Lucid Dreaming 101
Lucid dreaming is the conscious brain walking into the non-physical, non-sensible, room of the subconscious; trying to make sense of what is going on beneath the surface. All of the senses are activated but they are hearing smells and feeling tastes. All of the components a brain uses to make sense when it walks into a new room are activated, yet the room is ever changing and flowing, it draws connections that aren’t there, but are at the same time. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it would feel like to fly though the air you can do that here, feel the wind across your skin, see strange and wonderful landscapes from a birdseye view, know that dreaded rush of falling freely. Most of us know the feeling of falling in a dream and waking up in a panic, that feeling is real, those receptors that go off in your dream are the same receptors that would go off if you were really falling, we see it and feel it, therefore it is real in our brain.
Dreams are the key to our conscious exploring our subconscious. When you are lucid and you fall backwards off a cliff, you choose to fly. In a sense we are waking up early, but when have you ever been able to fly with your eyes open? Our consciousness emerges from our still active dreams and we dance with our eyes closed. Lucid dreamers understand that they can open their eyes and let the conscious brain take over the subconscious, however they choose not to, for they enjoy the exploration. There is a delicate balance between the two forces. The less conscious one becomes, the deeper they are able to go, but giving up consciousness is giving up control of a dream, allowing it to take you places that you don’t understand. On the flip side, one can have really controlled lucid dreaming but it just becomes an experience of your conscious making, not different from day-dreaming. Finding this balance is something I have been working on in my personal quest to understand my brain.
How do I lucid dream?
There are a few strategies one can use to initiate lucid dreaming. All of them centered in finding the balance of conscious and subconscious. To start you must be at peace, observant of the environment within your own head. This starts before bed. Anxiety is a vicious cycle that destroys inner peace. Protect your peace with meditation before bed and natural supplements. I use Blue Lotus, Lavender, and Reishi from Lavender Lotus Dream. The relaxing, anti-anxiety effects of these plants have been proven over thousands of years. Blue Lotus in particular is known for increasing lucidity. Once in a relaxed state, you begin the more active strategies.
Techniques for Lucid Dreaming
The most effective strategy for me has been the WILD technique, Wake-Induced Lucid Dreaming. First, experience a hypnagogic hallucination, or a hallucination that occurs when you’re just about to fall asleep, then consciously follow it into the subconscious. I have had great success with consistent imagery or hallucinations, it can be anything, mine is an octopus. I feel my dream octopus a couple minutes after I close my eyes, he resides in my upper torso and head. With every inhale his tentacles feel their way up to my head and every exhale he crawls into my stomach, I feel the suction from his tentacles in my esophagus as he flows, back and forth, back and forth. The sensation becomes more and more real until I become the octopus or am riding him through my dreamscape. I have ridden him into a sea battle, explored the ocean floor, eaten fish, and hid from sharks. From there my brain might choose a different path to explore or I lose track of my consciousness as an octopus and fall deep into subconscious dreaming.
Lucid Dreaming While Asleep
The next technique is reality checking, or regaining consciousness while dreaming. Incept yourself by noticing things that aren’t quite real. This is the top that never stops spinning or your reflection looking different, anything that can’t exist with your eyes open. My hands are a dead giveaway, I know what they are supposed to look like, when they are misshapen or off color my consciousness begins to come to the surface. Once, I was arguing with my partner, over what? I’m not quite sure, but it was intense and I felt so much shame I covered my face with my hands. Now focusing on my digits and moving them irregularly, I became lucid. “Why am I arguing with this person I love? We should be making out…” and just like that we were kissing, passionately living out fantasies within my head.
How to Remember Your Dreams
A dream journal is the most effective tool for recognizing patterns in the subconscious. It keeps the dreams fresh and easier to understand. When you wake up in the morning with a head full of fresh dreams, write down anything that sticks out. Commit them to memory and finding consciousness in your subconscious becomes extraordinarily easier.
With every conscious dream, every exploration of my subconscious I’ve learned more about myself. I now know of a couple kinks I wasn’t aware of before, and have gotten to live them out with my eyes open. My octopus showed me my infatuation of being underwater in the ocean, now I freedive. Exploring the oceans of my brain and of Mother Earth, I love them both more than ever.
When I was designing Lavender Lotus Dream, I would go to bed every night with that day’s iteration, trying to find the perfect calm. When I woke the next morning, I would adjust the recipe for effect, then taste, and try again that night. I did this over and over again until I was satisfied, and now we have it. This medicine has done fantastic things for my brain. My lovely friends, who have been on this journey with me, have experienced dreamscapes they haven’t had since childhood. I’m proud of what we have made here, and I know it will help you too.