Have you ever found yourself aware in your dreams? Maybe you were dreaming and realized you were in a dream so you decided to try to do something like fly or swim under water. Did you know that you can practice this type of dreaming and get so good at it that you can use it to heal? Read on to find out more about healing with lucid dreaming.

 

What is lucid dreaming?

Lucid dreaming means you are conscious while dreaming. You are asleep, but you have control in your dream state. It’s as if you are “awake” or aware in your dreams. As you explore in lucid state, you realize that the normal constraints of reality don’t exist. Often times, this is when people realize they can do amazing things that they cannot do while in waking state, such as fly.

 

Healing with Lucid Dreaming

Healing with lucid dreaming happens when you become actively aware that the dream is just an illusion. Many people use this form of dream state to overcome fears, change a nightmare into something positive, and ultimately feel at peace no matter what situation arises.

Watch the video and read the post for tips on how to awaken your lucid dreaming abilities.

 

What lucid dream state can reveal to you

As you learn how to enter lucid dream state, you can use this time to explore, play and heal. One of my favorite lucid dreams was when I found myself walking around a bookstore in the dark. I immediately recognized I was dreaming because it was dark in the room. I was able to hold myself in a lucid dream state because I stayed curious about why I was in a bookstore. This is one of the keys to lucid dreaming (finding a way to continue the dream or “story”).

Another tip to develop your lucidity in dreaming is to notice when something is off or different. The dark room was my trigger in this case. As I continued in the dream, I knew I was there for a particular book. So I walked forward, and then I realized the book was high up on a shelf, and so I simply reached for it. Suddenly I felt my head bumping on something. I looked up and saw that the ceiling was bumping my head. But instead of getting scared, I continued on my quest for the book and stayed curious. I took the book in my hand, and then looked down and realized I was floating.

When I looked at the book, I noticed shards of light coming out of the book. I also noticed light coming from me and looked down and saw there were shards of light coming from my chest. Then I noticed a very pronounced humming sound and strong vibration in my body. The sound and vibration was like I was sitting in a helicopter. The vibration grew stronger as I became more curious about it until it finally woke me up.

In this case, not only was I lucid dreaming, but I was astral traveling. I had traveled to a nearby spiritual bookstore in my sleep!

Exploring and Healing with Lucid Dreaming

I became very curious about this “dream.” Or was I awake? I knew I was in a dream and made decisions to continue moving forward while in my dream. This experience drove me to find out more. I researched dreaming and the vibration sounds and read many accounts of others who knew they were awake in their dream state. People even re-entered this state and used it to play and heal. A whole new world opened up for me to explore!

During my studies, I read about how the Tibetan Yogis would use this form of dreaming called lucid dreaming to achieve enlightenment. This is what I learned:

 

Tibetan Yogic Tradition of Lucid Dreaming

The Tibetan Yogis believe there are three stages to the dream world. They work on mastering each of these stages as a way of attaining enlightenment. The ultimate goal is to become less attached and less reactive, and rather, to become more of an observer.

Phase one- reacting in dream state

In phase one, you notice that you are quite reactive in your dream. An example of this would be you are in a dream and you see a huge tidal wave approaching. You are like a victim in your dream, feeling massive fear about the wave and then reacting to it. Maybe you run from the wave thinking it is going to drown you. Or maybe you stand paralyzed because you don’t know what to do. In any case, the dream feels very real and you are wrapped up in the drama of the wave being something that can harm you. It’s very common to have nightmares in this stage and be a victim to what is happening in the dream/nightmare.

Phase two- awakening in dream state

In phase two, you start to become somewhat aware of your situation and that you are dreaming. You are somewhat “awake,” knowing that there is something you can do. In this phase, you decide to take control of the situation and fix it. This is the phase where many people realize they can “play” or “heal” things. You see the wave coming, but you still react to the wave and realize you can make it smaller. Or maybe you get really creative and turn yourself into a fish and swim in the wave. Whatever the case, you feel a sense of control and making things happen.

This phase reveals that you are still in the ego and wanting to make a change. It also shows that you are not at peace with your outer situation and you are wanting it fixed or different. This phase also reveals that you are not quite in the flow, but rather thinking a lot.

Phase three- healing with lucid dreaming

In this phase, you are finally non-attached. You are fully aware and awake and also non-reactive. You see the wave and say, “So what, there’s a wave.” As you stand there, you know you are dreaming and realize the whole thing is an illusion and that there is absolutely nothing to do. This is where Tibetan Yogis use lucid dreaming to heal. They believe true healing comes from being able to transcend conditioning. If you are able to release the conditioning, programming, and structures of society and yourself, then you can achieve enlightenment. It is a matter of realizing that reality is based off of perception.

 

How do you get to the state of lucid dreaming?

Achieving lucid dreaming is a balance of becoming more aware in your waking state as well as your dream state. Mostly everyone dreams, they just aren’t aware that they are dreaming. Everyone experiences the same sleep cycle during the night. Here is the typical sleep cycle:

1. NREM1 (non rapid eye movement)- transition between waking and sleep, short period of time, slow eye movement, see imagery
2. NREM2- about 20 min, asleep, disengaged from surroundings
3. NREM 3 and 4- deeper sleep, delta brain wave patterns (30-40 min)
4. REM- where dreaming occurs, first time 5-10 min. then increases in each cycle

The whole cycle of all of these are about 90 min. They repeat and each time they repeat, you get a longer REM state to dream.

So the last few hours of your sleep are where you are dreaming longer!

On average, people wake about 15 times in the night (but it’s rarely noticed).

The times you wake is a good opportunity to tell yourself to go back into your dream.

If you can sleep in- the last two hours of your sleep is when you’ll have the greatest chance of lucid dreaming!

Here are some tips to help you become more alert and aware in your dream state:

1. Dream Journal

In order to do lucid dreaming, you have to be aware you are actually dreaming. Build your awareness with a dream journal. Write details. Look for signs and symbols that repeat.

2. Use a band on your arm to build awareness in the daytime

Wear a plastic band or bracelet on your wrist and anytime you see it, take a moment to notice the details around you. More importantly, ask yourself if you are dreaming. If you do this often enough, it becomes a habit and you will eventually ask yourself if you are dreaming in your dream (and find that you indeed are dreaming!)

3. Notice the Time

Notice the time on the clock as well as the time of day. If you are aware, and you see a clock in your dream and something is off, you will realize you are dreaming. The time often does weird things in dream state.

4. Build Your Focus

Lay in bed and say, “I see the lamp.” Focus on it until you get sleepy. Building your focus in this way helps you stay more vivid and alert in the in-between state.

5. Have a Strong Desire

Tell yourself “Tonight I will lucid dream!” Say, “I will realize I am in a dream”

6. Study

Read a lucid dream book before bed.

7. Practices while awake

Train yourself to be “awake” in meditation. Practice having a state of vivid consciousness. Most people have trouble with lucid dreaming because they have a dull state and amnesia. If you are having trouble remembering your dreams, it’s a sign that you are too dull during dreaming time. Train yourself to be more “awake” and remember. Sharpen your focus using meditation.

8. Wake yourself and go read

Go read or meditate for half hour and then try to go back into your dream. Many lucid dreamers find that even though they wake up out of a dream, if they relax and focus in on the main parts of the dream, as they fall asleep, they will re-enter the dream.

 

Playing and Healing with Lucid Dreaming 

Lucid dreaming is often used as a tool to heal or play. Many people have nightmares during their dreaming time. They fall victim to what’s going on inside their dream. This is a sign that there might be some fears to overcome or things to be realized in waking life.

It’s very common for people to wake themselves up out of their dream when the dream becomes too difficult to bare. This is also a sign that in waking life, situations might appear to be too hard to handle.

All of these situations are opportunities to become more comfortable with fear. Think of it this way, in waking life, we might be faced with situations that are challenging. Then because of our conditioning and programming, we stay and get hurt or impacted. We feel trapped because of this conditioning, not seeing the options or opportunities available to us.

Whereas in a lucid dream, if the nightmare becomes uncomfortable, your reactions to the fear often pulls you out of your dream. You can escape getting hurt, getting into trouble, or having to confront a problem.

What’s interesting is as you become more comfortable with fear, you will stay in the lucid dream state longer. This happens because you are not REACTING as much. You start to realize there is nothing you NEED to do but simply observe. People around you might be acting out, and the situation might become dire, but in the end… that it their journey to have. You can witness it and not have the common reaction of getting sucked in.

Healing with Lucid Dreams- Have a more childlike state

If you are wanting to use your dream time to heal, then start observing what beliefs, patterns and constraints you place on yourself during the day (your waking time). Do your best to untrain yourself from this programming and conditioning and tell yourself it is possible.

Many people suffer because they believe they must behave a certain way for others or do things according to what society deems as “the way.” I see this as one of the greatest challenges people face when I do sessions with them. And it causes major blocks in their life and keeps them from realizing their true potential.

Start with something as simple as tapping into your childlike nature. If you observe a young child playing, they often don’t know “rules” and they are not conditioned yet. They simply try things and then learn as they go. Having a child like nature as you move through life can help you see many more options and opportunities ahead. Try it out and let me know!

Happy dreaming!

Mandy G.