Carpe Somnia Mundi: Protracting Lucid Dreams

To be able to protract lucid dreams as much as possible is a valuable skill for any aspirant lucid dreamer. As most people here are aware, the cerebral phase state that begets lucid dreaming is unstable. In order to maintain it, several techniques can be employed. Fear, by the way, is an emotion that can sustain lucid dreaming in some at the cost of comfort and increasing loss of control -- not something to rely on by oneironauts. If panic ensues, a premature awakening can occur if the lucid dreamer is lucky enough to be spared a string of frightful false awakenings. Fear of failure is also not an option when one is consciously avoiding a premature awakening. If you fear awakening during a lucid dream, you will invoke thoughts of finding yourself back in bed in the real world, the termination of lucid dreaming, the evanescence of your dream world, a sense of failure and other negative modes of thinking that will potentially disrupt your journey.

I know this can be a challenge to execute, but, I am trying to encourage oneironauts -- especially the novice -- to remain unconcerned about premature awakenings whilst trying to preclude them. It appears to be a paradoxical ask, but the idea behind it is doable. Most people think about the pounds they must be losing when they exercise and stick to prescribed diets but there are those who HABITUALLY do the right thing without focusing -- or being aware of -- the benefits they reap. Likewise, these individuals don't fear the pounds they'll gain if their behavioural pattern is broken. Their beneficial comportment is natural to them. It's a habit. It's second nature. Not much thinking involved. In order to turn such helpful actions into useful habits, one must practise -- and it helps if early efforts are ENTHUSIASTICALLY implemented ab initio. I hope you are getting a picture of what I'm trying to convey here...

Worry and (to a lesser degree) ambition should not feature strongly in any approach. Be calm and tolerant of mistakes. If you awake prematurely without having been disturbed in the real world, you have most likely allowed yourself to be distracted by thoughts. If you fall off the taut rope, as it were, your mind has wandered. You can probably see now how the practice of lucid dreaming is akin to meditation -- especially where its maintenance is concerned -- and the two certainly interrelate. (Remember the times when your goal was to induce a WILD, and you noticed how your mind persistently strays from a point of focus into a maelstrom of noisy thinking -- this, in the induction of lucid dreams as much as meditation, already is a great leap in recognising the complex nature of the human mind.) So, before attempting any of the techniques I'm about to highlight, one must be serene and curb internal dialogue (or "monologue" if you want to pedantically emphasise that one talks to oneself in one's mind).

Beware of thinking in lucid dreams! They can be a major distraction which will ultimately cause you to lose sight of your plan (it behoves you to have one prior to lucid dreaming) -- and with it, lucidity -- or to wake up. On this note, it is worth mentioning that oneironauts should CAUTIOUSLY interact with dream characters and scenes. Engage with them if you will but don't become so involved that you lose yourself. Probe them, test them, converse with them, experiment with dream events and forms, but remain the LUCID OBSERVER. If you feel that you are losing yourself, and thus losing control as you dangerously verge on dream inebriety, move away from the situation. In any case, a well remembered action plan will help you remain lucidly riveted and elevate a mind frame befitting stability of the Gamma phase state (40 Hz cerebral bandwidth) and conducive to the protraction of lucid dreams.

Included in the lesson of lucid-dream prolongation is learning to enjoy the experience responsibly. This includes a little dream incubation coupled with real-time focus in the dream world. You should have an INTERESTING PLAN so solid that the myriad thoughts from your subconscious cannot compete with it. Remember: Everything in the dream world is the end product of those very thoughts that ostensibly compete for your attention -- their limelight is the light of consciousness. If you don't have a plan, you are more liable to be absorbed by those thought-forms and their illusory scenarios where you will no longer be your waking self and the truth about what surrounds you -- a dream -- will be lost.

The reason why the self can change so radically is that it, too, is the product of thinking by the brain. That's right! The self is a bundle of thoughts (you are who you think you are) in the light of consciousness. You don't believe it? Then consider the following facts: One can have several identities and think irrationally, or incoherently, in ordinary dreams; the lucid-dream self -- which is liable to Alan Worsley's "bizarre thinking" (see Dream Science) -- is the closest assimilation to the waking one; the waking self can be moulded or eradicated by false memory and amnesia.

The self, as the interpretation of a soul riding the physical body, does not exist. (See Anatta, the realisation of no-self.) Even in linguistic expression we inadvertently convey this truth when we say, "The self is THOUGHT TO BE an immaterial soul" and "Who do you THINK you are?" (The "you" in this confrontational phrase clearly doesn't refer to a distinct personality, but rather, that which does the thinking and potentially generates identities -- the brain, me thinks.) I won't even go into multiple personality disorder. Consciousness, whatever its relation to the physical world, underlies the sense of self, which, needless to say, is a persistent illusion. This is the reality Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, discovered. I think it's important for every lucid dreamer to realise this because lucid dreaming can provide some insight into the nature of consciousness as it can offer shortcuts to meditative goals. When the Buddha became enlightened under that Sacred Fig tree, as the story goes, he realised that consciousness can become convoluted into a plethora of thought-forms -- the most intricate of all, which is entangled with the simpler ones, is the waking ego or self. If consciousness is like a mirror, what it reflects are the thoughts. Prince Gautama witnessed the "mirror" not reflecting anything, so to speak. Once he recognised all concepts arising in the mind for exactly what they are (objects of consciousness), without ever becoming distracted by them, he was "free."

The most elusive and intricate conceptual clump persisted until our renowned contemplative turned his attention to it: the self. When he inverted consciousness on itself -- looking for the observer in him -- the subjective-objective dichotomy was shattered and the ego, like every other fleeting thought, vanished. What remained was a clear consciousness with no identity -- a PRISTINE AWARENESS, a neutrality that cannot be moved by anything. This naked awareness, posited by the majority of scientists and materialists to be the byproduct of some yet unknown physical harmony, is, despite its neutrality, blissful. Why should this be? Perhaps, as some modern contemplatives have suggested, pure consciousness -- free of all mental baggage including the self -- has a "blissful tone." Consciousness as being intrinsically blissful is quite feasible once we acknowledge that its convoluted form, which we experience in our day-to-day lives, leads to desires, a relentless search for happiness, unhealthy attachments and suffering. It isn't hard to see that the core of what the Buddha prescribed was legitimate and meditation has indeed been scientifically established to be beneficial for the brain. Our clouded minds force us to live our lives based on LIKES and DISLIKES and when things don't go as planned we become dysphoric. The Buddha truly showed us another way...

The general goal in the management of lucid dreaming isn't shattering the illusion of self. (Unless, of course, one is using lucid dreams as meditative shortcuts in order to self-transcend.) On the contrary, if one wishes to lengthen the duration of a lucid dream, the self must be preserved and kept as close as possible to the model of the waking ego. The lucid dream state depends on this. The closer the lucid-dream self emulates the waking one the better. But where the same meditative -- or, indeed, Buddhist approach -- applies is where oneironauts bear in mind the illusory nature of dream reality and keep at bay its elements for they can potentially generate other identities with the power to jeopardise and replace the lucid self. Lucid dreaming, when executed properly, is the adroitness of manipulating the very convoluted mental web that the Buddha urged us to address. In this sense, and as the two strive for the betterment of minds, lucid dreaming and meditation are compatible. Both encourage us to be mindful.

Without further ado, what techniques can one utilise to prolong lucid dreaming? Well, the principle behind all of them is CARPE SOMNIA MUNDI (seize the dream world). One way to do this is to amplify the senses in the lucid dream. What does the dream world FEEL like? Bring clarity to your vision; touch dream objects (this includes your phantom body) and assess their properties; pay attention to audition; taste food and drink; and move around! Avoid pausing to think and avert hesitation as actions from uncertainty can bring about abrupt awakenings. (You really can't afford to go without an action plan if you want your lucid dream to last!) If the dream world shows signs of fading in any way, shape or form, intensify what has dimmed. If the environment continues to fade despite your efforts, quickly grasp a dream object, and, if you are still holding it whilst perceiving yourself to be lying in bed, you are still dreaming! Just get out of bed and quicken your surroundings to reasonable realism.

You want dream environments to exhibit real-like -- or ever hyper-real -- qualities. The reason for this is that there is usually a correlation between a strong illusion of perceptual realism and the stability of the hybrid phase state of the brain which appears to promote waking consciousness whilst dreaming. Here's an example of deepening and maintaining this phase state:

"After a perceived separation from my body, I stand in darkness. I rub my hands a few inches from my face, paying attention to the EXPECTED warmth, noise and friction this action produces, all the while HOPING to see. MINDING these percepts gradually INTENSIFIES the experience. I blow a stream of hot air from my mouth which appears to make my hands visible exactly as DESIRED. I am mildly EXCITED at the simplicity of this experience. Then, with my magical puff, I ENTHUSIASTICALLY colourise the rest of the bedroom surroundings until darkness has been completely replaced. I REMEMBER my action plan and follow it through as I occasionally maintain the dream world as needed using the same techniques previously employed to intensify the lucid dream ab initio."

As you execute your plan, carpe somnia mundi. Do not be distracted by thoughts. Live out the lucid dream. Absorb the hallucinatory experience enthusiastically with your senses. Live in the now as it happens. Later, in the waking state, you will have time to once again marvel at the lucid dream in memory and mull it over. It helps to revisit the experience in the present tense as you jot it down in your journal. If it was interesting (as a successfully executed action plan should be), it will have a lasting mnemonic impact.

Strong sensations, with great illusion of realism, will help the oneironaut remain in the dream world. One must resist awakening and the clutches of ordinary dreaming by keeping active, avoiding internal dialogue and stray thinking, and never hesitating. Other techniques include: Spinning; counting; maintaining a strong vibrational state during perambulation of the dream world; a periodic analysis of awareness ("Am I dreaming?"); avoiding looking into the distance for too long (which can precipitate awakenings); a strong intention to have a perdurable lucid dream; and re-entering lucid dreamland as many times as possible after brief -- and undesired! -- awakening-like interludes until this option expires.

So there you have it, my friends. I hope this disquisition helps the recent neophytes and refreshes the memory of some of the veterans here who have been devoting much of their time to discussions that do not pertain to lucid dreaming in the Off-topic section. Please feel free to suggest new ways to aid the protraction of lucid dreams. Good luck and carpe somnia mundi!

Sweet lucid dreams... 8-)

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Amazing contribution. All I can say is thank you.

It all makes sense to me, given my experiences, but I had not put two and two together on the fact that worrying about waking up will make me wake up. The longest lucid experiences I've had were ones that seemed almost plotted stories, beginning, middle and end... and I think that was due to the fact that I had prepared myself to look into something when I had the next event of lucidity. I guess I could say that I was so intent on looking or experiencing something that I forgot to worry about waking up.

Thoughtful post :)

Fear of failure is also not an option when one is consciously avoiding a premature awakening. If you fear awakening during a lucid dream, you will invoke thoughts of finding yourself back in bed in the real world, the termination of lucid dreaming,

So true. We probably don't mention that enough at this website.

Beware of thinking in lucid dreams! They can be a major distraction which will ultimately cause you to lose sight of your plan (it behoves you to have one prior to lucid dreaming) -- and with it, lucidity -- or to wake up.

That depends. It's thinking of the sort which people just stand there and stop interacting with their dream which is the issue and is quite likely to cause a dream loss.

Like getting inside their heads too much so for a split moment, so hence becoming distant to the dream (one only has to not focus on a dream for a fraction of a moment to loose that dream). Thinking is fine if you keep your attention on the dream. One can deeply analyse a dream while staying focused on whatever you are seeing, hearing, feeling etc at the time. I often even analyse my own dream symbols while still in the dream.

Do not loose attention on a dream even for just a moment, don't focus on self like inside ones head while in a dream eg don't stand there doing nothing and thinking to oneself "what did I want to do?" what was my goal? think *** (cant remember) think (cant remember) think**** the mind is now away from the current dream/disconnected from dream. (be aware of where the mind is).

It's great to have dream goals but if you forget do not dwell on it, it doesn't matter, just find something in your dream to do.

It's often only a danger of dream loss in a wake up, if one stops focus on the actual dream. Don't stand around just thinking too much but if one is looking at something in the dream and thinking about it or analysing it (observing in detail), that can be fine. (though some do wake up if they use their normal thoughts too much but I usually don't from that).

On this note, it is worth mentioning that oneironauts should CAUTIOUSLY interact with dream characters and scenes. Engage with them if you will but don't become so involved that you lose yourself. Probe them, test them, converse with them, experiment with dream events and forms, but remain the LUCID OBSERVER. If you feel that you are losing yourself, and thus losing control as you dangerously verge on dream inebriety, move away from the situation.

Some can find it helpful to really interact with the DCs and scenes esp people into WILD in which the dream state may start off quite unstable. Deeply interacting with the dream in these cases can often help. Some need to interact more deeply to keep the right balance so not to wake up in real life. I sometimes use getting more involved in dreams at times for dream deepening rather then using stabilising techniques by rubbing hands etc.

How much to interact or play along with a LD often can depend one what the state needs... does the person need to go lighter? (due to the risk of loosing themselves) or does the person need to go deeper? (due to risk of loosing the dream). To prolong a LD one needs to keep the state balanced to stay consciously in it.

I suppose I should mention that interaction with dream characters is stabler when it's part of an action plan. It helps if you already know what to say. It's been said that focusing on their lips as they speak can be distracting and eventuate premature awakenings. If you plan to have a deep and intense conversation with them then it may indeed help you to engage because this is your lucid dream plan. But be careful. Don't lose sight of what you're trying to do. You should be able to preserve your autonomy. Don't get so doped up (think too much about what the DC is saying) that you lose your waking-like self and the DC ends up exhibiting more of an autonomous mind than you.

I find that it also helps if I rub my hands whilst conversing with a DC. On this occasion, I don't need to look at my hands and it wouldn't be a good idea as it would overload the visual field. During communication with DC's, rubbing hands should be a background sensation (tactility to help keep the dream world stable).

You are right about pausing to think, by the way. Oneironauts should stay focused on what's around them and execute their plan. Keep moving. Keep doing something. Pausing increases the chances of an undesirable exit from the lucid dream.

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Summerlander wrote: I suppose I should mention that interaction with dream characters is stabler when it's part of an action plan. It helps if you already know what to say. It's been said that focusing on their lips as they speak can be distracting and eventuate premature awakenings.

I don't understand why anyone would stare at their lips, is that something people do in real life?. I focus on them just like I would do if I was talking to a normal person but always are aware they are just a DC but by treating them as if they are normal people when speaking to them, it can help me deepen the dream.

(deepening my dreams are always my biggest need when Im LD, its wake ups which is my issue, once I'm lucid it would be extremely rare for me to drift into an unaware dream state, my waking mind is too active to do that)

If you plan to have a deep and intense conversation with them then it may indeed help you to engage because this is your lucid dream plan.

I never plan before hand to talk to them (unless its part of a dream challenge Im working on) but they still really can help me engage with the dream.

I don't understand why people would focus on moving lips either, Tania -- I've never done it! -- but it seems that some oneironauts have decided to observe dream characters' lip-sync abilities (perhaps curious to see if lip movements match the voice being heard) with adverse effects. Probably best to regard DC's as a whole when we interact with them. Anyway, however lucid you feel, don't let your guard down. ;-)

If the plan is to ask specific questions when you meet a dream character, then there isn't much room for hesitation. If the plan is an impromptu conversation, then the bar is raised for most, but not much -- I'd imagine -- for superb interviewers and conversationalists. Reporters may even use lucid dreaming to hone in on their communicative skills -- especially if they wish to always be ready and unwavering come whatever may from their respondents.

By the way, Alvar, I'm glad you found this helpful. It seems that you have already realised what I propose here. Carpe somnia mundi with enthusiasm and intention can override the worry about premature awakenings and prolong lucid dreams. Thanks for sharing! 8-)

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I dare to join this converastion of LD veterans with my contribution.

As a newbie to lucid dreaming, I find your post extremely helpful. Now I actually not only know what works to stabilize a dream, but most importantly, how it works. Not only was the post very enjoyable to read, it is also full of interesting and useful information, that I have not known about before. I believe it was one of the best written articles about lucid dreaming I've read on the Internet.

Thank you.

I'm flattered, Limeth. I'm glad people are finding it useful! 8-)

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Fantastic contribution Summerlander, thanks a lot! Plenty of stuff in there I'd forgotten about.

You're welcome. I think lucid dreamers should work together in improving their practice. We can all learn a lot from one another. :-)

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I feel like I'm reading a dermatologist's homework schedule. ' If it's dry, moisturize it. If it's wet, dry it. ' I probably am too much of a newbie to understand but do you want me to keep it relatively balanced with the perception, interaction vs thought of what I am feeling/doing like putting 10,000 pounds of each on each side of a seesaw or do you want me to not do too much of both that the seesaw will break as in just 10 pounds of each of the stuff? In computer terms, just how much RAM does my melon have? Do I just need to believe that it will not collapse if I intensify it implying I have infinite RAM? And from what I have read, incubation of the dream in waking reality is better as you say than improvising what I wanna do in the dream [thinking too much]? What if I were to say....um change a little detail and step on a butterfly somewhere in the dream plot and a whole different chain reaction takes place...would it be the end of the world as in dream world? I think I get the lightest drift of what you have tried to tell peeps. Just had them questions Also, about the LIKES and DISLIKES part and I really hope you don't take what you are about to read offensively and/or too seriously....Hypothetically speaking, if [emphasis on if] I ask the Buddha to wear a dress and dance the Remigold for the prize of say something immaterial but nice like learning how to dance itself.....would he do it? just curious

Indoril Nerevar wrote: I feel like I'm reading a dermatologist's homework schedule. ' If it's dry, moisturize it. If it's wet, dry it. '

Interesting. I wonder what a monkey would feel like if it saw the OP. It would mean nothing at all and it probably wouldn't feel much towards the digital squiggles. :-)

Indoril Nerevar wrote: I probably am too much of a newbie to understand but do you want me to keep it relatively balanced with the perception, interaction vs thought of what I am feeling/doing like putting 10,000 pounds of each on each side of a seesaw or do you want me to not do too much of both that the seesaw will break as in just 10 pounds of each of the stuff?

Like a guitar string. Not slack or a note cannot be produced; not taut or the string might snap. Find that balance where a harmony is possible. ;-)

Try no pounds on your imaginary seesaw and just balance it. :mrgreen:

Indoril Nerevar wrote: In computer terms, just how much RAM does my melon have? Do I just need to believe that it will not collapse if I intensify it implying I have infinite RAM?

Forget the computer analogy -- you're overthinking it. Brains are not computers (although it can be argued that they are computerised) and there is no RAM. Memories are not even stored in your cortex like files that need to be retrieved. Every time you remember something, the experience is always an inaccurate reconstruction of what was originally experienced.

It's not a case of believing in anything, by the way. It's a case of not expecting the dream to collapse by being focused on what's before you. You play with the dream world with enthusiasm. It's like telling a child to develop an interest in what they think will be boring -- such as a book. How do they know it's boring if they haven't tried it? So I say to you: The task may seem like a drag but you can learn to like it; deepen the dream world with enthusiasm. 8-)

Indoril Nerevar wrote: And from what I have read, incubation of the dream in waking reality is better as you say than improvising what I wanna do in the dream [thinking too much]?

It's not quite like dream incubation...per se. (Perhaps an inception of interesting goals is a more suitable description.) You don't have to imagine dream events at bedtime. Just write down 2 or 3 goals, example:

1 - Go to the fridge and get a nice chocolate salami. 2 - Fly to the moon and watch the Earth. 3 - Find Leela from Futurama in order to have sex with her.

A plan will prevent hesitation, the main cause of undesired exits from lucid dreams.

Indoril Nerevar wrote: What if I were to say....um change a little detail and step on a butterfly somewhere in the dream plot and a whole different chain reaction takes place...would it be the end of the world as in dream world?

Not necessarily. Nothing prevents you from exploring and testing dream reality. That could be your goal. As long as you can avoid hesitation and getting lost in thought. The thinking about the lucid dream can be done later in the waking state. :-)

Indoril Nerevar wrote: I think I get the lightest drift of what you have tried to tell peeps. Just had them questions Also, about the LIKES and DISLIKES part and I really hope you don't take what you are about to read offensively and/or too seriously....

Lol! Why would I take offence? I think it's admirable that an individual will initially doubt everything. As I said before, find what works for you. I can only describe to you the nature of my own mind and how it has found a way around the problems pertinent to the practice of lucid dreaming. :-D

Indoril Nerevar wrote: Hypothetically speaking, if [emphasis on if] I ask the Buddha to wear a dress and dance the Remigold for the prize of say something immaterial but nice like learning how to dance itself.....would he do it? just curious

LMAO! :-D

I don't know! You'd have to ask him! If he existed, he was just a man after all! I can only imagine an ideal Buddha that would probably do it for your own amusement only -- not for some reward, however tenuously enticing this one might be. But I detect an oxymoron in your question: If you know that the ideal Buddha would not be motivated by 'likes' and 'dislikes', why assume that he would do something for a reward? Learning to dance would probably just be a mental exploration for him.

Anyway, I wouldn't urge anyone to become a Buddhist (although some useful things can be found in the Buddha's philosophy). A while ago I argued for and against Buddhism. Some of my criticism of it can be found here plus the balance I would recommend to people (a mixture of Epicureanism and Buddhism):

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=15030

And in here you will find an interesting discourse I had with my friend Deschain which shows how the Buddha's prescription can serve you well as you start losing everything in your life (hedonists and narcissists may want to take heed): :mrgreen:

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16311

Finally, something further on the nature of mind - including drug experimentation! :-D

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16533

I know it's a lot to read, but, if you are genuinely looking for answers (or theories to unknowns), you will. ;-)

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Right, so if I say, try to see everything in more more and MOAR DETAIL! or add some more for extra eyecandygasm like say painting a motorcycle's gas tank with flames then making em move like a projector movie on the gas tank, would it kill the dream. Had a lucid dream today like that. The guitar string thing does make sense although I have noticed that I can't really think that clearly or should I say as much as I can when I am awake normally. However I can seem to remember that I am lucid that's it. But then I do something stupid like,"Oooh, pretty bike!" and lose all concentration looking at em flames :P. I did make a general goal just speaking to myself in my mind that I wanted to ride a bike the day before, guess it helped I did however have some two three nonlucid dreams after that. Will dance with Buddha today and hey I googled Leela, not bad taste mate....just wondering how it would....um 'feel' 2d...guess I'll find out. Thanks for responding and I apologise for being late, I live in a different timezone.

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That's why I don't claim that the lucid-dream self is the waking self. It isn't. It is precisely because of this:

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13266[

Alan Worsley noticed it. And I'm sure the majority of lucid dreamers hace noticed it, too. :-)

By the way, Leela in 3D is much better! :mrgreen:

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Here is a lucid dream I had on 5th July. I call it 'Candy-floss Cloud'. On this particular morning, I got up at seven o'clock to make breakfast for my kids. Twenty minutes later, I returned to bed for a nap - turning on the stereo before lying down. The soothing classical sounds of Claude Debussy's 'Clair de lunne' helped me to relax. Soon, strange waves filled my head, accompanied by episodic hissing. I don't remember hearing somniferous music at this stage, but I know that I gradually fell asleep. The dreaming that followed was vague, and a kind of aleatory lucidity manifested when I asked myself, 'Am I dreaming?' The following account is in the present tense and edited from notes on my lucid dream:

'I realise, beyond all doubt, that everything around me is a dream. There is excitement, which I keep in check. I remember what I have been preaching to other oneironauts online, "Carpe somnia mundi: seize the dream world". I cannot let this go; the environment that was so vivid a split-second ago is quickly fading. I'm running through an alley, rushing past confusing intricate forms, blanched shapes - mechanical in appearance - daedal contours that I'm afraid to examine lest the lucid dream collapses. This feeling, I'm aware, contradicts my advice. I have no action plan so I quickly decide to go with the flow. I keep running and notice people ahead of me. They are running in the same direction - it feels like a marathon. I grab them and palpate them in order to maintain the dream world. They feel real.

'I continue to run, faster and faster, gliding, until I take off towards the blue sky. Suddenly, it's nighttime and I spot a few stars, too bright to look realistic. Below me, the tallest structures of a dream city are pylons interconnected by power lines. Looking up, I realise I'm flying towards the centre of a massive quadrangular mandala absurdly delineated by steel towers. The centre happens to be the entrance to the surface of a cartoonlike cloud which appears to consist of a snowball-crested ice rink in the sky with an iceberg-like underside. I slide over it upright before skidding on my chest, arms outstretched and commoving celestial bubbles. (Great oneiric recreation!) The cloud is not icy - as one would assume by looking at it - and I taste candy floss when I open my mouth to swallow the curious, and now flocculent, heavenly surface. Once I reach the cloud's edge, I descend back to the urban land which now lacks pylons. I fly by some buildings; flight - I can tell - provides me with a strong sense of motion through dream space which ostensibly maintains the lucid dream.

'There is a damsel in distress at one of the windows - the lure of some Rapunzel fantasy from my subconscious, no doubt! - enticing me to be her hero. An anthropoidal colossus yanks the girl from the window and slams it shut. My blood boils, but a reminder that it's all a dream returns my frivolous excitement. I smash into the window pane with a flying kick and recoil from the shards in midair. I look in the window to see the enraged giant moving in on me. Behind him, two dream characters sit at a table with a peculiar spotlight shining on them; they appear to be too scared to move. Rapunzel feebly tries to hold back the colossal aggressor. I sling shards of glass at him; stabbing him; slashing him open; blood spurting everywhere. I'm exhilirated as I hear the cowardly figures cheering from their seats as the menacing dream character finally topples. I'm becoming emotionally involved as I glide through the broken window to talk to Rapunzel - as I've come to call her. It's tempting to regard her as a real person; to revel in delusion for just one second; to not just pretend it's all real but to actually forget that I'm dreaming. I lose lucidity. (I should have been careful with what I wished for!)

'I'm in a record shop with my friend Charlie. No recollection of how I got there. Perhaps there is nothing to recall - bearing in mind that dreams don't have to make sense, the scene could have just manifested. Charlie natters away but I take no notice. There is something off here. How did I get here? Am I dreaming? Bam! I'm lucid again! Strangely, I still feel like I have to listen to Charlie. I must shake off this feeling. I ascend through the air, defying the gravity that was never there, and look down at a pathetic Charlie ceaselessly tattling... "Shut up, Charlie!" I shout with a grin as I fly away from the scene.

'The dream world is vivid - no need to deepen it. I soared into the blue, overlooking a vast metropolis. I gaze at its streets from above and subsequently find myself walking in the middle of a road. A middle-aged woman wearing a green summer dress stands on the pavement, smiling at me. She is a well-defined dream figure, with a huge sombrero, wavy dark hair and tanned skin. I can even make out freckles on her face and shoulders. Her handbag is blurry, though. She greets me in silence. I am now standing in front of her and we embrace. She feels like a strong lady and there is a spark of attraction here. I feel aroused as we walk together - impossibly embracing at the same time - and I get this notion that she's taking me to her residence. (Another fantasy!) I experience a contradictory urge to resist my sexual whim and wish for this lucid dream to culminate on some other escapade. Abruptly, I'm standing on the second floor of the woman's house. Most of the front wall is gone - as though ravaged by a hurricane - exposing most of the house's interior. She stands outside, looking exasperated and complaining that her house has been despoiled. This is intense. I rub my hands together and remind myself that I'm dreaming.

'I'm now in my house and a nimble, muscular ninja climbs through my son's bedroom window. The dark figure strikes and I block his moves before counterattacking with a few punches and kicks of my own. He's a solid withstander, too. I feel him gripping my wrists, so I manage to get my foot on his chest, springing his torso away from me and towards the open window. Without delay, I grab his ankle and succeed in defenestrating him by pulling his heg up and off the floor. (What a jubilant lesson in martial arts!) The ninja back-flips a couple of times and lands well - a perfect crouch with a foot, a knee, and a few digits on the pavement outside. He somersaults back into the room and another defenestration is successfully executed. This dark fighter always lands well and I find this, as well as the fact that we are resuming combat in slow motion, quite hilarious. The dream world is evanescing and I hear pulsatile hissing in my head.

'I spin like a dervish, eyes shut, to randomly emerge in a strange kitchen overlooking a gorgeous nighttime dreamscape. Beholding multicoloured city lights, I exclaim, "How can the philosopher Daniel Dennett posit that qualia is nonexistent?" I feel a presence. Behind me, an Asian man with a sceptical air about him speaks in a strong Indian accent: "What do you mean the self does not exist?" "It doesn't, it's an illusion..." I reply. "How so?" He returns incredulously. "Look closely", I begin to explain with emotion to this dream sceptic who provides me with a social dress rehearsal for waking life discussions on matters of the mind, "and you will see that the whole world rests on your neck - where a head should be." I wake up with a buzz.'

As you can see, I didn't have an action plan but still managed to lucid dream long enough, save for a couple of undesired interims, to have fun. ;-)

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Here is a useful diagram for beginners: (I'm including it here so I know where to find it.)

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Study the Agorithm of Action upon Awakenings

Look at this diagram which is from Michael Raduga's The Phase - A Practical Guidebook. Study it. Employ the techniques, be persistent, patient, and calm. 'The phase' is where everything happens, where you enter the lucid dream world. That is your aim, where you need to focus on. You want to reach the phase state regardless of whether you experience SP or not. And make sure you do it in the morning after a good night's sleep (at least 6 hours).

Examples of techniques for the algorithm:

Listening in; observing images; phantom wiggling. Spend about 5 seconds on each. Cycle through them. Any strange sensation (images/sounds/vibrations) that arises needs to be amplified before you employ a 'separation' method or lucidly enter the dream world in a direct manner.

Quickest route:

The quickest route, if you look at the diagram, is: Awakening > separation attempt > the phase state. It can be this simple. Ideally, you don't want to faff with techniques. The dream-exit initiated lucid dream (DEILD) method employs the same principle. Separating from the sleeping body stencil (out-of-body experience or OOBE) often goes with this. I find it to be the most effective. 8-)

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