Lucid Dreaming and Dream Recall
I’ve known I’ve had sleep apnea for 15 years or more, but I never did anything about it. So after going to the doctor because of a three day headache, he formally diagnosed the problem and I finally got a CPAP machine to help me sleep at night.
So now that I’m able to get into deep REM sleep, I am dreaming my ass off. Luckily for me I grew up in Hawaii so that’s were most of my dreams take place. But it’s weird to be dreaming in Hawaii, standing on a cliff over looking at Hanauma Bay and then having one my Supervisor’s walk up to me in shorts, a black Aloha shirt, flip-flops and sunglasses on his head. He then says, “Mighty fine weather we got here.” (Yeah, it was you Clawson—scary!)
I’ve only had the CPAP two days, but the first day I dreamt I was in Chinatown, on O’ahu, and a co-worker came walking around the corner. I remember being surprised to see him and I said, “What the hell are you doing here?”
He said, “Getting a tattoo.”
“No, I mean here? In Hawaii?” I said.
“What? I was in the Navy,” he said.
I’ve always been able to remember parts of my dreams. I’ve never been very good at controlling them though. Being able to able to remember your dreams is called Dream Recall, being able to control your dreams is called Lucid Dreaming. The first step to Lucid Dreaming is being able to recall what you dreamt about in the first place.
If you have never been able to remember your dreams, well now you can. The first step may seem like mumbo-jumbo, but keep an open-mind before dismissing it.
First, right before you go to bed, sit on the edge of the bed. Relax, breath. Ok, inhale deeply, count to three. Breath in 1,2,3, now slowly exhale breathing out–count to four,1,2,3,4. Then breath in again, count to three, now breath out count to four, do this five times.
After you’re relaxed say, “Tonight I will remember my dreams.” Deep breath in, 1,2,3, deep breath out 1,2,3,4. Repeat, “Tonight I will remember my dreams.” Repeat this 10 times. Don’t rush. I know you’re tired but the whole process is less than a minute. Forego your foreplay if need be, this is mental masturbation at its finest. Once you’re finished you can lie down and go to sleep. I think you’ll be surprised at what you will remember when you first wake up.
Some people like to keep a journal next to their bed, others like a tape recorder. I almost always remember my dreams. I repeat them mentally a couple of times when I first wake up. I can remember my dreams most of the morning, but by the afternoon they’re long gone and sometimes reappear at the oddest times. I could be at the grocery store and all of a sudden in my mind, there will be that supervisor standing there in his black Aloha shirt saying, “Mighty fine weather we got here.”
Lucid Dreaming is different than Dream Recall in that in Lucid Dreams, you’re in control of what happens in the dream. Lucid Dreamers don’t just fly in their dreams; they can do flips and race an eagle if they want to.
I was taught how to do Lucid Dreaming from a professor of mine, Dr. Sippos in my first year in college. The process is the same as dream recall, although you have to be able to be able to recall your dreams first or you won’t remember if you were in control of or not.
So again, right before you go to bed, sit on the edge of the bed. Relax, breath. Ok, deep inhale, count to three breathing in 1,2,3. Slowly exhale, breathing out count to four,1,2,3,4, then breath in again, count to three, now breath out count to four, do this five times.
After you’re relaxed then say, “Tonight I will be in control of my dreams.” Deep breath in, 1,2,3, deep breath out 1,2,3,4. Repeat, “Tonight I will be in control of my dreams.” Repeat this 10 times. Again don’t rush.
Now remember, you can do whatever you want in your dreams. If you want to have sex with the giant pink Energizer Bunny that’s beating his drum down the grocery store aisle, you can do that. You want to jump off The Arch into the Mississippi River? You can do that too. Nothing is off limits when you’re Lucid Dreaming.
I will say this though, if you decide to try Lucid Dreaming, you may feel tired the next day. When I used to Lucid Dream, I would be worn out the next morning. I mean, it was fun, don’t get me wrong. But after you’ve been a ninja, surfed Waimea and scored with ten girls in a row, you’d be tired too. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying it at least once.
Here’s a clip about Lucid Dreaming: