Lucid Dreaming | dream studies portal

Don’t Mistake Tactics for Strategy when Learning How to Lucid Dream

Posted by Ryan Hurd on April 27, 2013 | 6 Comments

As a lucid dreaming teacher, I hear from a lot of people who wish they could go lucid more frequently. When I ask what is the plan being using to stir up more lucid dreams, they usually list off a dozen different induction practices. At this point, I already know the problem: they are mistaking [...]

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The Secret Posture for Triggering Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams and Out-of-Body Experiences

Posted by Ryan Hurd on January 17, 2013 | 13 Comments

A few years ago, I took a flight from Atlanta back to my home in San Francisco. I was sleep deprived after a late night out with old friends. The afternoon I arrived home, I drove down to Ocean Beach and took a nap in the car, leaving the window open for the ocean breeze. [...]

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Apparently I corresponded with Jared Loughner before he was a mass murderer

Posted by Ryan Hurd on November 9, 2012 | 14 Comments

I got the weirdest phone call last night. The editor of Gawker, A.J. Daulerio, contacted me, requesting information on lucid dreaming. He said he’s doing a new piece on lucid dreaming and Jared Loughner, who was sentenced yesterday with life in prison without parole for his deadly rampage in Tuscon, AZ in January 2011.
Turns out, [...]

Filed Under: Dreams & Media, Lucid Dreaming

Stir it up! Lucid dreaming, Traveling and the Vigilance Effect

Posted by Ryan Hurd on October 10, 2012 | 6 Comments

One of the most important elements of getting a restful night’s sleep is feeling relaxed and safe. Ordinarily we achieve this comfort zone by sleeping in our own homes. But if you want to have more lucid dreams, it’s time to stir it up a bit.
Enter the vigilance effect.

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Lucid Dreaming on the Brain

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 31, 2012 | 13 Comments

A fascinating new study has just come out showing precisely the parts of the brain that are associated with meta-consciousness, or the ability to be conscious of ourselves. Michael Dresler and co-researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry used magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) to demonstrate how the brain during a lucid dream differs from [...]

Filed Under: Lucid Dreaming, New Dream Studies

4 reasons not to lengthen a lucid dream

Posted by Ryan Hurd on May 25, 2012 | 11 Comments

In the lucid dreaming community, there’s a lot of emphasis on how to lengthen lucid dreams and prevent awakening. There is nothing wrong with this. The skill of holding your attention span and riding the turbulent sea of REM takes time to develop, and waking practices hold the key to developing this capacity. However, longer [...]

Filed Under: Lucid Dreaming, Theories of Dreaming