream (such as a flying dream) or using the dream you had the previous night. Use your mind's eye to position yourself in the dream and imagine how your senses would respond to being in this dream (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, temperature, touch and textures etc). Once you have visualised yourself in the dream, imagine performing critical reflection as if you are really dreaming. Think about how you know you are in a (visualised) dream - i.e. the bizarreness of the situation and any dreamsigns which indicate you are dreaming. Tell yourself that you must be dreaming. 

Choose one activity which you will use as your intention, for example, looking at your hands. This activity is best when it requires a physical action. If you have chosen a simple physical action to perform as part of the critical reflection method you could use this for the intention method also. You will need to use a different (physical) action for intention if you are performing a mental activity for critical reflection. Set the clear intention to perform this activity (i.e. looking at your hands) next time you are in a dream. You can use visualisation as a tool to help you set the intention - imagine yourself in a dream, imagine yourself using critical reflection to become aware you are dreaming and then imagine yourself performing the intended action. If you have performed this action in a previous dream and seen odd or unexpected results (such as seeing your hands distorted or with extra fingers etc), also visualise this happening again. Perform the intention exercise frequently during the waking day.

Select a simple phrase to use for auto-suggestion - a single sentence such as: 'I will become lucid in my next dream' will suffice. Relax and passively repeat the auto-suggestion phrase over and over, not using mental will-power or any form of controlled thought. The essence of auto-suggestion here is to simple drill the phrase into your subconscious mind without thinking too deeply about it. Perform auto-suggestion for short periods (1 - 2 minutes each time is fine) as often as possible, but in particular, just before you fall asleep or if you awaken during the night.


Additional points to remember:

• Like the MILD Technique, Tholey's Combined Technique is not a 'quick fix' lucid dream induction method and needs to be practiced frequently throughout the waking day to (a) create the lucid mindset and (b) encourage the waking activities (critical reflection and intentions) to become strong habits which then shift into the dream state. 

Linked posts: 

Lucid Dream Tutorials - The MILD Technique (Lucid Dreaming for Beginners Tutorial Series)

Lucid Dream Tutorials - Dream Journals, Dreamsigns & Reality Checks (Lucid Dreaming for Beginners Tutorial Series)

Lucid Dream Tutorials - Common Lucid Dreaming Mistakes (Lucid Dreaming for Beginners Tutorial Series)

Tallulah La Ghash Lucid Dreaming for Beginners Tutorial Series Homepage 

Lucid Dream Tutorials - Common Lucid Dreaming Mistakes (LUCID DREAMING FOR BEGINNERS TUTORIAL SERIES)

Tutorial Aims: 

• Experience Level: Beginner (Level 1)
• Explain the common mistakes made by beginner lucid dreamers
• Explain the main reasons why these mistakes may lead to failure in learning how to lucid dream 
• Provide tips on how to avoid or overcome these common mistakes

• Focusing on the Wrong Induction Method

Many beginner lucid dreamers get swamped by the plethora of lucid dreaming induction techniques discussed on popular online forums and pages dedicated to lucid dreaming. There seems to be an 'ILD' (abbreviation for 'induced lucid dreaming') for absolutely everything (i.e. FILD - finger; SILD - sex; SSILD - senses; U- urination; T- thirst; O - object etc). There is an 'ILD' for just about every letter of the alphabet!

The problem is, if you focus on obscure and niche forms of lucid dream induction method, you are neglecting to recognise that most of them are simply variations of the MILD Technique (Memonic/Memory Induced Lucid Dreams) aiming to achieve a DILD (Dream Initiated/Induced Lucid Dream), the method devised by Dr Stephen LaBerge of the Lucidity Institute. Almost any induction method which involves entraining yourself to recognise a certain event or trigger in a dream and then performing a reality check is a part of programming your memory, which is the ethos behind the MILD Technique which is the single best method for learning how to train yourself to experience a DILD. 

Instead of learning the key principles and foundations of the MILD Technique, beginners often choose a favourite 'ILD' and concentrate exclusively on that. Many of these induction methods were created by non-expert lucid dream enthusiasts looking to differentiate themselves and gain status for coming up with something new, when all they are really doing is refining (but not improving the MILD Technique). My advice is to learn the basics of the MILD Technique from grass-roots (enhancing dream recall; performing reality checks; doing lucid dream affirmations; understanding the sleep cycle; and practising Wake-Back-to-Bed). Ignore all the other 'ILD' methods for DILDs - they simply limit your capability of recognising when you might be in a lucid dream.

Another common mistake beginners make is trying to perform WILD (Wake Initiated/Induced Lucid Dreams) before even learning the MILD Technique. WILD is the 'holy grail' of lucid dream induction, and as compelling as it sounds (the idea of transitioning directly from a waking state into a lucid dream), it is very difficult and requires you to learn superior meditation methods to induce the unnatural state of the Mind Awake/Body Asleep paradox, which involves waking sleep paralysis and dream visualisation skills. The WILD Technique is not a beginner technique and should be worked up to slowly once you have the basics mastered - you cannot build a skyscraper without first ensuring you have a solid foundation in place!

Using the wrong induction technique and trying to run before you can walk by attempting the WILD Technique before you can achieve DILDs via the MILD Technique can lead to you becoming very disheartened by the inevitable failure. Lucid dreaming is a journey, not a final destination and cannot be rushed. There are no short-cuts or quick fixes! 

FILD (Finger Induced Lucid Dreaming) is a popular modern-day version of WILD (FILD was created by an online forum user ('Haggart'), while WILD is part of ancient Tibetan Dream Yoga practice). FILD is no easier to achieve than WILD - and actually may be counter-intuitive as it involves movement of the fingers to keep the mind awake, which can disrupt that vital Mind Awake/Body Asleep balance. It's main 'advantage' is that it bypasses the sleep paralysis stage which is vital for WILD - however, sleep paralysis, while unsettling and sometimes scary - is a great indicator that you are achieving the Mind Awake/Body Asleep paradox and heading towards a successful lucid dream attempt. Embrace the WILD Technique for what it is - an empowering way to induce a lucid dream. Learn the traditional method - there is a wealth of evidence (and my own personal accounts on this Blog) to suggest it works well when done correctly. I would personally advise beginner lucid dreamers to completely ignore FILD. 

• Failure to Commit

In order to achieve successful lucid dreaming, you need to regularly train and dedicate yourself to your goal. Lucid dreaming is analogous to hacking your own brain - it's not an easy task to trick your brain into performing in a way contrary to how it has naturally evolved (i.e, to be consciously aware you are asleep and dreaming and to actively control your dreams). It is very common for beginner lucid dreamers to give up hope and decide to quit after an extremely short amount of practice. It has taken me years to be able to induce lucid dreams - and I am a natural lucid dreamer, who had a lot of failure still. Another common problem is that because many beginner lucid dreamers are seduced by the idea of controlling their dreams, they don't focus on the basic skill of remembering their non-lucid dreams and recognising their dreamsigns sufficiently.

One particular study found that with extensive daily training, it was possible for beginner lucid dreamers to have their first lucid dream within 3 - 21 days, but this varies greatly.

My advice is to learn the MILD Technique, effective reality checking and meditation - and practice every single night. Record all dreams in a dream journal and focus your mind on reaching your goal - it will happen eventually.

• Trying Too Hard

This mistake is rather like choosing the wrong induction method - some beginner lucid dreamers are too enthusiastic and want quick results so try to combine everything at once. They attempt a variety of different methods, take lucid dreaming supplements, use binaural beats - all at the same time, without success. This is because they are not nailing the basics - lucid dreaming is not about a race to the finish line - it is about purposeful effort and motivation to learn and develop important skills. If you want to hit a target, it is best to aim accurately and carefully rather than haphazardly firing from every angle. 

Mindful practice is much better than trying to tick every single box. If you desperately try each and every method at the same time, this puts undue pressure on you and you are likely to end up frustrated and confused by what went wrong. Also, if by chance one of your variety of induction methods happened to work, how would you know which one it was and how to refine your technique in that area? That would be like ticking every single answer in a multiple choice exam - one of them is correct, but you don't actually know which one! You can't rush lucid dream entrainment - simplify your practice, take it slow and steady and note what works for you. You can always move on to another technique/method if you have no success, but give it a fair chance before you try something different.

• Poor Dream Recall

Since I advise all beginner lucid dreamers to start with DILDs (using MILD Technique), dream recall is absolutely vital. I am always surprised by how many beginner lucid dreamers admit they don't recall many of their normal non-lucid dreams. If you cannot recall your dreams, how can you hope to become lucid in a dream? If you do happen to become spontaneously lucid in a dream, the chances are that you will simply forget it and the opportunity to relish that experience will be completely lost.

In order to successfully lucid dream you need a decent standard of dream recall - at least one dream per night. These dreams should be recorded in a dream journal, which will also enable you to note recurrent themes and potential dreamsigns which can act as lucidity triggers in a future DILD. Establishing strong dream recall enhances the vividness and intensity of your dreams, which is a great advantage for your lucid dream practice. Keeping and reflecting on your dream journal entries has a secondary purpose (and benefit) of placing greater emphasis and focus on your dreams.

• Sleep Deprivation/Not Understanding How the Sleep Cycle Works

If you are sleep deprived (i.e. not getting enough deep, restful, restorative sleep) then you will limit your REM sleep, which is when dreams occur. Sleep deprivation has a negative impact on brain function and general health and will inhibit both the amount and recall of your dreams which is detrimental to lucid dreaming.

The best time for lucid dreaming is the longest, most intense period of REM sleep which occurs after approximately 4 - 6 hours or deep sleep. This is why we often have the longest, most vivid dreams just before we wake up. Distractions and unnatural awakenings (by an alarm clock) are often the reason why we cannot recall dreams which occur during this period of REM sleep. If you need to wake early, there are several methods which can increase your chances of having a lucid dream. 

Firstly, go to bed earlier - you will have your necessary deep sleep earlier in the night and then experience your longest REM stage in good time before you are due to wake up. 

Secondly, if you can't get more than 4 - 6 hours sleep in a night, try and take an afternoon or early evening nap, which is another great time to experience a lucid dream. An afternoon nap means you can do some affirmations/meditation directly before you go to sleep, and hopefully (if you are fully rested from the night before) you will enter an REM sleep straight away, while those lucid dream induction methods are fresh in your mind. As a nap is a short sleep, you will also wake up from the REM dream sleep and your dream will be easier to remember!

Thirdly, if you cannot dedicate longer periods to sleeping during the week, or having afternoon naps, exploit your free time at weekends to having lie-ins. Get your full quota of deep sleep and then do a Wake-Back-to-Bed. The WBTB works on the same notion as an afternoon nap - you are fully rested after your 4 - 6 hours of deep sleep, then you awaken and practice some lucid dreaming induction methods (reality check, mindfulness, affirmations and meditation) for a brief period (say 10 - 30 minutes) and the  return to (REM) sleep while the intention to lucid dream is fresh in your mind. Hopefully, your WBTB will coincide with that long period of REM sleep and you will experience a lucid dream. 

Fourthly, there are many innovative technologies and devices aimed at improving your sleep cycles - and encouraging lucid dreaming. Some devices can help to re-programme your circadian rhythms which benefits your sleep cycle and chances of lucid dreaming. Other devices can be set to wake you up just after you are likely to have been in REM sleep, which helps you improve your dream recall. 

• Failure to Stabilise a Lucid Dream

Becoming lucid in a dream (DILD) is such an overwhelmingly exciting and exhilarating experience that it often causes dreamers to destabilise their dream and either lose lucidity or wake up. Lucid dreams are a very tenuous, unstable state - the dreamer is so close to wakefulness that anything can tip them over the brink. Often when I lose stability in a lucid dream I am aware of the dream fading before my eyes as I wake up. At other times I stay semi-lucid, but the lucid dream environment is vague and unclear meaning I cannot fully engage with it or explore it, rendering the experience unsatisfying and pointless.

The euphoria which accompanies a successful lucid dream is the most common reason for its premature ending!

The best way to prolong your lucid dream is to learn how to anchor yourself in the lucid dream environment and stabilise the dream sufficiently before you continue your adventure. My advice is to stand still and concentrate on something - either your hands (focusing on the palms of your hands is one of the most popular methods) or one single thing in the lucid dream world. You could try touching a wall or another object and not allowing anything else - especially dream characters - to distract you. Another method I like to do is to sit on the ground. The trick is to calm yourself down completely. 

To stabilise the dream, you can try rubbing your hands together, while saying to yourself: 'I'm dreaming' or 'This is a lucid dream', then performing a reality check, which I advise you do after every lucid dream stabilisation. If the dream is still somewhat unstable or unclear, you can say in a firm voice: 'Clarity!' and then engage all your senses - sight, sound, smell, touch, taste etc. 

• Forgetting you are Lucid

This seems like an odd mistake to make, but it does commonly happen to me. Often I become lucid in a dream and then 'forget' I am lucid and allow myself to slip back into a non-lucid dream. This is particularly likely to happen after lucid dream stabilisation. The key to overcoming this obstacle is to consistently perform reality checks to remind you that you are lucid and to exercise your conscious awareness and cognitive performance. 

• Bad/Poor Reality Checks

The key to a good reality check is to choose an action which has a very different outcome when you perform it in waking life to when you perform it in a dream. However, sometimes reality checks - even very good ones - can fail. It may be just misfortune, or it could be that your dreaming brain has taught itself to override the reality check.

Another bad reality check practice is not performing mindful reality checks. This means simply performing the physical reality check without engaging your conscious awareness. You need your conscious awareness to be strongly linked to the performance of the physical reality check.

Every single time you perform a waking reality check, stop whatever you are doing and focus on your conscious awareness. Ask yourself: 'Am I dreaming?' and instead of simply assuming the answer, focus your senses and use cues from your environment to give you an answer. Perform the reality check to confirm your answer was correct and then ask yourself again 'Am I dreaming?'

Regular, frequent and mindful reality checks are a core aspect of mentally entraining yourself to lucid dream.

Also make sure you are performing enough reality checks throughout your waking day. You need to establish a habit which will transition across into your dreams. This will not happen if your reality checks are inconsistent and irregular.

Research by LaBerge and Levitan suggest that 15 - 20 reality checks yield the best chances of becoming lucid via a DILD. Try to perform a reality check every time you do a particularly frequent waking action, such as walking through a doorway, looking at our phone, using the toilet etc.

• Expecting Too Much (Control) Too Soon

Many beginner lucid dreamers confuse lucid dreaming with dream control and treat them as synonymous. There are several levels of lucid dreaming, from pre-lucid through to super-lucid. Lucid dreaming - by definition - is simply the conscious awareness that you are dreaming. Controlling a dream - or further - dream architecture are additional elements of a lucid dream and have to be learned after you have some experience in lucid dreaming. 

When you first begin to lucid dream it is very common to have little to no control at all. You need to work on dream stabilisation before you can learn dream control. Even when you start learning how to successfully control your lucid dreams you may find that you are only able to control your own actions, and dream characters remain autonomous beings with their own self-determination and will. You may also find that the dream environment has been created for you and cannot be changed. 

Many beginner lucid dreamers want to jump in at the deep end and enjoy flying, sex or space exploration. If you attempt too much too soon you will end up limiting yourself significantly (see below).

Before you become omnipotent and without boundaries you need to build confidence and self belief. You wouldn't attempt to run a marathon before you have discovered whether you have enough stamina to run to the end of your street, so use this approach in your lucid dreaming and take small steps and work your way onwards and upwards gradually. 

• Prioritising Sex/Flying as a Lucid Dream Goal

Sex is the second main reason beginner lucid dreamers state they were motivated to learn how to lucid dream. Many of our dreams are driven by primal urges and it is unsurprising that dreamers seek the instant and risk-free gratification available in the dream world. However, due to the highly stimulating, intense nature of sex, it is common for beginner lucid dreamers to suffer from 'sensory-overload' and prematurely end their lucid dream by focusing on fulfilling their goal of engaging in lucid dream sex. Lucid dream sex requires a lot of skill and concentration - you need to be able to anchor yourself in the lucid dream; stabilise the dream; exercise some form of lucid dream visualisation and control and then remain calm and grounded as your excitement increases. 

Lucid dream sex can also be disappointing for other reasons - your conscious brain may be set on physical gratification, but your subconscious mind may have a completely different agenda and try to throw a spanner in the works. You may think you are wholly motivated by physical satisfaction and release of sexual energy, but your subconscious knows best - it may be that you are actually looking for a more intimate meaningful connection or relationship. This is one of the main reasons why sexual lucid dream encounters fail - either your dream character rejects you outright or morphs into something undesirable and repellent.

If you haven't had any real-life sexual experience it may be impossible for you to translate your desire for a realistic sexual experience into a lucid dream - after all, what are you actually basing your lucid encounter on? Most likely it will be the visual depiction of sex (i.e. sex scenes in movies or pornography) rather than the memory of actual physical sensations. Lucid dream sex - when it happens - can often feel more like masturbation.

Try not to make lucid dream sex your sole motivation for learning how to lucid dream - you will be short-changing yourself in the long-run and preventing yourself from fully enjoying the incredible range of experiences available in the lucid dream world. 

On the same note, I hear many beginner lucid dreamers complain that they want to fly in their lucid dreams - and attempt to do so as soon as they become lucid for the first time, resulting in disappointment when things do not go to plan. Flying is the number one lucid dreaming activity according to online surveys. Of course, it sounds like an incredibly exciting activity to attempt, but the simple fact is, because humans cannot physically fly, it is not something which will come naturally, even in a lucid dream state and especially if you have not established sufficient stabilisation and control over your lucid dreams. Focusing exclusively on one lucid dream goal may prevent you from enjoying other aspects of the experience and lead to frustration, which is not helpful when you are learning the ropes. See flying as something to build up towards as you improve your skills if you are unable to achieve this in your early lucid experiences - it is not a failure - you weren't born able to walk even though this is the natural method of transportation for humans - we still had to learn how to do it, even if it is intuitive and something we were designed to do!

• Relying on Lucid Dream Supplements & Drugs

I would never advocate the use of recreational drugs on this Blog, and further, recommend that anyone seeking to take legal, natural supplements consult a medical professional before doing so.

Many beginner lucid dreamers think you can pop a pill and lucid dream. In fact many experienced lucid dreamers seem to advise using supplements - or illegal drugs - in place of learning and refining the core methods outlines above. 

Many lucid dreamers ask if cannabis can help you lucid dream. The answer is 'no' (THC suppresses REM sleep and encourages deeper, dreamless sleep), but quitting cannabis can cause REM Rebound which is characterised by intense, vivid dreams. Other lucid dreamers suggest ayahausca, salvia divinorum, LSD and psilocybin ('magic mushrooms') are great for lucid dreams, but what they seem to be actually saying is that psychedelic experiences are similar to being in a lucid dream state. If you are awake and hallucinating, you are not in a lucid dream - you are in a drug induced state. I have never taken LSD before, so I do not know what effect it has if you go to sleep while it is still in your system, but personally, I would steer clear from experimenting with illegal recreational drugs - psychedelic or otherwise. 

Also, be aware of the inherent dangers in taking any recreational drug. Not only are they illegal in many countries, but there are obvious health risks (mental and/or physical) associated with consuming or using all controlled drugs, regardless of what many 'users' of such drugs say on the internet by way of recommendation. Just because another person has a pleasurable and relatively safe experience using a particular controlled drug, this is not an indicator that your own experience will be risk-free. Nor is anecdotal evidence about drug use a reliable source of information about what the experience will be like - people exaggerate or lie all the time. In my personal life, I have found many people boast about frequency or levels of drug use/alcohol consumption as a means of gaining social status amongst their peers and the same will be true in relation to lucid dreaming forums. Never feel pressure to try a recreational drug or 'legal high' because it may help you lucid dream. The reality is, it probably won't, and a quick browse through research on the effects of many recreational drugs on dreaming or cognitive performance generally usually states that the effect will be negative or detrimental.

Research chemicals are another major problem on the lucid dreaming forums. I see many 'companies' promote their products on lucid dream forums/pages because they are aware that many people are keen for a 'short-cut' and will assume the product is safe if it is sold online and has an official looking website. 

These drugs may appear legal because of the way in which they are promoted and advertised online, but I have done a fair amount of background research and found that often these substances (including those listed as 'legal highs') may carry health risks. Just because a pill or powder is sold online rather than in a back alley by a 'dealer', doesn't mean it is any safer - it just means it hasn't yet been legislated against, labelled as a controlled substance, or been had its effects properly tested/published. Research chemicals (or 'designer drugs' as they are sometimes known) are usually synthesised (i.e. artificially made) so that they have a similar chemical structure to a more well-known psycho-active drug, but in a slightly altered form which allows the makers/sellers to evade legal restrictions. Who knows how these products will affect you? Many 'companies' are unscrupulous and exploiting the fact that many beginner lucid dreamers want an 'easy option'.

In terms of natural vitamins and supplements (and food sources known to boost lucid dreaming), these can be great for boosting REM sleep, enhancing the vividness and recall of dreams and encouraging lucidity, but should never be used to compensate for learning the basics of lucid dream induction and dedicating yourself to daily mental entrainment. Supplements should be used alongside - in addition  to - lucid dream induction methods such as the MILD Technique. Also, I would advise that you do not take a variety of different vitamins and supplements at the same time - some may counteract the effects of the others and as with trying too many different induction techniques at the same time, how will you know which ones work and which don't? Lucid dream supplements can be very expensive and sometimes a waste of money - especially if you rely on the hearsay of other lucid dreamers or the marketing material from the manufacturer of supplements branded as 'lucid dreaming supplements'. Many effective lucid dreaming supplements are not produced specifically because of their effect on dreaming - they have primary health benefits and coincidentally happen to also aid dreaming. 

I would suggest you learn the basics of the MILD Technique without any supplements and then slowly incorporate them into your routine, one-by-one, so that you can monitor the effects and any changes to your patterns of dreaming. 

Do not just try supplements because another lucid dreamer has given them a positive recommendation - different chemicals/substances will react differently from person to person, and there may be a whole host of reasons why this person is able to successfully lucid dream. Before you spend money on lucid dreaming, try the basic mental entrainment which is free and without risk to your health!

• Putting Your Faith into Lucid Dream Induction Devices/Lucid Dream Machines & Technology

This is not to suggest that lucid dream technology is a bad idea - above I mentioned lucid dream devices/apps in terms of understanding the sleep cycle. However, many beginner lucid dreamers are seduced by the idea of buying a piece of flashy equipment which requires minimal effort and seems to promise instant results, unlike the cognitive techniques. This is largely because we live in such a technology-dependent world, but lucid dreaming has been induced successfully for centuries - without the use of high-tech gadgetry. The truth is, the empirical data on the success of lucid dreaming devices is patchy and there is no single device which has been proven to work perfectly. Furthermore, the devices are intended to be used in conjunction with cognitive techniques, not as an alternative or replacement for putting the groundwork in. Lucid dreaming can be completely free - there is absolutely no need to spend cash on commercial products.

Another point - even if you do use cognitive techniques and then buy a lucid dreaming device, any success when using the device may be a simple placebo effect - i.e. the fact you are using a device may get you in the right mindset to lucid dream rather than the technology having any tangible effect. What does this mean? The real success was still part of a mental process anyway! My thoughts are that if lucid dreaming devices were as successful as some manufacturers/advertisers claim, they would be more visible and accessible in the commercial marketplace (rather than being sold exclusively on manufacturers' websites or still requiring crowdfunding through sites such as Kickstarter to get off the ground). Imagine if there was a foolproof and reliable lucid dream induction device, which involved nothing more than putting on a sleep mask or pushing a button before going to sleep - surely this technology would be the next big thing and in mass production given the numbers of people worldwide (many of whom may not currently be interested in learning how to lucid dream) who would rush out to buy such a device? I'm pretty sure that there would be little need for a Kickstarter campaign to get the project off the ground.  

This is not to put anyone off buying a lucid dreaming device, but if these devices need the dreamer to learn cognitive techniques in addition, then any beginner is far better off learning and concentrating on a method such as the MILD Technique and understanding how that works; seeing how successful it is after a reasonable amount of time (this could be weeks or months, depending on the individual) and then considering whether to invest money in a lucid dreaming gadget. You may be surprised by how your brain responds without the need for any technological assistance!

• Paying for Tuition from 'Experts'

This may sound counter-intuitive, since I am writing this article as part of a lucid dreaming for beginners tutorial series, but hear me out on this one!

Some lucid dreamers think that because a service costs money if must be tried/tested and effective. This is not necessarily true. Lucid dreaming is becoming increasingly popularised and as a result people will try to exploit a growing audience. It may not be fraudulent - these 'guides' or 'gurus' may have your best interests at heart, but this doesn't mean they are qualified to charge a fee for what they have to offer. The internet is awash with free tuition on how to lucid dream - and you can buy published books by experts such as LaBerge who certainly has the pedigree and expertise to offer advice and information on lucid dreaming. This Blog offers tuition on how to lucid dream, but it does so completely free of charge - my advice, tips and techniques are there for those who want them and cost nothing. Do your research and you will find that you are perfectly capable of getting all information online without spending a single penny.

• Putting Too Much Faith & Trust in Other Lucid Dreamer's Anecdotal Evidence/Experiences

I would advise that all beginner lucid dreamers converse with and listen to the advice of other more experienced lucid dreamers. However, you should always question how subjective their experiences actually are and how they can relate to your own lucid dreaming journey. 

I am a non-spiritual, non-religious (atheist) humanist, who seeks credible scientific evidence or validation before I can put my belief or faith into anything. Therefore, when I discuss lucid dreaming with spiritualists, much of what they say is completely irrelevant to my own understanding and experience of lucid dreaming. I don't believe in astral projection, spirit guides, guardian angels, shared consciousness, universal life-forces etc. Therefore any advice which involves the belief in, or embracing of, these concepts will not be of any benefit to my lucid dreaming practice. Despite what many lucid dreamers think, you do not need to embrace spirituality to enjoy lucid dreaming. Many spiritualists are lucid dreamers, but not all lucid dreamers are spiritualists. Putting your faith into something as esoteric as some of the spiritualist theories I have heard can prevent you from finding out what really works and the rational or scientific reasons for why (see below for further on this specific point).

Be wary of taking advice or information without carefully checking credible sources which support it. 

Also, don't become dissuaded from your own ability or progress just because Person X says they have a lucid dream every single night without trying; or Person Y says they have a lucid dream just from listening to binaural beats in a dark room; or Person Z says eating cheese while wearing a dream mask is all it takes for them to experience hour-long lucid dreams where they visit alternative planes of existence. That's the thing about lucid dreaming - in the absence of a sleep laboratory, a dream expert/neuroscientist and an EEG machine, these wild and wonderful claims (usually made online) cannot be substantiated - or disproved. You shouldn't base your own lucid dream practice on the hearsay of anyone else - no matter how much they talk up their own skills and experience. 

Certainly listen to what they have to say, but do your own research to ascertain whether you have been given good advice and ask for their source material if they have some - any experienced lucid dreamer willing to help a beginner should be more than happy to recommend the books, websites or documentaries they are referencing or borrowing information from. Trust your instinct and intuition - if something sounds like a sham or a little less than believable, it may well be so. Many people use online forums to gain social status, feel self-important and blow their own trumpet, so concentrate on what works for you and take everything you are told with a pinch of salt unless it can be externally verified. And remember, you are a unique individual whose brain will never work exactly like Person X, Y or Z - so while some general basics will work for everyone, some things are very subjective and specific and won't translate across to your own practice. 

• Confusing the 'Science' of Lucid Dreaming with 'Pseudoscience' or Subjective/Individualist Interpretations & Practices

I do not wish to speak negatively of anyone's own fundamental/foundational beliefs or world-view - diversity means we are all part of a rich tapestry of individuals and communities which equally important views, opinions and interests. However, the point is, often claims are made in lucid dream groups/forums/pages which are rooted in one particular esoteric practice, spiritualist movement - or subjective, personal belief system of an individual and these need to be treated as just that: individual beliefs, not scientific fact. 

When some beginners seek advice online, they are given advice which may conflict or run counter to their own personal beliefs or views, which can be off-putting. When spiritual or pseudoscientific advice is given in circumstances where there is a valid scientific explanation readily available, it can limit a beginner's understanding of the nature of, and methods for inducing, lucid dreams or make the experience seem more overwhelming than it need be. For example, it is very common for certain people to explain sleep paralysis as a form of 'demonic visitation' (which often frightens beginners of the WILD Technique) or to suggest that they will 'visit' the beginner in a shared dream to help trigger lucidity (when there is no scientific evidence of shared dreaming/dream telepathy). Focusing on spiritualism or pseudoscience can detract from effective, scientifically-verified methods of induction and create false expectations of what lucid dreaming is or should be.

I would encourage everyone to develop their own style of lucid dreaming practice in line with their individual lifestyles, goals and beliefs (or lack of) - but not to wholeheartedly buy into the 'truth' of what someone else says, no matter how attractive it may sound. Science can objectively verify, measure and account for phenomenon - through rigorous observation and empiricism. The same cannot be said for all spiritual beliefs. For example, I have heard many people claim that astral projection has been 'scientifically proven'. This is not at all true. There is actually no firm scientific evidence for astral projection and all studies which claim it to be possible were either shown to be methodologically flawed, biased or based solely on anecdotal evidence. 

Many people make the claim that lucid dreaming and astral projection are intrinsically linked - or that you need to be spiritual and believe in brain/mind dualism (i.e. the notion that the consciousness can leave the physical body and that the brain and mind are separate entities) to actually lucid dream. This is factually inaccurate. Lucid dreaming has been scientifically proven in various laboratory experiments and is now recognised as a form of sleep phenomena by many neuroscientists and psychologists. While it can be used alongside spiritualism in a very advantageous way for those who do believe, not everything linked to consciousness or the dream world needs to have a spiritual basis to be fully enjoyed.

This is not to say that some people do not (subjectively) experience what they describe as 'astral projection', 'OBEs', 'dream telepathy/dream sharing' or 'precognitive dreaming' etc - it is a warning that not everything said to be 'scientifically proven' is necessarily so, which is why the term 'pseudoscience' exists. Careful research will debunk or clarify a lot of claims and highlight which ones are likely to be objectively verified as  possible and which are more subjective, individualistic or esoteric experiences which require a certain belief or faith in spiritualism or parapsychology. 

On this basis, avoid confusing lucid dreaming with other forms of spiritual practice and do not assume that every claim made by a fellow lucid dreamer must be the truth - do your own research before you let other peoples' beliefs influence your own lucid dream journey.

• Ignoring the Dream Self/Ego

One of the best things about lucid dreaming is that it enables the dreamer to engage in a dialogue with their inner-self - i.e. their subconscious. Instead of focusing solely on lucid dream control (which is regarded as some lucid dream experts as superficial gratification), beginner lucid dreamers should also consider the advantages of communicating with their subconscious and unlocking their psyche in a way which is not easily possible in waking reality.

Your subconscious mind is not the executor of your free-will - it is the silent observer and author of your dreams - part of a dual consciousness which operates on two separate, yet interconnected levels. Some people pay psychoanalysts huge sums of money to decode their subconscious minds - you can use your lucid dreams to do this yourself for free. Use your lucid dreams to question your dream ego and unlock the parts of your mind which are shielded from your waking life. 

Ignoring the dream self/ego is neglecting to engage with the richest aspect of dreaming and missing a precious opportunity to inspect the dark and hidden recesses of your own mind.

• Mistaking Dreaming of Lucid Dreaming for Lucid Dreaming

Many beginner lucid dreamers are unaware of what a lucid dream should feel like. As a result of the influence of 'day residue' and lucid dreaming being on their mind when they go to sleep, beginner lucid dreamers can often dream of lucid dreaming, resulting in confusion as to whether they actually experienced a true lucid dream. However, it is completely normal for something which takes up so much of our waking thoughts, hopes and desires to surface in dream form - even for experienced lucid dreamers. I often dream of lucid dreaming, without becoming lucid at all! I have tried to teach people how to lucid dream - and be taught lucid dreaming - in totally non-lucid dreams! 

References to lucid dreaming do not prompt me to reality check or question the nature and truth of my reality - because I haven't trained myself to use the words 'lucid dream' as a trigger for a reality check. If I did that, it would be incredibly hard for me to use Facebook or write this Blog! Instead I use my 'inner awareness' or another form of dreamsign as a cue. Lucid dreaming is triggered by a deep mental awareness that you are in a simulated environment or version of reality - it is a cognitive process, not a mere reference to lucidity. This is why a steady, dedicated and mindful practice is important rather than simply going through the motions and paying minimal attention to each aspect of lucid dreaming just to tick a box. 

Dreaming of lucid dreaming is not the same as lucid dreaming, but it is an indication that the concept and ideas of lucid dreaming are filtering through to your subconscious mind and entering into your dreams which is very positive. If thinking about and practising lucid dreaming can cause the theme of lucid dreaming to pop up in your non-lucid dreams, it is easy to imagine how all the methods you will be learning as part of the MILD Technique will make the same transition and eventually result in a successful DILD lucid dream.