Articles, Research, and Notes

Lucid dreaming is consciously realizing that you are dreaming while in the dreamworld. Once lucid, a dreamer can do anything: fly, visit a person or place, meditate, or practice a high-performance skill.

Throughout the night there are several opportunities to plant seeds of lucidity. Understanding how we sleep is foundational for developing a lucid dreaming practice.

Lucid dreaming is a technique that anyone can learn. As an experienced lucid dreamer, you'll be able to fly, fulfill desires, overcome fears, boost creativity, and train high-performance skills.

Anyone can learn to lucid dream. Lucid dreaming requires commitment, curiosity, and access to the ideal techniques for the current stage in the learning process.

Certain drugs and herbs can increase the likelihood of having a lucid dream and stimulate dream control. One such drug is galantamine, an alkaloid used to treat Alzheimer's.

Is lucid dreaming dangerous or just another harmless experience that anyone can try? Are there things you should be cautious about or safety practices to follow?

The WILD lucid dreaming technique is one of the most effective techniques for inducing lucid dreams. It involves going directly into a lucid dream from wakefulness, without losing consciousness.

Lucid dreaming offers an array of benefits – both in the dreamworld and while awake. Some of these benefits are surprising and non-intuitive.

In-person lucid dreaming retreats are growing in popularity to help lucid dreamers develop or deepen their nighttime practice.

Inception is a modern classic especially fascinating to lucid dreamers and other dream enthusiasts.

For those eager to explore the depths of their mind various tools and devices have emerged promising to enhance and facilitate the lucid dreaming experience.

From scientists like Einstein and Mendeleev, to musician Paul McCartney and golfer Jack Nicklaus, the realm of dreams has been the place of invention and inspiration.

Can lucid dreaming be therapeutic? The short answer is yes. Dreams and lucid dreams have long held the fascination of doctors, psychologists and other therapists, and over the last few decades, a form of treatment called Lucid Dream Therapy (LDT) has developed. 

Developing the skill of lucid dreaming and making progress comes in fits and starts. One week we make a lot of progress, then maybe 3 weeks go by with seemingly zero lucid dreams and very few remembered dreams at all.

Lucid dreaming is not scary on account of the nervous system’s unique brain chemistry during sleep and REM cycles. Without norepinephrine or cortisol, a fear response is biologically extremely unlikely while dreaming.

Dr. Huberman explains the neural and cognitive functions of slow wave vs REM sleep and how they relate to learning new skills, controlling emotions, and mastering lucid dreaming. 

Wake Back to Bed, or WBTB, is perhaps the most reliable single technique for inducing lucid dreams.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (often referred to as MILD) is a prospective memory technique for triggering lucid dreams.

Lucid dreaming is fun, aids in learning and high-performance skill training, and fosters an open, flexible mind.

The best technique for learning to lucid dream and is to combine three efforts: keeping a dream journal, performing state tests, and practicing Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB).

A great lucid dreaming app will provide detailed instruction in the techniques of lucidity, on-device notifications for performing state tests, and a dream journal. It should be designed for nighttime, and it should be affordable.

The amount of sleep we require changes as we grow. At every age, our brains and bodies are undergoing change. During periods of intensive development we need even more sleep than during more stable periods in our lives.

I began to lucid dream as a teenager sent off to boarding school. It was a perfect learning environment: since the world around me was so controlled and defined, I felt powerless over my external experience. At the same time, my inner life was just beginning to blossom. If I wanted adventure, I had to find it within my own mind.