Wondering how to lucid dream tonight? Many new users want to know how to lucid dream fast and easily, with immediate results. But most of the techniques available are inconsistent and may not work right away.
Lucid dreaming is surrounded by mystery for many. However, research shows that lucid dreaming is a real phenomenon and may have real benefits for creative thinking, dealing with traumas, visualization and mood control.
If you want to have your first lucid dream tonight, there are steps you can take to increase the likelihood of becoming lucid and being able to better remember your dream. This can include practicing mindfulness, using lucid dreaming supplements, and following certain sleep schedules.
But it is important to note that even experienced lucid dreamers can have difficulty inducing consciousness in a dream state every night or at will. It may take a few attempts for you to go lucid in your dreams.



- Increases acetylcholine activity for vivid dreams
- Promotes REM sleep stage
- Improves memory of dreams
Benefits of Lucid Dreaming
There are various reported benefits of lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming allows dreamers to explore their most exciting fantasies. Many report enjoying dream activities like sex, flying, conversing with lost loved ones and living alternate lives.
Other lucid dreamers practice their induction techniques regularly because they want to solve complex challenges, put an end to recurring nightmares and/or explore their spirituality.
The body and brain utilize sleep phases for healing, growing and developing increased understanding throughout life. It plays an important role in memory consolidation processes and may be important for creative thought.
Many inventors and famous scientists credit dreams for discovering new insights and for unlocking new areas of mental exploration. Sleep is also integral for health, and for maintaining a high quality of life.
Whatever your reasons for wanting to lucid dream, there are strategies you can use to increase your chances of becoming lucid and for improving your control over your dreams if you do become conscious.
How to Lucid Dream Tonight
It is possible for anyone to lucid dream, tonight and every night. Dream-initiated lucid dreams (DILD) are a natural phenomenon and can occur without any external prompting.
However, remembering your lucid experiences and controlling your ability to induce lucidity may not be as reliable as one would hope.
Research has been exploring lucid dream induction for decades. Various approaches for inducing lucid states have been tested. These include drug therapies, mechanical devices and cognitive training techniques.
In a review of studies, it was shown that no current lucid dream inducing techniques work with any significant measure of reliability. Further, most of the studies completed in the past are now known to have been of poor methodology.
Many lucid dreamers state that the techniques they employ to induce their vivid, controlled dreams took years to master. They claim that time is needed to learn the skills necessary to actively induce a lucid dreaming experience – and then continue to direct it with success.
But the fact remains that many people who do not claim to be avid lucid dreamers still experience lucid dreams that are intentionally induced. Below we will review some of the techniques that are purported to work, according to anecdotal user reviews.
4 Easy Lucid Dream Steps
Lucid dreaming is simply the condition where a dreamer recognizes that he is dreaming. By becoming aware within the dream state, the individual may be able to exert influence over the remaining course of the dream.
Lucid dreaming can be used to shine new light on challenging problems or to gain new insights. Many artists strive for lucid dreaming as they believe it will inspire their creativity.
Poets like Edgar Allen Poe are known to have been affected heavily by their vivid dreams. James Watson “saw” the double-helix DNA structure while dreaming of a spiral staircase.
To increase your chances of lucid dreaming tonight, consider the following tips:
Meditation before sleep:
Lucid dreaming requires becoming aware of your own consciousness. Meditation also requires this second-order awareness and has been shown to induce a number of health benefits – both physical and psychological.
Avid lucid dreamers recommend meditating before bed to encourage the brain to easily slip into altered states. Relax, breathe deeply and observe your mind as it moves from thought to thought.
Becoming mindful of your thoughts can enable you to control and direct your consciousness, as well as improving your ability to focus. This may help in quieting your mind to prepare for deep sleep, as well.
Autosuggestion:
Intentionally and repetitively reminding yourself that you are in control of your dreams may help to induce lucid dreaming.
Repeat a mantra that you choose several times throughout the days. For instance, you could simply say, “I will know when I dream.”.
Some lucid dreamers use techniques to dictate the topics of their dreams even before they sleep. By concentrating on what you choose to dream about as you relax in bed, your mind may retain these choices as it enters sleep.
Lucid Dreaming Aids:
There are supplements available commercially, marketed for increasing a given individual’s potentials for lucid dreaming.
For instance, 8 mg galantamine doses have been shown to increase the likelihood of lucid dreaming by over 500%. It seems to work by lengthening periods of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
Lucid dreaming supplements normally work by increasing either acetylcholine or melatonin, or both.
Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that is involved in dreaming and the stimulus barrier. Higher levels of this neurotransmitter have been associated with more detailed dreams and increased ability to recall dreams the next morning.
Melatonin controls the wake-sleep cycle and the circadian rhythm. Taking a melatonin supplement before you go to bed can reduce sleep latency and improve sleep quality.
Using supplements that elevate acetylcholine and melatonin levels can raise the chances for natural lucid dream induction.
These supplements are often taken in a Wake-Back-To-Bed schedule that involves waking up about six hours after falling asleep, taking the supplements, and then falling back to sleep for another two hours.
Dream journals:
One popular recommendation for learning how to lucid dream fast is to keep a dream journal.
Write down as many details about your dreams as you can upon waking. Take note of what happened in your dream, who was there with you, how it made you feel and any other information you feel is relevant.
Over time, you can look back and scan for patterns in your dreams. By keeping more “in-touch” with your dreams, you encourage your mind to recognize when it is dreaming.
This recognition is imperative for successfully inducing a lucid dream. If you are not aware you are dreaming, then it is impossible to exert control over the dream’s content.
Conclusions
If you are trying to learn how to lucid dream tonight, then realize it may not be possible – at least not to the point of being able to influence the dream like an avid lucid dreamer.
Many lucid dreamers have spent years developing their skills to recognize and influence their dreams.
However, it is possible to increase your likelihood of becoming lucid through the use of various techniques or aids like lucid dreaming pills. It is best to continue expanding your knowledge about lucid dreaming, and then acting intentionally and routinely to develop your lucid dreaming skills.
- Stumbrys T, Erlacher D, Johnson M, Schredl M The phenomenology of lucid dreaming: an online survey. Am J Psychol. 2014 Summer;127(2):191-204.
- Aurora RN1, Zak RS, Auerbach SH, Casey KR, Chowdhuri S, Karippot A, Maganti RK, Ramar K, Kristo DA, Bista SR, Lamm CI, Morgenthaler TI; Standards of Practice Committee; American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Best practice guide for the treatment of nightmare disorder in adults. J Clin Sleep Med. 2010 Aug 15;6(4):389-401.
- Vadim S. Rotenberg* Lucid dreams: their advantage and disadvantage in the frame of search activity concept Front Psychol. 2015; 6: 1472.
- Stumbrys T1, Erlacher D, Schädlich M, Schredl M Induction of lucid dreams: a systematic review of evidence. Conscious Cogn. 2012 Sep;21(3):1456-75. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2012.07.003. Epub 2012 Jul 28.
- Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D, et al., editors. Neuroscience. 2nd edition. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates; 2001.
- Voss U1, Frenzel C, Koppehele-Gossel J, Hobson A. Lucid dreaming: an age-dependent brain dissociation. J Sleep Res. 2012 Dec;21(6):634-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2012.01022.x. Epub 2012 May 29.
- Mota-Rolim SA1, Araujo JF. Neurobiology and clinical implications of lucid dreaming. Med Hypotheses. 2013 Nov;81(5):751-6. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.04.049. Epub 2013 Jul 6.
Article last updated on: July 5th, 2018 by Nootriment