A long time ago I came to your site trying to find techniques that would enable lucid dreaming. I read then that dream recollection was a big part of eventually controlling your dreams, and I took your advice and kept a dream diary on my nighttable.

That was around December 16th of last year. Since then I’ve gotten to a point where I can generally remember about 10 dreams (bare minimum) a week, but I feel I am still no closer to lucid dreaming.

Have I forgotten something? Should I be doing something different? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a recurring nightmare to conquer and a few questions I’d like to ask myself... :)

—Nick, Age 17, Single, Male, Montreal, Quebec, CANADA

Hi Nick—

You are the man! Anyone who can teach him (or her) self to remember 10 dreams per week is a dream master! You are definitely ready for stage two!

Now that you are able to remember your dreams better, if you want to have a lucid dream (where you know it’s a dream while you’re still dreaming) you have to put that good memory you’ve built up to work. In particular, you mention you have a recurring dream you’d like to figure out.

Hmmmm... Any thoughts about how a good memory could come in handy here?

Recurring dreams actually are one of the best ways to have a lucid dream. Before you fall asleep at night, think about your recurring dream—in as much detail as possible. While you’re remembering your dream, going over who the main character is and the big parts of the plot line, tell yourself that next time you have this recurring dream, you want to REMEMBER that you’ve actually had this dream LOTS of times before.

Sound like a crazy idea? It’s not! In fact, most people who teach themselves to be lucid first learn to do it through recognizing crazy things that keep happening in their dreams. Like nightmares, being chased, falling down some big hole, or swimming underwater and still being able to breathe. If you work to remember that—anytime you’re wrestling a tornado, say—that this only happens to you in a dream—then next time you’re running from a tornado, your brain will start to wonder what it is you were supposed to remember about tornadoes. If your memory is good, you’ll soon say to yourself, “Hey Wait! I must be dreaming!!”

And that leaves us all some very exciting possibilities... It’s just a dream!

For more information about lucid dreaming, read the excerpts from my book, Stop Sleeping Through Your Dreams, located on this website. And remember, once you’re lucid in a dream, the only limit on what you can do—is your imagination.....

Happy lucid dreaming!