Have you ever been dreaming, and actually knew you were dreaming? Did you get to have at least partial control over what happened in this dream? If so, that’s lucid dreaming. If you’ve done it before, you can easily train yourself to do it again. If you haven’t, this same exercise might let you experience lucid dreaming for the first time.

You will need a visible reminder, such as an unusual bracelet or ring. I usually, based on advice I read thirty-plus years ago, simply write a “c” on my hand, a reminder to Consciously Check to determine if I am Conscious. I can attest that written “c”s can work, but there’s no reason it can’t be something else.

Next step: as you go about your day, you will occasionally see your reminder. Each time you do, stop whatever you are doing, and carefully check for consciousness. Can you remember what you’ve been doing, in sequence, for the last 15 minutes? Does gravity work correctly? I prefer to perform this last check by simply jumping up into the air, at which point I either fall directly back down, quickly, to the amusement of those present, or I flutter slowly downward as a leaf, or I hover at the top of the jump, or just keep going up — and any of these unusual results indicate, to me, that I am dreaming. If, on the other hand, my body acts consistently with Newton’s Laws of Motion, that provides evidence supporting the idea that I am awake.

If you do these checks often enough, it will become a habit, to the point where you will do such checks in your sleep, while dreaming. Once you figure it out, while dreaming, that you are dreaming, then you’re there — you are dreaming lucidly. You can then join those of us who know what it feels like to fly under your own power, or anything else your mind can imagine.

(Image credit: dyrmdaily)