The Most Powerful And Obvious Lucid Aid of All

[DeeryTheDeer]

I discovered this just the night before and it struck me as so logical. I've practiced it off and on many times and have usually gotten immediate results with lucidity whenever I've tried it. Meditation. What is meditation, essentially? It's the practice of waking lucidity. In the most basic sense, it's just a tool to get you to stop living in your head with what ifs, what should be, past and future thoughts and worries, and to just FOCUS on what you perceive right now in this moment, with what's really there around you. Nothing else. As Stephen LaBerge said, your waking mind habits tend to become your sleeping mind habits, so if you practice becoming aware of the present moment while awake, you'll also become more aware while dreaming. It's way more profound than just random dream reality checks, though. Those can still become a part of lazy, habituated thinking, while you fail the tests and ignore the dream signs. Meditation is a much more general, holistic, mind shifting approach that can only make everything about unlocking lucid dreams so much easier. For example, the other night I went to bed really early at 7pm (because I was tired as hell after work), slept until 2am, then woke up with some strange anxiety, so I decided to meditate. After about a good half hour of different meditation methods (I've also gotten good results on just a few minutes of meditation), I went back to bed and fell back asleep almost immediately. I had a dream that I was in my grandparents' basement where my grandpa was telling other people what to do as they walked around back and forth, when I very quickly realized that my grandpa passed away, so he couldn't be alive right now and this is obviously a dream. Once I became lucid, though, I hit another common challenge for me: dream control and staying in the dream. This one is probably even tougher than getting lucid to begin with. I decided to have no expectations, no striving for a certain outcome, and just notice the sensation of walking up the stairs out of the basement, feeling it as real as possible. As it became more vivid to me, I slowly started to try floating a bit above the steps, and then gliding above the second flight of stairs to the kitchen. It was dark outside, so I tried looking at my face in the reflection of the kitchen window, but it was dark and vague. I turned to look at my mom's face, but it was also dark and vague, the same as the others, and the dream faded into complete darkness. At this moment I was now suddenly intensely aware of sleep paralysis. It really freaked me out, so I gathered all of the strength in my body to prepare and then bolt myself out of its grip and wake up. I'm always terrified of sleep paralysis. It's hard to shake that off and trust that I won't get horribly unpleasant hallucinations or something, but I'll keep practicing. I'm by no means an expert at either meditation or lucid dreaming, though I have more experience with lucid dreaming, but even when I practice a little bit of meditation once in a blue moon I suddenly end a dry spell just like that. I wanted to share this epiphany with you all. Another thought I've had about this: I wonder if natural lucid dreamers (the ones who are lucid every single night or almost that often) are generally more wired to be aware of the present moment than most? More in tune and focused during waking life? Let me know your thoughts on this.

[FryingMan]

Absolutely! Meditation seems to feature in the daily practice of most accomplished lucid dreamers, and for good reason. There have been a number of threads about all-day mindfulness in the last year or so and meditation features as an important part of that practice. Funny, two of the perhaps most important things (sitting meditation and regular sleep schedule) to lucid dreaming are the things I find hardest to do regularly, despite basically thinking about dreaming and questioning my state all day long. I do manage a fair bit of walking meditation, and am working on taking more "STOP! breathe, be in the present" moments throughout the day.

[LucidMoon]

I'm not so sure. Meditation is obviously great but I think that people over hype it. I meditate daily but really I don't think it has that much effect on my lucidity. The most effective thing for me is definitely WBTB. I think LDing is more about brain hacking and that's way more complicated than brute force psychology on its own. How mindful I can be awake isn't really going to mean much if parts of my brain are shut down when I'm dreaming.

[OneUp]

Not sure why many Oneiornauts hit a wall when it comes to dream control. It's literally effortless once you realize that when you know something will work, it will without a doubt! Whatever you expect to happen, will always happen. Seems to be a law of the dream world. As for natural lucid dreamers, I've talked to a few. One of them said that he has always been naturally self aware because of his life style, it's just who he is as a person. That being said he is literally always in every moment and always aware of himself.

[DeeryTheDeer]

Not sure why many Oneiornauts hit a wall when it comes to dream control. It's literally effortless once you realize that when you know something will work, it will without a doubt! Whatever you expect to happen, will always happen. Seems to be a law of the dream world. I don't know, I've always found lucidity relatively easy, and dream control the ultimate hurdle. Sadly, I usually lose all grip of clarity over the dream and it fades to black almost immediately whenever I become lucid. It sucks.

[OneUp]

I don't know, I've always found lucidity relatively easy, and dream control the ultimate hurdle. Sadly, I usually lose all grip of clarity over the dream and it fades to black almost immediately whenever I become lucid. It sucks. As arrogant as this may sound, I know that dream control is as easy as pie. I've only had 115 lucid dreams so far, but it only took my 1st lucid dream to realize that dream control is as easy or as hard as you make it. Whenever I truly believe in myself or truly expect something to happen, it ALWAYS happens. As for the clarity, why do you all of a sudden lose all grip of it? Maybe because this has happened so much to you, you expect it to happen. Therefore, every time you become lucid you immediately know that everything will go to blackness. Its like how everyone says on here that "if you close your eyes in a dream then it will wake you up". That's not true at all. I myself close my eyes in dreams alot and guess what? Whenever I open them I am still in the dream. Expectation controls alot. My advice to you now, is to change your expectations. Truly believe that the next time you become lucid, everything will be perfectly clear and nothing will go black. Truly expect that and you'll be amazed by the results. But don't doubt yourself at all, because the smallest hint of doubt will render your expectation useless. I know that this entire expectation thing works because I take advantage of it in every one of my LDs.

[Eonnn]

I agree with LucidMoon, I also meditate regularly and find that it doesn't have that much of an impact on my lucid dreaming. I meditate because I enjoy the feeling it provides and the certain benefits you get from doing it. It has helped me a few times to have some great lucids but the ratio for times meditated = LD for me would be 10:1 or 20:1. That is to say I could meditate 20 days in a row and only get 1 lucid from doing it. All Day Awareness, aka mindfulness is definitely more powerful but takes a lot of effort. If you do want to try meditation you can do it lying down before you sleep, then just fall asleep at the end. I prefer to use binaural beats to get me into deep theta and delta brainwave states. I have definitely noticed I have a naturally high state of awareness at all times being a natural LDer.

[Nfri]

If your meditation is raising reflective critical awareness during wbtb, it's great way to induce lucidity.

[FryingMan]

If your meditation is part of an all-day mindfulness practice, I think it's very useful for lucid dreaming. Meditation is basically focused, concentrated mindfulness. It can really help to kick start all-day mindfulness. And focused meditation has many other documented brain benefits, and a "better brain" is certainly better for lucid dreaming. I don't think you can measure times like "X lucid dreams per Y meditation sittings" and draw any useful conclusions. It's much more a case of abilities that grow over long periods of time with consistent practice.

[VagalTone]

I don´t know but i rarely lucid dream unless i really remember to lucid dream. That is, i think , the most important thing, to want to lucid dream and to recognize that you are dreaming. I usually build an intention to lucid dream over weeks and then when it reaches its maximum level i usually i have a lucid dream, which is usually one or two per month. If i practice induction techniques i might get more frequent lucid dreams, but i think these should be done to streghthen intention and not necessarily to develop concentration skills. In regard to lucid dreaming, anything can serve the purpose of strengtening intention to lucid dream, and that may be a major reason why meditation may help. I have meditated for quite a while before knowing LDing was possible, and so i have never LDed before wanting to have one

[Laurelindo]

How reliable would you say that a consistent questioning attitude in waking life is for becoming more aware in dreams as well? For example, let's say that you make it a habit to frequently ask yourself if your surroundings are realistic, why they are realistic, where you are at the moment, how you got there etc, and you really were serious - that is, you actually felt suspicious for real and always assumed that you could be dreaming until you have made absolutely sure that you were awake, and then started to feel skeptical like 10 minutes later again or something. Surely an attitude like that should inevitably become a part of your dreaming mind as well, and more and more frequently?

[OneUp]

How reliable would you say that a consistent questioning attitude in waking life is for becoming more aware in dreams as well? For example, let's say that you make it a habit to frequently ask yourself if your surroundings are realistic, why they are realistic, where you are at the moment, how you got there etc, and you really were serious - that is, you actually felt suspicious for real and always assumed that you could be dreaming until you have made absolutely sure that you were awake, and then started to feel skeptical like 10 minutes later again or something. Surely an attitude like that should inevitably become a part of your dreaming mind as well, and more and more frequently? That's exactly how it works. That's also why I love Self Awareness/The Lucid Mindset so much, because once you get it to click and become a part of who you are, you constantly become lucid multiple times every night Laurelindo. Except, with self awareness, it's not an "every 10 minutes" thing, its a constant awareness. It sounds very difficult and draining, but once you get it down it becomes effortless. In my own experience, as I've stated many times across many threads on DV, it took me about 1 month to get Self Awareness down to the point where I was getting lucid in half of my dreams every night. So to answer your question, the "consistent questioning attitude" is 100% reliable for making you way more aware in your dreams, its only a matter of time. And the good thing about this Lucid Mindset, is that the longer you stick with it, the more frequent your LDs become. So instead of only becoming lucid in half of your dreams every night, you'd become lucid in literally all of your dreams every night(as if becoming lucid in half of your dreams every night wasn't good enough already Lol).

[Laurelindo]

That's exactly how it works. That's also why I love Self Awareness/The Lucid Mindset so much, because once you get it to click and become a part of who you are, you constantly become lucid multiple times every night Laurelindo. Except, with self awareness, it's not an "every 10 minutes" thing, its a constant awareness. It sounds very difficult and draining, but once you get it down it becomes effortless. In my own experience, as I've stated many times across many threads on DV, it took me about 1 month to get Self Awareness down to the point where I was getting lucid in half of my dreams every night. So to answer your question, the "consistent questioning attitude" is 100% reliable for making you way more aware in your dreams, its only a matter of time. And the good thing about this Lucid Mindset, is that the longer you stick with it, the more frequent your LDs become. So instead of only becoming lucid in half of your dreams every night, you'd become lucid in literally all of your dreams every night(as if becoming lucid in half of your dreams every night wasn't good enough already Lol). Haha yeah, that's how I would assume that it worked, I would find it very strange and almost a bit comical if someone continuously focused on something every day for several weeks or even months, and yet never ever dreamed about it at all. I have noticed that I often get into a very special kind of "trance" when I practice lucid living, so that waking life itself starts to feel like a dream. Note that I am not talking about derealization or anything, but rather a state of mind where waking life, even though you understand that you are awake, simply feels like a dream. Some people don't seem to like being in this state, but personally I think it is a major plus in many ways - first of all, it makes you feel more excited about dreaming in general, since you kind of get a foretaste of lucidity, and secondly, it makes it much easier to feel curious about the environment and question anything that seems even slightly unusual, and nothing ever feels tedious, because you view everything with "lucid eyes".

[theRJMurray]

Great thread! Meditation is something I've done on and off for years. I have had an interesting idea floating around my head for while now. I use it when I remember, but I haven't taken the plunge into lucid dreaming like some of you have and therefore you may be able to make better practice out of this. I call it Presence Anchors, but you can think of it like Presence Checks instead of Reality Checks. I started off by naming a flower, a tree, my keyboard and my bathroom mirror. Each time I encounter one of these things I would be reminded to become present if I wasn't already. Often times I would be plowing through my day without having a present moment that day at all then look at a tree for a moment and remember to be present. I don't know about you, but I get a little freaked out when I become present after a long period of being lost in thought. I always think, 'when was the last time I was present?' 'this must be what people get lost in and live out the majority of their lives without ever stopping to become present' 'I must focus on this more, I don't want to forget about it!' It seems like such a gift that we forget about, being present to the moment, aware of the life around us. I feel like lucid dreaming is a normal part of life that we have forgot about, just like being aware/present.

[OneUp]

I call it Presence Anchors, but you can think of it like Presence Checks instead of Reality Checks. I started off by naming a flower, a tree, my keyboard and my bathroom mirror. Each time I encounter one of these things I would be reminded to become present if I wasn't already. Often times I would be plowing through my day without having a present moment that day at all then look at a tree for a moment and remember to be present. I don't know about you, but I get a little freaked out when I become present after a long period of being lost in thought. I always think, 'when was the last time I was present?' 'this must be what people get lost in and live out the majority of their lives without ever stopping to become present' 'I must focus on this more, I don't want to forget about it!' Dude, I literally do the same thing except for I didn't have a name for it! I can completely relate to your post in many way man. Especially when I catch my self being lost in thought and unaware. It feels really weird like you lost out on something if that makes sense haha. I feel like you experience life alot more in this constant lucid mindset/awareness state. I will say, if you haven't found out all ready, if you really stick to those "presence anchors/checks" you will soon start to become lucid very often; more and more as you keep practicing.

[FryingMan]

Dude, I literally do the same thing except for I didn't have a name for it! I can completely relate to your post in many way man. Especially when I catch my self being lost in thought and unaware. It feels really weird like you lost out on something if that makes sense haha. I feel like you experience life alot more in this constant lucid mindset/awareness state. I will say, if you haven't found out all ready, if you really stick to those "presence anchors/checks" you will soon start to become lucid very often; more and more as you keep practicing. Mine are all location transitions (walking from room to room, indoors -> outdoors, outdoors->indoors, doors at all in fact, any time basically my "view" changes), and noticing the breath (thus my big "year of the breath"). I have these presence moments quite often throughout the day, long and continuous when I'm walking/riding transport. I think this is why the quality of my non-lucids have really boosted in the last half-year to nearly almost all bright and vivid and "with presence," semi-lucid a lot of the time. It makes sense: present when awake, present in dreams. So I totally agree on the amazing effect this has on dreaming when practiced consistently over time. Now to get that last few "inches" over the "lucidity fence" to full lucidity much much more. It feels like I'm so close. I'm sure it's just a matter of time for the "presence" to build to sufficient levels for this to happen.

[OneUp]

Now to get that last few "inches" over the "lucidity fence" to full lucidity much much more. It feels like I'm so close. I'm sure it's just a matter of time for the "presence" to build to sufficient levels for this to happen. Usually, what it took for me to pass over the "lucidity fence" was just persistence. Giving your subconscious a little more time to pick up your new mindset is sometimes all it takes. As I've mentioned many times throughout the forums, this took me 1-2 months to get to the point where my subconscious fully adjusted and made me lucid every night. It won't be long FryingMan, I can tell you that.

[Hilary]

Cool post. More motivation for me to start meditating; thanks. Another great trick for dream control: don't force it. Instead of trying to "fly", just think about the spot you want to go to - your goal. Intention will get you there. And that will put the doubt and fear out of your mind. Eye on the prize. As for the sleep paralysis - I find it helpful to let the fear just go over your body, ride with it if you can. It can turn into an awesome experience if you do.