Ask us anything about lucid dreaming
Recent Responses
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The WILD technique, for those who don't know is a direct entry into a lucid dream without any lapse in consciousness. Instead of awakening within an already "regular" dream and becoming lucid that way, a WILD takes you from the waking state in your bed INSTANTLY into a lucid dream. Think of it like a radio that changes it's frequency: turning it's dial from "waking" to "dreaming". This technique takes some trial and error but it's very doable. All it takes is relaxation and some passive focus.
To your question: We've experienced something similar to what you're describing and it really came down to us being too excited and overly anticipating to the point that we would be unable to fall asleep. It sounds like once you're hitting sleep paralysis (when your body feels like stone as you described) you psyche yourself out because you're too excited. Try this:
~ Lie down and relax. If you have a hard time falling asleep try to perform this in the early morning hours so you'll fall asleep quickly.
~ Get to sleep paralysis by simply relaxing your entire body until it feels heavy (like stone as you put it). Do what you're already doing such as counting, guided imagery, or any other relaxation techniques. At this point, you're only minutes away (not seconds so don't get too excited just yet)
~ This region of sleep you're in is essentially the "Twilight state" (Think Rod Serling, not vampires) and it's the liminal zone between sleeping and dreaming. That time where you may lose sense of your body and you begin seeing flashes of images and colors. You want to stay in this zone for as long as it'll take- don't try to force the WILD once you reach sleep paralysis. Instead, once you're hitting SP, gently remind yourself, "Ok, I have about 5 minutes. Just relax. The next place I will be will be a dream."
(Forcing a WILD is not possible. Doing so will likely wake you up more and you'll have to start over)
~ So it really comes down to these next 5 minutes. Can you relax and passively wait for sleep to flood over you? If you can, you'll begin to feel other sensations such as buzzing, vibrations, or sounds. Now you're seconds away. Again, gently remind yourself, "Ok, I'm just gonna wait this out and I will come out on the other side in a dream..."
~ If you see an image, try to focus on it and make it clearer. The image will move towards you, or you towards it and engulf you. At this point you will be inside of a fully detailed, fully realistic world with complete self-reflective consciousness. Congrats you just did a WILD!
** Questioner, you are much closer than you think my friend so try again tonight. Just remember that once you feel the onset of sleep paralysis, you are only minutes away. Relax. Relax. Relax. The body will do all the work. All you need to do is stay gently attentive and let your body do it's thing. Good luck dream pioneer! -
Shared dreaming is an incredible phenomenon that has yet to be explored fully and one that we hope to find more information on with the experiments we will be doing on our lucid dreaming website. The question is, can two people be lucid and enter into each other's dream? I've read many accounts of this and have even had my own experiences with it myself and I have found that there is strong evidence that points to it as a possibility. The one thing that may throw people off is the subjective nature of our perception. If you and I are sharing a dream, we may dream about a similar context, but objects and what I focus on in the dream may be different than what you experience. In other words, you might dream that we're at a school and there was a bunch of little children playing while I dreamt I was at a school but saw no children. Maybe I saw something else that you didn't see, the principal or an airplane... I think while it's possible to share a dream, it's always going to be subjective to the dreamer and this must therefore accounted for. I bring up the school example, because in my shared dream I was in a school playground and there was all of these adults surrounding myself and the other dreamer I was with. In my partner's dream, she didn't see us surrounded by adults but by tiny blonde children... hmmm.
Just like in waking life, our perception of our reality is always going to be subjective. My belief is that we CAN have a shared dream and we often do with other people without even realizing it! This will be something we have to explore in more detail. As more and more of us are able to become lucid in our dreams, I suspect that these sorts of things will further make us question the nature of our separation and show us that we are truly more connected than we ever thought possible.
To answer your other question: A moose is like a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere. Great question! :P -
Thank you! I'm looking into getting the book as we speak! Sweet dreams.
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Great question! Dreams are undoubtedly a source for healing- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In dreams we can come to closure with personal relationships whether they be past or present. We can heal ourselves of illness and "communicate" with our body via the dream. It's important to note, that the mind is in every cell of your body. By altering your dreambody and working on healing within dreams, you are affecting not just your physical but your subtle bodies as well. Our advice would be to relax into a safe space with the intention of having a healing dream. You may not have to be more specific than that. The dream will know what you need to bring you toward wholeness.
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Thank you! This is still in a raw form but we will have an editor go throughout the book before it gets printed. Sweet dreams.
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Personally no. If you're having trouble remembering your dreams, begin by setting the intention before bed, "I will remember my dreams tonight". When you wake up, write down anything, keywords, feelings, characters, settings, anything that stands out.
If you want to experiment with supplements I would recommend such things as: Melatonin, Galantamine + Choline, 5-HTP, or Vitamin B -
Don't be discouraged by what seems to be meaningless or ridiculous dreams. Dreams come from a source that is deeper and wiser than the everyday waking mind and that of the ego. By cultivating awareness within dreams you can begin to be active rather than passive in the dreamstate. Keep going.
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In terms of lucid dreaming? I think we'll have a completely new understanding on sleep, and what dreams ARE. We'll recognize them to be a direct connection to higher states of consciousness, self-growth, and personal wisdom. Much like ancient cultures before us knew them to be.
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Flying is one of the most common things people do in lucid dreams... It's also the easiest way to get around in terms of traveling within a dream. Yet learning to fly takes practice just like anything else. When I first began flying, I could only do so by running very fast and pushing off the ground. This was fine, until I needed to stop or turn. I also couldn't control my speed. I can't tell you how many times I woke myself up from a lucid dream because I couldn't figure out how to stop.
Start off slow and practice floating first by jumping in the air. In lucid dreams, you'll usually float down much slower than usual. Develop some control first before you jump off a building and 'Superman' it. You can get to things like turning, stopping, and even increasing or decreasing speed once you feel comfortable with the feeling of flight.
We'll be writing a blog post to cover this topic in better detail in the next few days so check it out!
http://dream-guide.tumblr.com/ -
it's a dream in which you know you are dreaming.
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Oneironautics - A...’s Bio
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Ever heard of lucid dreaming? Our book Oneironautics is a hands-on field guide that teaches you how to wake up within your dreams.
