Welcome to Dream Doorway, Lucid Dreamer!

Posted on August 1, 2010 by
Doorway to Lucid Dreams

Doorway to Lucid Dreams

A Blog about Lucid Dreaming

Support and how-to advice for the lucid dreamer

If you have ever wanted to consciously experience, control, and remember your dreams, you have come to the right place.

This blog is a product of The Lucid Dreaming Center, and is designed to be helpful on a day-to-day basis for anyone interested in learning how to lucid dream.  Guidance and support, as well as coaching and advice will be the hallmarks of this lucid dreaming blog.  We want to be your resource for how to advice on lucid dreaming, and a resource for more advanced lucid dreamers who want to deepen and further the experience.

This blog will also cover related topics such as how to learn to remember more of your dreams, how to interpret dream content, and the best ways to keep a dream journal.  We will also cover subjects such as lucid dreaming supplements, lucid dreaming music, and how to pull more meaning out of passive dreams.

We encourage input and advice from seasoned lucid dreamers, and also the feedback from newer lucid dreamers why try any of our advice and guidance.  We’d love to know what worked for you, and what tweaks or other ideas you can pass along to others who are learning lucid dreaming techniques.

Please check back often – as with every emerging science, new discoveries and how-to techniques for lucid dreaming appear each day, and we will make sure you are the first to know!

Happy lucid dreaming!

- Dream Doorway Admin

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A warning about Lucid Dreaming supplements

Posted on December 10, 2011 by

There are many lucid dreaming supplements available that can help make your dreams longer, more vivid, and easier to remember.  Some say that the supplements can actually help produce a lucid dream, but we think it may just make them easier to remember and more dynamic when they do happen.  Anyway, many of the lucid dreaming supplements are safe, natural and easy to take.  Some are even the kind you can take by eating certain foods before bed.

What you should be aware of, however, is that some lucid dreaming supplements can lose their effect of taken too often.  In fact, some even can have the opposite effect if the become relied upon.  You can check out the various supplements at our sister site here, but the point to be made is that taking these aids should always be in conjunction with doing all necessary techniques you would do without them, with the same diligence and effort.  You do not want to become reliant on these lucid dream aids, no matter how much effect they give, to help you learn how to lucid dream.

Another point should be made that lucid dreaming supplements can sometimes have unwanted effects such as interfering with the amount of deeper sleep you get, or causing you to wake up after particularly vivid dreams.  As much as lucid dreaming can be exciting and an incredible experience, be careful if using supplements that you do not let your lucid dreaming adventure interfere with your waking life.

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Why we dream – perspectives on dream meanings.

Posted on October 18, 2011 by

One question many lucid dreamers, and in fact many people with any interest in remembering and interpreting their dreams, ask is why do we dream?  There have been many theories. Freud, and then later psychoanalysts suggested that dreams are a representation of unconscious wishes and impulses. During our waking life we do not think of these impulses, and instead repress them into our unconscious.  During our dreams, when things are safer – there is no one there to watch or find out! – these repressed desires and thoughts express themselves.  Psychoanalytic theory states that those impulses that are even too scary to the conscious during dreams are not expressed directly, and are instead expressed through metaphor and representation - objects and people in the dream not really being who they stand for.

A newer theory that we like here at Dream Doorway has been put forth that suggests that dreams are actually a form of self-analysis or self-psychology.  This theory suggests that dreams are merely trying to make sense of less-than conscious desires or thoughts - that it is emotional confusion and uncertainty that the person harbors about their current life or past that the dream world is trying to unravel and piece together to make sense.

Here at Dream Doorway we’ve dedicated a page to dream meanings.

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Don’t forget your dream journal!

Posted on September 8, 2011 by

The biggest mistake people sometimes make when they start to have lucid dreams is that they abandon their dream journal.  The assumption is that now that their dreams are lucid they will remember them naturally, and the dream journal was a helpful step in the process that is no longer needed.  That assumption often proves wrong, and in our estimation often leads the dreamer to forget many non-lucid dreams that may have interesting meanings, and even some fully lucid dream experiences!

After you stop using your journal you may gradually find that you are only remembering those dreams that are particularly dynamic and powerful, or those that happen right around the time that you wake up.  You may still remember most of your lucid dreams, but keep in mind that sometimes knowing your non-lucid dreams can help you visualize keys and pathways into lucidity – literally allowing you to plant the suggestion, “the next time I dream about that, I will be lucid”

Nothing has been proven to help you remember more detail and depth of your dreams than a good dream journal that you keep diligently.  If you stray from using a dream journal you take the risk that you will slow your progress toward having more, and longer, and more detailed lucid dream experiences.

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Lucid dreaming with a partner

Posted on July 31, 2011 by

While it is not possible to share an actual dream experience with another person, it is possible to share the experience of pursuing lucid dreaming with a friend or partner.  Working with someone else, or even a small group of people as you pursue lucid dream adventures has many benefits, including having others to problem solve with when you are stuck, having the experience take up more of your conscious awareness so that it might enter your sleep awareness too, and to generally compare techniques and ideas with others.  Working with someone else or a small group of others as you pursue lucid dreaming and generally learn about your dream meanings also helps you generally get support and share your excitement.

One thing to rememeber when working with others is that everyone will learn and become effective at lucid dreaming at different rates, so do not be discouraged if your partners(s) learn more quickly than you.  Just learn from their successes, but be patient with yourself - lucid dreaming is natural and possible, and with hard work you should be able to be awake, lucid and in control in your own dreams so that you might share your own adventures with your supports as well! 

At our main site at “The Lucid Dreaming Center” we have a section dedicated to sharing the experiences of lucid dreamers like yourself.

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Lucid dreaming supplements

Posted on July 11, 2011 by

A common question is whether there are herbal supplements and home remedies that can help one achieve a lucid dream.  The answer is complicated: While an herbal supplement cannot by itself make you more likely to have a lucid dreaming experience on its own, it can help set the stage to allow you to have one.  Lucid dreaming supplements including choline citrate and vitamin B6 may help you have more vivid and memorable dream states, or may help your sleep have more REM time.  These effects help set you up for a better probability for a great lucid dreaming experience.  That said, there is no real shortcut to actual lucid dreaming – only through using the right techniques and sticking with them will you achieve lucid dreams.

One related piece of advice is that if you have not had any lucid dreams to this point and are just starting out, do not start taking lucid dreaming supplements.  One thing that advanced lucid dreamers are very aware of is that the excitement of your first few lucid dreams can actually cause you to wake up.  If you use lucid dreaming supplements to make your dreams more vivid, the chances that the dream will make you wake up are enhanced.  It may actually be better, in fact, for your first lucid dreams to be benign and serene.

Best of luck!

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Lucid dreaming to work out anxieties

Posted on June 6, 2011 by

One major potential of lucid dreaming is to work out anxieties – from public speaking, to flying, to asking someone on a date.  The lucid dream can be a place to vividly practice the desired skill, while not worrying at all about any actual real-life consequences. Many have found that the lucid dream state is perfect for this kind of confrontation of fears and/or rehearsal of what is feared.  It may not take the place of traditional therapy when these fears are severe, but might still be worth telling your therapist that you do have lucid dreams because s/he may want to give you assignments for your dreams!

For example, imagine you are afraid of public speaking.  Once you get expert at lucid dreaming, guide your dream world to a place as similar as possible to where you might find yourself having to give a public presentation.  Then give the presentation and guide your lucid dream toward an environment where the speech is a huge success, and where you feel completely calm and excited about the experience.

You can even get creative with the lucid dream rehearsal technique.  You can imagine yourself in the audience for your own talk!  Look around and see people interested and exited about the topic.  Notice yourself up front looking calm and relaxed.  Or, imagine being at a gathering afterwards where you are thinking back on the positive experience of giving the talk, and having people come up to you to tell you how great it was.

Using lucid dream rehearsal for events and activities that you are worried about can be a powerful and effective way to work out anxieties!

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Do this too…and have a lucid dream tonight!

Posted on February 2, 2011 by

One way to jump start the process of having a lucid dream is to use the power of visual cues to trigger you to know when you are dreaming and when you are not.  To encourage a lucid dream tonight, make it a point of looking at your reflection whenever possible today – through the obvious means like when you are in a bathroom, to less obvious like looking in reflective store windows, your spoon at lunch, or your smart phone.  Stare at the reflection and look at the details…and while you are doing so ask yourself “am I dreaming?”  Get in the habit of using any and all opportunities when you are not dreaming to look at your reflection or the reflection of any part of yourself, and make there be an automatic trigger that makes you ask yourself if you are dreaming.

Why are we making such a big deal about noticing reflections in your waking life?  In a lucid dream you will not be able to see your reflection, or your reflection will be distorted.  So one of these times you will be looking for your reflection, asking yourself if you are dreaming, and the image will become distorted…congratulations – you are in a lucid dream!  One further piece of advice: During this initial phase of the lucid dream do not rush into the dream world…as if thanking your dream state for allowing this technique to work, just relax and consider the distorted reflection for a minute.  Enjoy the fact that you are in a lucid dream!  Then slowly look around and see what there is to see…even if the dream does not last too much longer you know you are capable, and you know this lucid dream how-to technique worked.

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The problem of waking up during the lucid dream

Posted on January 7, 2011 by

If there is one question that constantly comes up for us at the Lucid Dreaming Center it is how to keep from waking up as soon as the excitement of being lucid in a dream hits.  There is no easy answer, but one technique that seems to work is to mentally rehearse (and even use verbal affirmations) not getting too excited when you realize you are lucid in a dream.  Relatedly, it is good to practice moving slowly (not literally, but as far as what to do first) when you first realize you are lucid, as opposed to trying to run into an adventure right away.

Basically the problem of waking up during a lucid dream stems from our tendency to wake up when in a state of heightened arousal – it is a natural and protective reaction that would ensure that we would wake up if something urgent was going on around us.  Unfortunately for the novice just learning how to lucid dream, there is no easy way, beyond practice, to try to shut down our natural tendency to wake up when overly aroused emotionally while asleep.

So, our advice: Congratulations on having a lucid dream in the first place, and know that with a little practice you will get better at remaining in the sleep state.

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No lucid dreams for a while?

Posted on December 30, 2010 by

For some people lucid dreams come in phases.  One week they may experience nightly lucid dream experiences, and the next almost nothing.  The interesting paradox about lucid dreams is that spending time during the day worrying and even mildly obsessing about why they are not occurring can actually promote their occurence at night!  So, its okay to think about why the lucid dreams are not happening, and at the same time make sure you are keeping up with your dream journal.  Your next lucid dream will come soon.

That said, we can also provide you with some concrete ideas about inducing your next lucid dream, such as:

Step up your daytime homework sessions – all the wake-induced techniques we talk about her and at The Lucid Dreaming Center.

  • Switch from wake induced to dream induced or vice versa, if you concentrate on one or the other – again, click the link to our main site for more info.
  • Change the time you wake yourself up in the early morning to try wake induced lucid dreaming
  • purposely take a break from all techniques – paradoxically this can induce lucid dreams
  • Try a lucid dreaming supplement like Vitamin B6

These are just a few suggestions that may help…but whatever works for you, we hope you will use our comment section to let others know what worked!

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Do this quick lucid dreaming how to technique today

Posted on August 29, 2010 by

Many people want to jump start the process of lucid dreaming, just to prove they can do it.  A question that often comes up is what is the quickest and easiest way to accomplish this.  Here is one technique:

Throughout your day today, at least 100 times, ask yourself this question: “Is this a dream?”  Make it so that no matter what you are doing, you ask that question.  Accelerate this towards bed time, asking the question constantly.  When you are dreaming you will also ask the question, since it has become such a part of your day (and how many times have aspects of your day been incorperated into your dream meanings!).

The difference will be that the answer will be “yes”!

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