Moscow, Russia

Last night I spent about an hour developing the interplay of images in my mind after I no left felt any feeling of kinesthetic sense. I was lying on my back in an uncomfortable position. After sliding towards sleep for some time, I felt slight vibrations and echoes of sounds from the dream world, but the uncomfortable position still hindered me. In the end, I thought the heck with it, and decided to lie down however was comfortable, and turned over to lie on my stomach. Despite the fact that the movement upset the process, after about five minutes the state began to return and build up. I was able to get a little vibration this time, although I was unable to amplify it. I drew a picture of my kitchen in my mind, and because the images in that state were really vivid, strong, and realistic, after some time I understood that not only were my attention and awareness there, but so were my bodily sensations. I was quite surprised that lucid dreaming had been so easy to fall in to (there was no doubt that this was lucid dreaming).

I jumped out through the window and began to fly around the courtyard. Actually, it was the first time that I had flown only upon a single mental command, without any physical effort (M.R.: no deepening and no plan of action). The courtyard bore only 10% similarity to its real-life counterpart, but I was not at all surprised by this, and I simply enjoyed it as much as I could, as I was able see and was not immediately thrown out. But, after having looked at and taken in the city, the thought of whether or not this was lucid dreaming and not just a lucid dream occurred. I was so conscious in the dream that I was able to know about and comprehend such terms, and differentiate between them – can you imagine?! I have to add that I gave little attention to my memory, so I can’t say how much of my “self-awareness” was there, but I was aware enough to be able to differentiate between lucid dreaming and a lucid dream (or at least think about the difference).

I even went and asked people around if it was lucid dreaming or a lucid dream. Sounds funny, doesn’t it? The funniest thing was that they answered that it was a different world, and they refused to discuss the topic any further with me. Then, I decided to not get my mind all mixed up and just go with the plot, which turned out to be quite long and uninterrupted! I recalled a moment from the day before how I had lain down and induced lucid dreaming while lying on my back, and how I had turned over and flown away. I recalled all this periodically during the course of lucid dreaming, and realized that I should try to ask about what had been going on with me on the forum later.

Then, later in lucid dreaming, I found myself in a basement. As there was just a really nasty smell there, I decided that I had already had enough and that it was time to go back. That happened even more easily, as soon as I thought about going back (M.R.: wrong action), a vibration as light as a breeze went through me and then I was back in my body with full awareness and a well-rested body and mind. I was completely refreshed! And that’s despite the fact that I remember everything, every second of the dream, from the moment I started flying!

The deepening techniques used by an advanced practitioner essentially differ little from those used at the basic level. However, there are two fundamental differences in the way these techniques are performed. First, an experienced lucid dreamingr will prefer to perform deepening at the same time he begins to implement his plan of action. That is to say, he doesn’t do as a novice does: separate, deepen, and then implement the plan of action. Instead, he separates and immediately implements his plan of action, in parallel to intensifying the realness of his sensations. This has beneficial effect on the quality of the deepening, and it simply saves time for other things in lucid dreaming.

Second, advanced practitioners and novices differ in their intent to deepen and how it they realize it. If, when performing a deepening technique, a novice will often expect results from the simple fact of mechanically performing some action, then an advanced lucid dreamingr will perform deepening techniques with the focused aim and desire of obtaining a hyperrealistic lucid dreaming, as if being pulled towards it by the techniques themselves, all while recalling the sensations of previous experiences. The techniques merely serve to help him better express his intention.

Science first accepted the possibility of lucid dreaming state within the dream consciousness context with Keith Hearne’s 1975 experiment at England’s Hull University. Over the course of the experiment, practitioner Alan Worsley was able to make deliberate and previously agreed eye movements at the same that an EKG monitor indicated his brain was in a state of sleep. Several years later, Stephen LaBerge would perform a similar experiment at Stanford University that became well known due to his active contribution to the development of this field of study.

Quite a number of scientific experiments have been conducted worldwide to prove the existence of the phenomenon and investigate its nature. For example, experiments on three lucid dreamingrs at the Max Plank Institute in Frankfurt (2008) demonstrated the following: the largest difference between the states of wakefulness, lucid dreaming, and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep is observed at the 40 Hz frequency, and is concentrated in the frontal parts of the brain. Essentially, it was demonstrated that lucid dreaming is something in-between wakefulness and REM sleep. Notably, those very parts of the brain that are very much responsible for consciousness and whose development distinguishes humans from primates turn out to be the most active while in lucid dreaming. This work was undertaken by J. Allan Hobson, Ursula Voss, Romain Holzmann, and Inka Tuin. They are credited with demonstrating the difference between states of consciousness at 40 Hz.

More in-depth explanations of the nature of lucid dreaming state phenomenon remain to be discovered. With each passing year, the scientific community increasingly realizes how important the study of this state is, recognizing that it enables a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for consciousness and how varying states of wakefulness and sleep arise.

There is also a theory which states that lucid dreaming is a product of the evolution of human consciousness: consciousness first arose in and occupied wakefulness, and then gradually began to seep into the REM state, the next-closest state still free of conscious awareness. Possibly, conscious existence in two worlds – wakefulness and lucid dreaming – will be as commonplace for men and women of the future as being aware only during wakefulness is today. However, there is also a completely opposite theory which maintains that lucid dreaming ability used to be inherent, but is gradually disappearing. It points to the frequent ease with which younger children enter lucid dreaming, but later lose the ability with age due to its neglect.

Ventura, USA

I went to bed at 10 pm. I woke at 5:30, used the bathroom, and went back to bed. It took me a while to fall asleep. Once I did, I woke up a couple of times and changed positions each time. I felt vibrations come on and heard people talking as they came in my house. I also heard little footsteps near my bed and thought it might be one of my kids. Luckily, I remembered that this type of phenomenon happens when entering lucid dreaming (M.R.: no separation). I stayed still and strained the brain to increase the vibrations. This worked really well (M.R.: no separation). I then used phantom wiggling and got my left arm out. At this point I tried to separate by rolling out, but with no success. I then got my right arm out, but I thought I had actually moved my real arm. I was worried I had blown the whole thing, but decided to continue anyways. I tried to see both arms in front of me. They quickly appeared and I saw them through closed eyes! I started swinging my arms from side to side and rolled out of my body.

I was now on the floor next to my bed. I was so excited. I had just done what I had been reading about for 10 months! I remembered to stabilize the experience by rubbing my hands together. As I was doing this, I looked down and noticed my hands looked fat and swollen. I then saw my wife leave the bedroom and go downstairs (M.R.: no plan of action). I followed her and noticed the sun shining in through the windows. It was still dark in real life. My wife then went back upstairs, so I decided to go outside. I started for the front door but decided to fly through the window. I landed in the street and walked around for a bit. I started to go up to my neighbor’s house, but noticed that everything was fading (M.R.: no maintaining). I had lost the experience and was now back in bed. I quickly spun around (in my mind) and noticed myself right back in the same spot I had left! I walked up to my neighbor’s door, rang the doorbell, and waited for her to come. I then lost it again and tried spinning, but it did not work.

Quick Instructions for Novices

Success Rate:

For 1-5 attempts (1-3 days) – 50%

For 6-10 attempts (2-7 days) – 80%

For 11-20 attempts (3-14 days) – 90%