How to Have Lucid Dreams

If you’ve ever heard about lucid dreaming – or have recently watched the 2010 movie Inception – you may be wondering about how to have lucid dreams. Thousands of people have wondered about how to have lucid dreams over the years, and many of them have helped create new techniques to teach others how to have lucid dreams.

The truth is that how to have lucid dreams isn’t set in stone. There are tons of techniques out there, some old and some new. These techniques have value for individuals because they work for individuals, but what works for one person may not teach you how to have lucid dreams. One of the keys when you’re searching for how to have lucid dreams then, is to be open to new ideas and different techniques. Since you’re even looking at how to have lucid dreams in a world that largely discounts this interesting phenomenon, I bet you are open to new ideas!

The Essentials

The essential thing you need to know about how to have lucid dreams is that there are not set-in-stone ways to do it. There are just techniques that have worked for most lucid dreamers. Some people just intuitively know how to have lucid dreams, and others have to learn by lots of trial and error. I was one of the latter. It took me a while to learn how to have lucid dreams, especially on a regular basis, so don’t worry if you’re struggling. It will all come together in time.

First things first, though. Before you can figure out lucid dreaming, you need to know what your dreams are typically about. There are a couple of reasons for this. The main one is that when you know what content usually features in your dreams, you’ll be able to figure out what to use to trigger reality checks. Reality checks are basically things you do to help you know if you’re dreaming or not.

If, for instance, your friend Joe always shows up in your dreams, you can start doing a reality check during the day whenever you see, speak to, or think of Joe. Then, in your dreams, you’re more likely to remember to do a reality check when you encounter Joe, and you’ll find that you’re dreaming so that you can become lucid in your dream.

Dream recall is also an important part of how to have lucid dreams because sometimes they’re so short you barely remember them. If you work on recalling your dreams for a while, you’ll be more likely to be able to remember when you wake up that you became lucid in your dream, so you can start to figure out what it is that helps you become lucid.

Once you start developing good dream recall and using reality check techniques, I would start figuring out techniques like the Cycle Adjustment Technique or the Wake Back to Bed Technique, which are both great ways to start learning how to have lucid dreams. These techniques essentially help you become closer to consciousness when you’re in the part of your sleep cycle where you’re most likely to be dreaming, so it becomes easier to become lucid. You may not always need to use CAT and WBTB, but even after a decade of lucid dreaming, I find these techniques quite helpful if I haven’t been able to become lucid for a few days.

As you learn more about how your mind works, you’ll learn more effectively how to have lucid dreams with your own unique makeup and mental characteristics. Explore what’s out there on this blog! There are so many techniques that people find helpful – you’re sure to find some you want to try tonight.