Hey you! So I know, I haven’t written my personal blog in a while…

And at first I felt a tad ‘bad’ about it. But not anymore.

Why haven’t I blogged? I could reel off a list like — ‘I’ve had no ideas’, which is a lie, I’ve had tons… ‘I haven’t had the time’, another lie, I always make time for myself and wake up early… ‘I’m being too self-critical’, that ones got some truth to it, but it’s something I work on everyday…

The real reason is this – I’ve been dreaming… (the kind you do in your sleep).

I’ve always been excited to fall asleep at night just so I can watch whatever movie my mind plays out to me. But lately I’ve grown an even bigger obsession with dreaming.

In particular, lucid dreaming — the art of becoming conscious within your dreams.

You’ll know you’re having a lucid dream when you realise ‘I’m dreaming!’ while you’re asleep. And one of the coolest things about it is that once you become conscious in your dream, you can be the director of it all, and have access to one of the most powerful virtual reality generators — the mind.

You can be invisible like Harry Potter, be superhuman, decide which path to take, choose who you want to see, say what you want to say… It’s basically Inception (that’s a movie btw incase you haven’t seen it you crazy human 😉).

But there’s sooo much more to it than just being in an Inception-style pleasure garden dreamscape, lucid dreaming has real-world benefits and I want to embrace them.

Other curious dreamers have spoken about how it’s helped them to heal physically and emotionally. How it’s been used to 0ver-come addictions. How it’s been proven to help athletes improve their ability.

And that’s what fascinates me most…

A few weeks back my Coach nudged me to study this more. As a girl who is massively into self-development — could there be a more fun way to grow?…

After 100 days of practicing the art of lucid dreaming you can catch me back here writing up on what I’ve learnt so far. And even though I know at times I lucid dream already…

…Here’s my game-plan and how I’m going to do it:

1. DREAM JOURNAL 🖊📓

If you’re like me and you’re aware that you dream each night — this one won’t be too tough.

But if you don’t think you dream, you’re going to have to be a bit more aware when you wake.

This is the first step to digging into your mind.

This involves two things: making a dream plan and starting a dream journal (any notepad will do!).

The Dream Plan: I’ve never had to really think about a ‘dream plan’ as I know each night I experience my dreams. But if you don’t, when you’re laying in bed before you drift off repeat a short sentence to yourself like — “I will remember my dreams tonight”, over and over and over again.

This helps to subconsciously prepare your mind for dreaming. Just like you automatically tell yourself you need to wake up at 6 a.m. on weekdays to catch your train to work, dream prepping is exactly the same.

The Dream Journal: Here’s the important part, as soon as you wake, write your dream down in your journal, that you keep beside your bed.

If you wake in the night — do the same, grab it and write it down, then when you go back to sleep again repeat it in your mind with the intention of falling back into the dream you were having.

Then again when you wake up for the day — repeat.

This step might take some discipline at first, as lets face it, most of us hate mornings unless you’re a ‘freak’ like me 😉, but it’ll soon become a habit.

2. WAKE UP, BACK TO SLEEP 🙄😴

After a few nights of solely dream journaling, it’s time to step it up a notch.

A lucid dream scientist, Morely, calls this the “Wake, Back to Bed” step.

Here’s how I’m going to do it:

I’ll set my alarm 2 hours earlier than I usually get up (5 a.m.) — REM sleep territory! (THE best time for dreaming)…

Why? Because if you interrupt this time in your sleep, there’s a good chance you’ll begin to dream again as soon as you drift back, and REM time is where vivid dreams happen.

Here I’ll see if I can tell myself I’m dreaming — in my dream, and re-call it to see if I was successful.

3. CREATE A TRIGGER ☝️

A trigger is something in your dream that makes you aware that you’re dreaming.

It can be anything out of the ordinary — going on a date with a celebrity you admire, watching a purple giraffe eat dinner in a fancy restaurant with the Queen, having a superpower. Things you know you wouldn’t be doing, seeing, or dealing with when you’re awake.

When I dream it always sounds like I’m on some crazy drugs when I re-call them, and something mad always happens — so I’ve got clear signs I’m dreaming.

But your trigger only reveals you may be dreaming. To confirm it’s a dream you need a tell. Something you can check to see if it acts and looks as it does in the real world. It’s the tell that will transition you from a pre-lucid state to a full-on lucid dream.

In the pre-lucid state the mind often has no problems inventing big things — people, streets, planets — but is has problems with the little details. 

Morley says that if you recognize a trigger, confirm you’re dreaming by looking at the front of your hand and then the back (while dreaming!)

In a pre-lucid dream you’ll often see your hand do something unusual like grow extra fingers or change shape.

Or you could try to read text which will often change in your dream while you’re reading it. If can do this, this is a clear sign you’re having a dream and this awareness will often snap you into a lucid dream state — ohhh yeah!

Lucid-dreaming sounds pretty rad now, huh?

Well that’s the step-by-step for how I’m going to embark on this journey for my next level of self-growth.

Be sure to check back here in 100 days when I’ll be writing up on this experience and everything I’ve learnt so far —  (that’s Mon 6th Mar 2017)

And maybe I’ll even share some of the crazy dreams I had!

Until then, have fun and sweet dreams 😴

Are you a lucid dreamer, or do you want to practice the art of having adventures you control in your dreams? Leave me a comment on this post, I would LOVE to read what you’ve discovered and the crazy dreams you’ve had — thanks for staying with me on this post, I’m grateful for you all ❤

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