How to Stay in a Lucid Dream

You realise you're dreaming and have somewhere you want to fly, but the street starts blurring before you get off the ground. Your hands seem to disappear, and the sky gives way to darkness even though you still know you're asleep.

Rub your palms together while you can still feel your hands in the dream, noticing the friction, warmth and movement of your fingers. Give the contact your attention before checking whether the picture has become clearer.

Run a hand over a nearby wall, a tree trunk or your clothing, feeling the surface beneath your fingers. Soft fabric or a rough seam will do, without searching for anything special. You could kneel and put your palms on the ground, feeling what supports you while looking at the surroundings.

Hold an object, turn it over and look at its different sides, then move your gaze to a fabric pattern, brickwork or another detail still visible nearby. When looking closer only leaves you with a blur, return to the feeling of the object in your hand. Putting on glasses inside the dream is another way to express the intention to see more clearly, though the picture may not change.

Food within reach gives you something to taste. Notice how it feels as you chew and what remains after swallowing, or touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth when there is nothing to eat.

You can describe the surroundings aloud, remind yourself that you're dreaming or sing, while a brief command such as “CLARITY NOW!” or “STABILIZE!” gives you another way to use your voice. Say the words in your usual speaking voice.

Clap your hands, feel them meet and listen to the sound, then repeat the clap while keeping both sensations in mind. The picture may disappear while you can still feel and hear the clapping. Keep going and notice whether the scene returns, without assuming that it will.

Continue a conversation with someone nearby or ask them to help you stay in the dream, listening to their answers while remembering you're asleep. They might say nothing or give an answer that makes no sense.

Sometimes you'd rather walk down the street or carry on with what was already happening than try another technique. Keep walking or talking while the surroundings remain visible and you can act within them. Constantly checking the dream's clarity can take up the time you wanted to spend enjoying it.

Before another night, write down what you'd like to do once you become lucid, perhaps fly or visit a particular place. In Alisie, you can save that idea as a goal for a lucid dream.

Spinning may change where you are, so choose it when you're willing to leave the current scene. Turn around in the dream and pay attention to the feeling of your body rotating as the surroundings move past. To continue a conversation or examine something you found, try touching it before choosing to spin.

Movement could also mean jumping or falling backwards within the dream. Choose an action you can readily imagine and perform there, and switch to something else if the movement makes you feel dizzy.

Darkness doesn't necessarily mean you've woken up

With no visible surroundings, it can be hard to tell whether you're awake or still dreaming. Notice whether you can feel your hands, hear sounds or move, and recall what happened just before the scene disappeared. Keep rubbing your palms or clapping while you can still feel those actions inside the dream.

Picture a familiar place and something you could do there, such as returning to the room you just saw. Or imagine a fast train carrying you onwards, try to feel the journey and notice whether a new scene appears.

After actually waking, you can try falling asleep again while relaxed, recalling the dream as though you're back inside it. This attempt to return is called dream-exit initiated lucid dreaming, or DEILD, but you might fall asleep without lucidity or remain awake instead.

Your familiar bedroom can still be part of the dream

After spinning or losing the scene, you might find yourself in your bedroom and decide the dream is over. In a false awakening, you dream that you've woken up, so recognising your own room doesn't settle whether you're awake.

A familiar reality check is useful here. Look around, recall what happened beforehand, look at the clock again or reread a sign. Something odd may prompt you to question the apparent awakening, although a check won't always let you confidently distinguish dreaming from waking.

In the morning, write down when you became lucid, what you tried, how the surroundings changed and what followed the apparent awakening. Even a short note that your palms disappeared but you could still hear clapping gives you something concrete to try remembering next time.