Lucid dreaming is being consciously aware within a dream that you are having a dream. This consciousness is not a binary state but can wary from noticing something odd in a dream environment to being fully in control of it.

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I've already had the ability to see lucid dreams for a while but the ability wasn't always there. In fact I decided to learn it when a friend of mine introduced me into the topic, and everyone else can learn it, too.

You say everyone can learn it. How?

You must remember the dreams themselves in the first place. The easiest way to achieve this is as simple as keeping a dream journal; every morning when you wake up, write down everything you remember - what you saw and felt - on paper, notebook, cellphone, where ever you like. It can be boring (I'm also guilty of neglecting this at times) but it is essential for a solid foundation on the journey to lucidity, forcing you to remember and teaching your brain that your dreams are in fact important to remember.

The next step towards mastering lucid dreaming starts with a shift in awareness in the actual awake life. It's as simple as observing your own surroundings and just thinking or asking yourself "is this real or am I dreaming?"

The simplest way of practicing this and confirming the answer is through "reality tests", which are means to confirm that you are either dreaming or awake (same test, different output comparing dream state and real world).

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_{Um... Maybe someone should've told Leonardio di Caprio that there is an easier way to figure this out?}

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The most reliable reality check is the breathing test, and it works as follows:

Close up your nose with your fingers and then try to breath through it with your mouth closed.

Obviously, you can't breath like this in the real world, but in a DREAM you CAN because there are no physical laws in dreams. _{This is something I will discuss more in the future.}

There are also other tests like looking at your hands or a clock but they aren't as reliable.

These practices might seem funny because you're likely thinking "of course I know I'm not in a dream", while doing them. But if you have this kind of attitude in real life, it probably follows you into the dream world also, hence you don't become lucid in a dream because of taking reality as granted.

The point is to have a shift in your mindset to always question the reality, or whenever you remember, so that you bring this habbit into the dream world. And the one time when you do your regular reality check holding your nose, but suddenly realizing you can breath through it, you'll have that moment like: "Holy shit. It's a dream!"

The first lucid dreams you have could only last a brief moment because you might get over excited, and the dream could "crash" because of this, but you'll learn to take things cool with more experience. I've heard of a dream stabilizing technique where you rub your hands together which is supposed to prolong the ongoing dream. I don't have much experience on this so you'll have to try it out yourself if it works for you.

Achieving lucidity in a dream can take weeks or even months depending on the person. For me, I think it took maybe 3 months of more or less active trying before I got my first one, so don't get discouraged after few attempts.

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Do you have any wild lucid dream or just wacky dream experiences? I'd be happy to hear about them.

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My original purpose was to tell about my recent crazy lucid dream experience I had but it branched into a full introduction to lucid dreaming, so my story will be left to a later separate post to keep things nice and clean.

Until then, I wish you happy dreaming!

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_{GIF from Giphy.com}