Australia

I had an awakening and immediately attempted to roll out. That didn’t work, so I tried brain strain, but still nothing… So I phantom wiggled, not sure which part of my body, just something – anything, as I was determined to separate.

It worked, and I felt myself moving upward and forward and then I seemed to get a little stuck, and so I thought, “Oh, I am just going to stand up – they say that works when you are stuck.” I immediately stood up, my legs from the knees down went through my bed. It was very pleasant to be free of my body. The whole movement of separation had a slight, effervescent tingling sensation (as you see on Star Trek when they are translocating, i.e. “Beam me up Scotty.”)

I moved to the side of my bed, but I hadn’t opened my eyes yet as I was a teeny bit anxious (excited) about what I would see when I did. I naturally started touching everything within reach: the wall, the bed, and the stool at the end of my bed. I then opened my eyes.

I immediately felt and saw a small dark shadow at my feet. I knew it was Tsar, my Mother’s Blue Russian cat. Although he does not live with me at the moment, I knew it was him. As I moved away from room, I caught a glimpse of my body lying in my bed: my mouth was slightly open and I could hear myself softly snoring. I had no desire to look directly at my body.

I was thrilled to be out. I stepped into my living room (M.R.: no plan of action). To my left was a lamb and a sheep and several brownish-black geese. I was delighted to see them there in my living room. I felt Tsar at my feet again.

My attention was drawn to what was outside through the window. There I saw colorful, twirling carnival rides. The colors were not brilliant as I had hoped they might be, however when I looked directly at one it twirled faster. There were a multitude of birds in the sky, passing overhead. It was quite surreal. I got the same feeling as I got when watching the scene when birds flew by in the movie Jurassic Park.

Back in my living room, the animals had gone but I noticed wet, sloppy bird droppings on the carpet (naughty geese!). I looked at my hand it was not normal. Half was natural flesh, and the other half was like moulded, skin tone plastic, as in the mask the Phantom of the Opera wears. I was not at all perturbed at its appearance. I just thought, “oh, that’s interesting.” My next thought was, “I am going poke my finger through my hand.” I did, and then quickly removed it, thinking to myself, “eewww! It works.” Again, I was not perturbed.

I moved into the kitchen. It was as if burglars had been there. There was broken glassware and crockery all over the bench. I am presuming it was those naughty geese again. Anyway, I turned to the refridgerator and saw a broken mirror on the floor and wondered where it had come from. The refridgerator door was ajar, I opened it further and discovered that the vegetable crisper drawer had a mirrored front and it had been smashed. I opened the freezer door to see about 8 cups of ice cream (the commercial kind, something like Cornetto). Their lids had been peeled off and sticky ice cream had run and dripped everywhere. Was it those birds again?

I turned back into the living room to see more runny bird droppings than there were before. Puzzled, I wondered how I was going to clean up this mess.

I then heard people outside and looked down through the window. (I live upstairs.)

There were half a dozen people dressed in dark blue workman’s clothes down there talking. One of them was a woman who shot me an unpleasant look and said something that I couldn’t hear. I felt threatened. A little nervous, I waited for them to pass underneath my apartment, but they didn’t appear on the other side of the building. Phew! (In reality, my apartment is suspended between two buildings, cars and pedestrians pass under.)

Standing on the threshold of the living room and kitchen, I decided to fly and see how that felt. I zoomed around the ceiling a couple of times.

Now standing in the living room, contemplating what I should do next, I felt a little bored. I figured I might as well go back to my body (M.R.: wrong logic). I moved to my bed and crawled into my body. I felt a little disheveled and crumpled in there, but as soon as I felt smooth and comfortable I opened my eyes.

Since techniques used to enter lucid dreaming are associated with a specific type of mental operation, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions so that external distracters are kept to a minimum. A room should neither be too cold or too hot, nor too bright. Performing techniques at a comfortable temperature in a darkened room or while wearing a sleeping mask are ways to promote unhindered practice.

Interesting Fact!

In bright rooms, wearing a sleeping mask over the eyes can double the success rate of attempts, and also help one to enter a much deeper and longer lucid dreaming.

Interfering noises are often also major distracters and isolation from such noises is necessary to successful practice. It is often sufficient to turn off the phone and close doors and windows. If this does not help, or if it is extremely loud outside the window, one can use standard earmuffs.

It is also helpful to give advance notice to people so that they are not alarmed. It is also preferable that no one is in the bed with the practitioner. Most often, domestic animals interfere with the performance of techniques, which is why they should be fed beforehand and kept out of the room where direct or indirect techniques are practiced.

In addition to creating deliberate anchors that induce conscious dreaming, natural anchors should be given focused attention. These are objects and actions that regularly cause dream consciousness, even when consciousness is not desired. Being aware of the existence of natural anchors actually doubles the chances of their appearance.

The following experiences are common natural anchors that are present in dreams: death, sharp pain, intense fear, stress, flying, electric shock, sexual sensations, and dreaming about lucid dreaming entrance or lucid dreaming environment. When attempting dream consciousness, identifying natural anchors produces results nearly 100% of the time.

One may try to start flying each time that one answers the question. This is of course pointless when in waking reality. However, when dreaming, this will most likely lead to flight and once again prove that everything around is just a dream.

Questions

What is the difference between an out-of-body experience and dream consciousness?

After attaining dream consciousness, does the realistic quality of the surroundings differ from that of wakefulness?

Which technique can be used in a dream to become conscious in it?

Is it possible to achieve dream consciousness after the first attempt?

Is it true that not all people dream?

Why is learning to remember as many dreams as possible important for becoming conscious while dreaming?

What is dream cartography?

To experience dream consciousness, what must be done while falling asleep?

Could a tape measure become an anchor used to achieve dream consciousness?

What experiences in dreams often spontaneously give rise to a state of conscious awareness?

What must immediately be done after becoming conscious while dreaming?

Task

Try to achieve at least one instance of dream consciousness.

Diving headfirst is used if sensory amplification techniques do not work, or when the practitioner in lucid dreaming is located in an undefined space where there is nothing to touch or look at. This technique works thanks to the unusual vestibular sensations that it causes, which help to enhance perception. This technique is performed with the eyes shut if vision is available and the practitioner literally dives headfirst into the floor or space at the feet. A feeling of movement away from the physical body will immediately arise during the flight down, and the dive itself will be experienced as if it is really happening. Simultaneously, the surrounding space may darken and become colder. Agitation or fear may also appear. After 5 to 15 seconds of flight, the practitioner either arrives in an undetermined place in lucid dreaming or hits a dead end, like a wall. In the case of a dead end, a translocation technique should be used. Translocation may also be attempted if deepening does not occur during the flight, if sense perception stops improving, or if a good degree of realism has already been achieved. An alternative to the translocation technique: hold the hands about four to six inches in front of the face and try to observe them without opening the eyes; this will move the practitioner to another random location.

When falling headfirst, do not think about the floor; assume that it will be penetrated. This very effective if lucid dreaming has not reached a fullness of depth.

A desire to not simply fall down observing one’s perceptions, but instead race swiftly downward while trying to move away from the body is extremely important. In case of failure to do so, instead of deepening, such a fall may lead to a return to the state of being awake, i.e. to a foul.