Staying in a Lucid Dream

By: Jerry A. Greene

Staying in a lucid dream is not always the easiest thing to do. The excitement that comes over you, when realizing that you are dreaming can make it very difficult to "concentrate" on keeping the dream alive

Don't Get Too Excited
Having a lucid dream is always an amazing experience. You can easily lose it and wake up, if you get too excited and lose touch on what is actually happening.

Many people say that their first experience in a lucid dream is extremely short..that once they realized it, they got so excited that they woke themselves up immediately. Believe it, or not, it takes practice to contain yourself. Having a lucid dream is definitely something to get excited about, but if you aren't careful, you'll wake up and lose a chance to enjoy a wonderful experience. Some of them can go on for what seems like hours (many of mine do).

This is why it is important to think about how you will act when it does, in fact happen for you. This is just like practicing for something else in your life. You need to know how to react in certain situations.

If you have already had a lucid dream, this may be easier for you to do, but I want you to think of a dream-sign and imagine it in a dreamlike situation. How you would react if you suddenly realized that you WERE dreaming?

You need to think about this in advance and tell yourself to remain calm despite the excitement. I know that this sounds like an oxymoron, but with practice, you will be better prepared once you realize that you are dreaming.

Let's say that you have been able to stay in the dream for more than just a few "dream minutes". You are completely aware that it is a dream. At this time, your sense of awareness may start to waiver and you have to keep reminding yourself, or you may lose it. Sometimes the dream will start to fade, while you are aware. It is sort of like a TV that starts to dim, or that you can't see things as well as you were before, perhaps you feel a sense of tunnel-vision.You need to stimulate your "dream senses". The things that normally work is to try to spin around, or just DO something active like flying, or dancing, or anything to get the brain to stay in the dream. You may find yourself transported to a completely different place once the scene has re-appeared. You can even use this spinning action, or anything else that blurs your "dream vision" and imagine that you will appear somewhere else that you want to be, once you stop.

A great deal more about this topic can be found in "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Dr. Stephen LaBerge.