Technique of listening-in

lucid dreamingr listens inside his head, trying to hear if there is any noise or background static. If sound is heard, one must try to amplify it as much as possible through the same passive listening in.

Technique of forced listening-in

lucid dreamingr tries actively, and even strainingly, to hear sounds inside his head or background static with all his might. If this works, he tries to amplify those sounds as much as possible using the same active listening in.

Technique of imagining sounds

lucid dreamingr tries to hear some specific sound inside his head. Someone’s voice, familiar music, and the sound of one’s own name being called work best of all. If such sound arises, then the practitioner tries to make it as loud as possible.

This technique may be used as an alternative to any other deepening technique since it can be used at any moment. Practicing this technique only requires aggressive action of the perceived body. A practitioner may run, roll on the floor, perform gymnastics, or move the arms and legs. Maximum activity and aggression are paramount to the successful use of this technique.

If the practitioner is stuck in a dark space, waving the arms and legs from side to side is appropriate. If the practitioner is in water, swimming with determined, powerful strokes would be suitable recourse. The type of action very much depends on the specific situation along with an aggressive desire on the part of the practitioner.

As a rule, the effect of such movements and relocations comes quite quickly, especially if attention is focused on all the accompanying sensations.

Since the cessation of lucid dreaming experience may be simulated and no different in terms of perception from a real exit, differences between the physical world and lucid dreaming world must be actively discerned. In other words, a practitioner must know how to determine whether a genuine lucid dreaming exit has occurred.

At present, only one experiment is known almost to guarantee an accurate result. lucid dreaming space cannot withstand prolonged close visual attention to the minute details of objects. Within several seconds of acute examination, shapes begin to distort, objects change color, produce smoke, melt, or morph in other ways.

After exiting lucid dreaming, look at a small object from a distance of four to six inches, and remain focused on it for 10 seconds. If the object does not change, a practitioner can be assured that the surroundings are reality. If an object is somehow distorted or askew, a practitioner knows that lucid dreaming is intact. The simplest option is to look at the tip of the finger since it is always close at hand. It is also possible to take a book and examine its text. Text in lucid dreaming will either blur or appear as alphabetical gibberish, or be full of incomprehensible symbols.

The issue of time is not important with indirect techniques since the major prerequisite is that they are performed immediately after awakening occurs. In the case of direct techniques, the issue of timing is much more critical.

Naturally, the best method for finding the right time to perform direct techniques is the same as indirect techniques – the deferred method. However, there are some serious differences here. First of all, one may interrupt one’s sleep at practically anytime of the night or early morning. Second, after having woken up (5-15 min.), one should not fall back asleep, but should immediately proceed to the techniques.

Direct techniques are many times more effective with the deferred method than at any other time. This is due to the fact that with the deferred method, the mind does not have time to become 100% alert, and it is easy to fall into the altered state of consciousness that will allow results.

When it comes to specific steps, one should awaken in the middle of the night either on one’s own or with the help of an alarm clock. Then, one should get up and do something for 3 to 10 minutes, and then lie down again in bed and perform the techniques. If it is probable that the practitioner will wake up in too alert a state, and thus not even be sleepy, then the interval between awakening and performing the direct technique should be shortened, and fewer things should be done during that period of time. It should be noted that with this setup, a free-floating state of mind plays a far lesser role that with other procedures.

The second most effective window of time is before falling asleep at night, when the practitioner goes to bed. During this period of time, the brain needs to shut down the body and mind in order to renew its strength, which has been expended over the course of the day. This natural process can be taken advantage of by introducing certain adjustments to it.

Attempts at performing direct techniques during the day are less effective. However, if fatigue has already had a chance to build up by this time, this can be taken advantage of because the body will try to fall into sleep. This is especially suited for those who are accustomed to napping during the day.

Generally, other windows of time produce a substantially worse result, which is why one should start with performing direct techniques in the middle of the night, or before a night’s sleep. Only after such techniques have been mastered will it be possible to experiment with daytime attempts.

Under normal circumstances, deliberate exit from lucid dreaming is not the norm. Deliberate exit is commonly caused by certain fears and prejudices. If a practitioner is not able to activate the body using other emergency return techniques, a careful consideration of the possibilities offered by lucid dreaming is recommended. There are many interesting and useful things that can be experienced in lucid dreaming. Why ruin the possibility of great opportunity because of a baseless fear?

To be fair, it must be noted that emergency exit techniques do not always work. As a rule, after a long period of sleep deprivation, or at the beginning of or in the middle of a night’s sleep, the urge to sleep is so great that it is difficult to resist the sleep paralysis phenomenon. In this respect, reevaluating the situation is highly recommended so that a practitioner is able to take advantage of the situation versus suffering by it. Sleep paralysis is easily transmuted into a lucid dream state by means of indirect techniques.

By the way, knowing how to exit paralysis is important not only for practitioners of lucid dreaming, since such paralysis occurs even without lucid dreaming for approximately one-third of the human population at least once in a lifetime. It usually happens before or after sleep.