The following suggestions are drawn from my personal ‘lucid dreaming toolkit’ I developed over the past years, according to the motto:
Reflect on your development in the waking state so that your efforts seep into your dream world.
From my experience, the tools described below are suitable for beginners, advanced practitioners and lucid dreamers-to-be. In addition, I encourage the readers to adapt them to their personal needs if applicable.
It’s where everyone starts from, right?
Draw up a ‘personal handbook’ on lucid dreaming consisting of excerpts from your favorite books or dream reports by other lucid dreamers. Recite everything you find inspiring or valuable and state the source of your notes. I recommend you use an over-seeable form (e.g. a list) for ticking off whenever you tried something out or achieved a certain goal from these records. As a consequence, this handbook will grow into a treasure chest of ideas, sparing you of boredom on your lucid dreaming path.
This method is recommended for any stage of your development as a consistent daily routine. The goal involves recording any of your attempts to attain lucidity in your dreams. I suggest you include the symptoms or signs you go through in dreaming reality or upon awakening indicating that you are about to reach a higher state of awareness (e.g., any sensations like vibrations or floating, sleep paralysis, hypnagogic imagery, or state of wonder in your dream content). This tool might turn out particularly helpful if you are trying to achieve your first lucid dream while struggling and doubting a successful outcome. By detecting the evidence of your (latent?) progress, you are likely to stay on track with a certain technique, affirmation, or attitude.
Consider writing down your lucid dream reports in a separate notebook for better traceability in the future. Try extending them with the following sections:
To keep your progress or lucid dream related activities easy to find at a glance, integrate characteristic symbols in a template of a calendar month marking the days when:
This method is helpful if you enjoy planning your actions in general. In this context, create a notebook with a list where you note down your intended experiments, leaving space for the date you carried them out and a few key phrases describing the results of your endeavors.
This tool could come in useful if you wish to quickly recall your present ‘arsenal of effective lucid dreaming hacks’, including:
Since both dreaming and waking reality tend to overlap, it might turn out to be interesting and profound to uncover the corresponding intersections! Examine your maps (e.g., as a mind map with the major theme in the centre) on a regular basis, keeping the following questions in mind:
Browse through your records and bring to mind your advancement in the long run, especially during ‘lucid dreaming droughts.’ Create a vision board representing your aspirations, updating this tool periodically.
At this point, I would like to emphasize the importance of avoiding putting yourself under any kind of pressure. To stay motivated, don’t compare yourself with other lucid dreamers. It’s all about YOUR personal development at your own pace, so try to enjoy the process of becoming an advanced lucid dreamer. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Based on my explorations and insights so far, you are probably dealing with a lifelong journey composed of never-ending lessons, highs and lows.
This article was released in issue from
March 2021
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