How to Lucid Dream
Access to mystical realms is not reserved for the sages alone. Each night in dream time you have an opportunity to transcend the mundane and fly among all creation. Sleep is the state that unites all beings. A delicate respite of vulnerable slumber that we must all succumb. It is a mini death, entering the unknown landscape and the rebirth that morning brings. For those adventurous enough to transcend the material world, a portal to the universe awaits.
The most basic of human functions is the need for sleep. Yet deep within this nebulous state, awaits an opportunity for profound healing and spiritual evolution.
Lucid dreaming is a gate on any consciousness explorer’s journey.
Lucid dreams offer the quickest and most direct pathway to our spiritual destiny. Lucid dreaming is a state of consciousness, when we are aware that we are dreaming. Some might suggest it gives us the ability to control our dreams; this view is driven by ego. Lucid dreaming is best understood as a spiritual state present within each of us that heightens our human experience.
Dreams are our birthright and grant us access to the most potent channels of healing and spiritual enlightenment. Explore the steps below to cultivate your lucid dreaming skills.
KEEP A DREAM JOURNAL
Track your dreams to learn the themes and landscapes. If you dream of a passed relative or your childhood home, your mind recognizes this as a dream. The goal is to become cognizant of these motifs so your brain can alert you to your sleeping state.
It is best to write down your dreams upon first waking to capture as much as you can. Also, don’t jump out of bed in the morning. To record the most vivid details, stay in the same space and wake gently.
SET AN INTENTION
Before sleeping state, “I will remember my dreams. I will have a lucid dream.” This affirmation sets within your brain and body the fertile possibility for it to occur. When you can enter into sleep with a clear intention of what you want to experience, your brain can easily conspire to orchestrate this in lucid dream time.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP
If your body and brain are tired, you won’t have enough time in the REM cycle to explore the spaces where lucid dreams occur. Go to bed a bit earlier to honor the sacred space you wish to traverse.
SET AN ALARM
Lucid dreams happen during the REM phase, a few hours before waking. Set an alarm to go off 1-2 hours before you normally wake. Stay awake for 15-30 minutes in a calm space and one which you can gently return to sleep. This will aid you in being more aware that you are dreaming.
LUCID DREAM TOOLS
There are many aids that can improve our chances of a lucid dream.
CRYSTALS
Quartz is a great stone for memory and can help you recall the details for your dream journal. If you want to up your likelihood of a lucid dream, scolecite and danburite when combined are powerful allies to trigger this state.
BINAURAL BEATS
Binaural beats are sound frequencies that aid the brain by playing tones at slighted altered intervals. Specific waves to induce REM and our theta state have assist in lucid dreaming when played at the right sleep cycle.
LET TECHNOLOGY HELP
A plethora of apps exist to alert you when you are in REM and prepare you consciously for your lucid dream time. The Aurora Dream Headband goes one step further to detect brainwaves and flash mild lights when you reach REM. None of these will guarantee a lucid dream but they will significantly up your chances!
HERBS
Sacred plants have long been a boon to the spiritually aware. There are many herbs to support lucid dreams including valerian root and mugwort. Your best bet is ready made blends you can find online and will save you countless trips to the apothecary.
REALITY CHECKS
Performed while awake, these playful tests will bleed over into your dream state to trigger the awareness that you are actually asleep.
- Push hands together – in a dream your hands will go through each other
- Pinch nostrils to stop breathing – in a dream breath will be unaffected
- Look at a book – in a dream, the words will change or be indecipherable
- Count – in a dream, easy brain functions like math and numbers don’t compute
- State “I am awake” – in a dream, state “I am dreaming”
DREAM YOGA
When you want to move into the deep study of your dreams for healing and total transformation, dream yoga is the graduate level. It is an ancient practice employed by the Tibetan Buddhists. This observes the spiritual development that lucid dreams offer. As shamans honor the dream space for their continued work, so too do the yogis revere this time for continuing their mindfulness training.
Holecek states “The purpose of these practices is to integrate lucidity and flexibility with every moment of life and to let go of the heavily conditioned way we have of ordering reality, of making meaning, of being trapped in delusion.”
Learn more about the benefits of lucid dreaming below.
Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming
Learn how to remember your dreams and intentionally use lucid dreaming to clear negative emotions, boost creativity and solve problems.
BENEFITS OF LUCID DREAMING
Popularized by shamanic explorer Carlos Castaneda, lucid dreaming was a pop culture phenomena in the 1970s. It gathered many a devoted following and has matured as the early nighttime explorers have deepened their paths. Thanks to their passion, much research exists which validates its use for sincere spiritual development.
One need not be a shaman to reap the blessings of lucid dreaming. Beyond the delight of directing your dreams there are countless benefits.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Nikolai Telsa (arguably the greatest mind of our time) was an avid lucid dreamer. Through his “dream experiments“ he would build and design his paradigm shifting inventions. Tesla relied on his dream state to perfect his illustrious technologies.
Many of us have had the experience of going to bed with a problem only to find a solution clear when we wake. To actively engage this space during trauma or uncertainty offers immeasurable blessings.
Andrew Holecek shares “When we fall asleep, we drop below the dualistic ego. We temporarily disconnect from the superficial layers of mind and connect to our shared awakened nature. You can go to sleep confused and wake up transformed.”
INCREASED COMPETENCE AT A SKILL
Lucid dream researcher Stephen Leberge shows that during lucid dreams “neurological, respiratory, cardiovascular, and other physiological functions” are activated. The brain responds to the dream as though it is happening in reality!
Research confirms that to practice physical activities during the lucid dream, we actually enhance our waking performance. It is a technique used by athletes and professionals alike to achieve greater success.
SUCCESS & ACCOMPLISHING LIFE GOALS
Dreaming offers us a space to transcend our goals and visions for ourself. Daydreaming is a trusted pastime to relax the mind and explore new possibilities! Lucid dreaming then is day dreaming turned to 11. To use lucid dreams to experience life goals actually aids us in achieving them. Think of it like a training ground of your greatest desires.
In a lucid dream we can try out being who we want to be. When we allow ourself to model the big goals in dream time we can more easily step into them in the waking state. The brain knows not the difference, and we can use the lessons of the dream landscape to overcome obstacles with ease. Much like the tarot is used to perceive possible pitfalls, the dream landscape can be used similarly to play with scenarios and outcomes to avoid missteps.
HEALING PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA
Of the most impactful benefits of lucid dreaming is the ability to heal. We can use the lucid dream to revisit events from our past. There we can confront the perpetrator and regain our power. In the case of grief, dreaming also allows us to have closure with the loved ones we have lost.
The most documented therapeutic benefit involves those with recurrent nightmares. In the lucid dream we have control to change the situation. This is a powerful transformation that reminds us we create our reality and can overcome any adversity.
ENHANCED PSYCHIC ABILITIES
The practice required for effective lucid dreaming lies in our increased awareness of the world around us. To heighten our sensitivity naturally parlays into the psychic arena as well. Many fascinating experiments ask dream participants to acquire information in the dream state they would have no way of knowing. Consistently people return with information and details which can be proven. This establishes lucid dreaming as slipping between the realities just as shamans do.
Lucid dreaming gives us the ability to explore the unused parts of our brain. When we recognize our ability to see and sense beyond the waking state, the pineal gland stimulates and our higher psychic functions activate. The more we practice our psychic prowess the more readily it can spontaneously come to us during the day.
SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION
As the brain plays in these multi-dimensional spaces, the faster our spirits evolve. The bounds of reality begin to dissolve and we reclaim our true co-creative nature. We experience our ability to affect the dream and exercise it in our waking state. If we recognize the world is an illusion of our own creation, we begin to write better stories for our current lives.
Once you learn to navigate through dreams, you will navigate through life with ease. This is the blessing of our conscious evolution. And it is yours for the asking!
About the Author
What Are Precognitive Dreams and How to Identify Them
Premonitory dreams, also known as precognitive dreams, are experiences in which information is accessed about events that have not yet occurred. Throughout history, many people have reported detailed dreams that later manifested with surprising accuracy in real life. In this article, we explore what these dreams are, their main characteristics, and how to recognize them when they appear.
Table of Contents
- What Are Precognitive Dreams?
- How to Know If You Had a Precognitive Dreams
- Well-Known Examples of Precognitive Dreams
- Why Do Precognitive Dreams Occur?
- Dreaming as a Spiritual Tool
- What to Do If You Feel a Dream Is a Premonition
- Is It Possible to Develop the Ability to Have Precognitive Dreams?
What Are Precognitive Dreams?
Premonitory dreams are dream experiences in which the dreamer accesses real information about future events. They are not symbolic interpretations of the unconscious but direct perceptions of situations that have not yet happened in the physical plane but are later confirmed.
These dreams can appear spontaneously or during key moments in the dreamer’s life. Although it is not always easy to distinguish them from other types of dreams, they possess specific characteristics that make them recognizable.
Below are the most common traits of precognitive dreams:
- Connection with the future: They reveal events that have not yet happened. The person receives this information while sleeping, without any prior signs in daily life.
- Precise details: They can include names, places, colors, objects, or dates. These details appear clearly and are verified later.
- Emotional intensity: They are experienced with a higher emotional charge than other dreams. Upon waking, it is common to feel impact, unease, or urgency.
- High recall: They are not easily forgotten. They remain vivid in memory for days, months, or even years.
- Subsequent confirmation: The events dreamed of come true with accuracy or with strong symbolic correlation, reinforcing the dream’s credibility.
How to Know If You Had a Precognitive Dreams
One of the clearest indicators of a premonitory dream is its persistence over time. While most dreams are quickly forgotten upon waking, precognitive dreams remain imprinted with remarkable clarity. Memory retains not only images but also dialogue, sounds, and sensations, with a vividness that stands out.
It is also common that these dreams are experienced with a particular emotional intensity. The dreamer often wakes up with a sense of unease, wonder, or urgency, as if the content carries a meaning that cannot be ignored. This emotional charge is not always tied to the content itself but to the feeling that the dream conveys a real and direct message.
Another feature that helps recognize a premonitory dream is the sensation of lucidity during the dream. Although the person may not be aware of dreaming, they perceive what happens with unusual clarity: colors are more vivid, sounds sharper, and scenes more coherent than in ordinary dreams. This intense sensory quality is often accompanied by the feeling of witnessing something real—as if the dream were a direct experience rather than a mental construction.
Well-Known Examples of Precognitive Dreams
Throughout history, there have been numerous documented cases of dreams that clearly anticipated important events. These accounts come not only from anonymous individuals but also from public figures whose experiences have been widely recorded. Below are five significant examples that illustrate how dreams can accurately foresee reality:
- The assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln himself reported having dreamed of his death days before he was killed. In the dream, he saw a funeral at the White House and a soldier saying that the president had died.
- The Titanic tragedy: Several people dreamed of the sinking before boarding and decided not to travel. Their testimonies were collected after the disaster, strengthening the idea of a dreamlike warning.
- The September 11 attacks: Some individuals reported dreaming of airplanes crashing into buildings in the days leading up to the attack. These accounts were later investigated by psychologists and parapsychologists.
- Mark Twain’s dream about his brother: Twain dreamed that his brother Henry lay in a metal coffin with a bouquet of white flowers on his chest. Days later, Henry died in an accident and was buried exactly as in the dream; Twain himself recounted this in detail in his autobiography.
- The Aberfan disaster: A ten-year-old girl dreamed of a mudslide covering her school in Wales. The next day, the disaster occurred, killing more than 100 children, including her.
Why Do Precognitive Dreams Occur?
Premonitory dreams occur because consciousness is not limited to the linear time we experience in the waking state. While we sleep, the brain enters a state in which it can access information beyond the rational or immediate. In that realm, time functions differently, allowing some future events to manifest symbolically or literally during the dream.
From a spiritual perspective, these dreams are a form of communication between different levels of consciousness. The higher self, intuition, or even external sources of guidance can send important messages during sleep. This information is not always clear at first but becomes understandable over time or once it comes to pass.
It is also believed that premonitory dreams are activated during moments of high psychic or emotional sensitivity. When a person goes through a stage of spiritual openness or a critical life situation, their perception tends to expand. In that state, the mind becomes receptive to impressions of the future that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Dreaming as a Spiritual Tool
From a spiritual perspective, dreaming is not just a passive mental activity but a way to access deeper levels of consciousness. During sleep, the rational mind quiets, creating a space where insights, revelations, and messages can emerge—ones that don’t appear in the waking state. This dream realm functions as a bridge between the physical world and subtler dimensions of being.
Lucid dreams, in particular, allow conscious interaction with that inner space. This practice can be used to connect with inner wisdom, explore unresolved issues, or receive guidance from higher planes. By learning to navigate these dreams actively, it’s possible to transform the dream into an experience of growth, healing, and self-discovery.
In the series Mystery Teachings, available on Gaia, Theresa Bullard delves into how dreams can become a powerful spiritual practice. In its third season, she teaches concrete methods to increase dream lucidity, establish contact with the higher self, and use dreaming as a space for inner transformation.
What to Do If You Feel a Dream Is a Premonition
When a dream feels too vivid, intense, or significant to be a coincidence, it’s important to pay attention to it. The first recommended action is to write it down in detail as soon as you wake up. Recording names, emotions, colors, places, and any symbols can help you interpret it more clearly and recognize patterns if you experience something similar again.
After writing it down, taking a moment to reflect on the content is also key. Ask yourself if the dream carries a message for you or if it relates to something you might need to know. In many cases, the simple act of observing it with intention already opens the possibility of understanding it beyond the rational mind.
Additionally, it can be helpful to share the dream with someone you trust or with experience in the dream world. Speaking it aloud may help clarify sensations or ideas you hadn’t noticed before. Taking your dreams seriously is a way to sharpen your sensitivity and strengthen your connection with the intuitive realm.
Is It Possible to Develop the Ability to Have Precognitive Dreams?
Yes, it is. Just as dream recall or lucid dreaming can be trained through practice, the sensitivity to perceive future information in dreams can also be developed. To do this, it’s essential to cultivate a receptive attitude, keep a consistent dream journal, and strengthen the connection with your intuition.
Keeping a dream diary helps not only to remember what we dream but also to detect recurring signs or symbols that hold personal meaning. This daily practice reinforces the bond with the dream world and can make certain premonitory dreams stand out due to their clarity or emotional charge.
It’s also useful to incorporate practices such as meditation, introspection, and working with intention before sleeping. By setting a clear purpose—such as receiving guidance or relevant information—you create a mental framework that facilitates the emergence of these types of dreams. With time and consistency, this ability can develop and become an active part of a conscious spiritual life.
