What Are Lucid Dreams and How to Have Them?

Have you ever dreamed of flying, controlling your direction with your thoughts, knowing you're in a dream? It's one of many lucid dream scenarios, where you're aware that you're in a dream state, or maybe even able to control aspects of your dream consciously.

Interest in learning how to lucid dream is on the rise and for good reason. It may help ease anxiety and depression, improve problem-solving and motor skills, increase creativity, and reduce nightmares, among others. Also, dream awareness and control are pretty cool, right?

This article will help you learn how to lucid dream and explore its benefits in detail.

Key Takeaways

• Lucid dreaming is being aware that you're dreaming while in a dream state.

• The benefits of lucid dreaming include reduced anxiety and depression, enhanced creative problem-solving abilities, improved motor skills, and potentially addressing nightmares associated with PTSD.

• While lucid dreaming occurs naturally for some, most people can induce lucid dreams through techniques like MILD, SSILD, WBTB, reality tests and keeping a dream journal.

Table of Contents

• What Are Lucid Dreams?

• What Are the Benefits of Lucid Dreaming?

• How to Lucid Dream?

• Conclusion

• Frequently Asked Questions About Lucid Dreaming

What Are Lucid Dreams?

Also known as a conscious dream, a lucid dream is when a person is aware that they're in a dream state. While it doesn't happen every time, people can control their actions in about one-third of lucid dreams.

Conscious dreaming has been reported for centuries in different cultures. However, there wasn't enough evidence to prove its existence until scientists in the late 1970s finally confirmed that awareness can occur during dreaming while in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, the stage where most vivid dreams occur. (Note that non-lucid dreaming also often occurs during this sleep stage.)

How Common Are Lucid Dreams?

Consciousness and Cognition reports that approximately 55% of people experience at least one lucid dream in their lifetime, but only 23% have them once a month or more.⁽¹⁾

Those who experience frequent lucid dreaming without any effort are rare. The good news is you can induce conscious dreams by using the proper techniques, which we'll discuss later on.

A study in Imagination, Cognition and Personality has revealed some fascinating findings. Men report lucid dreaming more often than women. Frequency may also depend on personality, where people who score high on "openness to experience" are more likely to have lucid dreams. Also, older adults may be less likely to experience conscious dreaming.⁽²⁾

What Causes Lucid Dreams?

Scientists haven't yet identified the exact cause of conscious dreams, but several theories exist.

Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that enables REM sleep. High levels of acetylcholine may promote conditions that increase the likelihood of conscious dreaming, triggering longer and more active REM periods, during which vivid dreams are more likely to occur. It might also increase activity in the frontoparietal brain network, which is essential for lucid dreaming, according to a study in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.⁽³⁾

Conscious dreaming may indicate sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy and sleep paralysis. People with narcolepsy often report more lucid dreams, likely due to unusual REM sleep patterns and altered activity in their lateral prefrontal cortex. Meanwhile, scientific reports have found a high correlation between sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming. One study published in The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that 56.1% of those who lucid dream also experience sleep paralysis.⁽⁴⁾

Some lucid dream research suggests that meditation is associated with an increased frequency of lucid dreams. Meanwhile, Vitamin B6 may also enhance dream recall, which is a precursor of conscious dreaming.

Intense emotions in nightmares can also trigger conscious dreaming. When a dream scenario gets too disturbing, you're more likely to wonder if you're dreaming. The ability to lucid dream can develop spontaneously as a means to cope if nightmares are recurring.

While rare, a medical condition that might also cause conscious dreaming is a thalamic stroke. A disturbance to the thalamic nuclei can heighten dream awareness.

What Are the Benefits of Lucid Dreaming?

Learning how to have lucid dreams isn't easy. However, its benefits make it worthwhile. Let's explore each in more detail:

Conscious dreaming can benefit your mental health by reducing anxiety and depression. It can potentially help regulate emotions by reducing the intensity of fear experienced while dreaming. Some studies suggest that conscious dreaming can boost your mood the next day, helping you feel less stressed.

It may improve motor skills, especially those that need coordination, precise timing and sequential movements. Dreaming of practicing your aim in archery might actually help you improve it. Your brain stays active, triggering the same neural pathways that you use in actual physical activity, even if you can't move during REM sleep.

It may also enhance your creativity and problem-solving skills. Conscious dreams happen during REM sleep, which promotes certain conditions that help you think outside the box. For dreams experienced during non-lucid REM sleep, the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is responsible for logical and critical thinking, is less active, allowing unusual ideas to form.

Meanwhile, lucid REM dreams reactivate some parts of the PFC, helping you be aware while in a more creative dream state. It's a combination that helps you take conscious direction while tackling problems in ways you wouldn't consider while awake.

Lucid dreaming can potentially help those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a complementary treatment. It's worth noting that research is still in an experimental stage, and with mixed results. People with PTSD usually experience nightmares that force them to relive the traumatic situation. Being aware that you're experiencing a nightmare can help you control it so it becomes less threatening.

Conscious dreaming might help restore a real-life sense of control, addressing the helplessness felt by PTSD sufferers. Lucid dreams may also ease the anxiety and depression linked to the disorder. It can also help you transform dream content into something more positive, helping your brain process and integrate traumatic memories.

Now you might be wondering: Is lucid dreaming safe? There are several risks, including sleep disturbances that harm sleep quality, consequently leading to sleep deprivation. They can also result in lucid nightmares, feeling dissociated in your waking life, and an increased risk for sleep paralysis. Conscious dreaming can potentially worsen symptoms of certain mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and psychosis.

How to Lucid Dream?

Let's move on to eliciting lucid dreaming. There are several techniques that you can try.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)

The MILD technique is one of the most popular and effective methods for inducing lucid dreams. It was developed by Dr. Stephen LaBerge and is validated by sleep research.

MILD trains your ability to recall something you need to do in the future, also known as your prospective memory. It's training yourself to recall you're dreaming while you are dreaming. Here's how to perform MILD:

1. Before bedtime, set the intention to wake up and remember your dream the next time you're dreaming.

2. Recall as many details of your dreams as you can whenever you wake up during the night.

3. Focus on recognizing that you're dreaming when you start dreaming again, before falling back to sleep. While doing so, visualize yourself back in the same dream, but imagine yourself noticing a sign that indicates that you're dreaming and becoming aware that you're in a dream.

4. Repeat steps three and four until you've set your intent or fall back asleep.

Try combining MILD with the Wake Back to Bed method, which involves staying awake 30 to 60 minutes before returning to bed. You should use this period of wakefulness to reflect and write the details of your dream in your journal. Ideally, you should perform MILD immediately after waking up from a dream.

Senses Initiated Lucid Dreams (SSILD)

SSILD was developed in 2011 by a lucid dreamer going by the pseudonym Cosmic Iron. SSILD first gained popularity in Chinese forums, eventually spreading to other communities like Reddit. This technique was initially known as "太玄功," which translates to "The Profound Technique."

This method uses sensory exercises that are easy to understand and follow, operating on the concept of sensory cycles. First, you focus on your sense of sight (closing your eyes and observing the darkness). Then, your sense of sound (focusing on the internal sounds your body makes). Finally, your sense of touch (concentrating on any physical sensations felt by your body). Cycling through these three senses repetitively puts you in an ideal state for conscious dreaming.

SSILD consists of several steps:

1. Go to bed at the usual time and set your alarm to wake you up in 4 to 5 hours to coincide with when REM sleep is more common.

2. Once you get up, stay awake for 5 to 10 minutes and engage in light activities like using the toilet or light stretching.

3. Go back to bed, then go through four to six cycles at a few seconds per sense.

4. Then, go through approximately three to four cycles wherein you spend a longer time on each sense before allowing yourself to fall asleep.

SSILD can potentially induce lucid dreaming through hypnagogia, a state between wakefulness and sleep, where you might experience unusual lights, sounds and movement. It's a state that's a potential entryway to conscious dreaming.

Another is false awakenings, which is dreaming that you've woken up but really haven't. Recognizing these false awakenings can help increase your conscious dreaming.

Finally, SSILD can bring on Dream-Induced Lucid Dreams (DILDs) through a heightened awareness, which can help you spontaneously realize you're dreaming within a dream.

Wake Back To Bed (WBTB)

WBTB is a lucid dreaming technique that helps you become aware that you're dreaming and sometimes gives you control over your dreams.

It's pretty straightforward:

1. Before sleeping, set an alarm to wake you up in 5 to 6 hours when REM sleep periods are longer or more frequent.

2. Stay awake for about 20 to 60 minutes after waking up and focus on lucid dreaming, meaning read about it, set the intention to become lucid in your next dream or do reality checks.

3. Go back to sleep, hopefully entering REM sleep directly and with a heightened awareness, which will increase your likelihood of conscious dreaming. (Note that entering this sleep stage directly isn't guaranteed.)

WBTB is considered one of the most effective conscious dreaming techniques because it works with your natural sleep cycle. It also combines wakefulness with heightened activity in a dream state, helping you recognize that you're dreaming – hopefully with control of your dream (again, not guaranteed).

Practicing Reality Tests During Your Waking Life

Reality tests are specific actions you intentionally perform when you're awake to help you recognize that you're dreaming when you’re asleep. Here are a couple:

• Count the fingers on both hands. You may have more or fewer than the usual number of digits in a dream.

• Try pinching your nose and breathing. In a fully conscious state, you won't be able to breathe. Meanwhile, you may be able to in the dream world.

• Look in the mirror. Your mirror image might be blurry, distorted or of something else in a dream.

• Try jumping slightly. When you're fully awake, the pull of gravity will bring you to the ground. You might float or jump unnaturally high in a dream.

• Check your clock, then look away, and recheck it. In the dream world, numbers and words might change when you look twice.

Consistency is key for these reality tests to be effective at helping you lucid dream. Do these mindfully 15 to 20 times throughout your day and ask yourself each time if you are dreaming. Take note of anything unusual in your environment.

Keeping a Dream Journal

Keep a dream journal to develop your conscious dreaming skills. Any blank notebook will do. Keep it within easy reach, like your bedside table, along with a pencil or pen, so you can jot down dream details anytime you wake up.

The practice of writing down your dreams trains your brain to recall them. It also allows you to identify recurring dream patterns, emotions, places and even people. Seeing any of these can help you recognize that you're dreaming. Dream diaries can also help build self-awareness that you're in a dream. Maintaining a dream journal reinforces your intent to recognize that you're dreaming.

Conclusion

Conscious dreaming helps you explore your subconscious mind while offering numerous benefits for your overall well-being. Awareness of your dreams and potentially learning how to control them can reduce anxiety and depression, enhance creativity and problem-solving abilities and improve motor skills.

The techniques we mentioned in this article, such as MILD, SSILD, and WBTB, require effort, time and practice, but they help you experience the fascinating state of consciousness that is conscious dreaming. It's normal to have failed attempts at first, but don't let them discourage you.

We'd love to hear about your experiences with lucid dreaming. Let us and other readers know by commenting below.

Frequently Asked Questions About Lucid Dreaming

How Can I Tell I Am Having a Lucid Dream?

You can tell you're having a lucid dream when you're aware that you're dreaming and, in some cases, have some degree of control over your dreams. You might also remember details from your waking life, such as your intention to have a conscious dream.

You may also be able to observe your dreamscape, noticing things that distinguish it from real life. Another sign you're having this type of dream is heightened senses: colors and sensations may be more intense, and you might feel excited.

At What Age Can People Start Having Lucid Dreams?

People can start having lucid dreams in their childhood years. It's most common in childhood to early adolescence, with the frequency declining as the brain matures.

Can Everyone Learn to Lucid Dream?

Most people can learn to lucid dream, while some are naturally inclined to it; those who aren't can learn through various techniques, such as Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD), Senses Initiated Lucid Dreams (SSILD), Wake Back To Bed (WBTB), reality tests and maintaining a dream journal.

How Long Do Lucid Dreams Usually Last?

Lucid dreams typically last between 2 and 20 minutes. Studies indicate that it's difficult to determine the precise length of a lucid dream. They tend to last longer when they occur during the early morning hours because this is when longer REM sleep cycles occur. Experienced lucid dreamers sometimes have longer conscious dreams, possibly because they use techniques to stabilize the dream.

How Can You Wake Yourself Up From a Lucid Dream?

You can wake yourself up from a conscious dream in several ways. One is to identify a bright light in your dream and stare at it. Another is to fall backwards in your dream. You can also close your dream eyes with the intent to open your eyes in your waking life. Another effective way is to focus on physical sensations your real body feels while lying in bed.

Also, try shouting at yourself to wake up, fully intending to do so. Another wake-up hack is to read text, which is challenging to do in a dream, causing the dream to become unstable, likely waking you up. Finally, try to disengage entirely from the dream scenario.

Sources:  

(1) “Lucid dreaming incidence: A quality effects meta-analysis of 50 years of research.” Consciousness and Cognition, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27337287/. Accessed 29 August 2025.

(2) “Dream Recall Frequency, Lucid Dream Frequency, and Personality During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Imagination, Cognition and Personality, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9149660/. Accessed 29 August 2025.

(3) “The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6451677/. 01 September 2025.

(4) “Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Dreaming—Between Waking and Dreaming: A Review about Two Extraordinary States.” Journal of Clinical Medicine, mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/10/3437. Accessed 02 September 2025.

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