Other methods of
inducing lucidity often take ingenuity above and beyond the reality
check method. A brief overview of more detailed methods follows.
LaBerge's
Mnemonic Induction Technique: A big
name for a big leap forward in the science of lucid dreams, a method
developed by Dr. Stephen LaBerge of Stanford, California in 1980.
In the LaBerge method,
one wakes up fully from a remembered dream, distracts the mind with
another pleasant, low-impact activity such as very light reading, a
walk, dusting, or what have you. On waking fully, the practitioner
goes back to bed.
Lying in bed, the
practitioner uses or old friend positive
affirmation to remember that he or she was just dreaming, and when a
similar dream happens in the future he or she will remember it and
realize that it is a dream. In the beginning, it is easier to induce
lucid dreaming through a series of short naps, as so, than during a
regular sleep period.
Other methods based on
LaBerge: Recently, Dr. LaBerge has
invented devices to remind the sleeper he or she is dreaming while
awake. This is done using a helmet or controlled environment where
light pulses of certain length and intensity will bombard the sleeper
at intervals. The sleeper is conditioned to react to these pulses by
realizing they are asleep. If you have a clock that can be set to
play sounds below the threshold that normally wakes you, but still
audible to the naked ear, you can try to develop a routine for
yourself based on the same principle.
Waking Induction of
Lucid Dreaming: Some individuals with experience in meditation or
hypnosis have claimed the ability to maintain consciousness while
their body is falling asleep. Meditation brings on a state much
closer to sleep than normal waking consciousness, yet sensation is
not interrupted. By recognizing hypnogagia,
the partially-awake state where thought slows and muscles relax
deeply just before sleep, it is possible to induce lucid dreaming
while still awake, cautioning yourself at the last moment that "I
am about to dream."
It is also possible to
use positive affirmation to awaken yourself after every dream period,
which works wonders from the point of view of cataloging your dreams
and increases the chances of lucid dreaming due to interruption of
your sleep pattern. However, I do not recommend it, as, on the whole,
you will get less sleep.