Hypnotic suggestions for lucid dreaming?

[A dreamer168]

Recently, I've been using self-hypnosis in order to try to LD. It hasn't produced any results. This leads me to thinking that maybe the subconscious mind does not realize what a "lucid dream' is. Any thoughts on this or how to make my suggestions more effective?

[reckoner]

I also tried self-hypnosis for LDing lately, with 1 very short LD resulting from it. When you do the self-hypnosis part, how do you involve LDing into it? Does it include the words "lucid dream(ing)"? If your subconscious doesn't recognize the *words* you could still imagine you having an LD in addition to saying the words in ordner to tell your mind what you mean. I think that might work (as it sounds logical to me), I'm no self-hypnosis expert though ;P.

[A dreamer168]

That's another point. How do you picture having an LD if it's just like waking life? I understand you could visualize yourself performing magic, or something else impossible, but then it still might not carry over into the dream realm. I prefer saying, "I will be aware when dreaming."

[Bobblehat]

I've experimented with self-hypnosis (probably about 50 percent success rate but I think it's a coincidence). The suggestion/affirmation I went with was: I'll remember to ask, "Am I dreaming?" I chose that because I also wanted to remember to ask myself if I'm dreaming during the day when awake. I didn't go with: "I will realise I'm dreaming" because, to my mind, it means nothing during the waking hours - it kind of contradicts itself, if that makes sense.

[A dreamer168]

I'll try that, thank you. Do you think I could add the phrase "In my dream..." before that suggestion?

[Bobblehat]

Could be worth a try but, as I say, I can't be sure it was the hypnotic suggestions that made me lucid and I didn't experiment with it enough to be sure if it yielded consistent results.

[A dreamer168]

That's all right. I did the technique, so I'm gonna wait and see what happens.

[reckoner]

I think you're right, including the words "lucid dream" in the auto-suggestion might be too uneffective/risky if you can just avoid it with a better phrase. I like the "When I'm dreaming, I'll realise I'm dreaming", but I'll probably go with "I will dream of waking up" (to get false awakenings) and train myself to do RCs when waking up the next few days. What's your self-hypnosis method anyway? I'm still new to the topic and only know ~2 differents methods, would like to learn more about it

[A dreamer168]

I use an induction technique I got off a CD by Frederick Winters, a professional hypnotist. I lay down and feel a relaxing feeling in my toes and spread it progressively throughout my body (from toes to feet to calves and shins etc.) Once this feeling is coursing through my body, I tell myself this relaxation will deepen as I count down from 10 to 1. Next, I imagine my subconscious opening up to receive the suggestion. Then, I repeat the suggestion slowly. Finally, I tell myself that I will wake up refreshed after I count from 5 to 1.

[mcwillis]

I was having a chat with a friend of mine on another forum unrelated to lucid dreaming. I explained to him that I had made a subliminal recording for lucid dreaming and after three months of listening it didn't have any impact. He told me that he now has DILD's every night after one month of doing this exercise daily. He writes on paper three hundred times, "Tonight when I dream I will realise that I am dreaming".

[c0gnu5]

I believe the problem here is that you are attempting to turn up your critical factor in a dream (realize you are dreaming) by turning off that critical factor (hypnosis). I'll post a followup when I come up with a workaround.

[c0gnu5]

Scratch that... perspective change. I'm actually reprogramming the critical factor in the first place, not bypassing it. As far as repetition goes, that is one way to do it. Another way is to work some sort of permanence into your suggestion: "From now on" or "My new default value is" or whatever makes sense to you. The subconscious mind isn't lazy, just misunderstood.

[Qwer]

How would it not understand the word, it's no different to any other word. How does it understand any words. It doesn't need to understand the actual words, just the meaning behind them. The idea of what you are thinking

[c0gnu5]

The short answer is, if it knew what we meant and did that, this question would never have been asked. I've often thought that the subconscious mind responds more to meaning than the words we use. It is possible that the words only serve the conscious mind to clarify that meaning. Regardless, until the desired results are accomplished, there is a communication breakdown somewhere. For a humorous parallel to this idea, Google "Programmer's night before Christmas." In any event, I seem to have communicated effectively at this point because I'm having lucid dreams several times a week now and they seem to last longer before I fall back into the dream or wake up.

[shinkarom]

I had a lucid dream from self-hypnosis. I descended a 20 stairs staircase while saying that with each step I'm becoming more relaxed and autosuggestable. Then I said such phrases three times each: "I'm a natural lucid dreamer", "Every dream of mine is lucid", "Every dream of mine is awared (if there's such a word; I was saying in Russian)". Then I said that after counting from 1 to 5 I will be "back to normal", counted and rolled to the side. It broke my week long dryspell. IMWO, you can say "lucid dreaming" if you had at least one.

[Qwer]

I had a lucid dream from self-hypnosis. I descended a 20 stairs staircase while saying that with each step I'm becoming more relaxed and autosuggestable. Then I said such phrases three times each: "I'm a natural lucid dreamer", "Every dream of mine is lucid", "Every dream of mine is awared (if there's such a word; I was saying in Russian)". Then I said that after counting from 1 to 5 I will be "back to normal", counted and rolled to the side. It broke my week long dryspell. IMWO, you can say "lucid dreaming" if you had at least one. sounds like a great way to get lucids, so you just did that at night before bed and then you had one that night? also i am familiar with self hypnosis so i understand what you meant for most of it, just at the end were you said if you have had at least 1 before you can just say lucid dream. i have had one before, so i can use the phrase lucid dream? and what phrase/phrases should i say and how many times? just what you said?

[shinkarom]

It's all in the meaning. If you had at least one lucid dream, then the phrase "lucid dream" is not meaningless to you and you can use it. Otherwise you must use different wording.