[Short answer]
Dreams are repetitive problems that are continuously playing themselves out. Fix your problems and you then create an open slot for a lucid dream. First step to fixing any problem? Recognizing it — hence the journaling lol.
[Long answer]
“A better defined problem, is an easier solved problem.”
I just wrote this long f*cken paper on “how to lucid dream” and it goes into detail about what exactly a dream is and where they truly (and objectively) stem from. It might shed some light on why I encourage humans to practice [lucid dreaming] in general.
The original question was;
How can you increase your chances to lucid dream every day/night?
“I am not trying to learn how to fly, I am trying to forget that I cant.”
Problems and desires
Lucid dreaming is in fact quite easy, but only when it is understood properly. Of course we all know the definition; to be self aware and in control during the dream state. But we have to zoom back, or zoom out rather, to get the full scope of things — to fully understand exactly what we are really trying to do.
Dreams are rooted in problems and desires. That is where they come from, period. When I continue with this paper I will be speaking mainly on this key fundamental. As I currently understand it all now anyways lol.
Problems
Keep dreaming that your mom is a tornado? Did you have a fight at thanksgiving that still needs to be addressed? This is common way to look at dreams, so common and so pop culture that it takes on a different level of truth. Really we are all just speaking about assumptions — but something occurs when we as a worldwide collective of 7.5 billion people have the sameassumption. Locked in a dark bar with no working doors? Are you trapped by your alcoholism. Easy right? This is basic child’s play when it comes to understanding. However, the best truths are always that which a child can follow and even translate into a cartoon. Even Bugs Bunny flirted out of his body when he was shot by Elmer Fudd lolol
Desires
Do we keep dreaming about our ex boyfriend? Do you miss him? Again, it is all quite simple really — even if the dream takes on a wonky form in a loose metaphor. Humans tend to wake up and know exactly what a dream is trying to tell them. We just seemingly over diagnose in an effort to run from the problem — and its sheer level of blatant obviousness.
This is truly part of human nature actually. How do we lose weight? “Eat less and walk more Karen.” Right, but I dont like that answer so here comes Atkins and pills and surgeries and gimmicks. Same too with dream analysis. Did you win the lottery in last weeks dream? Did you get to ride on a fancy boat and see cool dolphins? Someone is clearly lacking money or adventure in their life — or the money to take an adventure rather haha.
So how do we lucid dream?
With this very ancient and widely accepted mode of understanding dreams, the answer is simple. Give your subconscious less docket items to work out. Work on your problems, relationships, issues, habits and “karma”. I truly believe this will open up more slots for a lucid experience.
“Never forget, lucid dreaming is best defined as literal godhood.”
What did you think it was easy to become a god Sarah? Did you think it was easy to fix your problems Brad? To become worthy of an adventure so extremely far out of this world… that James Cameron Avatar is rendered into an 8bit Sega Genesis game by comparison?
In case I am losing anybody with my train of thought…
- Good dreams are heaven
- Bad dreams are hell
- No dreams are purgatory (because you don’t get any lessons to consciously work on, leading to an odd level of cyclical stagnation in your waking life)
You do not actually know if you will wake up tomorrow, never forget that as you fall asleep. Is there a god that judges you when you die? I mean there is a source creator “god” yes. But does the grand creator of the carrot and color blue judge you? Probably not. However, here is what does happen, and everybody knows it — because it’s a worldwide experience…
Every night you go to sleep your own subconscious record keeper seems to judge you. Then your subconscious puts on the afterlife play “head movie” dream that you do indeed deserve. Stop f*cking up in your waking life and watch the nightmares go away. Look to where you haven’t and ask those few questions that you were afraid to ask for the last 10 years… the nightmares will stop. Do good and get good type thing #karma.
Why do I like this approach to lucid dreaming?
For the longest time lucid dreaming to me was an escape — an adventure. And to be honest, of course that is still a key component for me (and assuringly everybody on this thread). But now, I view it much more as a tool or as a metering system for how I am doing in my waking life. Is that not what dreams are to everybody? Even to the atheistic leaning type?
“Dreams are your thoughts organizing themselves from the day Zack. Dont make it so woo woo man.”
Sure sure Ted, all I am saying is this… have a bad day and bad thoughts about that day and watch your brain organize hell haha.
This approach to lucid dreaming legit fixes your waking life. It improves both sides of your existence, the AM “real life” and the PM “adventure time”. And tying the two worlds together is a very big mission of my philosophies.
Other basic tips and tricks
- Dream journal (make dreams important to your mind again)
- Reality checks (clocks, Digital electronics, light switches, etc tend not to work very properly in the dreamscape)
- Can your remember the last 5 minutes of your life? Does it make sense? Try asking this question so many times during the day that you naturally begin to ask it in the dream world — crazy sh*t starts to happen lolol.
- “Wake back to Bed” is a technique that in a sense separates your sleep into 2 phases. We conceptualize the first as restorative sleep and the second and dream time — yay! Very powerful actually, and you can time your own cycles out with a simple science experiment over the course of a month. Maybe you need 5 hours of sleep and you stay up for 45 minutes before getting the last 2 hours. Or maybe you need 6 hours of sleep and you only stay up for 15 minutes meditating in between — and you go back to sleep for 4 more hours. Whatever works for you.
Sacrifice for it
“You want it? Prove it.” - the universe
Sacrifice — this is a big one and deserves its own paragraph, not just a bullet point. In order to re teach your indoctrinated brain that “dreams matter” start giving up your other nightly activities for the dream that you want to build tonight. Netflix and other entertainment services are essentially outsourcing the magic for you — you are getting your hit of dreamy wonder from Harry Potter and Starwars (or The Office). When we sit down to watch a movie you are quite literally watching Steven Spielbergs “dream”. His vision and his idea projected onto the screen with characters he wrote, and actors he chose, with a script he optioned.
The fast track
You want to really fast track your lucid dreaming abilities? Give up your hardest to break habit and eveytime you think of it, ask yourself if you are dreaming. It will tie the question of reality checks to your subconscious in such an extremely tethered way. Remember this is literal godhood were sacrificing for. Turn off your phone 6 hours earlier and eveytime you reach for it… “Wait am I dreaming?
Mindfulness
Tibetan dream yoga (which I am not a scholar on by any means) essentially arrives at this point. Become so aware during your waking state that this new found higher consciousness just naturally follows you over into the dream world. Basically, pay so much attention and boom! Now you are always lucid haha.
“Leonardo DiCaprio went lucid in his dreams. Jesus went lucid while awake.”
Enlightenment is more than likely beyond words, but a good place to start the definition (in my opinion) is this — Lucid Living. The realization that this life is too a dream. Why do we always call the masters awakened? Funny word to use if we really think about it. What did they awaken to? What are we all asleep too?
Summary
Good dreams are heaven. Bad dreams are hell. No dreams are purgatory. Dreams exist in a world with no time, scientific boundaries, or physical pain… oh you mean the same way all religions and theologies would describe the mechanics of the afterlife? Interesting…
You want to go lucid? Fix your problems and create an open slot for the god like experience that lucid dreaming really is. Why do I like this? Because it legit benefits your waking life and frames dreaming as something much more powerful than just “escapism and adventure”.
Wake back to bed is a very powerful technique — google it lol. Mindfulness in the waking state will naturally carry over when heightened to the extreme.
“Nothing in life is better done unconsciously — go lucid.”