The Advanced Lucid Dream Induction Technique (ALDIT)
copyright G. Scott Sparrow, EdD, www.dreamstarinstitute.com
Step One: Preliminary Preparation
- Ideally, no alcohol the night before, or at least a minimal amount
- Mood positive, no immediate emotional conflict or mental preoccupation
- At least four hours of sleep before awakening (Step Two)
- At least three hours of sleep afterward
- Awaken and get out of bed.
- Optional: Ingest 4-8 mg of galantamine. Some report requiring even less than 4 mg. This is especially useful for people over 50, in which the neurotransmitter acetylcholine may be in short supply. If you use galantamine, make sure you eat a snack and drink plenty of water or fruit juice after you ingest it. Also, some people who have heart problems should not take it. Please check with your physician if you have concerns.
- Meditate for 20-30 minutes. Don’t trust yourself to meditate lying down. :-)
- Use whatever method you choose.
- Select a dream in which you wish you would have responded differently.
- Relive the dream in your imagination.
- Respond to the situations that arise in your imagined dream as if you are lucid, and fully aware that you are dreaming.
- Focus on changing your response according to what feels appropriate for you and see what naturally happens as a result of your new responses. Your responses may not represent an ultimate solution (e.g. forgiveness), but may represent an important developmental step toward an ultimate solution (e.g. fighting back against an aggressor as a way to express your autonomy and freedom from control).
- After reliving your dream, make mental note of the new “dream” so you can jot it down later. But for now, go back to bed.
- As you lay in bed, affirm to yourself, “I wish to become more aware in my dreams, and respond in appropriate ways to whatever I encounter.”
- Slowly count backward from 100 to 1.
- You may get drowsy and lose your place, which is good.
- You may return from a brief loss of consciousness and feel/hear a vibration in your head that comes and goes, as if a valve is opening and closing. This is very good!
- If so, meditate on the energy, and it will probably get more intense. You will be able to roll over and out of your body if the energy is present. This is called a Wake-Induced Lucid Dream (WILD).
- If you fall asleep without hearing the energy, you have a very good chance of becoming lucid in your dream. This is called a Dream-Induced Lucid Dream (DILD).
- Even if you have a vivid dream, lucid or otherwise, you will quickly forget it just like any other dream. If you want to remember it in full detail, have your phone or a digital recorder next to your bed, and record your recollection as soon as you awaken.