Sleep management techniques are simple techniques accessible to everyone. Managing lucid dreams: new opportunities for self-development How to learn to control your sleep

Controlling dreams is one of the most fascinating things a person can imagine. Have you ever wanted to re-experience your most amazing dreams or simply control your sleeping subconscious? Most dreams are the consequences of your actions and noticed factors during an active state of mind. Some of this is reflected during sleep. Read these tips to learn how to manage your dreams.

Steps

Record your dreams

Buy a small notebook. This will be a journal or diary of your dreams. In this journal, you will write down everything you hope to see in your dreams and what you remember from past dreams.

• Keep a journal and pen close to your bed so you can quickly write down your dream as soon as you wake up, while you remember it. Don't leave this for later, as memories of dreams fade quickly.
• You could write down your dreams using a computer, but it is recommended that you do this by hand. You will spend more effort, and therefore the dream will be better remembered in your head.

1. Write down in your journal what you want to see in your dream. Name it target sleep. Do this every night before bed. You must imagine what you want to see in your dream.

   • Draw pictures and write down directions, using as many details as possible. Describe the dream in as much detail as possible, get to the point where you feel that you have written down the dream in too much detail. Every little detail is important.
   • The trick is to convince yourself that you will dream, so you will be aware of the dreams while you sleep.
   • Avoid watching TV and movies before bed, otherwise you may dream elements of what you saw rather than your target dream.

2. Every morning, as soon as you wake up, write down your dreams. Even if your dream wasn't what you expected, write it down. See the Tips at the bottom of the article for more details on what exactly to write down.

   • Just as an athlete trains his body, you train your mind to recreate dreams. The more consistent your training, the clearer and more sublime your dreams will be.
   • Write down any parallels between your target dream (the one you wanted to see) and what you actually saw. Be as specific as possible. Think about the similarities and differences. When interpreting a dream, keep in mind that your mind answers questions differently than it does when you are awake. The mind communicates with you through metaphors.

   Practice while awake

   1. Reread your target dream. Every evening, before going to bed, reread your dream as many times as possible so that it is deposited in your head.

      • After one or two readings, your brain thinks it knows the meaning of the words and becomes lazy; he begins to process the words themselves, rather than their meaning. Focus on the meaning of the target dream; you must study it thoroughly from all sides before you go to bed.

   2. Lie down, close your eyes and think about your goal dream. Relax. Think about specific details.

      • Dream about the images from your target dream as they appear in your subconscious. The subconscious mind will generate many images that have nothing to do with your target dream, so sort out unnecessary images and concentrate on the target ones.
      • Imagine sounds and dialogue in the background of your target dream; try to really hear them in your mind. Try to get into the feelings, mood, etc.
      • If you cannot clearly imagine the sounds or pictures, re-read your target dream.

   3. Walk through your target dream. Do this from a first-person point of view, from start to finish. Imagine how everything looks through your eyes.

      • Try to go through your target dream in the same order that you want the dream to occur.
      • You must think hard, but your body must be relaxed.
      • Go to bed with these images and sounds in your head. Don't forget to write down all your dreams as soon as you wake up.

   Start controlling your dreams

   1. Try doing a reality check throughout the day. A reality check is when you ask yourself, “Am I awake or am I dreaming?” This will ultimately help you differentiate between reality and dreams while you sleep.

      • Reality check draws attention to fundamental differences dream and reality: in dreams the state is liquid, but in reality it does not change. In dreams, the text can change, trees change color and shape, clocks count down time. In reality, the text does not change, the trees still grow in the ground, and the clock counts time clockwise.
      • A good reality check is text. Let's say you have a poster in your room that says "Jimmy Hendrix." Turn away for a minute and then look at the poster again. If the inscription is still "Jimmy Hendrix", then you are in reality, but if the inscription has changed, say, to "Uncle Vanya", then you are in a dream.

   2. Practice your reality check. When you are dreaming and aware of it, you will be able to control almost everything that happens in your sleep.

      • If you take a jump and realize that it is happening in a dream, try to calm down. If you get overly excited about finally being able to control your dreams, you may accidentally wake up from your excitement.
      • Try small actions first. Again, remember to control your excitement. Even simple things like cooking or walking up the stairs can be fun when you realize you can control it.

   3. Gradually make your actions more difficult. Many people like to fly, swim in the ocean and travel through time. Try moving huge objects, walking through walls, or even telekinesis. Your dreams are limited only by your imagination!

   • Always think about the positive and good things before bedtime. This will help make your dreams good.
   • Think repeatedly about what exactly you want to see in your dream, and also count down from a large number before going to bed. Repeat every night.
   • Think carefully about your dreams.
   • Dream manipulation is not the same as lucid dreaming, although there are similarities between the two. Search more detailed information about lucid dreaming on the Internet.
   • You can sing a song about your dream before going to bed.
   • Sleep in a quiet and peaceful environment without distractions (no laptop or iPad). Focus completely on your target sleep.
   • If you think you are in a dream, look at your hands and try to count your fingers. If you are unable to do this, then you are dreaming.
   • Try not to dream about upcoming events (competitions, tests, etc.), as this can cause anxiety in real life, especially if the dream is not good.
   • If you try to concentrate while falling asleep, you may not fall asleep. The purpose of recording a target dream and thinking about it is to put it into the subconscious.
   • Make the following entries in your dream journal:
     • Date of.
     • Was the dream in the past, present or future?
     • Who was in the dream (acquaintances and strangers)?
     • Your feelings, mood.
     • The events that unfolded.
     • Was anything visually striking, such as colors, shapes, numbers, shapes?
     • Was there conflict involved?
     • Have you ever had to solve problems?
     • Was there anything you dreamed about before?
     • Ending.

   Warnings

   • You may not be able to control your dreams right away. Beginners usually need a couple of tries or even a couple of months. If you are too impatient, you may not succeed at all, so relax!
   • If you don't move for a long time, you may experience sleep paralysis. This is normal, people have it every night. Sleep paralysis may cause wake-induced, lucid dreams, but you don't need to be afraid of it.

You've probably seen the science-fiction thriller "Inception" or at least "The Matrix." Both films clearly illustrate how lucid dreams work. Remember how he realizes that since he is actually sleeping, that means the spoon does not exist, and it can be bent with one effort of thought; or how the promising architect Ariadne in her sleep changes the force of gravity, folding the road in half right above her head. The same effect can be achieved in a dream by any person who sufficiently trains his self-awareness.

Phenomenon in science

The term “lucid dreaming” was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik van Eeden (1860-1932). It denotes an altered state of consciousness in which a person is aware that he is dreaming and can control the content of the dream.

However, another scientist, Stephen Laberge, who devoted several scientific works to this issue, undertook to prove the phenomenon in practice. His scientific experiment proved real opportunity clear self-awareness while watching dreams. At the moment when the instruments recorded the phase REM sleep, the subject gave conditioned signals by moving his eyes - for himself, these movements were carried out in a dream (he remembered the need to do this), and physically the eyes moved synchronously with his dream - which could be observed from the outside.

You can become aware of yourself in a dream not only during normal sleep, but also during “waking sleep” - this occurs due to atypical strong inhibition of the cerebral cortex. Attention and concentration fall, and the person himself does not notice that he is frozen with with open eyes and sees a dream (hallucinations - if you want).

Applications of lucid dreaming

Why is this necessary - to train and strain your thinking even in your sleep, instead of resting normally?

Of course, the first thought is hurray! - it will finally be possible to eat imaginary cakes and ride pink unicorns. But this is far from the only advantage of lucid dreaming.

The ability to “wake up in a dream” is not easy and does not come right away - but it will help you learn to “wake up” in time in reality. That is, to distinguish when something lacks logic, someone is deceiving you, or you are too carried away by something and have crossed the boundaries.

In our dreams we encounter many different situations- and this is a great trainer! We learn to find a way out, but, realizing the unreality of the situation, we are not afraid to make a mistake. On the contrary, we allow ourselves to act in a more wide range options, thereby developing and evaluating their new reactions. Once you wake up, you can use the information received for deeper self-analysis and correction of the way you act in general.

You can also train your will in a lucid dream, learn to do what doesn’t work (for example, instead of flying, you fall). Having dealt with the problem, you will feel a surge of self-confidence, transfer this confidence into real life and at the same time get rid of various fears or phobias.

It must be admitted that lucid dreams have not yet been sufficiently studied by modern psychology and medicine, and esotericists even talk about the dangers of such practice: who knows, what if you decide to visit in a dream, and then your soul will not be able to return? But one way or another, the practice of dream management is already used in psychotherapy to expand the tools of Freudian psychoanalysis.

How to control the plot of a dream?

The easiest way to train your mind to wake up in a dream is self-hypnosis or listening to hypnosis audio recordings before bed.

P.S.- I’ve heard about lucid dreams more than once, but after writing this essay I went to bed and... it worked! True, not completely: I began to check whether I was sleeping and tried not to breathe. But bad luck, it was terribly unpleasant, just like in life. I barely caught my breath and thought: “I give up, this is all for real”... :) On next night I remembered again and decided, therefore, to repaint the moon. The moon was indignant and woke me up. These are the pies... Have you ever managed to wake up in a dream? Or dream in reality? It’s strange, but over the past two days I’ve managed to try this on myself, completely by accident. This has happened before, but until you know what it’s called and how it works, you just don’t pay attention.

Questions this article answers: What is lucid dreaming? how to manage sleep? what is the connection between out-of-body experience (OBE) and lucid dreaming?

How to manage sleep? People who ask this question, in 99% of cases, will play with a new interest and forget. Only one percent will move from theory to practice. However, this percentage is enough to give rise to its own mythology and give enterprising “esotericists” the opportunity to warm their hands on it. The lucid dream has become advertising campaign and the calling card of various psychotechnologists. Before you admire beautiful descriptions, it’s worth finding out what a lucid dream is, and whether it’s worth artificially speeding up the evolution of consciousness.

The ability to control sleep is one of the pillars of modern New Age mythology. Before continuing, it is worth saying a few words about the latter.

New Age is a haphazard, eclectic movement in the search for spirit, mixing Buddhism and magical practices, theosophy and gnosticism, Castaneda and transpersonal psychology. Practicing “magicians” and “clairvoyants”, psychics and the creators of countless sects are all New Age.

In short, New Age is a mixture of techniques drawn from spiritual practices, unbridled fantasy and outright deception.

Let's take a brief look at the history of the concept - how did interest in the topic arise and why?

Lucid dreaming - history of the issue

Guided dreams or lucid dreams, out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are a topic that has aroused public interest thanks to books by Carlos Castaneda, Robert Monroe, Richard Webster and others. Most of these books are not just esotericism, but rather surrealism from literature. A striking example to that - Robert Monroe. The works of Stephen Laberge can be placed in a special position.

Stephen Laberge (Laberge) is a psychophysiologist, Ph.D., who created the Lucidity Institute in 1987. He began his path to science as a mathematician, became a bachelor, and dropped out of graduate school in 1969, becoming carried away by spiritual quests. He returned to science in 1977, taking up psychophysiology, and specifically - psychosomatic disorders. Later he switched to studying controlled sleep.

Of the authors listed above, he was the only one who was concerned with a scientific approach and really shed light on this mysterious door - controlled sleep. At his institute, for the first time in the world, the possibility of self-awareness in a dream was strictly documented (recording of brain activity was carried out).

Laberge joined forces with engineers and created Mayn machines.

How to manage sleep - Russian recipes

Russia is a unique country. We belatedly pick up bizarre currents of thought and, developing them, lay out unique mosaics that the world admires. An example of this is the “Reasonable World” school by Alexander Sviyash or the unique “Reality Transurfing” by Vadim Zeland. Out-of-body experience and controlled dreams did not stand aside. On the one hand, the center of the researcher and popularizer of controlled dreams Mikhail Raduga appeared. On the other hand, there is the semi-underground, semi-mythical, but widely promoted movement “Dream Hackers”.

“Dream Hackers” is a young and very unique egregor, more elitist(?) than simoron or transurfing, but no less mythological.

The cult writer of dream hackers is Andrey Reutov. Probably, many of them have no idea that science fiction writer Anton Nikolaevich Medvedev works under this pseudonym. On the Internet he uses the pseudonyms Oleg Severny, Vigo and others.

“Dream Hackers” is a mixture of science fiction, esotericism and political thriller. Other books by the author immediately declared as science fiction and fantasy: “Metamorph”, “Treasure of Scoundrels”, “Beloved Witch”, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”.

The fame of Anton Medvedev in the dream role is shared by a man who called himself Evgeny Reutov. His book "Trajectory of Tears" is promoted on the Internet along with the book "Dream Hackers" and is perceived as a book by the same author. People who post files in libraries and on Varese find it difficult or lazy to remember names. “Trajectory” is an order of magnitude weaker artistically and intellectually.

In principle, writing books and at the same time promoting metaphysical teachings is not new. Ron Hubbard made his debut as a writer in the mystery and horror genres. This is the creator of Dianetics and the Church of Scientology. Mythmaker the highest level, even scandals, revelations and outright crime did not damage his reputation in the eyes of the majority of his flock. One story with the hijacking of a warship, which then sailed for years in international waters, is worth it! His words “If you want to become a billionaire, create a sect” became a maxim. He proved by his example that good writers can truly be engineers of human souls.

As a rule, smart people take such literature seriously. searching people, born in the late 80s - early 90s. last century. They just grew up in an uncritical information space. In a world where everything is possible. Unfortunately or fortunately, our worlds do not coincide. Therefore, in a pragmatic world, no amount of dreams will master the teleportation of the material body.

I'm not saying that it is impossible in principle. But you won’t master it with dreams, meditations or rituals. And moreover, no one who wants to master this has achieved it. So don't waste your time chasing mirages.

I am quoting an abstract from Runet bookstores.

Sergei Trofimov, the spiritual mentor of Sergei Izriga, the leader of the Dream Hackers, presents a fantasy series called “IBI”.

Science fiction fan club. As they say, without comment... But...

Despite the entertaining books and the “experience” of young storytellers on the HS forums, this is not another soap bubble. Some techniques, such as dream mapping, - a real find. It feels like forums and science fiction books are a kind of filter. A kind of medical examination. But this is true, by the way.

Another approach, without promises of teleportation and the fight against worldwide secret organizations - the center of Mikhail Rainbow.

Mikhail Raduga is the creator of the School of Out-of-Body Travel. Unfinished higher education at two faculties of MESI (lawyer, organization management). A practical person, very well versed in theory.

However, one strange thing is alarming. The pathos of the book “School of Out-of-Body Travel” is one, but the subsequent ones (“Handbook of Astral Healing”, “Mysteries of Man”, “Contact with the Deceased”) took a turn in the direction to which the author initially opposed himself. Here is a line from the last of these books: “My next experience of serious contacts with dead people was contact with my relative, who died long before I was born.” I will refrain from judging. We don’t know much, we believe or don’t believe more, we are afraid...

Lucid dream - tell me, what is it?

Let's get to the point. In philosophy and theology, two approaches to describing an object or phenomenon are accepted. List the characteristics of an object, saying what it is and what it is not. I’ll start with the second, it’s more convenient to outline the subject area.

Guided sleep– this is not just a very realistic dream. This is not a dream when you are still awake and come up with different images and situations. Now let's move on to the first method.

A controlled dream is a dream in which you know where you are, but you don't wake up. You can wake up consciously, or you can start an adventure.

Guided sleep or lucid dreaming is a state you enter when you wake up inside a dream.

Lucid dreaming is a term coined by the Dutch psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden (1860-1932). It means the state of consciousness in which a person is aware that he is seeing a dream and can control its course.

Gurdjieff drew interesting parallels between ordinary sleep and ordinary wakefulness. If we ignore the randomness of the plots and images of the dream, the basis is the same. Poor control over one's reactions to a situation or his complete absence. If we look at the situation from this angle, it turns out that we are sleeping all the time. Sleep and wakefulness are just phases of a certain dream called life. The worst thing is that he, the Sufis, Taoists and Roshis (Zen masters) are right in many ways.

Gurdjieff called his contemporaries automata and mechanical people. He was trying to find a technique for unconditional awakening. Now let's look at the differences between wakefulness, sleep and lucid dreaming in essence.

For a person who finds himself in a lucid dream, everything is 100% real, except for the understanding that this is a dream. Cool. No movies or computer games and they are not standing next to each other. Only two snags. How to get there and what will it cost? After all, let’s face it, free cheese is only in a mousetrap or in a very clever mouse.

Lucid dreaming - methods of achieving it

First, let's look at what Castaneda's Don Juan teaches. He demands that Carlos look at his hands in his sleep. Just? Deceptive simplicity. The old shaman warns that this may take years. And even then, in the presence of high awareness, which is not easy to achieve.

Castaneda's readers rushed to look at his hands. They have been trying for months to remember their hands in their sleep, but they can’t, the dream is uncontrollable. The most thoughtful ones began to write down the “look at your hands!” to a tape recorder or telephone. This is the theory. You are sleeping and certain time recording starts. The subconscious reacts to this, and you see hands. My friends tried it until they got tired of it. The method is not reliable.

Why? Due to the fact that in deep sleep the brain blocks weak sound stimuli, and with a sensitive one you will wake up. Setting yourself up to catch a phrase is no simpler than a lucid dream.

Then the shaman advised making special bandages and using stones. Similar to NLP body anchor techniques. My opinion is that this method is good if your intention to wake up in a dream is very strong. Otherwise, you will simply dream of a bandage or a stone, briefly, without realizing its purpose.

I repeat. If you are persistent and Your wish very strongly, entering a lucid dream is a matter of time.

A bunch of modern ones technical means repelled by sound and bodily stimuli. A simple idea embodied in technology and competently promoted. No devices will help a person with a weak will. Maximum - you will wear a helmet in your sleep, do you need it?

You need to train yourself during the day to stop the fuss in your head and ask: “Is this a dream?” The theory is that sooner or later you will start asking yourself questions in your sleep. Reminds me of Zen techniques and Gurdjieff, doesn’t it? I'm sure Laberge drew from this source.

The topic was well explored in the science fiction thriller “Inception” with Leonardo DiCaprio in leading role. Remember the test top?

How to manage sleep - developing intention

Various visualizations and affirmations before going to bed are aimed at creating a dominant. Programs in the subconscious that will stir you up. Some come up with rituals for themselves in the hope that they will dream about him and they will understand what’s what.

I’ll share my own experience, I don’t know if it will help you.

Meeting point

Do you have a favorite place in the city? A park or square with a fountain, a bridge? Before you go to bed, try to imagine it as vividly as possible. The rules are like this.

1 Use all channels - vision (picture), hearing (the sound of wind or cars, the knocking of the clock on the tower), smell (the smell of coffee from the pizzeria across the street), sensation (cold and the rough surface of the granite parapet).

2 Experience strong emotions. Simply imagining is a futile exercise.

3 Don't float away into memories. All your ideas seem to be in the present tense.

4 The time of year and period must match. Why? I will not say. You'll understand if it works. It will be a little surprise.

5 Don't despair after the first, second and third failure.

6 Don't overeat at night.

7 Never use alcohol, tranquilizers or antidepressants. The harm you can do to yourself is hard to imagine. Please understand, this is not entertainment.

Now specifically about technology. After vividly imagining a place, experience a feeling of deep nostalgia. Great wish return to this place. Reinforce in yourself: “Today I will be there!” The words “this night I will be there” and the like are weaker. Consciousness and subconsciousness speak different languages.

At first you just dream about this place. Then how it goes. If you have a desire, try it.

Guided sleep - safety precautions

It seems that between controlled sleep and usual difference No. I sleep, they say, and I sleep - what's the difference? Huge! Guided sleep or lucid dreaming is special condition consciousness. Considering the hypothetical ladder of evolution, the difference between the dreamer and an ordinary person the same as between Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal. The latter wielded a digging stick, while the former mastered fire and invented the wheel.

Why this is so is a topic for another discussion. One who has received his sight in the land of the blind will soon be convinced that he is not the only one who can see. Joke.

The level of lucidity in a dream must be correlated with the level of lucidity in Everyday life. Otherwise, there is a risk of distortion and, as a result, problems will arise. Starting from social – a person breaks away from normal life and ending with a bunch of psychosomatic disorders.

So if you have a firm intention to master lucid dreaming, do not rush to cover yourself with a blanket. Start doing this right now...

Sleep is one of the most interesting and unexplored phenomena. Some people see bright color images, while others see black and white images. It used to be that dreaming was simply a way for the brain to rest. However, later researchers from the University of Chicago found that sleep turns into an active process for a few minutes during the night.

Have you ever heard that you can control this process? Do you think this idea is just fantastic? In vain! It turns out that you can learn to control your dreams. How can you manage your sleep? Today we will talk about this.

Controlling your dreams is useful

While in this state, we receive a lot of information from our subconscious. The brain sorts this information and remembers what is useful.

Lucid dreams allow us to go anywhere, to experience moments that we cannot experience in real life. real life. And these are limitless possibilities, because we can practice the skill of communicating with a foreigner or consolidate the acquired knowledge about driving a car. Now imagine how useful it is to manage your sleep.

Can this be learned?

How can you learn to manage your sleep? Here are instructions that will help:

• How should you fall asleep to manage your sleep? First you need to feel yourself in a dream. That is, you have to kind of wake up there, understand that you are not awake;
• then you need to learn to concentrate on objects or creatures. As soon as the picture begins to blur, you need to move your gaze to another object, and then return to the original object. Gradually you will learn to focus your gaze;
• the next step is to remember everything. Often a person remembers that he dreamed about something, but cannot specifically tell. So this is what you need to learn;
• the moment of awakening is very important. You need to lie down for some more time, feel where you are - whether it’s reality or a dream;
• notebook. Get yourself a notebook or notepad where you will write down everything you remember: events, feelings and emotions;
• During the day, remember your feelings and compare them with reality.

In order to control your dreams, you will have to practice a lot. When you learn how to do the above exercises correctly, move on to the next, more complex ones.

How to control dreams at home

To learn how to really use those limitless possibilities that we talked about, you need to do the following exercises:

• Before you fall asleep, set yourself up for a certain story: visit a familiar place, for example;
• Think in great detail about what you want to see, who to meet, what should be around. The more accurately you think through everything, the easier it will be for you;
• give an instruction - why do you want to see these particular images;
• when you feel like you are falling asleep, feel yourself there, and then repeat the installation to yourself;
• After waking up, you need to remember everything.

Sleep is very mysterious phenomenon. For anyone to be able to control it, one has to work hard. Of course, it won't work the first time. Don't be discouraged, you have to try again and again.

When the exercises become easy, you can try another technique. It is much more complicated than the previous one.

Its essence is to change what is happening there with the help of willpower. That is, you need to wake up, imagine what exactly you want to change and fall asleep again. You have to go back to the same situation and change it.

Fighting fears

Having learned these techniques, you can try to fight your fears. You can't run away from your fear. We need to meet him face to face. Explore it and get to know it. Try to talk. It's even better if you make friends.

This is how you can get rid of your phobias:

• think in advance what you want to see, give yourself a set;
• if it’s already getting scary, feel that it’s not real and you will feel better;
• find your fear, all the time remembering that it is a fantasy;
• sit next to you, get used to it, understand that you are sleeping and can leave at any moment;
• talk and see how things develop further.

Perhaps you will feel funny, or maybe you will become best friends with your fear. The main thing is that you will stop being afraid of something and become freer.

Try to learn to listen to dreams

When you wake up, you absolutely do not understand what and why these pictures were given to you. However, this is all superficial analysis. We need to be deeper.

First of all, think in images. Don’t try to squeeze everything you saw at night into a rational framework during the day. When you think about night looks, focus on internal sensations: where during memories you feel warmth, and where cold and discomfort.

Your actions in dreams can become extremely varied: you can control people, the environment, you can analyze some detail of the dream, introduce a specific scene, view the dream in reverse order, or change its plot. Although, greatest benefit You can gain from lucid dreams by putting under control not dreams, but your reactions to events in a dream, thus expanding your capabilities and deepening states of awareness in a dream. Next you can experiment with various types control over dreams. Paul Toly offers several techniques for managing lucid dreams: control through intention and self-hypnosis before sleep, through desire, changes in internal state, gaze, through verbal formulas, certain actions and much more that takes place in a dream. Control by desire is quite convincingly confirmed by oneironauts, who move in a dream and change its environment spontaneously. Referring to your own experience, Toli says: “The sleep environment is largely determined by internal state sleeping. If he is ready to face danger or a creature threatening him, then, as a rule, this threat disappears, and the creature begins to shrink. On the other hand, if the sleeper allows fear to take over, the threat will increase, and the creature itself will increase in size." Important role In Toly's model of optimal behavior in lucid dreaming, gaze control plays a role. He claims that you can get rid of the threat contained in the actions of some characters in the dream by looking directly into their eyes. Controlling a dream with words is explained as follows: “You can greatly change the appearance and behavior of dream characters by addressing them in an appropriate way. A simple question: “Who are you?” can, for example, turn strangers into familiar people. Obviously, an internal need learn something about yourself and the circumstances of the conversation with another actor allows... to achieve the highest level of awareness in a dream: awareness of what the dream symbolizes."

How to get to the right place in a dream

To fully reap the benefits of mindfulness, you need to learn how to navigate the dream world. Various ways applications of lucid dreaming may require a specific location, person, or situation. A strong-willed intention to dream about a specific topic, which is often called an intentional dream, can help with this. Thanks to this procedure, throughout history, dreams have been considered a source of wisdom in all cultures. IN Ancient Greece people visited temples of dreams to find answers to their questions there in their dreams. Dream temples could certainly help people concentrate on their task, although there is little need for them at present. They were needed in order to consolidate your desire in your mind before going to bed. You just need to focus on one simple phrase that expresses the meaning of what you want to see. In order to achieve a lucid dream, you must connect this phrase with the intention of becoming aware of yourself in the dream. Use all your mental energy for this. You must fall asleep

Exercise: Intentional lucid dreaming

• State your intention. Before going to bed, formulate one phrase or question about what you want to see, for example, “I want to visit San Francisco.” Write this phrase or draw a picture to illustrate it. Remember the phrase and picture (if there is one). If you intend to do something specific in a dream (for example, I want to tell my girlfriend that I love her), formulate it before going to bed. Under the phrase that expresses your goal, write another one, say, “when I dream (phrase), I will remember that I am in a dream.”
• Go to bed. Without doing anything else, immediately go to bed and turn off the light.
• Focus on your phrase and intention to become aware of yourself in the dream. Remember your phrase or drawing. Imagine having a dream about your chosen topic and realizing that you are dreaming. When you intend to do something specific, imagine it. Until you fall asleep, meditate on your phrase and intention to become aware of yourself in a dream. Do not allow any extraneous thoughts to intrude until you fall asleep. If your attention begins to wander, immediately return to the original formulation.
• Carry out your intention and lucid dream. Having achieved a lucid dream on the topic you have set, try to realize your intention. Formulate a question you have in mind, look for a way to express yourself, change your behavior style, or analyze the environment in which you are. Pay attention to your feelings and all the details of the dream.
• Having achieved your goal, do not forget to wake up and remember the dream. Once you receive a satisfying answer in your dream, wake up using one of the methods discussed above. Immediately write down at least that part of the dream that contains the answer to your question. Even if you think that you did not have time to get an answer to your question (due to the fact that the dream disappeared on its own), wake up and write it down. It may turn out that the answer is disguised, and you did not immediately understand it.

Creating a new environment

Another way to see what you want in a dream is to find or evoke it already in a lucid dream. A volitional change in the dream environment can also help you feel power over the illusion that surrounds you. Watching a party in Manhattan turn into Martian canals at your will is much more effective than reading about how the dream world is a creation of your mind. Having learned to control your dreams according to your will, you can travel in the world of sleep without fear. Your possibilities directly depend on your imagination. Only thanks to your desire can you repeat the sunset, find yourself on another planet or in the Garden of Eden. Below are a few exercises that should help you manage your dreams. Most The best way changing your sleep environment is not yet known, so consider these exercises as tips on which you can develop your own method.

Exercise: unwinding a new dream plot

• Choose a goal. Before going to sleep, imagine the person, time and place you would like to meet in a lucid dream. All this can be both real and fictional, and also belong to the past, present or future. For example, “Padmasambhava, Tibet, 850,” or “Boris Yeltsin, Moscow, now” (no need to explain what to do after that), or “my granddaughter, at home, 2050.”
• Create a mindset to achieve your goal. Try to remember and to do this, write down a phrase that contains your intention. After this, imagine yourself having achieved your goal and firmly decide to repeat this in today's dream.
• Unwind your goal in a lucid dream. It is possible that to achieve your goal, just one intention will be enough for you, as in an ordinary dream. However, more reliable way- this is to first realize the state of sleep, and only then look for the goal. As the dream picture fades in a lucid dream, when you sense awakening approaching, spin around repeating your target phrase until you find yourself in new dream- let it be the dream you had in mind.

Exercise: 3D TV

Change your environment as desired without moving to another location. Start with small details and gradually move on to more significant ones. Your attempts to change the situation should be slow and subtle at first, and then more obvious. You can view your surroundings as an infinitely malleable material for mental simulation.

Do the impossible

In real life we ​​have many prohibitions. Everything has its own rules: what to do, what not to do, how to do something. the best way. One of the main amazing properties of lucid dreams is the enormous, incomparable freedom. A person, realizing that he is sleeping, often for the first time in his life, suddenly feels that he is not limited by anything. He can do or feel whatever he wants. In dreams, we can experience sensations or fantastic events that are impossible in the waking state. In a dream, you can not only meet a fantastic character, but also become one. Dreamers are not limited by their bodily shell. You can turn into a beautiful garden or flower. Alan Worsley performed amazing experiments, such as splitting himself in two and joining his hands at his head. Many oneironauts walk through walls, breathe in water, fly and travel in space. Throw away the usual criteria, try to accomplish something that can only happen in a dream.