How To Lucid Dream

The Lucid Dreamer not only combines highly accurate dream-onset detection with mild electrical stimulation (tACS) in order to induce lucid dreams, but it also gives you the opportunity to combine this revolutionary technique with existing lucid dream inducing methods:

Light and Audio Stimulation

Research shows that light (flashes) and audio stimulation during a dream increases the chance of turning that dream into a lucid dream, especially when used in combination with cognitive exercises such as ‘Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams’ or ‘MILD’. Moreover, light and audio can also be used for ‘Audio-Visual Entrainment’ or ‘AVE’. By presenting light flashes or audio signals in a certain frequency, cortical oscillations will be entrained to those frequencies. This is interesting for lucid dream induction, since there are specific cortical oscillation patterns that are associated with lucid dreams. The Lucid Dreamer device contains LED lights and the Lucid Dreamer App support audio stimulation. The Lucid Dreamer enables you to experiment with these light and audio techniques in isolation or in combination with tACS or MILD.

Mnemonically Induced Lucid Dream (MILD)

A mnemonic is a technique that aids memory, in this case a mental cue that helps you remember your intention to lucid dream and realize that you’re dreaming. The MILD technique is composed of 4 steps:

  • Dream Recall: Learning to remember your dreams after you wake and encouraging more vivid dreams.
  • Reality Checks: Checking to see if your dreaming through a variety of methods. This is done regularly during waking hours even if you know you’re not dreaming. Making it a habit increases the chance of doing it in your dream and becoming lucid.
  • Lucid Affirmations: Repeating mantras or affirmations before going to bed to try and program your brain to make you realize when you’re dreaming.
  • Visualize Your Dream: Imagining that you’re lucid dreaming while laying awake in bed, before falling asleep.

The Lucid Dreamer supports MILD through the Lucid Dreamer App. The Lucid Dreamer App can give push notifications for doing reality checks, will support audio-recording for a fast and easy dream diary and can give you recommendations for dream visualization and affirmations.

Wake Induced Lucid Dream (WILD)

One of the harder techniques to induce a lucid dream, the WILD technique essentially involves consciously falling asleep. A lot more complex than it sounds! Some people experience the nightmarish phenomena of sleep paralysis while trying to lucidly dream with WILD, as your body naturally enters a paralytic state before falling asleep.

Sleep Interruption

This technique is not very reliable, and people usually combine it with one of the above techniques. It involves letting yourself fall asleep for several hours, and then waking up (via an alarm usually). You must then stay awake for at least an hour before letting yourself fall back asleep. A lucid dream is more likely to occur during your ‘second sleep’.

However, not only are you disrupting your sleep routine, but you may find it difficult or nearly impossible to fall back asleep once you’re awake. Another problem with this technique is not being able to wake up to your alarm at all (since your mind is still exhausted), or not being able to stay awake long enough.