162 lines
9.8 KiB
Plaintext
162 lines
9.8 KiB
Plaintext
LEARNING LUCID DREAMING
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By ATHENA 1/14/86
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(taken from Lucid Dreaming, Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D)
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In order to recognize that you are dreaming, you need first of all to
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have a concept of what dreaming is. What happens when you "realize you are
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dreaming" will depend upon what you understand "dreaming" to be.
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Stage 1) Ordinary, non-lucid dreams: dreams are not distinguished
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from waking life.
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Stage 2) Out-of-body experiences: you find yourself in a sort of
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mental body floating around in what seems to be the physical world.
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Stage 3) Fully lucid dreaming: the dreamer realizes that the
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experience is entirely mental and that the dream world is completely distinct
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from the physical world.
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POTENTIAL FOR LUCID DREAMING
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There are two essential requirements for learning lucid dreaming:
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motivation and good dream recall. The necessity of motivation: lucid dreaming
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demands considerable control of attention, and hence we must be motivated to
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exert the necessary effort. And, if we can remember some dreams, then we
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can remember lucid dreams.
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Part II: DREAM RECALL
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In order to have a lucid dream and know about it when you awaken, you
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have to remember your dreams. For one thing, the more frequently you remember
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dreams, and the clearer and more detailed your pictures become, the more likely
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you are to remember lucid dreams. The more familiar you become with what you
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own dreams are like, the easier you will find it to recognize them as dreams
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while they happen. Thus, if you want to learn to dream lucidly, you need first
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of all to learn to reliably recall your dreams.
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One of the most important determinants of dream recall is motivation.
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For the most part, those who want to remember their dreams can do so, and those
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who do not want to do not. For many people, simply having the intention to
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remember, reminding themselves of this intention just before bed, is enough.
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One effective way to strenghthen this resolve is to keep a dream journal beside
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your bed and record whatever you can remember of your dreams everytime you wake
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up. As you record your dreams, you will remember more dreams. Reading over
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your dream journal can provide an added benefit: the more familiar you become
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with what your dreams are like, the easier it will be for you to recognize one
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while it is still happening and therefore to awaken in your dream.
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An infallible method for developing your ability to remember dreams is
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to get in the habit of asking yourself, every time you wake up, "What was I
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dreaming?" This must b your first thought upon awakening; otherwise, you
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will forget some or all of the dream due to interference from other thoughts.
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You must not give up too quickly if nothing is recalled at first, but persist
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patiently in the effort to remember, without moving or thinking of anything
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else, and in most cases, pieces and fragments of the dream will come to you.
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If you still cannot remember a dream, ask yourself what you were just thinking
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and how you are feeling. Examining your thoughts and feelings in this way can
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often provide the ncessary cues for retrieving the entire dream.
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In developing dream recall, as with any other skill, progress is sometimes
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slow. Do not be discouraged if you do not succeed at first. Remember: Each of
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us masters the ability to recall our dreams at our own rate.
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Part III: LEARNING LUCID DREAMING
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Learning lucid dreaming is work, and it requires a certain amount of
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discpline at first, but it becomes easier--even effortless--with practice.
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Before giving the technique the author (LaBerge) uses, here are some
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examples o technique that have been used in the past:
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Paul Tholey, a German psychologist, states that the most effective method
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for achieving lucidity is to develop "a critical-reflective attitude" toward
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your state of consciousness, by asking yourself whether or not you are dreaming
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while you are awake. He stresses the importance of asking the critical
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question ("Am I dreaming or not?") as frequently as possible, at least five to
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ten times a day, and in every situation that seems dreamlike. Asking the
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question at bedtime and while faling asleep is also favorable.
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Oliver Fox regarded a critical frame of mind as the key to lucid
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dreaming, and it is easy to see why asking the question "Am I dreaming or not?"
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ought to favor the occurrence of lucid dreams. We most often dream about
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familiar activities from our waking life, and if we never ask whether we are
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dreaming or not while awake, why should we do so while dreaming? Or, to put
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it more positively, the more often we critically question our state of
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consciousness while awake, the more likely we are to do so while dreaming.
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One method of inducing lucid dreaming is to enter the state from waking.
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A simple technique for maintaining conscious awareness during the transition
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from waking to sleep: count to yourself ("one, I'm dreaming; two, I'm
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dreaming," and so on) while drifting off to sleep, maintaining a certain level
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of vigilance as you do so. The result is that at some point--say, "forty-
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eight, I'm dreaming"--you will find that you are dreaming! The "I'm dreaming!"
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phrase helps to remind you of what you intend to do, but it is not strictly
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necessary. Simply focusing your attention on counting probably allows you to
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retain sufficient alertness to recognize dream images for what they are, when
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they appear. This and similar techniques apparently work best for people who
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tend to fall asleep rapidly, and frequently experience sleep-onset (hypnagogic)
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dreaming.
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Another method, and for most people far easier, way to become lucid in
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a dream is to become very familiar with your dreams, get to know what is
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dreamlike about them, and simply intend to recognize that they are dreams while
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they are happening. Evidently, simply intending to recognize that one is
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dreaming is enough to increase the frequency of occurrence of lucid dreams.
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Next part: a method with which the author could reliably induce lucid
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dreams.
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Part IV: MNEMONIC INDUCTION OF LUCID DREAMS (MILD)
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MILD is based on our ability to remember that there are actions we wish
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to perform in the future. Aside from writing ourselves memos we do this by
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forming a mental connection between what we want to do and the future
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circumstances in which we intend to do it. Making this connection is greatly
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facilitated by the mnemonic device--the memory aid--of visualizing yourself
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doing what it is you intend to remember. It is also helpful to verbalize the
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intention: "When such-and-such happens, I want to remember so-and-so." For
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Example: "When I pass the bank, I want to remember to draw out some cash."
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The verbalization that the author uses to organize his intended effort is:
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"Next time I'm dreaming, I want to recognize I'm dreaming." The "when" and
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"what" of th intended action must be clearly specified.
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He generates this intention either immediately after awakening from an
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earlier REM period, or following a period of full wakefulness, as detailed
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below. An important point is that in order to produce the desired effect, it
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is necessary to do more then just mindlessly recite the phrase. You must
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really intend to have a lucid dream. Here is the recommended procedure spelled
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out step by step:
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1) During the early morning, when you awaken spontaneously from a dream,
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go over thedream several times until you have memorized it.
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2) Then, while lying in bed and returning to sleep, say to yourself,
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"Next time I'm dreaming, I want to remember to recognize I'm dreaming."
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3) Visualize yourself as being back in the dream just rehearsed; only this
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time, see yourself realizing that you are, in fact, dreaming.
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4) Repeat steps two and three until you feel your intention is clearly
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fixed or you fall asleep.
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If all goes well, in a short time you will find yourself lucid in another
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dream (which need notclosely resemble the one you have rehearsed).
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The mental set invovlved in this procedure is much like the thought you
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adopt when you decide to awaken at a certain hour, and go to sleep after sett-
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ing your mental alarm clock. The ability to awaken in your dreams may be re-
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garded as a sort of refinement of the ability to awaken from your dreams.
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If you find yourself just too drowsy to follow the procedure as described
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above, you might try to wake yourself up by engaging in several minutes of any
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activity that demana„O18$Á \¬FfPHIa€` ‘�Ì�Ýɥѥ¹œ�‘½Ý¸�å½ÕÈ�‘É•…´°4)É•…‘¥¹œ°�½È�Í¥µÁ±ä��•ÑÑ¥¹œ�½ÕÐ�½˜�‰•�¸€�Q¡¥Ì�¥Ì�‰•�…ÕÍ”��•ÉÑ…¥¸�…�ѥ٥ѥ•Ì�¡…Ù”4)‰••¸�½‰Í•ÉÙ•��Ѽ�Áɽµ½Ñ”�±Õ�¥��‘É•…µ¥¹œ�ÕÁ½¸�„�ÍՉ͕ÅÕ•¹Ð�É•ÑÕɸ�Ѽ�ͱ••À¸4(€€€€�!½Ý•Ù•È°�Ý…•™Õ±¹•ÍÌ�ÁÉ•Í•¹ÑÌ�Ñ¡”�ݽձ�µ‰”�±Õ�¥��‘É•…µ•È�Ý¥Ñ �‘¥Ì´4)…‘Ù…¹Ñ…�•Ì�…Ì�Ý•±°�…Ì�…‘Ù…¹Ñ…�•Ì¸€�=™Ñ•¸�¥Ð�¥Ì�¥µÁ½ÍÍ¥‰±”�Ѽ�É•ÑÕɸ�Ѽ�ͱ••À4)…™Ñ•È�Ý…¥¹œ�ÕÀ�™Õ±±ä¸€�¹½Ñ¡•È�Áɽ‰±•´�¥Ì�Ñ¡…Ð�Í¥¹�”�Áɽ᥵¥Ñä�Ѽ�I412 (92) Tx 872.760 Rx 827.760
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Channel 13 (71) Tx 872.130 Rx 827.130
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Channel 14 (50) Tx 871.500 Rx 826.500
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Channel 15 (29) Tx 870.870 Rx 825.870
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Channel 16 (8) Tx 870.240 Rx 825.240
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Cell # 12
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--------------------------------------------------
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Channel 1 (322) Tx 879.660 Rx 834.660
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Channel 2 (301) Tx 879.030 Rx 834.030
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Channel 3 (280) Tx 878.400 Rx 833.400
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Channel 4 (259) Tx 877.770 Rx 832.770
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Channel 5 People are likely to differ as to which of these two factors--wakefulness
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and REM carryover--are more effective for them, and I recommend experimenting
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with both when using MILD to induce lucid dreams.
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If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
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Happy Lucid Dreaming --> HLD
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ATHENA
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