The Dream Well

Okay, so you’ve experienced a lucid dream.  That’s great, but how long did you remain in a lucid state for?  Unfortunately, the first times you experience a lucid dream may not last very long.  You may become aware of the lucidity, get excited and wake up as a result.  This is completely normal. It is common for first time lucid dreamers to be unable to sustain a lucid dream for a long period of time.  Although it may seem like a bad thing to wake up due to being excited (and it is disappointing, that’s for sure), at least you’re on your way to sustaining a lucid dream for a long period of time.

The best advice is to try to remain calm as you enter a lucid dream.  As you progress into the lucid dream, try to keep focus on the dream itself, and nothing else.  When entering, pause for a second.  Try to grasp the scenario, and then proceed calmly.  Don’t focus too much on actually controlling the dream to begin with – that may require more experience to be done effectively.  First things first: focus solely on remaining lucid, and nothing else.  In order to interact with your dreams, you will need to maximise the time you remain lucid – this is essential!  By all means, feel free to experiment with your lucid dream; just don’t get so overwhelmed by the whole experience that it reduces the likeliness of remaining in the lucid state.

There are two very useful techniques you can utilise in order to enhance your lucid dreaming experience.  These techniques can be used to be increase awareness of the lucid dream, or to make sure you don’t lose the lucid state.  While these recommendations are not guaranteed to work as everyone is different, they are two of the most renowned ways to maintain your lucid dream.

Hand Rubbing

One common method used to maintain the lucid state is to simply rub your hands together.  This will reinforce the idea of keeping focused on the dream as opposed to waking up – which is obviously something you want to try and avoid.  When in a lucid dream, you may dream you’re indoors or outdoors.  If indoors, try touching furniture or the walls. If outdoors, touching the ground may be useful.  Essentially rubbing your hands helps to stabilise the lucid dream you’re in.

Dream Spinning

One common experience many people face is a lucid dream beginning to fade unexpectedly.  If you begin to sense the lucid dream is coming to an end, a common technique to prevent this is called “dream spinning.”  Dream spinning is actually relatively easy.  Imagine yourself as a child spinning around on the spot.  Sounds easy, right?  This technique is practiced by many lucid dreamers and is considered to be reliable in sustaining a lucid dream.  In order to receive the full effects of dream spinning, it will likely take 10-30 seconds of spinning.  Once you come to a finish with spinning, you will often find that your lucid state has been restored, and you may also find yourself in a whole new environment.  You can actually choose to use dream spinning in order to achieve a different dream setting, regardless of whether the lucid state is diminishing or not.  That being said, a smart practice is to continue to remind yourself that you’re lucid dreaming whilst dream spinning as you may sometimes find yourself losing lucidity as a result.

These two techniques should work on the typical lucid dreamer.  The most important thing you can do though is not get too worked up on losing lucidity when you first begin to lucid dream.  Instead, praise yourself for having gained lucidity at all – you deserve it!  I know, it’s disappointing to finally become lucid only to lose the state moments after, but it will get better if you set your mind to it.  It all comes down to self-belief and determination.

Kerry McGlone is a Lucid Dreaming enthusiast, and creator of http://www.dreamlucidly.info/
As a frequent researcher, she has attained knowledge and experience on lucid dreams, resulting in an enhanced understanding and having the passion to share knowledge with others.  If you’re interested in becoming a lucid dreamer, feel free to give Dream Lucidly a visit!

You may be interested in these other posts on The Dream Well:

The Wonderful Wolrd of Lucid Dreaming, by Kerry McGlone
Lucid Dreams, An Introduction
New Research Links Lucid Dreams with Psychosis
Tibetan Dream Yoga

If you would like to learn more about how to achieve lucidity in a dream, you may be interested in the online course:
“The Mysteries of Dreaming Well: Sacred Dream Initiation”

Thanks for the stunning artwork “On Silent Wings” to Pat Erickson.

See more amazing works here.