Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume - 4, issue 9 1 March 2020 | Page 28

So What Exactly is Lucid Dreaming?
Lucid dreaming can be understood as the practice of becoming conscious
during the dream state. Those that have experienced lucid dreams report
amazingly intense feelings of exhilaration, elation, and vivid feelings of
freedom.  
A man from Minnesota, for instance, described one of his lucid dreams in the
following way:
I was standing in a field in an open area when my wife pointed in the direction
of the sunset.  I looked at it and thought, “How odd, I’ve never seen colors like
that before“.   Then it dawned on me: “I must be dreaming!”   Never had I
experienced such clarity and perception – the colors were so beautiful and
the sense of freedom so exhilarating, that I started racing down through this
beautiful golden wheat field waving my hands in the air and yelling at the top
of my voice, “I’m dreaming!  I’m dreaming!“
– In Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming  by Stephen LaBerge
What’s most amazing about lucid dreaming is that you’re able to control the
outcome of your dreams. This means that you can fly through the galaxies,
bathe in a pool full of diamonds and pearls, make love on rainbows (yes, you
heard me ;) ), or travel to whatever destination, in whichever era or planet you
like. Basically, the only limit in your dreams is your mind and its level of
imaginative creativity.
So, the question is, if lucid dreaming opens up such an amazingly rich and
rewarding world – how do you actually become “awake” in your dreams?  You
can find out some introductory tips below.
How to Lucid Dream (Pre-Preparation)
Before you start having and maintaining conscious awareness during dreams,
it’s important to do some mental exercises. These exercises will help make
lucid dreaming a lot easier to induce:
Exercise 1: Experiencing the World