How to Lucid Dream: What To Try First

No, this blog will not have a photo. No, it will not be a long, fancy article. Yes, I doubt anyone besides the people I am helping now will even read this. But yes, I will share my method for lucid dreaming (you lose absolutely no sleep, and there are no complicated concepts.) Once you are more advanced, I recommend experimenting with other ideas.

So, without further ado, let’s start the blog.

I started trying lucid dreaming after learning that you can take control of your dreams and use them to solve real-life problems (confronting fears, etc.) I quickly searched up “how 2 luciddrem tonigh” (or something to that effect.) I was confused by the different methods, but simply using reality checks and affirmations (a process called daytime MILD) stood out to me, as well as using various visualization techniques as I fell asleep (although I do not always do this.) 

So, I did reality checks and started a dream journal. Once I learned my dream signs, I did reality checks every time I saw them IRL. I learned what reality checks worked for me, and did them (reading text like this blog and trying to breathe through a pinched nose are the only ones that work for me) and now I am recalling dreams every night, and having occasional lucid dreams. But, enough bragging, here is a step-by-step and day-by-day plan:

Day 0: Your first reality check. Learn about common reality checks and do them during the day whenever something abnormal happens. Don’t forget about critical thinking reality checks: What did I eat for breakfast? Is this room how I remember it being? Where am I? Do I know the people I am talking to? Is the video/movie I am watching making sense? Where is my family? There are a bunch of others, too.

Night 1: You keep a notebook or phone by your bed. (I must admit that I use an iPad for this, but DON’T SCROLL TIKTOK, just use it to write down your dreams if you remember them in the middle of the night.) 

Day 1: Try to recall any dreams, and write them down.

Day 7: You may have a few dreams in your dream journal by now, so patterns may start to emerge. Review your journal and see what you are often doing in your dreams, especially if it is illogical/impossible/improbable. Say affirmations during the day and before bed: If I am dreaming and (insert dream sign here), I will know that I am dreaming. Think, read, etc. about lucid dreaming before bed.

Night 10: You have a dream, and notice something is odd. However, you do not do a reality check, or your reality check fails. While this is sad, it is progress. Congrats on your first pre-lucid dream!

Night 14: You have the same dream, but the reality check works. However, the dream is murky, and you are overly excited. You wake up. You have achieved a semi-lucid dream. 

Night 30: You are in a television show, and things are not adding up. Different things appear in your hand, and nothing makes sense. You read a sign. You look away. No change. A few minutes later, you look back at it again. Why not, you have nothing to lose. And this time, the letters form complete gibberish. You lucid dream, and it lasts a few minutes. You enjoy it, and have a bit of control, although you are not a master yet.

Night ???: You’re at your childhood home, but it is abandoned. You see an inhuman form of your mother tower over you. But you know what’s happening. You’ve had the dream at least 3 times. Without even bothering to do a reality check, you reach out and grab the inhuman monster, and it becomes one with you, shrinking into you until it is the size of a garden gnome. You flick it away and fly. You fly straight through the ceiling. You don’t care if it makes sense. You’re lucid dreaming. Again. Now, you’ve had lucid dreams, but you’ve never had this much control. And it feels great. And what’s more, you know that you can probably stay in the dream for at least an hour. Plenty of time to fly and explore the dream world, AND work through some of your real-life problems. You wake up with the solution to a presentation you were struggling with, and do well. Congrats, your first super-lucid dream. You’re becoming an expert.

This is not exactly how my journey has gone, and it is not exactly how your journey will go. Some of you will lucid dream on the first night you try, and for a few people, it will take longer than shown here. This is just an example to show you what the first steps are in achieving a lucid dream, and to show that you will eventually lucid dream if you persist. I can just about promise that. These are just the first steps, so this wasn’t a super long blog. Still, I hope you enjoyed! 

A second blog is coming soon about how to avoid false awakenings.