Reality Testing:

Reality testing is simply asking yourself if you are dreaming. Find that out isn't always easy in a dream. But usually is it quite obvious if you are dreaming or not. You may find yourself on an unfamiliar place, or doing/seeing something that will not likely happen in reality. But sometimes can you find yourself in your bed, and everything looks as it is suppose to be. You can try to read something, look away, and see if the same text is there the second time you read it. You can try changing colors on something or try to fly. If you have a digital clock you can try looking at it, look away and look at it again. If something unusual is happening are you probably dreaming. But every reality test may fail, if that happened, then don't try jumping out the window or something else that might harm you.
Reality tests should be done every hour throughout the day. Or more frequently. And especially before going to sleep and if you wake in the middle of the night. Waking up after 5-6 hours, do some reality tests and go to sleep again may help.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD):

It works by setting your intention to remember to recognize you are dreaming. It was developed by Stephen LaBerge from the Lucidity Institute while he was trying to increase his Lucid Dreams frequency. A good approach is waking up after 5-6 hours, remember a dream and tell yourself: "Next time I'm dreaming, I will remember I'm dreaming." You need to really mean it. Concentrate on this thought only, if you find yourself thinking on something else, just let the thought go and return to your intention. Also try to imagine that you are back in the dream, but this time you recognize that you are dreaming. Look for unusual things that suggest you are dreaming and tell yourself: "I must be dreaming!" Do this with all the unusual things you see from the dream you remember. Continue with this until you fall asleep.

Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream (WILD):

It works by remaining conscious until you start dreaming. This technique was also first presented by the Lucidity Institute, but it is not easy if you don't have a clue what to do. But it is quite easy and effective if you do it right. Again, you need to sleep 5-6 hours before trying this. This is because you don't dream much the first 5 hours, it is mostly non-REM sleep. You enter REM a lot faster after 5-6 hours with sleep, and you don't go down to stage 3 and 4 as you do when you first go to bed. The problem is remaining conscious until your dream start. Many strange things may happen when you remain conscious until the REM-period starts. The first thing you see will may be Hypnagogic Imagery. It is a yellow pattern, like the one you see when you press your fingers against your closed eyelids. Remember that this is hypnotic, and getting too involved with them will induce unconsciousness. Just let it flow, don't get too involved and don't suppress them either. The next thing you may experience is Hypnagogic Sounds. It may be as real as the sounds you hear in waking reality, but they are nothing to be afraid of. It is a good indicator that the REM-period is right around the corner. Just don't let these sounds scare you. If you start to experience Abstract Thoughts the logical part of your brain is falling asleep and you are not far from losing consciousness. You might be lying in bed thinking about a friend and the hypnagogic imagery starts and you see your friend's face. You have also worked a stressful day so you start to remember stocking the shelves at work. Soon you are thinking that you are putting cans of food on the shelves with pictures of your friend on them. All this might seems perfectly normal. But it not logical. What you need to do is try thinking logical, do some maths or start over again. Tactile Sensations can feel like you are paralyzed and high-voltage painless electricity is jolting through your body. You may experience these vibrations and find yourself leaving your body or having a Lucid Dream. But remember that all this is nothing to fear, it happens every night, weather you are consciously aware of it or not. Now that you know what you might experience when trying to consciously enter the REM-period there is another problem we need to conquer. And that is losing consciousness. A very common problem that is rather easy to overcome. A good solution is Caffeine and Theobromine. Caffeine is found in Coffee, Tea, Coke, Chocolate and Pills. Theobromine is found in Chocolate. The problem is finding out how much caffeine that works for you. A lot of experimenting have to be conducted. A good place to start is with 0.5 liter Coke, a cup of Coffee or Tea, half a pill or a chocolate bar. If you take too much you will not start to dream at all, if you take too little you may lose consciousness. But drinking 0.5 liter Coke is not very wise, it has a very disturbing side effect. You should also stay up for about 30-60 minutes after waking up after 5-6 hours with sleep. This because it takes about 45 minutes before the caffeine reaches its full effect. You might experience a DILD if you go to sleep right after some caffeine intake.

Lucid Dreaming induction devices:

Your senses never rest. So what your senses pick up are usually incorporated into your dream, unless it wakes you up. You dream in the REM(Rapid Eye Movement) stage. A device can detect these eye movements and give you cues. Cues mostly used are flashing lights and sound. The problem with these cues is that they don't tell you that you are dreaming. They usually appear in the dream as something else, like carlights. You have to train yourself to recognize these cues as dreamsigns that are trying to tell you that you are dreaming. But these devices are good at causing false awakening, you will think that the device woke you up and try to get to sleep again. But you should do a reality test if such happens, because false awakening is quite normal. Once your reality test fail you can continue doing whatever you want in the dream. But an even more effective approach is verbal cues. Like hearing "This is a Dream" or "You are dreaming" in your dream is a good cue to make you do a reality test. The only problem is that such a solution is very expensive if you want to buy a device like this. Therefore have we plans for making software and schematic drawings for a device that anyone with two hands and a few components can build. You will also need a computer with a soundcard close to your bed. The device may also be used for trance inductions by using binaural beats with matching flashes. (Anyone that wants to join the project, feel free to do so). I also have plans for wireless devices, a wireless EEG machine can detect if you are dreaming or not. I will then use a wireless version of the Neurophone to give you a verbal cue. A Neurophone is a device that use your nervous system to send sound/music to your brain. No ears are needed, in fact, deaf people may hear with this device. (The wireless Neurophone can also be used for trance induction by sending the desired frequency through your nervous system). If you are a deep sleeper that don't see cues, then try getting some caffeine into your system before going to bed or after 5-6 hours. If you are a light sleeper, so that the cues wake you up, then cut every use of caffeine and chocolate containing products. And try to increase your uptake of the amino acid Tryptophan. If you don't want to build your own device, or don't have the patience to wait until we finish the project. Then you can buy a device from The Lucidity Institute at www.lucidity.com, but remember that there is a DOS program called DreamWeaver that also explains how you can create goggles. The Lucidity Institute will maybe publish a system for the NovaDreamer called LISA (Lucidity Induction System for Audio). It is a computer interface that will make it possible for the NovaDreamer to play verbal cues.

Drugs and Herbs:

Yes. For more information about this check out my Dreaming FAQ. You will find most herbs, vitamins, amino acids, minerals and drugs that help you dream more and recall your dreams better. They might even cause you to have a Lucid Dream. To summarize; herbs like Valerian, Mugwort, Mullein, Kava Kava, St. Johns Wort, Calea Zacatechichi, Salvia Divinorum, Licorice Root, Vervain, Jasmine, Honeysuckle, Datura, Bee Pollen, Catnip, Hops, Scullcap, Lavender, Damiana, Withania Somnifera, Passionflower, Chamomile, Cardamom, Gotu Kola, Ginkgo Biloba, Ibogaine, Verbena, Rose, Cinnamon, Marigold, Nutmeg, Peppermint, Holly, Yarrow and Anise may help you dream more, recall more or even have a Lucid Dream. Make sure you know more about these herbs before you use them, some shall be used in pillows, some shall be smoked, some shall be used in tea, etc. Many B-vitamins may help you have more vivid dreams and even Lucid Dreams. Sedative drugs like Melatonin may help, and drugs like caffeine may help you with WILD and also make it easier to recall dreams. And finally, we have psychedelic drugs like DXM that may induce Lucid Dreams. For a more detailed explanation you should check out my Dreaming FAQ.

Prevent premature awakening:

A common problem for beginners is remaining in the dream after becoming Lucid. They become so excited once they realize that they are dreaming that they wake up right away. There are many reasons for being excited, but it will only work against your goal. You need to suppress that feeling. If your dreams shows signs of ending, maybe loss of detail or your dreams just go black, then spinning may help bringing the dream back. Before you feel your physical body you should spin your dream body. That is going round and round. Also remind yourself that the next scene will be a dream. To ensure that it is a dream should you do a RT. Just moving, running or jumping can prolong your Lucid Dream, you might also want to try spinning out in the gravity-free universe. When you open your eyes you may be surprised to find yourself in the most beautiful environment with stars, galaxies and planets. Theta training may make it easier for you to stay in the Dream, it will also make it easier to induce WILD and recall Dreams.

DILD (Dream-Initiated Lucid Dream):

This is a name for every Lucid Dream where you become aware that it is a dream in the dream. Meaning that you are unconscious before you become Lucid. Most Lucid Dreams are DILDs.

PILD (Punishment Induced Lucid Dream):

This technique works by punishing yourself every time you fail to realize that you was dreaming. While going to sleep, tell yourself that you MUST become Lucid this night OR you will be punished in the morning. Various types of punishment may be a cold shower or maybe an electric shock. A 9 volt battery against your tongue maybe. This technique should be used in combination with MILD. The point is to increase your intention, and it works.

RILD (Reward Induced Lucid Dream):

This technique works by rewarding yourself every time you succeed in having a Lucid Dream. Various types of rewards may be eating a chocolate bar, or anything else that you like doing/eating. Have the things you want to reward yourself by your bed, or ready to use. It will increase your intention. This technique should also be used in combination with MILD.

TILD (Thirst Induced Lucid Dream):

This technique works by cutting out everything called drinking for so long that you can really feel that you are thirsty. Go to bed as normal and sleep off that deep delta sleep, wake up after 5-6 hours and go to the bathroom. Fill a glass with tempting, fresh cold water. Try to think of water and doing a RT when you drink. To make the experiment more successful should you fill your mouth with salt so that you really feel like you need to drink something. Set the glass of water on your night table and while you fall asleep think of drinking the water and at the same time doing a Reality Test. You will not drink anything in the real world, so if you find yourself drinking something, then it must be a dream. If you want to increase the feeling of thirst even more should you try eating some pepper or chilly before you go to sleep again.

UILD (Urinate Induced Lucid Dream):

This technique is a bit risky. It works by remembering to do a RT every time you go to the bathroom. So prior to going to bed should you drink A LOT of water. You will maybe dream of going to the bathroom, and hopefully will remember doing a RT. Not the best and safest technique available. But it works.

SILD (Sexual Induced Lucid Dream):

This technique works by remembering to do a RT whenever you think about sex, lovers, partners, love etc. So that whenever you think about your boyfriend/girlfriend or sex in a dream will you remember to do a RT. There is also a few approach you can take to make the dream more sexual related. The B3-vitamin Niacin increase your production of sexual hormones. Taking Melatonin, Serotonin and/or Tryptophan will also help. Because the amino acid Tryptophan is metabolized into Serotonin and Niacin. (Serotonin is converted into Melatonin when you sleep). If you already have a lot of Melatonin/Serotonin in your system will more Tryptophan be converted into Niacin. And your sexual hormones production will increase. Chocolate contains Phenylalanine in large quantities, that is converted into Tyrosine that is again metabolized into the love hormone Dopamine. So Chocolate may also give more dreams with sexual content. Chocolate has also Choline that will help you dream more, Caffeine that will let you remember dreams easier and more.

LILD (Letter Induced Lucid Dream):

This technique use a letter or symbol to induce lucidity. Day-memory are often incorporated into the dream. Especially memory from the evening. So it quite likely that some of what you experience after waking up after 5-6 hours and stay up for about an hour is incorporated into the dream. This is how this technique work. You concentrate on a letter, A for Awareness during that hour. Visualize yourself many times seeing that A and suddenly remember to do a RT. Think about this for about an hour and remember to do a Reality Test whenever you see an A. This should also be done during the day, do a RT every time you notice an A. Just hope that you will remember to do a RT if you see a big A in the middle of the road. The symbol in this technique can easily be changed to your dog, a friend, a place or an activity.