Thread: Training in the Essentials of Lucid Dream Control

Basic techniques in the basics of mastering the Dream

Introduction
This guide is intended as a kind of active training programme for newbies and those like me who have had a few lucid dreams but need to brush up on their skills in dream control. I take no credit for most of the techniques and tasks on show here, but rather my aim is to compile them together into one whole that should be practised on a regular basis, both to establish a basic level of dream control ability, and to keep that ability sharp. I urge anyone with a serious interest in the mechanics underlying dream control to read the tutorials of Billybob, Mzzkc and The Cusp, I’ve found their writings to indispensable in gaining an understanding of dream control.
So these tasks aren’t presented as ‘goals’, one-offs to tick of the list when completed and never returned to, but as disciplined activities aimed to increase engagement with your dreaming abilities. I think many would be master lucid dreamers find failure and lose motivation due to having goals that are too lofty for their initial lucid dreaming control. I know that when I first learned of lucid dreaming I wanted to go to Middle Earth, have aerial slow motion gunfights, when I had my first lucid dream it became apparent that to achieve those things I’d need to practice. Hard.
I came up with this idea because I found that my lucid dreams lacked focus, I needed practical, attainable goals to aim for, I’m hoping to get better at dream control by using them, I’m a beginner.
So the following tasks are intended as a kind of schooling in fundamental control, in order to get the best out of every lucid dream you have until you get the experience under your belt to do the really ambitious things.
The list is far from complete, make your own tasks in the categories set out or categories of your own


Stabilisation:
Fairly obvious, in order to get the best out of every lucid dream you have you need to establish a stable environment to achieve your goals, most of the lucid dreams I’ve had so far had great potential but were ruined because I rushed of at the first thing I saw in the dream without grounding myself in the dreamspace, aim to practise these each time you become lucid.

-Use one stabilisation technique at the outset of every lucid dream

--Rubbing Hands (one of the Stephen Laberge classics, I find this guarantees higher quality visuals and a more stable and tangible dream scene, this should be your first port of call once you become lucid)

--Spinning (the other staple of stabilisation tutorials. Don’t go mad with this one, for initial stabilising would be ‘turning’, if you haven’t tried this before try spinning slowly on your heel in order to see the whole scene, this will ground you in the dream by engaging you visual cortex and activating the equilibrium centres of the brain, drawing attention to your dream body-image. Full blown spinning should be saved for when you feel you are losing visuals or the dream is fading)

--Engaging the senses (one that’s been discussed a lot on Dreamviews, this technique will enhance the vividness of all your dream sense if used well, simply try to look at, touch, smell, taste, and hear as many things in the dream as you can in a short space of time, moving from object to object. Try not to focus on one object for too long otherwise the scene around you may lose some stability, likewise you shouldn’t become so absorbed in the details of the dream as to lose awareness that you are dreaming!)

--Putting on glasses (pretty cool this one, makes sense for any glasses wearing dreamers out there to increase the clarity of their dream sight with glasses. Can still be useful for those with 20/20 vision to put on glasses imbued with special properties, such as infra red vision )

--Ask the Dreamer behind the Dream (This is inspired by ‘Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the inner self’ by Robert Waggoner. Waggoner found through his experiences that there seemed to be some kind of observer behind the dream that responded to his requests and intent. In this way you can simply voice your wish for a more stable dream scene out loud to great effect)

--Pop a pill (dream ecstasy, LSD etc. should appeal to the more psychedelic dreamers out there)


Cognition:
An often overlooked key to a stable dream is raising your cognition functioning so you have the clarity of thought and memory necessary to carry out a dream goal. I find illogical thinking and sluggish memory to be a greater hindrance than an unstable dream scene. Always remember to stay engaged with the dream when using these techniques, putting too much awareness into your thinking can sometimes wake you, if you think clearly at the outset of lucidity then you can skip these altogether.

-Use one cognition technique at the outset of each lucid dream

--Remember real life details (who are you? Where do you live? Etc.)

--simple arithmetic (2x2=4, don’t get too complicated and don’t strive too hard for the correct answer)

--Sing a song (a catchy melody and memorable lyrics will help raise you awareness, I’ve found that I have an invisible jukebox in my dreams that can play any song I’ve ever heard as I go around in the dream)

--recite poetry (for my fellow literary types out there)


Dream Characters:
Interacting with Dream Characters is a cornerstone of effective dream control, learning to work with DCs rather than against them should be an aim of any lucid dreamer. Through exercises like these you can make lasting connections with DCs in your dreams as well as find out the purpose for, and reintegrate with, shadow elements of your psyche.

-Engage a dream character in conversation
--Make friends with a DC

-Test persistency of Dream characters (do DCs remain stable if you ignore them, leave the room and re-enter, ask them to disappear, etc. Are these things affected by your expectation?)

-Look for recurrent DCs, find out they represent

-Ask a DC to show/give you something, take you somewhere, etc.

-Ask a DC for knowledge about lucid dreaming



Dream Scene:
Another key to lucid dream control is mastery over the dream scene.

-look at the night sky (I've seen some amazing skies in lucid dreams and it can be a real eye opener to the creativity and power of your sub-conscious to see dizzying vistas created purely by your mind. Look out for alien planets in the night sky! )

-look at beautiful dream landscapes

-Change weather

-Change the dream scene (This can be as simple as closing your eyes and then opening them again expecting to be in a new location. Spinning may come in handy here, spin until the scene vanishes and then visualise a new scene)

--Change to a planned scene (before bed plan somewhere you really want to go to)

-- Teleport using archetypal control (apparate, use a portal gun, Minecraft portal, the possibilities are endless!)

-Step through a mirror

-Visit locations you’ve been to in real life and note similarities and differences


Dream Physics and Abilities:
Confidence is the key here, remember that you are dreaming, occupying a mental construct. Physical laws only apply because you have developed ‘schemata’ that you are applying to dream space and act as according to your expectation (read the tutorials by Billybob, Mzzkc and The Cusp for a comprehensive overview of schemata and expectation effect). Try manipulating your expectations (cars have no wheels, roads are made of chocolate, all the houses on my street are upside down) before trying to alter physics in order to gain confidence in your role as the dream-maker.

-Manipulate elements

-Change dimensions

-Alter gravity

-Time dilation

-Super strength

-Super speed

-Flying (I won’t go in-depth but I would refer you to Mancon’s excellent flying tutorial)

-Swim
--Underwater
--Breathe underwater


Dreamscape:
What is the reality of your dream? Do things here that will try to stretch the possibilities of what is possible in a dream.

-Find items in your adventures and store them in a ‘vault’ you will always be able to access where they will stay safe

- Create a dream room that you can always return to, a ‘Dream Home’

-Set out to explore your dreamscape

-Create an permanent work of art and see how stable it remains

-Create a unique and permanent dream companion animal that with its own personality that you can summon at any time.


Conclusion:
I hope this is useful in either providing a set of goals to provide motivation in dream practice or as guide to expanding your repertoire of lucid dreaming abilities