After the dream ends and you wake up in your bedroom, you are struck by the intensity and profundity of what you have just experienced. You have experienced Lucid Dreaming. Lucid Dreaming can occur spontaneously, but it can also be learned as a result of practice of specific techniques (or induction methods) which make it possible to experience it much more often. Several authors, most notably LaBerge, have created such lucid dreaming techniques, but most can take months to learn and practice. Here is a new Lucid Dreaming technique you can learn and practice which may allow you to experience lucid dreaming for yourself, but without the large investment of time and effort many other methods require. Simply follow the instructions as closely as you can. No lengthy preparations are required. You might begin experiencing lucid dreaming tonight, or some other night in the very near future!

The method is called Object-Awareness Recognition (OAR). The first step in practicing this technique is to select the object you will use. You will use this object to direct your awareness—you will “carry this object over” into your dreaming, and your recognition of the object, as you dream, will release your waking awareness into your dream. The object is like a bridge, bringing the conscious awareness you experience during your waking life into your dream. As you practice this technique, the meaning of this explanation will become clear.

The object you choose can be any object that is known to you and is recognizable and familiar—a book perhaps, a piece of furniture or a piece of clothing, but a physical object from your waking life. It should not be so small that it will be hard to see or locate, nor should it be unusually large. Your object should not have any special emotional significance nor symbolic meaning to you, either—its purpose will only be as an object you can recognize in your dream, to remind yourself you are dreaming and to activate your conscious awareness. It should be an object that you are comfortable with, and one you select for yourself (this will give you a feeling of comfort with the technique, and ownership of your dreams).

Once you select this object, you must practice a preparatory exercise. During the daytime, on any day you plan to attempt lucid dreaming later that night, you should at least once (or preferably at several different times) spend a few moments looking at the object while clearly thinking and intending the following: “I will see this object later, in my dreams, and I will stop what I am doing and will become aware of the fact that I am dreaming.” Know that when you see this object in your dreams you will know you are dreaming and your waking awareness will become present. Usually you will do this preparatory exercise while actually looking at your object, but you can also merely have a memory of the object while you form this intention, if you are more comfortable doing it this way or if the object is not nearby during the day.

Practice the following technique upon going to bed that night, or after awakening very early in the morning (just before your last sleep cycle)—it will work at either time. First, rest and relax completely. If you will focus on your breathing—gently focus only on it—you will grow relaxed. Focusing only on your breathing has a soporific effect, and will lower you quickly—as it does when you begin to sleep—to the relaxed stage, almost to the verge of sleep. This is the critical point, almost to the verge of sleep. It is called the hypnogogic state.

Notice that as you enter this state you begin to lose the sensation and awareness of your body. As you begin to enter sleep, your body “falls asleep” first. As you feel its relaxation and reach the point where sleep is drawing near, have an awareness of your mind—your conscious awareness (which includes your thoughts, your feelings, your whole being)—as it is following the body into sleep. Induce a quietness, in your mind, and this will allow your mind to be almost at the pace approaching sleep as the body. They do not descend together, but the body descends towards sleep first, with the mind following.

After you lose most sensation of your body, and as your mind then grows close to sleep, bring a clear yet effortless image of the object you have chosen, into your mind. Hold the image of the object gently in your mind. Do not focus on the object as you would in meditation, visualization or hypnosis (if you are familiar with any of these practices), but simply hold an awareness of the object in your mind, like a memory. This will probably include some visual image of the object (and yet it does not have to). Do not think that you will see the object in your dream, nor have any other idea about the object—have an awareness of it only, and do not use focused attention or any effort or force of will to “try to see” or think about the object. This is instead a very gentle, effortless process—like a memory you have decided to remember.

Once you have begun to dream, you may see the object in your dream. It will usually not appear immediately, especially the first time you practice this technique, but will appear at some point during the night. It is important to know that the object may not appear, in the dream, exactly like it appears during your waking life. A book, for example, might be blue instead of brown, in the dream. The first time you see the object in your dream, however, you will simply experience a recognition that this is the object and that it has been encountered. It is likely that there will be only a small moment of waking awareness that results, at first. But, once you have practiced this technique several times, there will be an ease in locating the object and in releasing your conscious awareness, in the dream. The object is like a key—releasing you inside the world of your dreams. You will recognize the object and this will alert your waking mind that this is a dream, and your waking mind will be present and able to direct its attention to the object. You are then lucid dreaming!

© 2008-2011 Stephen H. Barrett. All Rights Reserved.

The first consideration is to create the right conditions and environment in which to practice this technique. It is best to lie down on a comfortable bed, in a room that is warm enough that you can wear loose, very comfortable clothing and neither be too cold nor too warm. The room should be relatively dark (it need not be completely dark, but close) so that you can see very little or no light through the lids of your eyes, when you close your eyes. This will of course mean turning off all the lights, if it is nighttime, and will require closing curtains and blinds during the day. You may even need to obtain extra blackout curtains or place cloth over windows during the day, to block out nearly all the light. It is important to not use a blindfold. Your body should be unconstrained, as you learn this—wear loose clothing, so you are very comfortable, remove all watches, shoes, neckties, timepieces, belts and other jewelry, such that there is little or no bodily sensation from these things. It is best not to put a blanket or sheet over yourself—or only a very lightweight one. You should be able to lie down comfortably, be at a comfortable temperature, see little or no light through your closed eyelids and be so relaxed and comfortable that you can barely feel your body. You should also be in a room that is private, quiet and where no-one will disturb you as you practice.

And now, lying down, clear you mind and relax your body. Then think of a person with whom you have a connection—a close friend, family member or anyone with whom you have a relatively close personal connection. This person should not be nearby, but in some distant location (their home, at work, at school, or another place removed from you). Think of the person not in a concentrated way, but easily (as though lightly touching on a memory of them or as if gently thinking of them). Do not focus your mind or awareness on them in a way that uses any mental effort, but think of or sense them effortlessly. And then you will see if at some point you witness their surroundings—it is not simply imagining, but actually witnessing what the person is doing at the moment and their surroundings, effortlessly. We are not talking of imagining we are talking of the real projection of part of your being to another location. This practice is done effortlessly, similar to meditation. Your eyes will be closed, but at some point you will acquire a clear image of the person and/or their surroundings, and beyond this visual image even a sense temperature and atmosphere. It will be like you are there—not just an image or imagining in the mind’s eye, but a real sense of being in another place. This experience is likely to be fleeting, at first. It is important not to try to make it happen, but only allow it to happen.

To understand a little more of the right way to sense the person, as you practice this exercise, consider the following: your mind is not entirely able to hold a constant thought. You therefore should not try to focus the mind with effort and force it to think of the person and keep your focused thought on them. Instead, bring your mind to the thought and sense of them effortlessly, with a light touch of the mind, and then allow an awareness of the person and his or her surroundings to emerge. As you practice you might find yourself standing or sitting in a furnished room with windows, for example. In the same way as if you were actually there, you will find yourself becoming aware of everything in the room—your mind will become aware of the surroundings, the room, the furniture, the light in the room, the activity taking place there, etc. So it is not necessary to focus only on the person, but only to think of them gently, effortlessly, and allow the experience of another place to emerge, in its detail. It is if you are actually in another place, with the person, allowing the details to take shape in your mind. You do not think of the person, with your mind, and then retreat. You have a gentle, effortless sense of the person, and then allow an awareness of them and their surroundings to emerge, as the details fill in. This is not a mental phenomenon or mental exercise requiring effort—it is more of an experience than a thought.

As you practice, you will find the experience fleeting at first; your mind will dart around and also come back to your own surroundings. This is to be expected, at first. Just continue the practice effortlessly. You may try it as often as you like, so long as the frequency does not lead to increased effort or trying. Allow yourself several minutes to do this exercise, each time. Relax to the state of relaxation and awareness that is ideal for this, [similar to meditation], and then in that state then you will attempt the exercise as it is given above. As you practice you may hear a ringing in your ears or feel a tingling or warmth of energy, in your body. These phenomena are common, with the practice of this ability. Simply allow them to occur, as you practice the technique.

One purpose of this exercise, beyond experiencing part of your being traveling to another location, is for a checking and a recognition in yourself of when your practice is successful. And so, after having some experience of this, you can check with the person to find out if you are accurate or not accurate (if you saw their location and the activity there accurately). It is important not to use this feedback to deny your initial experiences (which will be fleeting impressions, at first), but to confirm your experiences as you grow in the technique.

© 2006-2011 Stephen H. Barrett. All Rights Reserved.

In this exercise, lie down as before: in a dark room with eyes closed, on a comfortable bed, wearing loose & comfortable clothing without watches or jewelry, and so you are not too cold nor too warm.

Now gently focus on your breathing—gently focus, without effort or undue attention—and you will begin to grow relaxed. The object of this relaxing is to achieve a state of deep rest, approaching sleep, and perhaps you will fall asleep, but as you gain control you will be able to remain in a hypnogogic state—the “borderland” state between waking and sleep, and near sleep. The breathing has a soporific effect, and lowers you—as it does when you begin to sleep—to the relaxed stage, almost to the verge of sleep. This is the critical point, almost to the verge of sleep.

When you begin to experience yourself at this point (between awake and sleep states), gently, without disturbing the relaxation, begin to feel the energy body within you. Yes, there is your physical body, which is approaching sleep, but there is also this energy body. Release the feeling of your physical body, and feel only your energy body. One of the ways you will likely feel it will be as a tingling of energy, a feeling of energy. This is your astral body.

The breathing has a soporific effect, and lowers you—as it does when you begin to sleep—to the relaxed stage, almost to the verge of sleep. This is the critical point, almost to the verge of sleep. As your physical body begins to fall asleep you will no longer feel it, but you can feel and be aware of the astral body.

After reaching this point between waking and sleep, and once you have felt the energy body, concentrate and focus—as if you were seeing through your closed eyes—on a space that is 8 to 9 inches above your eyes, as if you were seeing there but without opening your eyelids. You do not imagine a point, but with your eyes closed you look gently at a point that would be at that distance above your body, as if you were seeing through your eyelids. This is the first step in moving the astral body from the physical body. Now simply and gently maintain this state. You may after awhile sense a movement of either the entire astral body, or you may feel it possible to lift one hand or arm of the astral body (so it is above your physical body). Do not rush this. Let it come. It will take time.

If directing your attention to the spot above your head in this way does not produce results, in time, then you can try the following addition to this technique: Sense that your energy body (astral body) is rising above. Do not place your “mind” in the energy—this is not a mental exercise—but rather sense and feel the entire energy body, as if it were the shape of your regular body (except it is energy) as rising, lifting above you. Not in a sitting or other physical movement, but as if it were simply lifting straight up and being above.

It is good to practice both of these Astral Projection Exercises. The first exercise acts almost to prime the mind. After some success with the first, the second will often enable you to leave the body in toto, and experience the out of body state.

© 2006-2011 Stephen H. Barrett. All Rights Reserved.