PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF LUCID DREAMING

HOW TO STAY ASLEEP OR WAKE UP AT WILL
So far you have learned how to increase your dream recall and
various techniques for inducing lucid dreams. Perhaps you
have succeeded in having a few lucid dreams, or perhaps you
know how to induce them more-or-less at will. Now that you
are learning to realize when you are dreaming, what can you
do with this knowledge? As discussed previously, one of the
most fascinating potentials offered by lucid dreaming is the
ability to voluntary control dreaming. It may be possible to
dream anything you choose, as the Tibetan dream yogis
believe. But before you can try it, you need to be able to
reamain asleep and retain lucidity!

Novice lucid dreamers often wake up the moment they become
lucid. They can recognize lucidity clues, apply state tests,
and conclude that they are dreaming, but are frustrated
because they wake up or fall into nonlucid sleep soon after
achieving lucidity. However, this obstacle is only temporary.
With experience, you can develop the capacity to stay in the
dream longer. As you will see in a moment, there are also
specific techniques that appear to help prevent premature
awakening. If you continue to apply will and attention to
your practice you should be able to refine your lucid
dreaming skills.


PREVENTING PREMATURE AWAKENING
Informally experimenting in their beds at home, lucid
dreamers have discovered various ways of remaining in the
dream state when threatened by early awakening. All the
techniques involve some form of dream action which is carried
out as soon as the visual part of the dream begins to fade.

Linda Magallon, editor and publisher of the Dream Network
Bulletin, and an intrepid explorer of lucid dreams, has
described how she prevents herself from waking up by
concentrating on the senses other than vision, such as
hearing and touch. She reports that all of the following
activities have successfully prevented awakenings from
visually faded dreams: listening to voices, music, or her
breathing; beginning or continuing a conversation; rubbing or
opening her (dream) eyes; touching her dream hands and face;
touching objects such as a pair of glasses, a hair brush, or
the edge of mirror; being touched; and flying. [1]

These activities all have something in common with the
Spinning Technique described below. They are based on the
idea of loading the perceptual system so it cannot change its
focus from the dream world to the waking world. As long as
you are actively and perceptually engaged with the dream
world, you are less likely to make the transition to the
waking state.

Magallon may be a dreamer with an unusually active REM
system; it may be that she has little trouble staying asleep
once she is in REM. However, many others are light sleepers
who find it difficult to remain in lucid dreams for long
periods of time. These people need more powerful techniques
to help them stay in their lucid dreams.

Harold von Moers-Messmer, a German physician, was one of the
handful of researchers who personally investigated lucid
dreaming in the first half of the 20th century. He was the
first to propose the technique of looking at the ground in
order to stabilize the dream. [2]

The idea of focusing on something in the dream in order to
prevent awakening has independently occurred to several other
lucid dreamers. One of these is G. Scott Sparrow, a clinical
psychologist and author of the classic personal account,
LUCID DREAMING: DAWNING OF THE CLEAR LIGHT. [3] Sparrow
discusses Carlos Castaneda's famous technique of looking at
his hands while dreaming to induce and stabilize lucid
dreams. [4] Sparrow argues that the dreamer's body provides
one of the most unchanging elements in the dream, which can
help to stabilize the dreamer's otherwise feeble identity in
the face of a rapidly changing dream. However, as he points
out, the body isn't the only relatively stable reference
point in the dream: another is the ground beneath the
dreamer's feet. Sparrow uses this idea in this example of one
of his own lucid dreams:

"...I walk on down the street. It is night; and as I look up
at the sky I am astounded by the clarity of the stars. They
seem so close. At this point I become lucid. The dream
'shakes' momentarily. Immediately I look down at the ground
and concentrate on solidifying the image and remaining in the
dreamscape. Then I realize that if I turn my attention to the
pole star above my head, the dream image will further
stabilize itself. I do this; until gradually the clarity of
the stars returns in its fullness." [5]


DREAM SPINNING
Some years ago I had the good fortune to discover a highly
effective technique to prevent awakenings and produce new
lucid dream scenes. I started by reasoning that since dream
actions have corresponding physical effects, relaxing my
dream body might inhibit awakening by lowering muscle tension
in my physical body. The next time I was dreaming lucidly, I
tested the idea. As the dream began to fade, I relaxed
completely, dropping to the dream floor. However, contrary to
my intention, I seemed to awaken. But, a few minutes later I
discovered I had actually only dreamed of awakening. I
repeated the experiment many times and the effect was
consistent--I would remain in the dream state by dreaming of
waking up. However, my experiences suggested that the
essential element was not the attempted relaxation but the
sensation of movement. In subsequent lucid dreams, I tested a
variety of dream movements and found both falling backward
and spinning in the dream to be especially effective in
producing lucid dreams of awakening. Here is a method for
spinning to remain in the dream state: