Saint Petersburg, Russia

I woke up at early in the night after some difficulties with falling asleep. Blurred images started to float before my eyes and I realized that I could enter lucid dreaming. I started to discard unnecessary images, and after getting ahold of one of them, I emerged in some kind of a yellow corridor. The level of general realness and awareness of the experience was about 80% to 90% of that of reality. I remembered about the methods for deepening, which is why I started to look at everything going on around me, but this did not yield any serious results. I started to touch myself, but all sensation seemed somewhat dampened. I realized that I was losing awareness. I came round, but nevertheless fell asleep in about 20 seconds (M.R.: no plan of action and no maintaining).

In a deep lucid dreaming, the properties of the surrounding environment become very similar to the physical world. However, it may sometimes be necessary to pass through a wall or translocate to avoid a physical barrier in lucid dreaming. There are two basic options for passing through barriers like walls. Usually, mastering these requires several attempts.

Interesting Fact!

If a practitioner concentrates on the physical sensations associated with passing through a wall, it is possible to get stuck. A practitioner may even experience the feeling of obstructed breathing when this happens.

Rapid Defocused Penetration

Run or jump at a wall with a burning desire to penetrate it. Don’t focus on the wall; instead concentrate on the immediate surroundings. Do not try to take anything from the current location since this may impede a successful passage through the wall.

The Closed Eyes Technique

When approaching a wall, the practitioner must close his eyes and completely focus on a desire to pass through it while imagining that the wall does not exist, or that it is transparent and penetrable. Surface resistance should be pressed through, continuing on with the aggressive desire and concentration.

Varied cycles of indirect techniques is an almost mandatory precondition for getting the best result. There are some exceptions. Sometimes, through indirect indicators, a practitioner may be inclined to begin with certain techniques, regardless of what had been planned. These are a sort of hint from the body and the ability to use such cues plays an extremely important role in the use of indirect techniques because they enable a practitioner to substantially increase the effectiveness of his practice.

Hint No. 1: Images

If the practitioner becomes aware upon awakening that some images, pictures, or remnants from dreams are before him, then he should immediately proceed to the technique of observing images, with all of the results that arise from it. If this does not lead to anything, then cycling with a set of techniques should begin.

Hint No. 2: Noises

If the practitioner realizes upon awakening that he hears an internal noise, roaring, ringing, whistling, and so forth, then he should immediately begin from the technique of listening in. If this has no effect, then cycles of indirect techniques ought to commence.

Hint No. 3: Vibrations

If a practitioner feels vibrations throughout the body while awakening, they should be amplified through the use of straining the brain or straining the body without using muscles. When the vibrations reach their peak, the practitioner can try to separate. If nothing happens after several attempts, indirect technique cycles should start.

Hint No. 4: Numbness

If a practitioner wakes to numbness in a body part, phantom wiggling of that part should be attempted. If no result is achieved after several attempts, cycling should be tried. Of course, it is better to refrain from techniques if the numbness is very intense and causes substantial discomfort.

Hint No. 5: Paralysis

If the practitioner feels that his body is immobilized and that he is unable to move a muscle upon awakening, then he has encountered sleep paralysis (sleep stupor). This phenomenon is a sign that one is in lucid dreaming, and it only remains for the practitioner to somehow separate from the body no matter what, as well as overcome the night terror that often arises during sleep paralysis.

These hints may arise not only immediately upon awakening, but also upon an attempt to perform cycles of techniques. If the hints are more pronounced than the results of the techniques themselves, then it makes sense to turn one’s attention to them or exploit them concurrently with techniques.

It is also necessary to simply understand what the hint is trying to tell you: for example, if some unreal sensation suddenly arises on its own upon awakening, then it is necessary to simply intensify it and leave the body right then. If you follow this general principle, then you don’t need to know exactly what the hints are or what exactly to do when they occur. Everything should happen intuitively and easily. The point is that there are a large number of other lucid dreaming manifestations in addition to the five hints above that one should be always ready for. However, it would be simply impossible to describe them all, let alone remember them.

This interesting technique should be used by experienced practitioners, or if all other deepening techniques fail.

A practitioner aggressively imagines being located in the physical world, experiencing its intrinsic reality of perception, and not in lucid dreaming. This should be done while in a state of separation from the body with a sense of vision present. If successful, the surrounding lucid dreaming space will immediately brighten and sensory perception of lucid dreaming will exceed the normal experience of reality.

If this technique produces no clear results after a few seconds, another technique should be used.

Moscow, Russia

I went to bed with the intention of entering lucid dreaming while dreaming or upon awakening in the morning. I woke up at about 6:30 am, and decided to try the method of visualization, as phantom wiggling had not worked over the past 2 days (M.R.: no separation). Vague images gradually created a scene in front of me, which I then found myself participating in. I felt myself separating from my body, and rolled out of it. I opened my eyes. Some guy grabbed me by the shoulder and said, "You’ve left your body, be cool." I told him that I was ready. He turned me around, and I saw my body…

My body was lying on its back with open eyes, even though I had started visualizing while lying on my stomach. Not assigning any particular significance to this, I decided to deepen right away. I squatted down and began to quickly palpate the floor and the walls with the palms of my hands. I then looked at my index finger, and could discern the lines in the skin. Figuring that this was all wonderful, I went to the kitchen in order to fly (M.R.: no plan of action). However, I remembered that it was best for novices not to attempt this. I returned to my bedroom door and pictured there being a sunny beach behind it. I opened the door and immediately woke up lying on my back (M.R.: no maintaining and no re-entering)…