Sound in Dreams

I had a vivid, non-lucid dream this morning that involved me riding in the back of a SUV whilst defending against zombies with a MP5 machine gun. The gun itself was pretty realistic (as was the rest of the dream), and I had the opportunity to fire it at some lawless bandits who were shooting at our vehicle.

I had to fire it through the window and the bullets went through them as expected, although the window never completely shattered or broke down.

One noticeable thing that was missing was the sound of gunfire, however.

Now, I was talking to the person driving the vehicle and I can clearly recall "hearing" my own voice, as well as his, as we were racing down a dirt road. I just didn't hear any sound coming from the gun as it fired and there was no dream-silencer attached to it.

Aside from this being a clear dreamsign that I could have used to become lucid (along with the fact that we were running from zombies), I have to wonder why some sounds are so conspicuously missing in many of the dreams that I have. I guess that all it means to me, practically speaking, is that I have a clear dreamsign that I can use to become lucid in future dreams.

If there is no sound, it might be a dream.

Internal Alarm Clock Revisited

I posted earlier about the idea that our internal alarm clock can be consciously set through intentions before sleep; it has occurred to me that if one could consistently wake up at a certain time without the aid of an external alarm, one could also just program the mind to "wake up" while remaining in the dream instead of emerging from sleep completely.

Although I intend to continue with my affirmations as I fall asleep, I also will experiment around with "programming" my mind to wake up at certain times while remaining asleep.

Why lucid dreaming?

I have recently been thinking about why I spend so much time thinking about lucid dreaming, practicing techniques to become lucid in dreams, and in general hold the mastery of lucid dreaming as a main goal in my life right now.

On a superficial level, the ability to conscious experience and create wholly internal worlds is a great way to experience instant wish-fulfillment. From what I have read this is generally the most fairly common reason that people become interested in learning how to consciously experience their dreams. The prospect of realistically (or fantastically) doing anything, anywhere, with anybody is certainly tempting.

And it is definitely something that I enjoy and will continue to enjoy about lucid dreaming.

For me (and others interested in lucid dreaming), there are many other reasons that go beyond mere wish-fulfillment. Exploration of spiritual states and questions, generation of creative content, mastery and practice of waking life skills, and general mastery of the mind are among the other reasons that I am interested in mastering lucid dreaming.

Repetition is the Mother of All Skill

I have heard it said that repetition is the mother of all skill, and in general I believe this to be true.

One technique for induction, which I first read about in Stephen LaBerge's "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming", is one in which the dreamer counts to 100 while repeating "I am dreaming" after each number. I tried this eagerly but found that initially I could not keep focus on the counting itself, and would soon lose my train of thought.

Obviously the purpose of this exercise was to be able to strengthen the focus required to maintain the counting, and along with the affirmation "I am dreaming" carry that over into the dream state. Eventually I was able to count up to 100, but I found that I was completely awake at the end of it and that I could never fall asleep while doing it.

After a few weeks of trying with no results, I gave up the technique.

Recently I decided to give it another go, only this time I would only repeat "I am dreaming" over and over as I fell into sleep.

At first I usually start with a very strict "I am dreaming...I am dreaming...I am dreaming", while keeping all other thoughts from coming to the surface. Eventually my mind begins to wander and I start following various threads of thought; when I realize that I am lost in a "dream", I will again repeat "I am dreaming" several times to root my mind in that idea.

I have yet to attain any immediate lucid dreams from this technique, but I have noticed an increase in the quality of my dreams as well as my own consciousness sort of hovering within the dream, seemingly just steps away from full awakening and lucidity.

Inconsistent Lucidity

One thing that I have noticed (with much frustration) is that the lucidity that I sometimes have in dreams seems to be in very short supply, and comes to me at the most random times.

Even though I practice induction techniques during the day, read books and websites about lucid dreaming and practice induction techniques as I go to sleep each night, I have not as yet found the perfect way for me to consistently have lucid dreams, as is my goal.

I know the problem is not that I am not dreaming, as I can generally recall at least one dream each night with no problem; these dreams have an average intensity of about a 5 out of 10, so there is no shortage of content within which for me to "wake up" and become lucid.

There just seems to be a part of my mind that is completely oblivious to my quest for consistent lucidity, and I determined to figure out how to train that part of my mind to work in my favor.

24 Reality Checks Per Day

The goal of reality checks during the waking state is to ingrain the habit of testing your conscious state so deeply that it carries over into your dreams.

The simplest reality check is to ask yourself "Am I dreaming?", and study your environment for any clues. Anything illogical, interesting or amazing should prompt you to study your surroundings further. The biggest problem with this method is that it is easy to fall into a habit of simply asking yourself if you are dreaming, looking around for a second, and then deciding that you in fact awake.

I have found that an extended period of conscious reasoning has to take place for me to really make use of a reality check while I am in a dream. I have to make a mental note of everything that I see and am experiencing at the time, then ask myself if this is something that would happen in real life. By this point, if I have stayed conscious enough to follow this thought process through then I will have enough evidence that I am dreaming. And then I become fully lucid.

One other thing that I do when reality checking in dreams is to immediately try to fly or float a bit. It takes no effort to accomplish (for me), so if I start floating then I immediately know that I am dreaming.

Reality check (and lucidity) accomplished.

The 9Hz Effect

There has recently been some experimentation with the 9Hz frequency as it relates to lucid dreaming. Researcher Thomas Yuschak has released a paper detailing the idea that 9Hz bursts of brainwave activity correspond to periods of lucidity. The link can be found here:

http://www.advancedld.com/f/9_HZ_bursts_correspond_to_lucidity.pdf

I have created a preset in Brainwave Generator that alternates between 9Hz and 5Hz, with the 9Hz peaks appearing every 2.5 minutes. With this preset are also two tracks from Stephen LaBerge's "Trance Induction of Lucid Dreaming" tape. The two tracks run simultaneously, one in each channel (the left and right). The first track is the "Trance Induction of Lucid Dreaming" track, the second is "Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams".

As I fall asleep I focus on the binaural beat progression itself, while being aware of the two tracks playing in each ear separately. I have posted some results on another website but will put the full 30 day results up here when completed.