I'm sure many of those sifting through the seemingly endless pages of information on dreams that the internet provides are seeking advice on how to attain lucid dreaming. Well, I'm going to tell you how NOT to go about it. It's quite simple, actually: don't buy anything! Don't be fooled into buying expensive CDs, books, or crazy gadgets. You just don't need them! The only thing preventing you from dreaming lucid is your own mind. You just have to talk yourself into doing it, and that's really all it takes.

I, being the naive person that I am, bought one of those crazy devices once. I believe it was called the "NovaDreamer," or something similar to that anyway. It's design is relatively simple: two LEDs are placed in a mask in which you wear over your eyes. After you've fallen asleep, these LEDs will start to blink after a while (the delay time is programmable, I believe). The intention of the blinking is simply to remind you that you are dreaming. For the device to work effectively, you are supposed to train yourself during the day to watch for blinking lights, and perform reality checks upon seeing them. That way you can program yourself into performing these checks when you see the LEDs blinking in your dream. Thus, you will automatically perform a reality check, and realize you are dreaming.

Anyway, I found the mask ridicuously uncomfortable and couldn't fall asleep with the damn thing on! Thus, I wasn't overly impressed with the product. It's important to realize that buying that device is not enough to induce lucid dreaming; it must be accompanied by personal training. Thus, instead of spending a bunch of money on a simple, uncomfortable mask, and spending your time trying to train yourself to watch out for blinking lights, why not instead save your money and spend your time simply training yourself to be more aware of the world around you? For that is really all that is necessary to attain lucid dreaming: increasing your own perception of the world around you.

As for spending money on books, there is again no reason to (other than to support authors who have donated their time to helping disseminate information on lucid dreaming). But other than that, there isn't much you can gain from books when you consider there is a plethora of information on lucid dreaming to be found on the internet! Hopefully this forum will become a valuable asset in that department.

Thus, I strongly suggest everyone just save their money and simply spend more time on their own practicing reality checks, and thinking about gaining control of their dreams.