Introduction
Lucid Dreams are nothing but dreams that you can control. AND dreams are nothing but your sub-conscious-imagination till lucidity. Imagine something that you wanna do but you can't do in real life, let it be flying, fighting aliens in Marvel Cinematic Universe with your favourite Iron Man, or anything that you can imagine, you can do in a Lucid Dream. When you get to know that you are in a dream, your primary-imagination shifts from sub-conscious to conscious brain means what you will think will happen in the dream, here only limitation is your imagination.
How to Lucid Dream?
There are several ways to lucid dream and it takes time to learn how to actually lucid dream time-to-time, depending on your mental health too. Remember lucid dreaming affects your sleep quality negatively. The most common techniques for lucid dreaming are Journaling, Reality Checks (RC), Wake Back To Bed (WBTB) and Dream-initiated Lucid Dream (DILD).
Journaling
Write down your dreams, every single dream, every single day, in a notebook or any notes-taking app you like(Writing your dreams physically is better). Write everything you remember and if you don't remember anything, don't stress it's fine, do it next day. Highlight glitches, confusion, or emotional spikes those are your proto-lucid triggers.
Reality Checks (RC)
Pass your fingers through your palm 8-12 times a day (Classic RC) and think in brain that if it passes I am in a dream.
Wake Back To Bed (WBTB)
Set two alarms (one is optional but one is required) first alarm should wake you app after 4-6 hours after sleeping, stay up for 15-30 minutes and do MILD, SSILD or FILD (mentioned in more techniques) then sleep again. Wake up with your second optional alarm, you can set this second optional alarm according to you.
Dream-Initiated Lucid Dream (DILD)
Get that habit of doing RC like in real life, like look at your fingers count them and then do a RC and make it a habit so your brain can do it to in your dream and in dream your fingers are mostly 4 or 6 so you will do RC and will know that you are in a dream.
After doing these enough in daily-day-life, your chances of being lucid will increase.
More Techniques:
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
Read your dreams, say to yourself if that situation comes again, I will know I am dreaming, before sleeping and in WBTB. Optional but very useful: Imagine yourself dreaming those dreams you got and saying to yourself in those dreams that ‘I’m dreaming’.
Senses Initiated Lucid Dreaming (SSILD)
In WBTB focus on your senses (Mainly focus on: sight, hearing and touch) for 5-10 seconds each and repeat the cycle 4-5 times.
Finger-Induced Lucid Dreaming (FILD)
When you woke up accordingly WBTB, after doing MILD and/or SSILD, move your fingers very lightly, and don’t move anything else, it will make you fall asleep with some consciousness awake.
IMPORTANT FACTORS:
1. Must sleep for 8-9 hours.
2. J, RC and WBTB are very important.
3. Using MILD, SSILD or FILD will increase your chances of lucid dreaming.
4. Heartbreaks, Deaths, or any kind of too-much-stress situations/panic moments, can pause/stop your some/all progress of Lucid Dreaming. It's essential to not increase your stress due to not remembering dreams or not being able to do Lucid Dreams.