1. health and fitness
2. exercise

Wake Up In Your Dreams
Conscious Dreaming Training Manual
By
Dr Rory Mac Sweeney
Disclaimer
This course is theoretical content. Anyone who decides to practice any of the techniques
does so on the understanding that they are mentally and medically fit to do so. None of
the techniques described are inherently dangerous but each person should consider their
own safety prior to attempting any of the material described.
The Human Race
Why do we call ourselves the Human Race?
Because we are just that, a race. In a fight against time we are ever aware that our time
may be limited. With the ever increasing threat of environmental meltdown and human
distinction becoming a real possibility, it would seem now that there is no greater need
than ever to explore and seek out new opportunities to sustain our existence.
To survive, we will need push ourselves right to the edge of our scientific understanding,
to seek out new worlds in which to inhabit. Is it possible that one of these worlds could
be the one that we visit every night, the world of dreams….?
Only time will tell, but perhaps it is up to us to find out. We don‘t need a rocket to go
here, we don‘t even have to be able bodied. This is a journey we are all capable of
making and perhaps too many of us take for granted.
Perhaps it is time to wake up in our dreams!
Dr Rory Mac Sweeney
Preface
Lucid dreaming is a skill. Like any skill, there are some people who are naturally better at
it than others but anyone can learn how to do this regularly. This course is designed to get
you into the best possible position to become lucid. Starting with the science, moving
through methods and finishing with some applied procedure all aspects of dream entry
and navigation are covered.
Completion time of the course is approximately 6 weeks, taking the first two weeks to
familiarise yourself with the science and methodology, whilst keeping a dream diary
concurrently. This will give you a great start to get lucid within the following month with
the remaining outlined course work. Lucidity can be achieved at any time during the
course but we normally see results around the fourth week as long as focus and effort is
well maintained.
A further advanced section is also present but I urge you to steer clear of this until you
have a little more experience under your belt as things can get pretty intense here.
No one can give you the lucid experience apart from you. This ultimately will be down to
your own determination and resolve. This guide will serve you well if you take the time
to really understand the fundamental principles involved and work with the outlined
methods with intent and effort.
Dream World is like any other destination, it takes time to get there, but like any other
journey, don‘t just look to the destination, let the journey itself be just as fun. It‘s just a
question of perspective so before you start lucid dreaming, think how you can start to live
more lucidly in your waking life and begin to feel the experience already!
Contents
1) Is This a Dream?
2) Hybrid Induction Theory
3) Lucid Dreams are real
4) What is Reality?
5) Sleep and Dreams
6) Science of Sleep
7) Becoming Lucid
8) Reality Checking
9) Calm before the Storm
10) Induction Methods
11) Dream World Rules
12) Looking Glass Creatures
13) Getting Around Dream World
14) Taking Flight
Advanced Practice
15) Wake up Neo
16) Getting Wild
17) Shifting Gears
18) The Blue Pill
19) The Red Pill
20) Super Powers & Special Moves
21) Don‘t Lose Your Head!
22) Multiple Hit Combos
23) Are We Alone?
24) Proof of Life….
Lesson 1) Is This a Dream?
Since the beginning of time man has questioned his place in the universe. Forever
questioning the very fabric of his existence, looking to quantify his ever elusive nature.
Dreams have always had a place in this pursuit and for many cultures, they are simply
considered to be part of our reality. Western thinking seems to have lost this sense
integrity in dream reality and has in recent years seen dreaming take a back seat.
However it is my intention with the science I am teaching here to show you something
new. It is possible as you will see to wake up and be completely aware in your dreams.
This event is commonly referred to as a lucid dream or out of body experience. This
unique state of consciousness is the gateway to experiences beyond the boundaries of our
physical experience and may have implications beyond anything we could even conceive
in our current understanding of the world as we know it.
I will not endeavor to explain to you what exactly this experience is in a tightly folded
paragraph. Instead, I will gradually unfold the concepts and science behind this
phenomenon and will ask only that the reader remain open minded as to what exactly is
being explained.
I will ask the reader to understand that the model I am presenting here is not definitive as
we can only evaluate within the boundaries of our current scientific model of the
universe. This course concerns more so with what we can scientifically model value
rather than loosely speculate and as such a much grounded stance will be observed. I am
continually researching and adjusting my understanding of this framework and I remain
grounded but open minded at all times. The concepts defined by my findings do not
intend to contradict beliefs but to offer a little more insight as to how these events may
actually be possible and how these may be applied to our conscious existence.
On the subject of applying the lucid dream experience, I have taken the liberty of offering
as an occasional example, a concept that I, as a practicing martial artist of over 20 years
have developed. This is not to say that the course is preoccupied with the notion of
martial arts practice but I want to offer a little perspective from time to time about the
practical elements of out of body practice. The course is a practical out of body training
guide developed for use by anyone but I will occasionally employ the martial arts frame
of reference to offer a little more insight into the more practical pursuit.
Out of Body experience is a subject that may raise more questions than offer answers and
for this reason I thought carefully about where the most fertile ground to plant the seeds
of my literature would be. As a practicing martial artist myself, I felt that the inherent
language of martial arts spoke of both the body and mind as inseparable and that this was
going to be a meeting of minds so to speak.
My recent exploration of Dream World has revealed the world to be source of rich
experience and knowledge provided not by the dreamscape but the occupants of Dream
World, the fellow Dream Walkers. Are they self aware or are they just constructs of my
own subconscious self? Perhaps they are other dreamers, some awake, some still
sleeping. This is a question only you can answer for yourself and experience will be the
key to this question. It is time to begin your journey…..Rise up Dream warrior!
LESSON 2) Hybrid Induction Theory
Intro
Why is it that when we dream, we don‘t recognise that we are dreaming?
Why do we just accept the strange scenarios like ……a pink cat….oh and it talks……?
It is as if a fundamental part of our minds are missing during dreaming.
A lucid dream occurs when we realise we are dreaming and consciously navigate the
dreamscape. This can happen spontaneously from time to time but induction techniques
can be learned to consistently achieve this state.
The Dilemma
There are a number of induction techniques that can be used to achieve lucid dreams.
These mostly rely on memory conditioning.
To most people‘s experience this seems a little bit of a task as memory is seriously
impaired during sleep, hence we have such poor dream recall. This is due to an
evolutionary function that allows the body to make sense of and consolidate recent
memories without deleting them.
In order to achieve this, new memories during the sleep process need to be hindered as
the nature of memory is such that making new memories often requires the deletion of
old memories. This of course is a simplified model of a more complex process but the
point remains, memory in sleep is impaired.
So despite having achieved good success myself with memory based inductions I could
not help but to read about countless aborted efforts of many other wannabe dream
walkers. There had to be a better way.
The Science
So I asked myself when else does the mind just accept things at face value?
The answer is when we are hypnotised.
There had to be a relationship. What do the hypnotised mind and dreaming mind have in
common?
There are many definitions of hypnosis - but they all essentially subscribe to the same
idea that the part of the mind that monitors our reality, the Critical Function, is
effectively off line.
Here is a brief explanation of the critical function that I‗ve written up using my own
model. I call this the model the Critical Loop. This is crucial so make sure you
understand.
The Critical Loop above can best be described as starting with an experience in our lives.
This event is then turned into a memory which is then passed through the learning centre
where the event is analysed so as the mind is ready for the next time the same event is
encountered. This is referred to as an expectation.
On a subsequent occasion, when the same event is encountered again, the experience is
made into a memory and compared to the expectation of this event (from previous
experience). If the experience is similar to previous experiences then the event goes
unnoticed. If the event is dissimilar to the previous experience then the expectation of the
experience is modified by the intervention of a conscious consideration.
This means that most of what we do from day to day goes unnoticed until something
strange (expectation and experience out of sync) event occurs, in which case we
immediately become acutely aware of the situation.
So, for example we (from previous experience) expect a pineapple to taste sweet until we
eat a bitter one at which point we then make a memory of this. This causes the mind to
become conscious in its consideration of the matter and it now modifies our expectations
of future pineapples to be possibly bitter.
Our brain continuously monitors our world in this fashion, observing our experiences and
when necessary consciously adjusting our expectations accordingly - this is known as the
Critical Function.
So I asked, what part of the loop is missing in sleep, what brings the critical function off
line?
The answer was painfully obvious - Memory!!
So a reduced memory means the loop is off line and a shorter loop now comes into play.
Looking at this shorter loop we can see how experience and expectation become
uncritically interchangeable - so a talking pink cat becomes acceptable and hence we do
not realise that we are dreaming.
Memory techniques rely on familiarising oneself with one‘s personal dream signs (these
are people, places etc peculiar to our individual dreams). By becoming familiar with
these and making an effort to remember to recognise them when we‘re dreaming we can
trigger lucidity. However common experience would seem to be that lucidity, though
achieved through this method, rarely occurs by actually ―remembering a dream sign‖ but
more so by being alerted to the oddness of something else in the dream.
So according to my model - it would seem that the forcing of memory is, in effect
actually bringing the critical function back on line rather than actual relying on memory
to recognise a dream sign to become lucid. So it is a critical mindset that ultimately
triggers lucidity, fired up by the forcing of memory into the equation.
The Proposal
No denying the effectiveness of memory based technique but I wanted to bring the
critical mind online in a more predictable way. So after countless exercises and theories I
have opened the floor to encourage a more multi dimensional approach to becoming
lucid, employing a number of different methods, while all ultimately subscribing to the
Critical Mindset Notion, the very essence of becoming lucid.
Lesson 3) Lucid Dreams Are Real
Before we start on any discussion of lucid dreaming, a quick trip to the science lab will
be used as a prerequisite disencouragement of any potential skepticism.
Lucid dreaming has existed since, probably the beginning of dreams but has always been
a thing of scientific fiction up until it was scientifically proved to exist about 30 years
ago.
American scientist Steve La Berge, proved this by pre rehearsing certain eye movements
with a team of observers prior to sleeping. The agreed movements would act as pre
arranged signals to indicate that a particular event has occurred. So a “left, left, up, up,
down” motion for example may signal that one has become lucid.
Needless to say, to prove one is dreaming one would have to be asleep. For this purpose,
a device called an electric encephalograph (EEG) is used to monitor brainwave activity.
When a certain type of sleep known as REM sleep occurs, the person is most likely to be
dreaming.
At this point we would expect the person to be somewhat unable to move as during sleep
most of our body is paralysed, from the chin down, apart from our involuntary muscles
(lungs, heart etc.).
However, our eyes can still move and as a matter of fact they can mimic that of our
dream eyes. So if we look left in a dream, then our real eyes do just that in our sleeping
beds.
So a confirmation of the rehearsed eye movements at this point is a signal from the
dreamer could say he/she has just become lucid.
This technique proved positive in dream science and a breakthrough was made. Today
this technique is used in lucid dream labs to signal various activities to be recorded
during dream exploration.
Make no mistake, lucid dreaming is very real and it is here to be explored!
Lesson 4) What is Reality?
A profound question, no doubt but one that does need to be addressed before we consider
our venture into Dream World.
For this discussion we will need to employ the use of models. Scientifically speaking this
is what we use to convey a concept when a more tangible alternative is not available to
us. The mind, for example is a model, not a tangible thing, yet we need to express its duty
and for this purpose, models will be used.
When most of us refer to reality, we are referring to our physical selves and the
environment we occupy in this form. To most of us, this reality is what we interpret
through our 5 senses in a physical dimension of time and space.
However lets look at the these events a little closer. Let‘s say you are falling out of a
plane or for that matter, falling in love. Where do the sum of these events ultimately
express themselves?
The answer is without question, the mind. We can project the events on to whatever event
we like, the flight, the fall, the plane, the person but ultimately we only ever feel these
experiences as an event in our minds.
So whether the event takes place in physical time and space or just in our emotional
consideration, ultimately it is the mind that is ultimately where the event is ultimately
“felt”.
This has particular relevance for the dream event as, one may consider that the dream
event, because it does not take place in time and space by most people‘s definition is not
real. But the event takes place in the same place as the response to a physical stimulus
and therefore must be considered with similar criteria.
By this implication we could say by consciously experiencing a dream event, we are in
effect entertaining a form of reality, albeit a non physical reality, it is none the less a
reality.
Let‘s now take a look at the physical model of reality generation. We take in information
about the physical world around us, as mentioned through our 5 senses. In the eye for
example these are light receptors. These receptors pass the information as an electrical
current along the nerves to a processing centre in the subconscious; we will refer to this
as the Sorting Office. Because we are taking in vast quantities of information, the Sorting
Office takes only the most important information and sends it to, what we will refer to as
the Reality Generator.
To give you an idea - we are taking in approximately 2 million pieces of information per
second of which only approximately 150 pieces are actually sent upstairs to the conscious
mind, the Reality Generator, to make up what is known as the Mental Construct.
Everybody has different beliefs, needs and desires and it is these peculiarities that
ultimately determine what information is most relevant to make up the mental construct.
So for example a lady crossing the road with her child sees the oncoming traffic as
something to be careful of and is taking caution. A teenager at the same street likes fast
cars. A nice Ferrari passes them both. Ask them both 5 minutes later what colour the
Ferrari was and there will be only one answer, you guessed it, the teenager!
The thought simply didn‘t register for the lady. So the car did pass in his reality but not in
hers. We will refer to the event that did happen is physical space and time (the car
passed) as Consensual Reality and what happened for the individuals as Subjective
Reality. We can see therefore that the two are not always concurrent.
So we now know that the information comes in as electrical information but what gives
the information context?
Let me elaborate - I see a glass on the table, whereby a baby sees an image of something
transparent. I don‘t have to think about it to know that it is a glass because I already have
a working model in my mind of what a glass is. It has a contextual meaning in my mind
because I have experienced it in my reality previously. My mind can record this event
and cross reference it to many more events, so I know for example without thinking that
it carries water and can smash if I drop it. I have a name for it, a glass. Our minds are
continuously considering experiences and modifying them to create our reality.
When the mind has an experience of an event, it can store it and all the intertwining
relevant data about the subject e.g. the glass . This model can be referred to as a schema.
So to put all this together, information is presented to us through our senses. This vast
information is prioritised and the most relevant information is then passed from the
Sorting Office on to the Reality Generator to make up the Mental Construct. This
information is then rapidly analysed and contextualised to create a formal understanding
of the event which can be used for future reference. This mental construct is what most
people casually refer to as reality.
LESSON 5) Sleep & Dreams
So what happens when we sleep?
To answer this question we need to expand the idea a little. When we go to sleep,
normally the mind gradually shuts down until it goes to sleep. The body, when
comfortable with this idea then follows suit and goes to sleep but only when it is satisfied
that the mind has already gone to sleep.
It does this by asking the mind questions. Triggers are sent by the body to the mind to see
if it responds – these triggers are requests to the mind to roll over in bed or change
position, if for example on a couch. If the mind does not respond the body knows its time
to sleep.
This is a simple but effective communication method between the two separate systems.
With our mind asleep and body asleep there is significantly reduced activity in the mind
but it is not entirely switched off. The mind continues to monitor the limited sensory
input from our surroundings ensuring we are not in any danger. If the sensory input goes
above a certain threshold, we awake. So for example if there was a whisper in the room,
our ears still take the information in, they just do not trigger the waking response until the
whisper becomes loud enough, perhaps a shout in some cases!
For the most part of sleep, the Reality Generator is switched off and only switches on for
brief periods during the sleep period. These episodes are known as dreams and are
created by the Reality Generator drawing on the reserve information from the Sorting
Office. The reserve information is all that data that has been accumulated during the
lifetime of the individual and hence we dream mostly of past experiences and desires but
with no particular order.
As there is reduced sensory input i.e. we aren‘t hearing or seeing much, the motivation
for the dreamscape is driven, not by the local information input (what we‘re seeing or
hearing in bed) but by our emotional state at that time. The dream images and themes are
therefore frequently constructed from associated memories and experiences of a similar
emotional frame of reference. So for example, when we are stressed we may dream of
being late for work, when we are free, we may dream of flying.
What is most peculiar about this process is that when the Reality Generator
forms the dreamscape, it does not represent a map of a physical space and
time occupied by a physical self (as in waking state) but a map of a “non
physical reality”. What is even more curious is that the part of the mind that
probes our reality does not ordinarily know this. So to the dreaming mind, a
wall feels solid and a pinch feels like…..a pinch! However as we will see
when we become lucid we can become aware of this (there are ways of
knowing) and with experience we can navigate Dream World, knowing that
it is just a mental construct with no real physical boundaries. We can walk
through walls, fly, breathe under water and so on.
Morpheus tells Neo he must “free his mind….nobody makes the first jump!”
Lesson 6) Science of Sleep
In order to proceed with the science of dreams, we need to briefly explore the science of
sleep. We have briefly considered that when the mind falls asleep and the body follows
suit. What follows is a period of sleep known as a sleep cycle. This lasts about 90
minutes and we have an average of 4-5 cycles a night. Each cycle in turn has 5 stages.
Starting at the lightest sleep, we transition into deeper states of slow wave (SWS) or
NREM sleep until stage 4 which is called Deep Sleep (also a slow wave state). The mind
then briefly cycles back through stages 4 to 1 before going into a 5th stage known as REM
(pronounced as a single word).
In this stage brain activity becomes quite erratic and this is the stage that dreaming
mostly occurs, the most vivid dreaming occurs here too. There is a characteristic rapid
movement of the eyes under the eyelids at this point too, hence the name (Rapid Eye
Motion)
The amount of REM in each cycle becomes longer and more intense as the cycles
progress throughout the night, so the most intense periods of REM sleep are 4 and 5.
Dreaming as a consequence becomes more lengthy and vivid at these latter stages so we
may have a 10 minute dream period at the start of the night and anything up to 45
minutes during a later cycle. Lucid dreams normally occur in these latter cycles.
A further discussion needs to be briefly addressed here, that is the notion of brain wave
activity. In essence the brain vibrates at varying frequencies throughout the day and
night. These vibration frequencies are described in terms of Hertz (Hz) and the brain
typically vibrates with a frequency of about 4 – 60 Hz. We describe these vibration states
as follows
Delta Range - 0.5 to 4 HZ (associated with deep sleep)
Theta Range - 4 HZ to 8 HZ (seen in dreaming sleep, and other mental states
where the mind is wandering, like daydreaming and imagining)
Alpha Range - 8 to 13 HZ (relaxed but awake)
Beta Range - 13 HZ to 30 (*) HZ (normal awake state/aware)
Gamma Range - 30 (*) HZ to 60 HZ (associated with consciousness - the brain
stops producing gamma waves when we're put under for anaesthesia, for
example)
*Note that there's a lot of disagreement over where Beta range ends and
Gamma range begins.
With REM sleep we are normally experiencing a lot of alpha and theta activity. Knowing
this science, as we will see can have pressing advantages to helping us to become lucid.
A brief outline of the science will be important to keep in mind in order to fully benefit
from the induction methods
Lesson 7) Becoming Lucid
So how do we become lucid? As outlined previously it‘s a combination of the Reality
Generator buzzing and our critical function coming online at the same time. The oddness
of dreams means the meeting of an experience and expectation that are going to be out of
sync is almost inevitable and so long as the mindset is adequately critical in nature, the
conscious awareness will be called into action to investigate.
This literally means the mind wakes up while the body stays asleep. We refer to this
hybrid state of consciousness as Mind Awake Body Asleep (MABA).
This is somewhat of a mental tightrope act in that if we are over stimulated, the conscious
brain activity will wake us up. Conversely, too little stimulation will trigger no response
so a lucid dream is a veritable balancing act. Many martial artists will already have some
understanding of this through their own training.
On this subject, I would say that this state of mind is also available through another
number of avenues. Meditation is a good way of guiding the body into this state and I
would encourage anyone to explore this balanced state of mind as an exercise prior to
engaging it in dream state. As a means to help stabilise the lucid dream state this is a
worth while venture.
To enter this state, I myself use meditation as well as sound technology, which we will
explore later. I also recommend trying weekly floatation tank sessions. These are sensory
deprivation centres that are becoming increasingly more popular for entering deep states
of relaxation. The body is deeply relaxed, while the conscious mind is gently stimulated
above the sleep threshold as you simply float in a tank of salt balanced water.
In order to achieve this state of lucidity we need to consider that unlike waking life we do
not have our conscious minds to make the connection between our dreaming minds and
the dream event to become lucid. Our subconscious minds ultimately make this
connection and as we discussed previously we need to create a state of alertness in the
dreaming mind so as to stimulate the critical faculties as much as possible to recognise
that we are dreaming.
One of the most important requirements for this state is good dream recall. As previously
discussed, memory of dreams is seriously limited and as such we need to stimulate our
mental faculties to become more aware of dream events and stimulate the subconscious
mind to take our dreams seriously and be more alert during dreaming.
The pushing of memory into the dream event stimulates the critical mindset that we need
to become lucid. This can be enough of a trigger to stimulate a lucid event for some
people, though when combined with specific inductions to really peak the memory
process, the chances of achieving lucidity are greatly increased.
No matter how clear your dreams may seem upon waking during the night, you‘ll have
almost forgotten them completely by the time you again awake in the morning.
A dream diary is the most common way of recording your dreams. A dream diary is a
journal, kept beside your bed for recording and analysing your dreams. This is an
essential tool so respect it and enjoy it.
By writing in a dream journal/diary, you are literally turning your dreams inside out,
dragging them through a waking conscious mind to analyse. This has the effect of
cementing the dreams in your memory, thereby familiarising you with your dreams.
Furthermore, it has the effect of letting the subconscious mind know that dreams are
important.
A final duty of the dream journal is to help identify your own personal dream signs.
When journaling, note anything strange, anything that wouldn‘t normally happen in the
waking world. If you find these strange events recur in your dreams, then they are your
personal dream signs. These can broadly be defined as
Form - this is anything that seems physically odd, for example a purple cow.
Context - this is anything or anyone, that seems out of place. For example, Einstein is in
your living room.
Inner Awareness - anything that feels strange. For example emotions can run pretty wild
in dreams, so uncontrollable laughing or shouting could be a dream oddity.
Action - any action that seems odd. For example, flying car
To use the journal, it is best to start practicing at night to catch a dream or two and first
thing in the morning too. The idea is to learn to catch 2 or 3 dreams a night. Spend some
time practicing this, even if it is a bit of a task at first.
In time you can gradually reduce this to one a night and eventually, only the interesting
dreams need to be recorded. It really is a very important activity to continue, even for
experienced lucid dreamers, as it constantly reminds the subconscious of the relevance of
dreams.
Upon waking, don‘t allow your mind to drift — immediately attempt to focus on what
you had just been dreaming, and write it down in your dream journal. Contemplate what
you just experienced and attempt to put events in order. Often reliving the dream
backwards will help: after remembering an event, ask yourself, ―What was I doing before
that?‖
Although it is best to record absolutely everything you can, realistically you may not
want to reiterate the epic novel that is your dream at 4:00 a.m.; instead, write down key
points, such as what you were doing, where you were, and who was around you. This can
be fleshed out later. A pen with a built in light on it can be a great asset to make night
time notes.
Always write in present tense as this allows the mind to connect with the event more
intimately.
I now practice by simply waking up 10 minutes before getting out of bed. After turning
off my alarm, reality checking and lying down in the same position again, I recall my
dream and recycle it in my mind a few times before getting up.
This activity normally gives me enough recall to get up and write up my dream at a
morning break or lunch time.
After writing up the journal, it is a good idea to do a brief analysis of the dream to make
some notes. I recommend writing the narrative of the dream on the right hand page and
the notes on the left.
Making a title for the dream is a good exercise and can be fun. Date the dream and note
whether it was lucid or not. Follow the outline below for some details.
Furthermore, I would recommend making a list of your most frequent dream signs at the
back of the journal as well as a list of your ongoing missions, you intend to achieve in
Dream World. You can tick these off and date them as you do as an exercise. I personally
like to bookend my missions by writing down the mission at the start of the night in a 3
step action, for example
12 th April Mission
Assume meditative position
Form an energy ball in my hands
Fire the energy ball
I then will write up event in my diary afterwards e.g.
When lucid, I assume the meditative position and am forming the energy ball in my
hands. It is blue and I can feel it sparking in my fingers. It is glowing brilliant light and
making a slight buzzing sound. I fire it and it explodes into a beautiful splash of light.
Dream Diary Design
Notes
Title (Date)
Dream Signs
A list of your dream signs from the
narrative is written here. I score them a 0,
if I didn‘t pay any attention to them and a
1 if I noticed something odd about the
event, but did not become lucid. Keeping a
score here can be a simple but effective
exercise
Narrative
The dream narrative is written here,
putting in as much detail as you can recall
Senses
Apart from your audiovisual memories,
record any physical touches, tastes or
smells you can recall. These are a little
more rare in dreams our awareness is low
Thoughts
Record any thoughts you remember
having about events. This exercise can be
a great way to stimulate your thinking,
critical mind to come on line in dreams
Comment
Making a personal comment on your
progress and insight is a good exercise
Always write in present tense
All dream signs should be marked here
with a * symbol and then drawn up on the
list, opposite after
Lesson 7) Reality Checking
So we think we may have become lucid, how do we tell for sure?
We must test our reality using what is known as reality checking (RC for short). The
basic premise of this is to stop and ask yourself “Am I dreaming…..Is this a dream?”
We then test our reality by doing one of a number of actions, the outcomes of which will
give us a definition of our reality. This works on the basis that there are certain
peculiarities to dreams that are not typical of waking life. We will run through a number
of the better RC s (of which there are many but a concise list is easier to remember).
1) Look at your clothes and ask – “Is this how I dressed today, do I remember
dressing this way today?‖ The principle here is that we frequently end up
wearing all sorts of outfits in dreams, often not even our own, a memory check is
being employed here too which is unlikely to add up in the dream.
2) Look around and ask – “Do I remember getting here and how did I get here?” –
try remembering back the last 30 minutes events – a similar method of
questioning memory is being employed here – the dream is unlikely to come up
with an answer.
3) Try to read some text – text is inherently unstable in dreams – look at some text,
look away and back again and see if it changes – text tends to be hard to read in
the first instance in dreams
4) Try to push your index finger on one hand through the palm of the other hand –
because of the non physical nature of dreams it is possible for two matters to
penetrate each other e.g. you could try walking through a wall. However I would
recommend the hand test for obvious reasons here.
5) Pinch your nose and try to breathe in – again the non physical nature of the
construct will allow you to breathe like this
6) Mechanical device failure – mechanical devices notoriously behave badly in
dreams so TVs, toasters, light switches etc don‘t work very well. Mobile phones
have the dual function of acting as a text and device test here and more often than
not they can change form in dreams too.
7) Look in a mirror - I will leave you to try this yourself, like Alice and the looking
Glass …. Be prepared!
When reality testing, act with the intention of finding out you really could be
dreaming and try at least two tests. If you really believe you could be dreaming, keep
testing until sure as the tests can fail and you can wake up later to find out you missed
out on a really exiting experience.
Reality test whenever you experience something weird, even if your friends are
round, make a joke of it if you have to, if the test is positive for dream state, just
think, who‘s laughing now!
Reality testing first thing in the morning is highly advisable so as to avoid what is
known as a False Awakening. This occurs when you wake up and carry on with your
activity oblivious to the fact that you are still in fact DREAMING! I can‘t tell you
how many times this has happened to me. Get in the habit of RCing first thing when
you awake, regardless of where you are!!
Another reality check should always be performed when awaking from a lucid dream.
They frequently exit into another dream, I really can‘t stress this enough. Always RC on
waking from a lucid dream!
At this point I also recommend performing what I refer to as a Cognitive Check. This
is a simple mental self check to make sure we have the right mindset on us to get the
most out of our dream.
A simple mental rehearsal of something simple like the following example will do 2+2=4, 4x3=12, 5x12= 60 and so on.
Next we say to ourselves “My name is (your name) and my mission is ….. (one should
have a mission or two planned before induction, a list in your dream diary is a good
idea).
This works on two levels, firstly it helps to focus the intention to become lucid by
giving the mind a goal beyond a goal. The mind is far more attentive to this kind of
agenda.
Secondly it makes sure we have our wits about us so as not to get swept up in the
dream imagery and fall back to sleep or get over stimulated and wake up.
Not all dreams have the same level of lucidity and we don‘t always get the best value
out of our experiences due to our wandering minds. We will further explore
maintaining lucidity after the inductions have been covered. A lot can be said on this
subject and for the advanced dreamer, will be a topic of huge consideration!
Lesson 9) Calm before the Storm
Before we discuss induction methods, we need to discuss our practical mindset in
preparation for the induction.
The methods employed for induction are all, at some level, mental routines so we
need to have our minds clear and focused. Think about it, we need our minds to take
very precise instruction and not get distracted. Think of it as how you might prepare
for a fight, total single mindedness is a necessity.
In order to achieve this we will have to quieten the mind. This is the basis of
meditation. A clear mind is a more productive mind as it can focus on a single event.
In our normal day to day meanderings, our minds are like butterflies, floating from
flower to flower not quite sure which flower it wants to stay on. Even when we think
we are doing something properly, more often than not, our minds are being pulled
different directions.
The mind employs his kind of automatic wandering in an effort to make sure we are
aware of our surroundings so as not to get eaten by a tiger while we are watching TV!
Sometimes we want to switch this off, but the mind is more often than not unwilling
to listen. If the mind is left to its own devices, this can be quite a challenge, so a little
training will be necessary to regain control of this. The fundamental principle of
meditation is to occupy the mind with a single duty so as to occupy this part of the
mind to allow the rest of the mind to have peace. There are many ways of achieving
this martial artists from many back grounds will already possess a great deal of
knowledge on this subject.
An exercise of quietening the mind for 20 minutes a day or even every couple of days
will be what is needed here.
To do this we will need to relax completely and then just allow our minds to settle.
We then perform something known as silently observing our own thoughts. To do
this, we assume a detached mental position; we form a mind behind the mind. We
literally form another mind that silently, watches the thoughts in our own minds. This
silent watcher duty causes the thoughts to start to slow down by causing gaps to occur
between thoughts and then gradually, as the gaps get longer, spaces of “NO
THOUGHT” begin. These vacuums of thought are the basis for a quite mind. By
attaining this empty mind we can learn to repopulate it with single thoughts to create
a focused intention. This is, what is referred to as Meditation.
Like many traditional ideas, this technique is largely unsubstantiated, scientifically
speaking. How does becoming the silent observer of the mind cause the thoughts to
stop?
I have never heard a single answer to this question (scientifically speaking), so I am
going to speculate and offer you a theory of my own, based on another scientific
principle called The Observer Effect. If one was walking down the street and minding
one’s own business and then stopped to be told to carry on about our business but
that we were being observed for an experiment. The experiment requires us to just
carry on as though the other person wasn’t even there, to just ignore them.
Needless to say we would immediately become quite self conscious and start to act a
little differently, aware that we are being observed. This, in turn may in avertedly
influence the outcome of the experiment. The effect of the introduction of an observer
into this experiment is referred to as The Observer Effect.
The observer effect can be applied to any kind of scenario and in the case of the mind, I
would speculate that by letting the mind know that we are watching it, we are influencing
it to become self conscious and start to almost hide its thoughts. This creates the “less
thoughts state of mind”, gradually quietening the babbling brook of thoughts that
normally flow by.
On this subject, I am always glad to hear some thoughts but I am happy with my own
theory so far.
We will be incorporating our meditative, mind quietening as part of our induction but
I also urge you to try to take ten minutes a day to practice this.
Practice this as follows:
Sit or lie down, alternatively sit cross legged with your hands resting on your legs.
Sitting has the advantage of not allowing you fall asleep.
Close your eyes and relax
Start to take three deep breaths. Breathe deeply into your belly, NOT INTO YOUR RIB
CAGE as is commonly believed in Western culture.
Breathe in through your nose slowly and deeply, for up to 8 seconds and then out
through your mouth with gently pursed lips, like blowing out a candle, for a similar
period of time. The pursing of the lips here helps to reduce air flow and subtly keeps you
from nodding off to sleep
A gentle humming motion, like a VVVVVV motion with your teeth and lower lip can be
made here at the same time as breathing out. If one feels a little self conscious of this,
gentle meditative music can be played at the same time to relieve this for a while. There
will be further discussion on this extensive topic (sound technology) later
Continue breathing like this while telling yourself on every exhale to relax completely
Really feel your entire body relax on every exhale, like the air going out of a huge tire,
visualise a similar image if it helps
You can also visualise your inhaling as warm glowing energy being taken in and your
exhale as cold, blue, stale air being passed out
5 to 10 minutes of this practice should yield a very relaxed state of mind (with time and
experience this can be almost instantly achieved with a minute’s breathing and positive
intention to become deeply relaxed)
Now you can allow your breathing to become shallow and only through your nose,
gradually allowing it to become faint enough for you to barely notice it
Falling asleep is a real temptation so beware - gently stimulate the mind with thoughts
but don’t allow your mind to wander off the subject; this is also a real temptation
Now you can commence telling your subconscious what you want
Allow your mind to settle, your thoughts can be like dust just falling away
Do not give the thoughts any energy; just watch them in a detached fashion
Don’t judge the thoughts, just let them pass. If you do find yourself tangled up in a
thought, don’t wrestle with it, just allow it to pass and then allow your mind to clear
again
Gradually you will start to notice the gaps in your thinking, until hopefully you will soon
start to experience pure silence.
Lesson 10) Induction Methods
Having established good recall (at least one dream a night) and a having an understanding
of the science of dreams we can now proceed to induction methods. The underlying
principle of the critical mindset is best kept in mind here as we proceed to cover a
number of induction methods, starting with the most simple, but least effective through to
the most labour intensive, but successful methods.
Starting with some of the simplest methods and progressing through the various methods
is a good way to go. A week or two (or until comfortable) with each is recommended.
Everyone‘s response to methods will differ so play around and see what works best for
you but be realistic, don‘t spend 3 months on a method that is not working just because it
is easy on time and effort. The course outlined below will give you a good idea of how to
proceed but keep in mind we all achieve our goals in different ways.
Broadly speaking we refer to inductions as either a dream induced lucid dream (DILD) or
a wake induced lucid dream (WILD). .
The difference is that in a DILD, we go to sleep and wake up during the dream. With a
WILD, on the other hand, consciousness is never lost, the body goes to sleep but the
waking mind is preserved to enter the dream directly.
I personally now prefer the terms “direct and indirect transitions”, the latter being the
WILD.
This is a more advanced method, commonly referred to as an Outer Body Experience
(OBE) or Astral Projection. Although purists may argue that there is a difference between
WILDSs and OBEs, on this matter, I would encourage a little scientific research on this
rather than accepting anecdotal conjecture as a substitute. Most modern research would
clearly indicate adequate similarity for the two to be considered interchangeable.
On this latter point, I would say it is crucial to remain grounded in your approach to this
subject, not ignoring traditional beliefs but observing them with regards to the context of
their time. For this part of the manual we will be covering DILD methods only and we
will return to OBEs in the advanced practice section.
OBEs or WILDs really are the stuff of dreams but I would urge anyone to get some
DILDS under their belt before considering a WILD. Furthermore, additional training in
meditation or any other mind quietening exercise is a must here as well as a very open
and confident mind. In this regard martial arts training will be a huge advantage as mental
discipline is the key to this pursuit.
Inductions
1) Reflection Intention
Principle: The idea here is to form a habit that will ultimately follow you into the dream
state. German scientist, Dr Paul Tholey is credited with this method, he is worth a
Google.
Method: Practice reality checking several times a day, asking yourself if this is a dream
and really meaning it. The habit will hopefully carry over into your dreaming life
where you will test your reality and prove to be dreaming.
Doing the reality checks when you see your dream signs and first thing when you wake
up in the morning will stack the odds more favourably.
Furthermore when a test proves negative, take it as an opportunity to practice some
visualisation. It is a good habit at least once a day to practice what it would be like to
become lucid.
Here is how to practice Imagine you are in a dream
Look around you as you go about your business and then recognise one of your dream
signs
Now imagine you’ve just realised that this is a dream, becoming lucid
Imagine yourself reality checking positive to be sure you’re dreaming
Perform a cognitive check
Allow yourself to feel that euphoria as you imagine how this would feel, becoming
lucid
Now imagine yourself carrying out your dream mission, maybe feel yourself flying
away
When finished tell yourself firmly “The next time I am dreaming, I will remember to
realise that I am dreaming”
Comment: This is a well worth investment of your time to familiarise yourself with some
basic visualisation techniques as you can actually see the “dreamscape” around you.
Although people have reported success with this method, success is probably limited but
it is a good training ground to get going, when first getting into lucid dreaming.
2) Autosuggestion
Principle: Autosuggestion or self hypnosis works on the basis that we can communicate
directly to the subconscious and ask it directly to follow our instructions. A little time out
and a few simple rules is all is needed to carry out this method. This is best carried out as
a relaxed, laid back method. Forcing the suggestion is not as effective so relaxation is key
here.
Hypnosis works on the basis of the mind being uncritical in nature. The critical function
is offline. Therefore it is willing to just accept anything you tell it.
There is a lot of theory on this subject and some may feel it is shrouded in mystery and
maybe even fear but rest assured it is simple, effective and easy to practice.
Method: A simple rule of thumb here will give a good start - Breathing is the key to
relaxation, relaxation is the key to suggestibility, suggestibility is the key to hypnosis.
This method can be employed during the day, before going to bed or in the middle of
the night.
On this basis we want to relax our minds by using the exercise already described for
meditation
When completely relaxed, you can commence telling your subconscious what you want
When speaking to the subconscious, always speak in the present tense e.g. “I am more
than my physical body
Avoid using negative language as the subconscious can’t process a negative e.g.
“Don’t think of a pink elephant” …. What did you just think of?!
Use visualisation where possible as the subconscious can understand this better than
words
Be enthusiastic and believe what you are saying as much as possible
Be realistic in your request, for example “I am running better and approaching my
goal more and more every day” will be better responded to than “I can run a
marathon”
Repetition is the key - repeat the gesture a number of times to really focus the intention
For the purpose of our dream induction we can use the following script:
Have a previous dream recalled
When sufficiently relaxed say to yourself “My dreams are important to me, I am
becoming more aware in my dreams, I can realise when I am dreaming”
Really feel the words
Feel sincere and positive as you carry on repeating this action for 5 minutes or repeat
script 5 times
Firmly resign to your self “The next time I am dreaming I will remember to recognise
that I am dreaming”
Comment: This can be an effective method to be come lucid and is certainly creating a
positive intention to become lucid. Combined with good journaling activity and some day
time reality checks this can trigger lucidity but I would say that it has limited results
unless used as a WBTB method which we will explore later.
Furthermore, the use of autosuggestion to create an intention to remember your dreams
when first starting out on diary keeping can be a great help. A simple 10 minute session
at night time to intend to remember your dreams can be a great help to focus your mind
on this subject.
3) MILD Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream
Principle: This method, invented by oneironaut (dream walker) Steve LaBerge, relies on
the intention to remember to become lucid when we are dreaming. Though very similar
to the autosuggestion method outlined above, it differs in that it focuses more so on
forced prospective intent to remember rather than on gently persuading the subconscious.
Therefore a similar set up as auto suggestion is used but the majority of the session will
be spent on the visualisation of becoming lucid without having to tell the mind what it
needs to do. The difference may seem subtle but an almost forceful state of mind is
achieved here, pushing the mind into its critical state by literally forcing memory into
play.
Method: as outlined for Autosuggestion but on reaching the relaxed state, an almost
forceful recycling of the dreamer becoming lucid visualisation is continued for up to 15
minutes
Visualise as follows Recall a dream
Look around you as you go about your business in the dream and then recognise one
of your dream signs
Now imagine you’ve just realised that this is a dream, becoming lucid
Imagine yourself reality checking, positive to be sure you’re dreaming
Perform a cognitive check
Allow yourself to feel that euphoria as you imagine how this would feel, becoming
lucid
Now imagine yourself carrying out your dream mission, maybe feel yourself flying
away
When finished tell yourself firmly “The next time I am dreaming, I will remember to
realise that I am dreaming”
Recycle this activity for about 15 - 20 minutes
If doing this in bed, continue to perform the visualisation as you gradually drift off to
sleep whereby a kind of winding down the state of mind is cultivated as one goes to
sleep.
In this state, the sleeping mind is continuously, gently stimulated with the last
conscious thought as being “The next time I am dreaming, I will remember to realise
that I am dreaming”
If any other thought tries to populate the mind at this point, just let it pass gently as you
resume the intention to remember to become lucid as you fall asleep
I personally practice the mental rehearsal on my back and then turn over on to my side
for going to sleep
Comment: As said earlier, this is not dramatically different from the Autosuggestion
method, but when applied in bed, especially with the WBTB method (below), this can be
considered one of the most powerful tools for achieving lucidity.
This method, when combined with the WBTB method can yield lucid dreams with 100%
certainty. Spend time with it and mix it up with other methods to increase your success
rate.
The ultra relaxed state (MABA), achieved in this and the autosuggestion state is a bit of a
mental tightrope act. Falling asleep is a real temptation and though ultimately this is
exactly what we want, make sure to set your intention to become lucid properly before
allowing yourself to nod off. Furthermore the temptation to drift off into another subject
in your mind will also be real threat, just allow the thoughts to pass as you resume your
intention to become lucid, don‘t try to force the other thoughts out, just allow them to
untangle as you focus your attention again on your intention to become lucid.
With practice the workload of these techniques will reduce significantly until it is almost
possible to just set your intention to become lucid. This will vary for everyone so don‘t
rush.
4) Wake Back To Bed (WBTB)
Principle: This really is the method of choice for serious oneironauts. Without a doubt,
this is the best method to become lucid. The method can be used in combination with any
other method for terrific results.
In effect, this method relies on a number of factors which we will look at individually
after outlining briefly the method. The method (detailed below) relies on breaking up a
regular sleep cycle by getting up a few hours earlier than normal, staying up for 45
minutes and then going back to bed to catch a lucid dream.
The first reason, this works is brain biochemistry. During the day the body builds up
large amounts of serotonin, largely to light exposure to the retina. Serotonin is a hormone
with many properties, among them is the ability to cause the mind to become more alert.
As the night winds down, the light stimulation to the retina is gradually reduced,
triggering the body to convert serotonin to melatonin. Melatonin has the opposite effect
to serotonin and helps the body to relax and go to sleep. This is why, for example after a
long day‘s relaxing in the sun, we are so tired and need to sleep even thought we‘ve
pretty much slept all day all ready!
As light increases in the early morning, the retina is again triggered to cause a reverse of
this process, gradually converting the melatonin back to serotonin. In terms of sleep
activity, this means that in the early morning your muscles are deeply relaxed from the
presence of melatonin and that your mind is becoming more alert due to the increasing
availability of serotonin. This is the perfect time to create that MABA conscious state, we
need to become lucid.
For the above reason of retinal stimulation, causing the mind to become alert (even with
the eyes closed), we need to wear a sleep mask as we may experience light change in the
early morning hours, which could trigger our minds to wake out of the dream.
The second reason is REM Rebound. This is a simple concept. When the body is deprived
of an REM period, it responds by making the next REM period longer and more intense.
So, if we block, for example Sleep Cycle 4, we will have more intense REM in Sleep
Cycle 5.
Thirdly, the timing for intention setting is best at this time. If we intend to do something
in 10 minutes time, we are more likely to be mentally focused on the event than if we
were supposed to perform the same duty in, say 5 hours time. Intention setting only at
bed time therefore has serious limitations.
Fourthly, by getting out of bed we are physically alerting the mind. This process of
physically getting out of bed fires up the mind to wake up, lighting up the critical
function to come on line.
Method: Have a regular 8 hour sleep cycle for at least 3 days prior to WBTB
Set your alarm to wake up approx 3 hours earlier than normal (because of natural
daylight hours 04.45 is a good time if on a 12 .00to 08.00 sleep cycle)
Get out of bed for at least 45 minutes (must actually get out of the bed)
Go to the toilet if needed
Walk around and wake yourself up properly, a splash of cold water may help
A very light snack may be eaten, like a biscuit
Spend 30 minutes or so working your mind around the subject of Lucid Dreaming by
reading, writing in your diary or going on a web site to do some research (TV is not
recommended as this will trigger the brain into Alpha (non critical) mode)
Keep lighting low - this will prevent too much serotonin build up
Get exited!!! This I can’t stress enough, know that when you are going back to bed
that you have a big adventure to look forward to. Try to physically feel the adrenaline
in your stomach. This is a really good tool, so use it!
Go back to bed and practice MILD
Getting back to sleep here can be a bit of a chore so try to allow yourself a late
morning in bed as well in case you struggle getting back to sleep
A comfortable sleeping position, warm bed clothes, bed socks and an eye mask can be a
great help here, especially the eye mask to reduce light change distractions
A dark room will be best here as any light can stimulate wakefulness
Lying extremely still and not responding to the mind cues to roll over can be a clever
way of tricking your body into falling asleep here
Keeping your eyes extremely still has a similar effect, tricking the body to sleep
A rather curious condition known as Sleep Paralysis can occur here. This is
something that happens every night to our bodies when we are asleep. The brain stem
releases a polarising neural discharge down the spinal chord that causes the body to
become paralysed excluding the involuntary muscles (breathing, heart etc). During
any mind awake body asleep process, this state can be entered while still awake. This
can leave the dreamer in a rather alarming state of temporary paralysis, while still
awake.
This is easily tackled by just shifting your breathing to a deeper longer breath and
gradually allowing life to shift back into your body, without panicking. In fact, it can
be a good time to try a direct transition if one knows how so don’t see it as so much of a
problem as a possible opportunity for some very interesting experiences.
Comment: No mistaking, this method is fundamental to anyone who really wants to get
lucid. Stick with it, try combining it with different methods, but it is an essential practice.
If one has a nine to five job, try weekends or just make a sacrifice on a week day. A few
days solid sleep in advance can reduce next day fatigue so don‘t miss out on this method.
5) Binaural Beats
Principle: This is a concept under much scientific development at the moment and well
worth doing a little research on.
The principle is that when 2 different sound frequencies (pure tones) are played in an ear
each, say right ear 400Hz and left ear 408 Hz, for example, the brain will vibrate at the
intermediate frequency as a kind of illusory beat.
This is loosely due to the Law of Conservation of Energy and was first pointed out by
German scientist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1839. This is now being used extensively by
mediators and dreamers alike as it has wonderful advantages to help focus conscious
activity.
We‘ve already seen that in REM sleep and dreaming that there is a high incidence of
alpha and theta brainwave activity. The theta frequency (4-8Hz) is very prevalent in lucid
dreaming so by focusing the brain at 8 Hz, the conscious state most prevalent in lucid
dreaming is kept sustained.
Mediation employs a similar method, by using a vocal exercise (mantra), vibrating the
vocal cords at the 4-8 Hz frequency to cause the brain to perform a similar duty, hence
shifting to theta state.
Spending sessions with binaural acoustics on your ears for, 10 - 20 minutes a day is an
effective way of achieving the a light MABA state as a training exercise for future
activity so maybe consider a few sessions a week here.
Method: Beats can be downloaded from a number of sources
Play during the day, bed time or WBTB for best results
Headphones are essential for best results
Day time training with beats can be used for visualisation, relaxation and self hypnosis
training
Combine with other methods and experiment for best results
Comment: This is an area well worth a look, but beware as there are many sites selling a
lot of garbage - ―Get Lucid Immediately‖ type sites. The only person that can get you
lucid is you, these are training products with, at best varying results so please do not look
for quick solutions with these, they simply don‘t exist ….yet!
6) Light Cue
Principle: This is simply one of the best methods to become lucid, make no mistake.
Developed by Steve La Berge, the principle here is that a sleep mask with little red neon
lights is worn over the eyes.
The movement of the eyes at the onset of REM sleep is then detected by a retinal sensor
(built in to the mask). This in turn triggers the mask lights to turn on and off for a brief
period (variable, think of an average time of 7 seconds)
This light cue is shone through the eyelids and picked up by the sleeping mind, which in
turn is incorporated into the dream as an event.
It can appear as many things, e.g. a flash light or a UFO. I‘ve used this for years and
have had many strange encounters.
The appearance of the light in the plot is usually enough to alert the sleeping mind to
presence of something weird happening in the dream and cause the person to become
lucid.
Products: Look online, the Nova Dreamer and REM Dreamer are both well worth
looking at, the latter having a clever two way system to speak back to the device makes it
a better (and cheaper) buy.
Comment: Simply super induction method that can be just as much fun for an
experienced dreamer. This is not a short cut, MILD will be needed and preferably WBTB
to make it effective.
At 200 Euros approx this is in my opinion and experience, a great investment.
Hit Method
Hybrid Induction is probably best referred to as a philosophy. It is simply states that all
methods have relevance as long as we have understanding of how they work as opposed
to just grinding away aimlessly, with outdated practices.
For this, I encourage the use of the critical loop theory, I opened with. This is a great
fundamental rule of thumb for lucid dream practice and has helped me explore some very
advanced induction work which we will be exploring in the advanced section. The
neuromodulation approach that will be discussed in the advanced module is not exclusive
and the methods advocated in this section can and should be employed even when one is
introduced to the advanced principles. Even an expert martial artist still recognizes the
fundamental need to practice basics even when a high level of skill has been achieved.
The floor is open here as this is the purpose of my teaching; we are all constantly learning
and adjusting. The Hybrid Induction Theory is exactly that, a hybrid, constantly evolving
and open to any oneironaut to offer his/her insight to bring us all a step closer to the lucid
experience.
Hybrid practice is whatever you make it, mix and match the various techniques to
whatever works best for you.
Persist and believe and you will achieve!
Lesson 10) When In Dream World
So you‘ve seen something that seems a little odd, perhaps you‘re talking to Einstein or
Mozart or maybe you‘re skiing down Mount Fuji but don‘t remember getting there.
You reality check, pushing your index finger through your hand, it goes through. That
familiar feeling of euphoria rushes over you as you begin to realise this is a dream and
anything is possible. You perform a cognitive check to make sure you have your wits
about you.
You have now begun to stabilise the dream. This is very important to continue to do until
you are confident enough to start moving around.
The first thing to do is to relax and tell yourself that this is a dream and you can enjoy it.
Staying relaxed, I next perform what I call a Body Check. Rub your hands together and
touch the tip of your tongue off the roof of your mouth as you look at your body and
examine it. Are you wearing clothes, if so are they your clothes? This can be a fun
activity as the dream will dress you in all sorts of outfits so check it out. This body check
activity will flood your mind with focus on the dreamscape and take away any temptation
to alert your sleeping body to wake up. To further preoccupy the mind with dream
activity, I also recommend singing and dancing out loud (don‘t worry about looking silly,
it‘s a dream!).
I am often bare footed in dreams and I find that this keeps me mentally focused in the
dream. I now make it a habit as part of my body check to take my dream shoes off or just
intend to be bare footed in order to consistently be bare footed in the dream. This is a
good idea and I do recommend it.
Steve LaBerge recommends spinning around with your arms out, just like when you
were a kid, playing in the garden, trying to make yourself dizzy. This seems to flood the
mind with dream sensory input.
On this subject, I want to point out that the body you occupy is a mental construct, not a
physical body. We call this the Dream Body or Dream Ego. I will return to this point
after we explore the rules of Dream World a little more intimately first.
Look around but don‘t overly focus on any little point yet as there is a temptation to fall
back into the dream sleep, maybe pick four points and shift your vision casually between
them as you relax and remind yourself that this is a dream.
Sometimes the dream imagery is not as clear as we‘d like so, in order to make it more
vivid we can shout “Increase lucidity now!” or “Increase Clarity Now!” This has the
effect of directing our mind, creating the imagery to focus its intent to make the
dreamscape clear. You can use this technique any time the dreamscape seems faded or
obscured.
So what does a dream look and feel like?
Mostly, a lot like reality, but much more vivid, colours are more intense, sounds clearer.
Let me explain. The dreamscape is constructed by the reality generator, from what we
referred to earlier as schemas. These, as we said are models of the world based on
sensory input, which is then contextualised by experience. So if we see water for
example, we know it‘s going to feel wet on our clothes if we jump in.
This begs the question, what about if we have not experienced something previously,
how is there a schema for that, like, for example flying?
The reality generator extrapolates and creates a scenario, based on what it knows about
similar events and what it thinks the event might actually be like. So for example, I‘ve
never actually walked on the Moon (at least not in physical reality) but I know what it
looks like from photos and I would think the ground is dusty, maybe a little soft and there
is no gravity with little light. So my reality generator takes previous experiences similar
to these factors and creates what it thinks the moon would be like and actually does a
great job as it is, in effect creating your own personal fantasy Moon!
This is also the reason things seem very intense or vivid in dreams. As the mind
constructs scenarios without direct influence from limiting physical factors, very clear
images can be created. So for example, the colour of the sea in the dreamscape is
determined not by the presence or absence of sunlight but by your own mind so it can be
the bluest sea in the world, better still in your imagination. Furthermore, there is no
background interruptions from physical realities so a song will sound crystal clear, rather
than, for example being interrupted by the background sound of traffic going by.
Putting this together for martial arts training it is simply a matter of putting this
knowledge into play and recognising that if one can create one‘s own reality, then martial
arts scenarios are simply just a question of putting your own experience together and we
will explore some of the tools to do this in the next lessons.
However, there are, without a doubt varying levels of lucidity and I cannot stress this
enough. Many clearly inexperienced web bloggers casually seem to ignore this so don’t
worry if your dream does not meet the classic criteria - you may still be lucid, so long as
you know you are dreaming.
I would briefly describe levels of lucidity in terms of duration, vividness, sensory
awareness, ability to control the dream, cognitive function and control of emotion.
Only experience will give you insight but I would say a 2 minute, hazy, difficult to control
dream is the very definition of a beginners dream.
More advanced dreamers can dream for up to an hour (some beyond). Definition is
intense with heightened sensory awareness and cognitive function is as in waking life.
Put the time in for the results and you will receive.
Lesson 11) Dream World Rules
…. Morpheus says The Matrix is like a computer. It has rules, some of these
rules can be bent; others can be broken…..
When the reality generator creates dream scenarios, it takes the information from the
sorting office without prejudice; it assumes the information being given is a map of
events happening in physical space and time. The mind, in order to protect the physical
body therefore treats the events as it would in waking world. So for example the mind
would presume a wall is solid and chocolate tastes sweet, giving the dreamer these
experiences as his/her dream reality. So the reality we experience is essentially based on
and acts the same as the physical world. I call this principle the Factory Settings
Principle of Dream World. However, this can be customised to our own experiential
desires as we are about to see.
Now we know that the dreamscape is created at least at some level, in our minds, how do
we navigate it?
This is a fundamental point to understand. Fascinatingly, we probe the reality generator‘s
progeny with a separate part of the mind which in turn, presumes the reality generator is
representing the world around us. Therefore the mental construct it creates is by
implication, a picture of the physical world. Therefore the probe interacts with the
schemas as real events. It presumes walls are solid, water is wet, gravity pulls us down,
etc. So the reality we experience is similar to our own reality in how we interact with it
until we decide otherwise.
However, if we know that we are dreaming, we can override this setting by simply
accepting that this is not real map of physical space and time but a mental construct of
our imagination. By simply accepting that the wall is just a mental construct, we can walk
through it.
This sounds rather simple but for many, this will be a bit of a learning curve. Letting go
of what we perceive as being reality takes some experience. A good rule of thumb here is
to keep in mind that is a psychological construct and not a physical one, we therefore do
not have to obey the rules of time and space as in the physical world so for example to
move through water, we don‘t actually have to swim - it‘s not physical, therefore why
apply physical rules. You could for example just walk through it, and yes you can breathe
under water in a dream! It‘s just a matter of knowing.
When first trying to go through a wall, a moment‘s hesitation in your action and you‘ll
simply bounce off the wall. I know of many dreamers that have got stuck in walls after
losing their conviction half way through a wall. If this happens, just relax and remind
yourself, this is just a mental construct so you can pass.
On Neo‘s first attempt to jump from building to building, he simply falls and wakes up
(have you ever awoken from a falling dream?). Morpheus says we must “free our
minds”.
Experience and experimentation will reveal a limitless world if you open yourself up to
it, so be ready to experience just about anything!
So, if you want something to happen in a dream, simply intend for that experience to be
and really mean it, no hesitation. I call this the Intention Experience Principle of Dream
World.
On this matter, one might ask how much can we influence the dream, can we make
anything happen?
The simple answer is that everyone has the ability to influence the dream at some level,
some more than others. Experience and practice will open all sorts of new abilities so
experiment and see but the fact remains that the dream will still be largely constructed on
a more subconscious level. I might for example intend there to be a group of fans waiting
in the room for me, but the specific looks and personalities etc of the fans would be a
huge amount of detail to paint in my mind so the dream will normally fill in most of these
details for me.
I will briefly consider a technique here, known as Dream Incubation. The idea is to have
the dream you want, for example I might want to have a dream about skiing and I would
simply intend for this to happen. Some dreamers recommend putting a note under their
pillow with the desired dream written on it. This has no magic effect; it is simply a ritual
to prompt the mind to dream this subject. It can be effective though, so try think of other
ways to ritualise a subject into a dream and you could get some interesting results.
Lesson 12) Looking Glass Creatures
So who really controls the dream?
On this subject, I would say that we are the sailor, not the sea. There is a lot of debate on
this subject as there is so much going on in the dream that we are clearly not consciously
intending but is none the less under some level of control.
One may speculate that perhaps what we don‘t consciously control may in fact be under
the control of the subconscious mind. The theory in effect, being that the dream is
constructed by our subconscious and therefore everything we negotiate in the dream is in
effect a construct of the subconscious mind, including the people we meet in the dream.
The fellow occupants of the dream known as the Dream Characters (DC) are of
particular curiosity. These are the fellow occupants of Dream World and they are a truly
odd bunch. I would say, on this subject, remain open minded. Perhaps they are just
constructs of our subconscious, manifesting itself in an almost self aware like fashion or
maybe there is more to it. But ask them if they are dreaming. For that matter ask them if
you are dreaming and trust me, be prepared for some odd answers.
The DCs can be people you know, living and dead to those you have never met. I‘m not
going to take the stance of suggesting that they are the consciousnesses or the souls of the
real people but the fact is that they are very self aware, perhaps even to the point of being
more so than you the dreamer.
I would say that this is probably the most exiting element of lucid dreaming, getting stuck
in with the DCs. They can be helpful or provocative, friendly or fearsome and no two are
the same. They will talk to you and can be a source of help when looking to train any
task in Dream World. Some will appear more regularly than others and they can become
what is known as a Dream Guide. Your dream guide is someone (it can be more than
one) well worth looking for. An experienced dreamer would be advised to seek out
knowledge through these DGs as this can be a truly profound experience. I might even
suggest that this can be one of the most rewarding elements of lucid dreaming. To find a
dream guide, simply look for one or ask the other Dcs if they are one or know of one. I
once found a very profound individual by simply deciding before my dream to find a
snow capped mountain and to fly up it where I intended to find my guide. It worked and
was a truly profound engagement.
On the subject of training martial arts with them, some will train beside you, some
opposite (sparring) you and some will engage you in full on combat!
The question is, can you be hurt in a dream?
You can feel fear in a dream; you can even feel pain, though it is rather rare in my
experience. If one lands from a long fall, as Neo does in The Matrix, typically the wall
bounces you. This too has been my experience but perhaps this is because this is my
expectation. I have always expected to win fights as it is my dream! I might consider
therefore that my experiences have been based on my expectations, conscious or
subconscious and I have always believed that I could not be hurt in a dream. I might
therefore speculate that such a belief is not such a bad thing.
possible connection but I remain open mined and cautious always especially when
engaging some of the more elaborate scenarios in Dream World.
I was for the longest time, of the belief that the dream was effectively no more than a
construction of my own subconscious self. This kind of deterministic thinking is a
reflection of a more pre quantum physical notion of the world around us. With the world
of quantum physics starting to unfold a far more complex fabric at the source of our
reality than we could As for your physical body in bed - I have not seen any evidence to
suggest such a have anticipated, we need to consider a more open minded consideration
of just what exactly the nature of our universe is.
I could write a book on this particular topic but a colleague of mine Robert Waggoner
already has, Lucid dreaming - Gateway to The Inner Self. It is a fabulous insight into this
topic and I can only recommend it whole heartedly.
As for my own personal experiences, I will briefly share with you one of my first ever
really bizarre experience in Dream World. It was a very vivid dream and I had just landed
after flying down a street from my old home town. After briefly engaging a couple of
teenagers and trying out their skateboard (and successfully flipping the board for a 360
shove it spin!), I met another DC who was parking his bike close by. After a brief but
rather hostile vocal exchange, instigated by him it was on, he wanted to fight! I was
beside myself, like this dream character wants to fight? So all of a sudden, here I am
throwing fists at this guy all the meanwhile telling him that this is my dream and he is
going to get beat but he‘s having none of it and just keeps coming as I dish it out. I awoke
shortly after and laid in my bed asking myself what exactly had just happened. A
construct of my own mind or perhaps something more, all I knew was that my journey
had taken a turn and it was time to go deeper.
On closing this subject, I might just say get stuck in and enjoy it by all means but be
mindful; no enemy is more fierce than the enemy of the mind!
A point about nightmares is worth making here too. This is something people can be
apprehensive about, a lucid nightmare. On this, I would say, the difference between
dream and a lucid dream is that, when lucid you are aware that no physical harm can
actually come to you so just fly away, change the scene, use your magic powers or
perhaps try having a conversation with your adversary and you can actually turn some
nightmares into pretty wonderful experiences!
Lesson 13) Getting Around Dream World
We previously mentioned the dream body or ego. This is our mental construct of
ourselves, what we think we look and feel like. We are continuously adjusting this model
based on our experiences with ourselves and others. This is a Freudian model of identity
and it is an important concept to get to grips with and its relationship to DW.
Freud describe the true self as the Id or inner ego, the person we think we are as the ego
and the person we show to others as the super ego.
As the ego is essentially a construct of our imagination, it is possible to change it. At the
most simple level, this can be intending there to be six fingers on our hand and looking to
see this (Intention Experience). This does work easily and was actually the first ever
reality test I tried!
Look in the mirror in a dream – it is usually unstable, maybe this tells us something about
or ego.
On a more complex level we can experiment with changing our form completely. This of
course will take a lot of mental focus and experience. Knowing it is only a construct we
can intend ourselves to Shape Shift, as some dream walkers call it. So with sufficient
intention, we could change into a bird or a wolf. We can even change into more arbitrary
forms, like energy and pure thought. I once read about a dreamer who became the colour
blue!
So we are therefore given an opportunity to develop our own dream ego or character in
which to be during the dream One can literally create an avatar to occupy in the dream. It
is simply a matter of experience and belief. On this matter some might say that it is
possible to do anything in a lucid dream if one actually believes it is possible. But the
difference between believing and knowing is experiencing. Therefore for example,
learning to throw fire balls from your dream ego or self is something that is possible. I
know this because I can do it in my lucid adventures but I learned this step by step by
practicing forming energy in my waking state and then bringing this into the dream
bridging my beliefs to really nail the technique and now I fire away during my lucid
adventures.
We know that the body we occupy is a mental construct and therefore does not adhere to
the rules of space and time, so gravity is only present if we believe it is. On this basis
flying seems to be the mode of transport used by most dream walkers. Simply intending
to fly is usually enough to get most people off the ground but fear of falling is a very
powerful human instinct and may keep you grounded.
The simple fact to keep in mind is that this is a dream and to just let go of the rules of the
physical world. A good way to start flying is simply to lean forward and just let your
body start to levitate and then just play around with different ways to move. Starting off
by frog swimming can be a good way to move. The fact is this method doesn’t really
make any sense in physical space and time but your mind may believe that this is how one
would fly, so offering it this as your flying manoeuvre will trigger the mind to construct
the dreamscape as you fly through it. I personally fly in a Superman pose and point my
fists, with intention of where I want to go. It really is just a matter of whatever you
believe would work, actually works as long as your intention is genuine. Another trick is
to imagine something else can fly, for example a magic carpet or skateboard. It is even
possible to get a flying lesson off one of your dream characters. Just experiment and have
fun!
Flying really is easy in dreams, sometimes just the knowledge of the fact that your body is
not governed by the laws of gravity will cause you to spontaneously float into the air. My
footsteps, getting lighter is one of my personal lucid dream triggers.
Other dream powers such as causing lighting to pour out of your hands can take a little
more imagination and practice, just remember intention is key.
On the subject of getting around, flying is not the only option. One could try teleporting
yourself, a la Star Trek. A method, I really like, is to find a door and intend whatever or
whoever to be on the other side and then open it to find just that.
Another method I use is to intend a vortex to open up near me and simply step in,
intending my destination
In this regard the dreamscape seems to respond better to scenarios rather than direct
requests. For example if I wanted to find a friend of mine, I would intend for him to be
there if I called him on my phone and asked to meet him in a building, I am flying
towards and most likely the dream would happily oblige. Simply expecting him to be
there when I turn around may not give me the response, so use your imagination; the
dream prefers it this way.
A final point here - waking up. As we can extend a degree of control in DW, we can use
this intention to wake our physical selves up by simply intending for it to happen. Simply
state to yourself that you want to wake up and voilla, you‘re awake.
I‘ve never once got stuck in a dream I couldn‘t wake from. I once could hear my alarm in
my room in the dream and actually had to decide to wake my physical self up to alert my
waking body, sometimes the experience really is deep.
Lesson 14) Taking Flight
By now we‘ve taken a good practical look at lucid dreaming we should also have at least
2 weeks of dream journaling done. Now it‘s time to put this into practice.
I have outlined a table below, which illustrates how best to use the methods practically.
This is just a guide but try to take the process on board as you would any serious activity
and you can expect as serious an outcome in your dreaming skills.
Weeks 1 -2
Skills
Comment
Practice
during day
or last thing
at night
Reality
Checking
Mostly familiarising oneself with what lucid dreaming is
all about and working on dream recall is all that is needed
here.
There is no rush with this or any section, move on when
you‘re ready.
Reflection
Intention
Weeks 2-4
Skills
Comment
Practice last
thing at
night, less
during the
day
Autosuggestion
This section is about getting used to using proper
induction techniques so it is important to get off on the
right foot.
MILD
Be enthusiastic, intend to have that experience, want it.
It is all too easy to become unmotivated at bed time
but don‘t give in to this temptation.
Enjoy your adventure!
Weeks 4-6
Skills
Comment
Practice at
night only
WBTB
You may have hit a lucid dream by now, so we are
looking to start working on some basic control skill at this
stage if you have.
HIT
Can WBTB
after 3 regular
night‘s sleep
If not yet lucid, this is what you are waiting for, this is
where most people will have their first experience so
persist and you will achieve, have fun!
Advanced Practice
Lesson 15)
Wake up Neo!
Ironically, for the methods outlined in this section, we will not be waking up in our
dreams; in fact we will be entering the dream directly. It‘s time for direct transition
training; this is when lucid dreaming truly starts to step up a gear. This is the only type of
transition I do nowadays as it is more predictable in outcome, longer lasting with a far
more memorable and visceral dream content. It can be harder to learn and no doubt quite
scary to practice at first but it is the way of the true Dream Warrior and also how the
Buddhist Monks as well as the Native American Shamen transition.
A WILD or direct transition, as discussed previously is when we carry our consciousness
directly into the dream without losing the thread as the body falls asleep. The idea, in
effect is to literally trick the body into falling asleep whilst maintaining a thin thread of
conscious mind activity.
For this particular procedure, there are, like most lucid dream practices, a number of
theories and methods, each with varying results of success. I am rather passionate about
the method I use and will be dealing with this method as it is simply the most
scientifically plausible as well as offering the best results, hands down.
The basic premise of what I teach here is based on the traditional practice of preserving
the consciousness as the body falls asleep but incorporates the use of neuromodulation.
By recognising our waking state versus our sleep state as essentially being controlled by
neurochemical activity in the brain, we are simply going to employ the use of drug free,
non prescription dietary supplements to adjust the activity in the brain at certain times so
as to compound and hijack the REM state to supercharge the brain to enter the state
directly.
Many people will react to this idea as being somewhat radical and immediately assume
some sort of drug role play but this is simply a rather naïve understanding of how we
normally conduct our neurochemical management.
Everything we eat affects the neurochemical pathways at some level. The procedure we
use to induce lucid dreaming does not introduce any foreign activity into the equation of
regular dreaming; on the contrary we are simply adjusting the dream event to make it
more intense by pushing certain neuromodular vehicles a little faster.
The supplements used are non prescription, dietary supplements that are otherwise used
safely by healthy individuals to enhance their own lifestyles helping the aging,
degenerating body to outwit the forces of nature with a little more favour.
The dose of these supplements employed for lucid dreaming is less than the
recommended daily dose and is used far less frequently, so there really is very little risk if
properly managed and maintained. One should even reap the benefits of these particular
substances in the same way as one would any other health supplement.
Needless to say, anyone should consult a physician or at least be mindful of their own
medical circumstances prior to consuming any products. Pregnant women certainly
should not be looking to consider participating in this exercise under any circumstances.
Those with pre-existing medical conditions should exercise a similar stance until they
have thoroughly investigated their own circumstances.
This is a largely misunderstood area of the science of lucid dreaming and many wannabe
lucid dreamers get left behind as a result, often spending much time and effort on training
more traditional methods only to yield infrequent low end results. I can personally
successfully transition with a 95 % hit rate up to 3 times a week for up to an hour with
this method, other experts have reported up to 2 hour sessions. The effectiveness of this
method is simply unparalleled.
The method I employ is essentially the WILD method that I referred to previously but I
will be describing it here with the employment of supplements. The procedure and
process will essentially be the same as a normal WILD, just a little more predictable in its
outcome. I will first outline the WILD or direct transition method and then show you how
supplements can be used to boost transitions to being almost 100% effective. Not
everyone will want to try supplements but just to give you some perspective - Most non
supplement dreamers report 90% DILDs and 10 % WILDs. With supplements it is closer
to 90% WILDs and 10 % DILDs. Be open minded on this concept, it is simply the best
approach and cannot be ignored if one is serious about getting deep on the subject.
Lesson 16)
Getting WILD
Direct transitions rely on the same principles as indirect transitions
- Bank REM by sleeping off first 4 hours of deep sleep
- Get up after 4 hrs
- Go back to bed to dream to catch a dream
The only difference is that we do not typically stay awake for 45 mins but typically try
not to wake up too much and try to get back to bed within 5 minutes, avoiding any
intense activity or light (just enough time to make the toilet is enough). Now we go back
and lie in bed and gently follow the transition procedure below. It will normally take
about 60 to 90 mins to transition (I'm closer to 45 mins with supplements). The time
spent waiting to transition is important to fill with some sort of routine and I will show
you the routine I use. However always just allow whatever is happening to just happen.
So for example if you are halfway through some part of your routine but suddenly happen
to start transitioning, then just go with it, just stop the remainder of the routine and let the
transition process take over. It's a lot like surfing, just waiting for the right (sleep) wave
and just going with it.
In a direct transition there are two typical outcomes and these need to be considered
before I describe the method. The essential principle involved is to achieve a state of
consciousness whereby the mind is awake and the body is asleep, the MABA state.
Normally the mind falls asleep first and the body afterwards, once it is sure the mind is
asleep. The body speaks to the mind continuously and in the case of sleep it has a specific
technique to ask the mind if it is still awake or not. It does this by sending an impulse to
the mind to turn the body over. This triggers us to turn over in our bed. This goes on until
the mind stops responding at which point the mind no longer responds. At this point the
body knows it is time to fall asleep. However we can use this concept to trick the body
into falling asleep while preserving the mind awake. The trick is simple to not respond to
the body‘s requests to turn over, in effect telling the body that the mind is already asleep.
Just lie still and don‘t answer the question by the body‘s requests even as intense as they
can sometimes get and the body will start to switch off gradually
Another technique to trick the body into falling asleep is to keep the eyes still to trick the
body as the eyes also let the body know if the mind is still awake or not. The use of a
sleep mask is a very good idea here as it allows the eyes to slip out of focus. There are a
lot of methods of visualisation being explored but I would say what is crucial to
understand in the case of LD inductions is that you are going to be visualising in your
mind’s eye not your physical eyes so avoid the temptation to try to visualise through your
own physical eyes. The trick is to just allow your eyes to completely relax, not focusing
on anything in particular and then just casually hold them there after a minute or so. I
call this technique anchoring the eyes. Like your breathing in the later stages of
relaxation, the trick is to finish in a state whereby you are casually detached from your
eyes, aware of their presence but not trying to control them. I call the kind of
visualisation used here passive visualisation as I am not trying to force the event.
When this state is entered, the consciousness has limited information as to the
whereabouts of the physical body and starts to speculate and reconstruct the body in a
mental plane. The reason this happens is that the body normally communicates to the
mind through the 5 senses continuously letting the mind know its whereabouts. During
sleep the amount of information being received is limited. Furthermore the stimulus
threshold from the senses is increased by various biological triggers as the body starts to
fall asleep.
The overall effect is that the mind starts to lose its whereabouts as to the location of the
body in space and time. Because of this the mind starts to speculate and recreate where it
thinks the body is, effectively creating a new mental construct of the body based not on
what it perceives but what it thinks the body might be doing is it normally does in a
dream. Morpheus refers to this as the ―residual self image‖. What is key to understand
here is that the mind cannot differentiate between physical input and imagined input
(remember the reality generator cannot tell where the info comes from). So when the
mind recreates the body in sleep, for example in dreams, it believes this to actually be the
body.
As the eyes are generally closed, it will also recreate what it believes to be its physical
surroundings in a mental plane. So we literally end up consciously aware as a mental
construct in a mental plane. When the mind reconstructs the body, it typically
reconstructs it in clothes that we are wearing in bed as it has a conscious memory of this
event and this memory has not been broken up by sleep as in DILDs. The location we end
up in the dream too can therefore often be our bedroom, which is reconstructed by the
mind from memory. Think about it, the mind is reconstructing the body in what it
believes to be the body‘s actual location in space and time based on recent events, still
consciously perceived.
However this is not always the case. Often during transition we can use a technique to
visualise somewhere else. We may then step into this location; using a technique I call
Jumping. We literally imagine the location and as the vision starts to form, I simply put
my hands forward and pull myself into the vision. I will go into more detail on this
shortly.
Just before I go into the transition method I will briefly outline some sensations that
occur during transition. These really can vary so much and every author will have a
different description of what these are and why they occur so I hope we can all remain
open minded on this as this is really when lucid dreaming can start to feel very strange.
The list below is an outline of some of the more common experiences and is not
exhaustive. The list is probably closer to my own experience and is laid out more or less
in the order that I experience them. Once more this will vary for every one.
Type 1) White lights, either just generic brightness or more precise images floating
around. Your eyes are closed so these are in your mental visual filed but it is pretty hard
to tell the difference
Type 2) Geometric shapes. These typically follow the lights and can be very vivid. Again
they are in your mental/visual field and can be very real. Some float around, some can
form larger patterns
Type 3) Noises. These can vary from hissing noises in your ears to more intense
rumbling, vibration type noises.
Type 4) Voices. These can be pretty intense and I have found these among the more
interesting transition experiences. They do not always make sense and I find it hard to
concentrate on them as they tend to occur when I’m pretty much passed out but still
conscious.
Type 5) Vibrations of fizzing in my body. In my experience this can feel like you are a can
of coke or even like your being shaken like a can. If someone else was to observe you in
the room they would not witness you being shaken but you will feel it like a very real
event. This one tends to occur a little later in transition but tends to spark me back into
conscious awareness pretty sharply.
Type 6) Floating and sinking. This is when it starts to get pretty intense by any stretch of
the imagination. Literally one feels themselves floating into the air and or back down
through the bed into the floor. It is common to get pulled up by a limb or two. I have been
pulled by my ankles into the air and been suspended off the ceiling during transition. I
could literally feel the weight of my body loading down on my head as I was suspended.
It was a pretty intense transition.
Type7) Seeing images of your own bedroom. Though your eyes are closed, an image of
your bedroom literally forms and you can see it in the dark but pretty vividly. Not
everything is exactly in the right order so its pretty bizarre. I once had a load of pictures
on one wall that I do not have in my room. Weird, no doubt but it was a fun to see.
Type 8) Feeling yourself or your bed darting around the room. This literally feels like
your bed just takes off like a rocket and shoots across the room. Make no mistake, this
one is pretty intense but do not let that wake you up, just ride it out.
Type 9) Images of random events and/or locations. This normally occurs later in the
transition and when vivid enough, I use this as my exit point into the dream. This is the
Jump technique I referred to earlier.
To do this I either wait for an image to form or else just fire one here and there at my
mind until one sticks. Then I push my hands forward into the dream image and
visually investigate them. Then I rub them together as I visually follow them up to my
shoulders and then chest. Then I look down along my body to my feet, trying to take in
any sounds and smells as I touch my tongue off the tip of my mouth and look up again
and try feeling my feet on the ground. Again bare feet are an advantage here. This
jump technique is essentially the same as allowing the dream to unfold naturally but I
find it quicker and more effective as well as allowing me to exit to more interesting
locations than my bedroom.
Type 10) Seeing your own self. This can happen by either an image of yourself forming in
front of you or by you actually stepping out of your own body.
As discussed previously, the mind tries to constantly keep an image of itself manifested to
reflect the whereabouts of the physical self. When we are in the out of body state, the
mind recognises this and often projects the images of two bodies, one being a
representation of the sleeping body. We can again use this concept as an exit strategy.
The strategy here is to try to separate the two bodies but this is easier said than done.
The mind is not easily willing to allow this to occur and often there will be an almost
pulling like action between the two bodies. The technique I personally use is to try to
float my dream body out of my sleeping body in a kind of 1...2...3 action and on the
third I try to roll to either side. Sometimes it might take a few goes to nail it but it tends
to work very well and with increasing confidence, better results can be achieved. There
is a lot written on techniques here and I urge anyone to look into a variety of methods
as experiences vary a lot here.
Type 11) The feeling of someone else in the bed beside you. This is one I have personally
experienced quite a lot and has increasingly put my beliefs to the wall as the level of
detail is pretty intense and the experiences I’ve had have been pretty scary from time to
time. I simply hope that if one does experience this that is at a later stage in your dream
practice as it can be a bit of a heavy experience.
How can one even start to explain these events? There is such a thing as neural
discharge, whereby as the brain is going to sleep, it downloads images and sounds for a
brief period just as we enter sleep. These are call hypnogogic or hypnopompic
hallucinations. They are usually experienced as we fall asleep and we do not experience
them consciously. However due to the transition, this can be experienced first hand.
What about the vibrations and hissing?
I have been of the opinion that these are due to some sort of frantic communication
between the body and mind to seek each other out when the waking physical link is
broken and this just might explain it.
I could continue to speculate and I will certainly continue to look into these experiences
but I am experiencing increasingly strange phenomena in my own exploration and I
admit, my beliefs are constantly being challenged. I would simply say science has a role
to play here but so does the spiritual world. These experiences really could be evidence
of a gateway between this physical world and something, as of yet, still misunderstood.
Method: Set your alarm to wake after 4 hrs of sleep
Get up gently and go to toilet without waking up too much
Put your eye mask on, this is not essential but it helps
Lie down in your bed on your back and just settle your breathing as you allow yourself
to relax. Any previous breathing exercises may be employed here
Firmly set your intention to transition directly in about 60 mins
Spend 10 mins practicing MILD
Now I practice a form of transition rehearsal I call tuning. Essentially what I am
doing is preparing my body for the possible type of transition whereby I will feel and
see my mental body lift out of my physical body. To do this I imagine and really try to
feel my body being winched up by my waist into the air as I inhale, feeling my arms,
legs and head fall back towards the floor as I float into the air. As I exhale, I try to
imagine myself doing the exact opposite as I feel myself fall back into the bed buttocks
first as if I just fell backwards off a building, allowing my body to simply fold up as I
fall backwards. This is a mental activity but it feel very similar to how a transition
actually feels. Floating to the ceiling and falling back into the bed is a common feeling
as described in transitions so I want to be letting my mental body know I will not be
fighting this. This is like surfing, go with the direction of the waves, not against
After 5-10 minutes of this I am ready to turn over in my side
I now just wait and allow my mind to settle, practicing the quite mind method, that
should by now be second nature to you
The temptation at this point will be to either get wrapped up in random thoughts or to
start turning over in your bed. Either activity will alert the sleeping self to move away
from sleep and towards wakefulness. As we want to avoid this, the trick here is to be
disciplined and casually resist. Don’t get frustrated, just let the notion pass casually.
Keep the eyes still and anchored
Think more along the lines of meditation rather than engaging an opponent in a fight
Now I just wait for the various transition experiences to occur and I am looking to exit
when the imagery becomes strong enough
I will exit by using the Jump or Body Separation technique, depending on what the
imagery forming looks like. I personally just let the dream show me the images rather
than force one but am having a lot of success recently with intending a particular exit
point and visualising it to jump into when my timing feels right
Now I perform my reality, cognitive and body check and if I am wearing shoes, I
generally take them off before setting off into the dream adventure
Lesson 17) Shifting Gears
I‘ve thought a great deal about this lesson prior to writing about it and have decided that I
am going to give an outline of this technique rather than get too tied up in the science.
There is a fine line between academia and practical knowledge and I will refer to my own
martial arts training here and say that ultimately, here I will tell you what works best as
opposed over exploring the hypothetical.
The brain communicates to the body and mind by the use of what are referred to as
neurochemicals. There are 4 of these that are of particular relevance to dreaming and
moreover to lucid dreaming. These are serotonin, dopamine, noradrenalin or
norepinephrine and acetylcholine.
I will identify each in turn and discuss how we can modulate them safely through the
consumption of safe dietary supplements to create some spectacular results before finally
summarising the strategy that I myself use to jump. I refer to as this technique as REM
Hijacking and it can be done with or without supplements but I really cannot compare the
results as the supplements really take this to the next level.
I have therefore decided to commit myself to revealing the supplement approach and will
be taking you through each supplement individually, explaining them each in a similar
fashion, dissecting the necessary science as this is crucial to taking this route. I will then
be framing them in reference to your current practice, which I have been sharing with you
so far. Everything we have already covered will be relevant to this approach so make sure
your head is screwed on, regarding the science up until now before we move on to this.
Finally, I will consider anyone who is reading this rather complex text to be of adequate
mind to be able to navigate the practice of any methods taught in a responsible way and
to ensure that they are of sound body and mind to engage such activity. Medical
consultation should be sought if one has any doubts about any of the techniques
described.
I cannot stress enough the need for each person to take responsibility for their own
actions. The consumption of any product can have adverse effects for any individual. We
are about to step into the details of the supplement approach and a great deal of car
should be taken here. The products I will outline should be tried out one by one, assessing
the response of each on your dreaming activity and personal health before moving on and
trying combinations.
18) The Blue Pill
Serotonin is the first the first supplement we are going to talk about. This is a supplement
readily available in a commercial form called 5 hydroxytryptophan (5HTP). In fact this is
a precursor to serotonin, which means it is a building block the body can quickly absorb
to create serotonin.
5 HTP is sold as a mood enhancing supplement and is classified as a monoamine oxidase
inhibitor (MAOI). Like St John‘s Wort, it is a very light MAOI and the dosage used for
LDing is also very low. An MAOI works by preventing the breakdown of monoamine
neurotransmitters, which are responsible for conducting information from one nerve to
another.. By preventing the breakdown of the neurotransmitters in the nerve synapse
(space between two nerves), the activity of the nerve impulse is allowed to continue with
more efficiency, even after the stimulus has ceased. In other words, we are forcing the
activity of a particular neural response, despite the lack of stimulus.
One of the properties of 5 HTP is that it can block REM activity during sleep. This allows
us a wonderful method to take control of the REM drive. A dose 0f 100-150mg taken at
bed time will be enough to block REM activity for 4-5 hrs. The supplement is quickly
absorbed and quickly used up by the body so by the time the 4-5 hrs is up; we are going
to be pretty clear of it from the body.
This causes REM rebound to occur and can offer fantastic leverage to enter the lucid state
as we will experience more intense, stable and predictable REM activity which suffice to
say is exactly what we want to have intense dreams.
I refer to this supplement as the blue pill as to some extent, it does the exact opposite to
acetylcholine, which is commonly referred to as the red pill. 5 HTP is taken at bed time
and a sleep period of 4-5 hrs must follow. This period of sleep will consist mostly of slow
wave or non REM sleep, building up the REM for the rebound where we will be waiting
to hijack it.
Some considerations about 5 HTP, this is an MAOI and therefore by definition can be
used to treat depression (closer to 500mg daily). Therefore anyone taking any kind of
antidepressant medication would be well advised to seek medical advice before
consuming it.
Furthermore there can be a side effect of nausea or gastrointestinal upset. Though I have
not experienced this and this likely due to the low dose needed for LDing, I would none
the less advise anyone who is using this method to start with a low dose to check the
response and gradually increase the dose. Perhaps as low as 50mg can be a start,
gradually increasing up to 100mg or 150mg. I personally use 100mg for very good results
and no side effects.
19) The Red Pill
Galantamine is the next supplement we are going to deal with. Make no mistake, this is
the red pill that Morpheus offers Neo. Taken from the Red Spider Lilly plant, this has
been used by various dreaming practitioners for many years and it has a phenomenal
effect on lucid dreaming.
It works in two ways to induce lucidity. Firstly it triggers REM activity so we can use it
to fire up the REM drive. The strategy here will be to take a 4-8mg dose after 4 hrs of
sleep, preferably after taking the blue pill at bed time. We are then going to be
compounding the REM rebound to create highly intense REM activity in the brain. This
strategy can be used with a WILD or DILD, though I find it super effective for hitting the
WILDs and I suggest this as the best strategy for producing regular high level lucid
dreams.
Similar to an MAOI in its effect, it prevents the breakdown of a particular
neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Acetyl Cholinesterase (AChE) is the enzyme
responsible for breaking down acetylcholine in the brain. Galantamine is an AChE
inhibitor and therefore allows the build up to acetylcholine in the brain which in turn is
the neurotransmitter responsible for firing up the REM drive. There is also some evidence
to support the idea that Galantamine can itself cause the production of Acetylcholine to
be increased.
Another very important property of galantamine is that it can help to increase memory
function. The supplement is normally sold as an off the shelf dietary supplement to
combat the effects of aging on the memory and is used in higher does for Alzheimer‘s
Disease. From our HIT model we know that this can cause the mind to become more
critically aware and this will fire up the mental faculties in the appropriate way to
experience a full on lucid dream.
The dose needed for lucid dreaming is small, though side effects such as nausea,
vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness may occur. Again, I have not experienced any side
effects myself but I would suggest once more starting with a lower dose and gradually
increasing to an optimal dose.
A special note should be considered with galantamine due to its rather long half life (this
is an indication of how long the body takes to use up the substance). Galantamine can
stay in the body for up to 48 hrs and therefore should only be used every 3 days or so to
prevent the body from becoming too familiar with the substance. Like anything we
consume the body may become toot tolerant to its effects and the response from the
substance could become effective. This is due to the physiological desensitisation of the
Acetylcholine receptor cells and if proper care is not taken, this may become permanent
so take appropriate caution with this.
There is also the psychological element to consider. Taking the red pill is a kind of ritual
and overdoing that ritual will reduce the psychological impact on the dreamer.
There is a supplement available for the more hardcore dreamers who want to fly more
frequently with Galantamine, This supplement is known as piracetam and it is classified
as a nootropic or brain food. Piracetam acts by causing the brain to use up the
acetylcholine at a faster level than naturally occurs. Therefore the higher level of
acetylcholine produced by taking Galantamine can be counteracted to reduce any
potential desensitisation.
A dose of up to 2400mg can be adequate to achieve this and this is the dose I take. As it
increases blood flow to the brain, a headache could potentially occur in some people. One
could take the dose over a longer period, say 3 800mg doses throughout the day to reduce
this effect.
Piracetam has virtually no side effects and as a matter of fact can, according to current
research actually make you smarter so this is a supplement well worth a look at. The only
drawback I find is that I have to import it from the US at a higher cost but I am very fond
of it in my practice and it allows me more frequent supplement based lucid dreams.
20) Bringing the Reinforcements
In addition to preventing the breakdown of Acetylcholine it is also possible to actually
possible to increase the presence of acetylcholine directly in the brain by taking
supplements that can actually be used in the production of Acetylcholine.
The fist of these are Choline Bitartrate or Choline Citrate. These are known as choline
salts and are precursors (building blocks) used to produce acetylcholine in the brain. The
choline salts work synergistically with the galantamine to speed up the production of
acetylcholine and can jumpstart the process better than with Galantamine alone. Of
particular significance here is that it is not only the amount of Acetylcholine in the brain
but also the rate of production of Acetylcholine that triggers a WILD, so using this
combined trigger can escalate the experience significantly.
The salts are taken with the Galantamine at WBTB time and a dose of 500 - 1000 is a
good LD dose. It is possible to buy Galantamine combined with the salts as a single
supplement with the appropriate percentages of both if you shop around.
The problem with these particular salts is that despite the fact that they can pass the blood
brain barrier and therefore act quickly; their ability to pass the barrier is concentration
dependant. This in effect means that the higher the concentration gradient they face, the
less effective they are at passing the barrier. So as we start to accumulate Ach in the brain
during the transition, there is a reciprocal reduction of ability of the salts to cross the
barrier.
To solve this gradual loss of ACh accumulation efficiency, we can employ the use of
another supplement known as Glycerophosphocholine (GPC). This is another ACh
precursor but it is not concentration dependant and so can efficiently cross the blood
brain barrier even if high levels of ACh are present. The disadvantage of this supplement
when used alone is the time it takes to be absorbed and doesn‘t reach peak plasma
concentration for up to 3 hours. For this reason it is invariably better to combine it with
Galantamine to achieve consistent results.
The dose used is 600-1200mg taken at WBTB. The kind of dreams and transitions
experienced can be greatly affected by the amount consumed. I would say from
experience that the transitions experienced at the higher levels can be very intense and I
would insist that one tries smaller doses before gradually increasing to higher doses.
The dream stability and length appears to be much longer too with the larger doses. This
would seem to be due to the relay activity between the Galantamine, Salts and GPC, each
one doing the same duty at different times. I would want to know that I am going to be
able to stay in bed a little later than norm before trying the higher doses so as to allow
myself to be completely immersed in a lengthy dream experience that will ensue on this. I
have experienced extraordinarily long dreams on this and have even had to wake up for a
minute before going directly back in during some of my sessions as they were just going
on for such lengthy periods.
21) Super Powers & Special Moves
Have you ever been asked "If you could have one super power, what would it be?"
Well here is your chance to put that sentiment to the test, step up dopamine. This
neurotransmitter is not essential to having lucid dreams but it is essential to having
confidence in the dream. Once more responsibility is paramount to this process here so
read on carefully.
Let‘s look at our model of lucid dreaming so far, one principle we can be sure of is that
your experience in lucid dreaming is ultimately a product of your own beliefs and not
necessarily your desires. You may want to fire lighting bolts from your fists (it is a dream
after all), but that does not mean you believe you actually can. One might argue that by
knowing it is a dream, there should be enough psychological leverage to know that the
laws of physics can be abandoned here and one can do anything. On the surface this adds
up but in the dream we are limited by our deep seated subconscious view of reality and it
is not as easy to let go of as one might think. Neo only becomes The One when he
actually comes to believe it himself.
Dopamine is just the ingredient we need in our neuro-cocktail to shift our psychological
process favourably enough to let go of our deterministic view of reality. Dopamine has a
number of effects on the brain of which confidence and motivation are most relevant to
us as lucid dream technicians. This gives the dreaming mind the kind of faculties needed
to know that this is a dream and the reality being observed can be treated accordingly.
This has a profound effect on our ability to negotiate the dream as a proverbial super
being. It becomes possible to fly with more certainty, walk through walls with ease, shoot
fire balls, run up walls, you name it!
I myself recently wanted to rob a motorbike off a DC and just force fielded it to stop and
took it (funnily enough he was quite polite about me robbing it!). Do not under estimate
the power of dopamine modulation on the dream experience; it is one of the most exiting
supplement techniques I have encountered.
Furthermore, the dream content can be subject to change when modulating dopamine.
The dreams can have more of an adventure theme to them and one seems to assume a
more authorative type personality to navigate them (at least I do). This can bring on some
pretty scary type scenarios, including alien encounters and the likes which might, on the
surface, seem a little intimidating but the confidence of the dreamer seems to offset this
and it can make for some really fun dreams.
I have personally found my transitions are easier with this technique too. My confidence
negotiating the transition peculiarities seems to fire me through quicker and I carry a
more authorative mind into the dream.
Furthermore I seem to have something happen rather immediately in my bedroom rather
than have to jump. I have had people appear in the bed with me quite a few times and
spark up a conversation. I might speculate that this has something to do with the fact that
dopamine supplements can be used as an aphrodisiac due to the effect on the libido.
However not all my room mates have been quite so amicable, I've had a couple of hostile
visits as well. I am currently looking into this rather peculiar type of transition as it has
certain resonance with the details of what some people might have experienced as alien
abduction. There is less of a warning before the impact of the dream and feels more like
someone creeping up on me more than a lucid dream transition that I can observe
gradually unfolding.
The supplement of choice here is Mucuna Pruriens. This is a naturally occurring plant
that contains L-dopa. This is a dopamine precursor that can be absorbed in the stomach
and pass through the blood brain barrier to increase the dopamine concentration of the
brain. Dopamine itself cannot be absorbed so the precursor instead must be used.
However as L-dopa is prone to being prematurely synthesised into dopamine before
crossing the blood brain barrier, it needs to be combined with another substance to
prevent this form occurring.
Parkinson's disease is condition whereby a reduction of dopamine production in the body
causes a deterioration of motor function in the body leading to restricted movement. Ldopa is needed in relatively high doses to treat this condition and therefore the premature
conversion needs to be counteracted. In this case a substance known as Carbidopa is used
to counteract this effect. The problem with Carbidopa is that it can have pretty noticeable
side effects and for our purpose as LD enthusiasts, it is best avoided. Fortunately Mucuna
Pruriens has a built in counteracting activity in the plant that can prevent the premature
synthesis without triggering any side effects. This makes it a safe and useful tool for lucid
dreaming.
Vitamin B6 is in the digestive tract will cause premature synthesis of L-dopa into
dopamine so if one is taking any other kind of supplement in their diet that may
predispose them to higher levels of B6, the effects of Mucuna Pruriens may be limited or
perhaps not noticeable at all.
Mucuna Pruriens is available either as a seed from or standardised extracts. The extracts
are preferable as the dosage can vary with the seeds. The extracts are available as a 10%,
30% and 50% form and I would recommend the 10%. The reason is simply that the
compounds that exist naturally in the Mucuna Pruriens to mimic the Carbidopa,
preventing premature synthesis of dopamine, lose their efficiency at the higher
percentages.
The dose used is 100-200mg taken at WBTB time, though there are some technicians that
take some before bed too to fire up the plasma concentration. As there is some evidence
to suggest that REM can be suppressed by larger plasma concentrations, I remain
apprehensive about this method though I am currently investigating it.
I have also recently been toying with a polyphenol called Epigallocatechin Gallate
(EGCG). This is available as Green Tea Extract (GTE) and it acts in a similar fashion to
Galantamine. It is a re uptake inhibitor, which means it prevents the breakdown of a
neurochemical to allow it to stay in the body longer. The chemical in this case is
dopamine. The overall effect is to allow higher levels of dopamine to be sustained during
the dream process.
The dose I am personally using is a 15% polyphenol 375 mg pill. This works out at
approx 45 mg EGCG. I take one to two pills depending on whether or not I am mixing it
with Mucuna Pruriens or not. I would like to take 45mg EGCG with 100mg Mucuna
Pruriens or 90mg on its own.
Watch out for any caffeine content in the green tea product you use as this can trigger
insomnia in some cases. I am currently investigating caffeine as a stimulant to fire up the
cognitive function.
Both of these are supplements that I am very fond of but need I not remind you to take
care with these as well as any other supplements and be mindful of how you approach
them as we all react differently to any given substance. Even something as simple as a
nut can be tasty to one consumer and potentially lethal to another. It is best as always to
start with a very low dose and increase gradually to your own optimum level. The LDopa supplement approach is something I would normally only recommend to more
experienced dreamers and I cannot stress enough that any medical concerns should be
thoroughly investigated prior to the engagement of any supplement.
Side effects of either can include over stimulation, increased body temperature and
insomnia. This is invariably due to using higher doses and I would suggest that the
amount needed for OBE transitions should not likely trigger these effects and I have
always had interesting transitions with either or both of these.
Insomnia can occur with any of the supplements used and this can be counteracted by
using a little bit of melatonin. This is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland which in
turn is powered by serotonin. Normally it is increased by darkness, whereby light
stimulates the production of serotonin. This as outlined previously is what gives rise to
our regular sleep cycle. Both serotonin and melatonin are therefore key in maintaining the
sleep cycle and both suppress REM.
However a dose of 0.3 mg melatonin taken at WBTB time can help reduce the insomnia
instigated by the use of any other supplements without suppressing REM. This is easily
and cheaply available.
21) Don't Lose Your Head!
The dormouse tells Alice to keep her wits about her when she is down the rabbit hole. For
lucid dreaming, this is not essential but it can make for some more intriguing adventures.
Our mental faculties are at the best of times operating at less than optimum, one might
say we sleepwalk through our days and wake walk through our dreams with rather
unclear intention. One neurotransmitter that can have very favourable results on this is
noradrenaline or norepinephrine. This hormone is responsible for modulating the
attention and response faculties of the mind. It is known as the fight or flight hormone
and for LDing we can benefit from careful modulation of this hormone.
The modulation of noradrenaline can make the dreaming mind more alert which can aid
transition and moreover help the dreaming mind to be more alert during the dream. This
helps significantly with both recall of the waking world in dreams and the dream world in
waking afterwards. Needless to say, this is a veritable tightrope manoeuvre as too much
stimulation will lead to insomnia.
The supplement of choice to boost noradrenaline is Yohimbine. This is a mild MAOI and
acts by occupying alpha2 adrenal receptors in the brain, which prevents noradrenaline
from binding to the same receptors. The effect is to fool the brain into thinking the levels
of noradrenaline present are less than actually present which causes the brain to release
even more noradrenaline and flood the system.
This is a supplement I rarely use and I am currently investigating other methods including
small doses of caffeine. The problem with it is that if taken in too large a dose, it can
trigger an overflow of noradrenaline from the brain through the blood brain barrier into
the blood. The effect of this is something we‘ve all felt from time to time; sweaty palms,
increased blood pressure with a feeling of butterflies in the stomach.
The dosage for LDing is 0.35-0.5mg and I combine this with a Galantamine/choline
trigger to transition at WBTB time. I also use a 0.3mg dose of melatonin in combination
with this to offset any potential insomnia. This is a bit of a tightrope walk although I have
to say that it is worth the effort as this is probably the closest the mind can get to the
waking mind.
Like Mucuna Pruriens, this is also a naturally occurring plant and can be bought either in
pure form or the standardised, synthesised form. The latter is preferable to allow better
control of the amount consumed.
This supplement is something that only very experienced technicians should be getting
involved with but I this is without a doubt when out of body exploration can become
more of a scientific pursuit than a hobby as the dreaming mind really has the mental
faculties needed to pursue the dream missions in an articulate way. Make no mistake, this
is advanced experience and a real step closer to the intellectual faculties of the waking
physical mind.
22) Multiple Hit Combos
So we have a great deal of supplements to consider here and no doubt we would best be
advised to have some sort of strategy to use them.
The first thing we need to do is to ready the dream diary. This is an essential tool for
supplement induced LDing as we will need to be able to record our experience with each
supplement and each combination. We will need to record how it effected the
1) Transition
2) Dream Experience
3) Side Effects (if any)
Firstly I would almost always take 5 HTP at bedtime if I am going to do any kind of
induction (even if not using a WBTB modulator). It has a low incidence of side effects
and has no cumulative effect on the body as well as having a positive effect on mood so I
am pretty fond of it.
One has to ask however how the overall effect of blocking and rebounding REM can
affect a night‘s sleep. The good news is that it basically adds up to a good night sleep.
The body still gets its 4 hrs of deep plus its 4hrs of lighter mixed REM activity so it still
constitutes a good rest. I find using the block and rebound more often than not leaves me
feeling pretty good. I will therefore on conclusion assume the 5 HTP method is being
employed.
The first task here is achieving consistent transitions and for this we will need a Jump
Start Modulator - this is going to be Galantamine/choline 4mg/400mg or 8mg/800mg.
We are going to use this to trigger lucidity whenever we want to use the modulator
combination as the primary modulator for becoming lucid and we can build our other
modulators on to this. I would recommend starting with the lower (half) dose to start
before trying the higher dose which can be pretty intense to start with.
The next addition I might employ is GPC 600-1200mg. This guy picks up where the
primary jump start slows down and can provide a longer experience. Furthermore, as
previously described, transitions with higher doses here can be very intense so start on
the lower 600mg and work your way up.
Next modulators are the dopamine modulators. I will use these either as a single or
combined combo at WBTB time along with the Galantamine/choline jump modulator.
Specifically I take Mucuna Pruriens 100-200mg with GC jump or 45-90mg EGCG with
the GC jump. For a mixed combo, I use Mucuna 100mg plus 45mg EGCG with the GC
jump. My personal experience would lead me to use the combination or green tea GC
combo as I have personally had more interesting experiences with the Green Tea. This
well worth exploring and documenting in your dream diary,
Finally the employment of Yohimbine as part of a combo. This is not a jump modulator
and is really only best consumed with the Galantamine/choline jump start. The 0.3 mg is
taken at WBTB time with the GC jump modulator. I am currently investigating the
combination of this with lower doses of green tea extract and the GC jump modulator and
so far they seem to work synergistically though I would hesitate to experiment too much
on this front as insomnia can be a problem as well as occasional lucid nightmares.
I have summarised a basic combo strategy below.
Stage 1
The overall strategy here is to test and record the individual effect of each modulator on
your experience. This can seem like quite a task when you realise that some of the
modulators, taken by themselves will not fire up a lucid dream but may at best have an
effect on dreaming. I am talking of the dopamine and noradrenaline modulators. These
are best taken and tried with a WBTB MILD indirect transition to test their effects and
record the effect, lucid or not.
Stage 2
In the second stage we are going to attempt to induce a WILD and to enter this state
consistently. We will be looking here to work with the GC jump modulator and the 5 HTP
strategy. I would also advocate the use of GPC at this point too as it can really fire up the
REM drive. It is crucial here not to put yourself in danger of desensitising the nerve
endings and so either the use of Piracetam or time off between attempts (every 3 days
would be safe if not using Piracetam).
Stage 3
At this stage we can mix up the modulators to achieve some interesting experiences. Of
crucial importance here is to mix things up step by step. I would start with the 5 HTP
Galantamine/choline-GPC combo.
I would normally then try 5 HTP-GC-ECGC combo followed by the 5 HTP-GC-Mucuna
Pruriens combo.
I would now mix the EGCG and Mucuna for a 5 HTP-GC-Mucuna-EGCG combo and
evaluate the response of each of these combos before moving on to the Yohimbine.
To try this I would use 5 HTP-GC-Yohimbine and maybe a little EGCG with this at a
later stage.
Modulator Combos
Combo
Effect
5 HTP 100mg bed time
Very powerful trigger
Long intense experience
Intense transitions
GC 4-8mg/400-800mg
WBTB
5 HTP 100 mg bed time
Interesting transitions
GC 4-8mg/400-800mg
WBTB
Increased dream control
ECGC 45-90mg
WBTB
5 HTP 100 mg bed time
Interesting dream theme experience
GC 4-8mg/400-800mg
WBTB
Increased dream control
Mucuna 100-200mg
WBTB
5 HTP 100 mg bed time
Interesting dream experience
GC 4-8mg/400-800mg
WBTB
Interesting transitions
Increased dream control
Mucuna 100mg WBTB
ECGC 45mg WBTB
5 HTP 100 mg bed time
Transitions tend to exit in bedroom rather than jump
GC 4-8mg/400-800mg
WBTB
Intense experiences
Yohimbine 0.3mg
WBTB
Cognitive skills and memory of waking and dreaming reality
significantly increased
I cannot stress enough that one needs to be mindful of your pursuit of this activity.
Furthermore I might suggest that a good technique to increase your odds of lucidity as
well as offering more interesting experiences is to make sure to mix up your combos
from attempt o attempt so as to keep your mind on its toes. By varying the time between
attempts and mixing up the combos, we are psychologically as well as physically
reducing tolerance to the effect of our techniques.
23) Are We Alone…?
The conscious dream is an interesting place and take my word for it, no one is more
interesting than the dream characters, suffice to say even the dream itself can act like a
character from time to time.
The question is who really controls the characters; who is the real puppet master of the
dream world?
Experiences with these guys can be very thought provoking.
Let‘s look at how we are, ourselves in the dream. We are either non lucid in which case;
we are effectively navigating without any real sense of self awareness, reacting to stimuli
with about as much consideration as a Venus Fly Trap.
When we are lucid, on the other hand, we act in a far more peculiar way, questioning
things, continuously provoking reactions and analysing them to create interesting
scenarios.
The characters that occupy the dreamscape act in a very similar way, ranging from
totally brain dead to painfully self aware.
On the surface, this prompts an obvious question. Are they just that, self aware?
Is this a sign of intelligent life?
Could this be the answer to our very deepest notion about ourselves?
The following conclusion is based on my own experiences and conclusions.
It has come to my attention during my travels that the level of self awareness of the
characters in my dreams seems to be somewhat reflective of my own state of mind during
the dream.
My own cognitive levels (like all lucid dreamers) varies from dream to dream, depending
on a number of factors, like the induction method used, my emotional state of mind, my
inherent desire to be lucid and so forth.
It has been my personal experience that there is an almost reciprocal level of lucidity
among my own dream characters; the more tuned in I am, the more provocative they
seem to be.
If we were to consider this with respect to the model of subconscious as being the script
writer for the Dream World, as I do, then it stands to reason that the occupants are on a
par with our own mindset.
This model adds up until we experience something that simple is not even in the
vocabulary of our thinking. We may for example have one of the dream characters reveal
information to us that is simply beyond anything we have ever consciously engaged
previously. How is it possible that they know something that we ourselves have no
previous experience of?
We might speculate that the conscious mind is not always privy to the knowledge of the
subconscious mind. Some secrets are kept by ourselves from ourselves. Take for example
repressed memories, something so traumatic that the mind, in an effort to protect itself,
may hide a memory from the conscious self. So we therefore cannot be sure that we are
completely aware of our own inner knowledge.
So looking at this model, we can consider that the subconscious to be the animator of the
Dream World and that the subconscious can be in possession of knowledge that
conscious mind does not have, then surely the only question is how much does the
subconscious know and moreover, from where does it get the information?
Does it gather up the information from the meandering events of our conscious existence
or does the rabbit hole go deeper?
Is this well filled with past lives, a collective mind, perhaps even an ancient forgotten
realm, that just got washed away by the sands of time.
The only way we will know for sure is we take that step forward and take the red pill, to
step into Wonderland and see just how deep the rabbit hole actually goes!!
24) Proof of Life
I decided to conclude the book as I started - with an address to the crucial question of just
what exactly is our reality. When we refer to our reality we are normally referring to our
own experience of our waking world. I will, however attempt to show that this is
something simply does not hold up when we take a more objective scientific evaluation
of events.
At the most fundamental level of experience, we can observe our world in two
dimensions. Yes I said two. The eyes can only perceive in two dimensions; the third
dimension is implied and constructed as a consideration by the brain but we do not see in
three dimensions. So one might speculate that if we could see in three dimensions, then
we could speculate a fourth. But what exactly is a fourth dimension of reality?
If we look at any point in space we can locate it by using three intersecting lines, each
representing a dimension of reality. We may also track this along a time line which gives
rise to the classic time space model that we use to observe our reality. However it is
mathematically possible to calculate a number of other dimensions (up to e eleven) that
we simply cannot perceive though they are mathematically plausible. We therefore have
to consider that our experience is fundamentally lacking in qualification to determine our
true reality.
This may seem on the surface be nothing more than mathematical hyperbole but this is
not so. If we consider the deterministic behavior of events in our reality, it is possible to
mathematically imply the effect of object A on object B at any given time and space,
presuming we know certain values of each of the two objects. However when we look at
events in the sub atomic or quantum world we see that this mathematical principle breaks
down. The reason is that in the sub atomic world, it is not possible to give a single value
for an event. Particles do not exist in a defined position in time and space but as a wave
of possible locations at any time. This is defined by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
and I will allow you to explore this topic yourself as it is a rather elaborate discussion.
But the fact remains; if one cannot give a clear definition of these events which make up
the fabric of our reality then we simply cannot define the true picture by our own
deterministic observation.
One might speculate that the dream event follows a similar pattern of activity, not being
fixed in space and time but frequently random in its discourse. Could there be a
connection. Is this some kind of Quantum Reality?
If this is so then how van we access it if the two are fundamentally at odds with each
other?
The answer may lie in what is known as Quantum Entanglement. Among the theories of
quantum entanglement is the theory of Quantum Non Local Reality. This is a rather
intriguing property of certain particles that are taken from the same source. When they
are separated over impossibly long distances, it is actually possible to demonstrate a
direct reciprocal value in their measurements. So even though both, as said previously are
completely random possible measurements at the outset, it is possible to deduce the value
of one exactly like a mirror image of the other at any time. So the two particles, though
not physically connected are in effect eternal mirror images of each other when measured
independently at two entirely different locations. This has been tested and proved.
It is now abundantly clear that events in the universe are communicating not through the
time space physical model of our experience. A more sophisticated language is clearly
being employed and the search is on. As a matter of fact the visible matter that we see
around us only makes up a paltry 4% of the universe around us. The rest is made up of an
invisible material known as Dark Matter and Dark Energy. This has been both
mathematically implied to exist and can be observed by the bending of light from
celestial bodies.
In my model of understanding, the brain is somewhat like a mixing desk in a music
studio. We can tune it to certain frequencies to consciously engage events. Some of these
frequencies may be gateways to perceiving events in non local realities. The brain is a
tool and we can with more understanding hope to unlock these frequencies. This is the
reason I have chosen to employ neuromodulation as my primary modus operanda and I
am now looking at how we can tune this interface into the quantum events that may make
up other realities. The Dream World may just be one of these realities and I hope in time
we will see this not as some incidental trick of the mind but perhaps as the very thing we
all want to believe …. A Proof of Life….
……see you in Dream World…..
About the Author
Dr Rory Mac Sweeney is a scientist. Having formally trained as a clinician (a dental
surgeon) with a degree in genetics, he has always maintained the pursuit for higher
understanding.
With over 20 years of training in the martial arts, having achieved European Gold and
World Silver, he has always been keenly aware of the intrinsic relationship between
mind, body and soul. Now with the advent of quantum science taking precedence over
conventional deterministic physics, he feels the time is right to show the world his
discoveries of the mind that have taken him many years to research.
His investigation into states of consciousness has led him to an expert level of
understanding of the ever elusive Out of Body State of Consciousness. He now practices
and documents regular out of body exploration and teaches the subject around the world.
Since the beginning of time, humans have looked to their dreams
as a great source of wisdom. Hidden in the riddles of our nature,
the visions we receive in dreams can pose as many questions as
they do answers.
Now Dr Rory Mac Sweeney takes you on a scientific excursion
into the hands of the puppeteer and asks who really is in control of
the dream. Conscious or lucid dreaming is the ability to wake up in
the dream state and explore it as a reality.
Taken from beginner to highly advanced practice, this is the
definitive technical exploration of the lucid dream state and any
serious dreamer should have it in their arsenal.
The only question is “Will you take the blue or the red pill?”