Advanced lucid dreaming techniques are for those who are already familiar with the basics of lucid dreaming. After experiencing your first couple of lucid dreams you will probably will want to know ways not only to prolong their duration but also the frequency in which you are able to become lucid. It can usually take over a year of intense practice to start having lucid dreams every night or every other night.
Successful lucid dreamers on average will have 3-5 lucid dreams a month with normal and basic lucid dreaming induction techniques, this is a fantastic accomplishment that will deliver profound life changing results. However with advanced lucid dreaming techniques you can experience 3 lucid dreams in one night! An easily 3 or more lucid dreams a week.
How To Increase The Number of Lucid Dreams
On my quest to find a method that would allow me to experience lucid dreams more frequently and prolong their duration I stumbled upon the phenomenal book called Advanced Lucid Dreaming The Power of Supplements by Thomas Yuschak.
In his book Yuschak explains the minute details regarding natural, non-prescription and healthy supplements that trigger lucid dreaming and out of body experiences (OBEs) and shares his success in achieving these states of awareness with the assistance of supplements such as Galantamine.
However these supplements alone won’t cause you to have a lucid dream, there is a complete protocol that includes factors like timing, mindset and visualizations which I intend to share with you in great detail here.
Advanced Lucid Dream Supplement Induction Technique
The advanced lucid dream supplement induction (LDS) technique is by far one of the most intense, profound and life changing experience I’ve ever had. Before using lucid dreaming supplements I thought I had experienced strongly vivid dreams, yet nothing could have prepared me for the transitions I had from the waking state directly into the lucid dream.
From experiencing strong vibrations and currents throughout my entire body, to traveling at ballistic speeds, listening to trance like sounds, to floating out of my body and watching my own sleeping body these are just a few common transitions that those who take these advanced lucid dreaming supplements and follow the Advanced Lucid Dreaming Protocol can expect to experience prior to fully entering a lucid dream.
Once in the lucid dream, depending on your supplement combination, you can expect to experience lucid dreams that last over an hour, feel invincible, have full control over your will, thoughts and emotions or have a music soundtrack play while you go on your lucid dream journey.
Before taking these advanced lucid dream supplements I would have lucid dreams that lasted only a few minutes, were blurry and often I would lose my lucidity, often leaving me frustrated.
My Favorite Type of Lucid Dream: WILDs
One major key difference when using the advanced lucid dream supplements approach is that you can easily have Wake Induced Lucid Dreams (WILDs) even more so than Dream Induce Lucid Dreams (DILDs). Yushack shares in his book that the norm for the average lucid dreamer is to have 90% DILDs and only 10% WILDs, but with these supplements that ratio is flipped around and you begin to have 90% WILDs. I can attest to the statement made by Thomas Yuschak.
So what is the big deal with this? Well, with WILDs you never lose consciousness, you literally enter the dream fully aware that you are dreaming.
On the other hand DILDs require you to be unconscious in the dream, recognize a dream sign and then become conscious that you are in a dream. The challenge with DILDs is that when you are unconscious you often remain that way, but with WILDs you savor every moment from the time your body falls asleep, to the transition and all the way to the lucid dream or Out of Body Experience.
Advanced Lucid Dreaming Supplements
Galantamine– this supplement has a profound effect on lucid dreams, causing you to have extremely vivid and long dreams. Galantamine can be used as a lucid dream trigger mainly because it is an acetylcholine (ACh) inhibitor, which basically means that Galantamine gives a double boost to the levels of ACh within the brain. ACh is a chemical that is at its highest levels when you are in REM sleep, so when you take Galantamine you will tend to go directly into REM sleep where dreaming tends to occur.
Choline – this supplement works synergistically with Galantamine. An important factor in initiating Wake Induced Lucid Dreams (WILDs) is the rate of increase acetylcholine. While Galantamine inhibits the breakdown of ACh it does not increase the production of it. This is where Choline comes in, adding Choline will jump start the accumulation process by producing ACh at a faster rate, which noticeably increases the odds of becoming lucid and can intensify the transitioning process from what is normally experienced with Galantamine alone. Like Galantamine, Choline’s effects on lucid dreams is more vividness and longer duration.
GPC Choline – acts as a precursor to acetylcholine and works synergistically with Galantamine to give excellent odds of
becoming lucid, especially having a Wake Induced Lucid Dream (WILD). It causes dreams to be exceptionally vivid and LONG. When using Galantamine/Choline and GPC together, the combination often results in giving your lucid dreams a soundtrack, meaning you will be hearing music playing while you are dreaming.
Yohimbine– I know it sounds weird to use yohimbine for lucid dreaming yet this lucid dreaming supplement acts as a very powerful trigger to lucid dreams and you only require to take anywhere from 0.35 to 0.75 milligrams which are extremely low and safe doses. Yohimbine pills normally contain anywhere from 2.5 to 9mg which for triggering lucid dreaming are EXTREMELY high doses and would not allow you to fall asleep.
Yohimbine has a profound effect on lucid dreams making dream vividness and memory outstanding plus improving attention, focus and working memory. The fact that Yohimbine strengthens the connection between dream memory and waking memory helps to ensure that you carry out your entire set of dream experiments while within the dream.
Mucuna Pruriens– this bean has been used in Ayurveda for over 4,500 years and it is one of the few plants known to contain L-Dopa, which is a direct precursor to dopamine. Although mucuna itself does not act as a lucid dream trigger it has a very powerful effect on dreams by enhancing vividness. Yet the most interesting influence on mucuna on dreams is that it gives the dreamer a strong feeling of confidence that leads to a total lack of fear and a profound boost in the ability to control the dream.
IMPORTANT NOTE: do not take these supplements every day. In fact you should take them once or twice a week to induce lucid dreaming. Otherwise you will build tolerance and eventually they won’t work as well.
Advanced Lucid Dreaming Protocol
Before we jump in to the different lucid dreaming supplement combinations we must address some key elements to make the best out of this life changing experience.
1) Make your health and well-being your number one priority by following the instructions and never exceeding the daily recommended dose.
2) Maintain quality and balanced sleep
a. Sleep 4-5 hours before taking the supplements.
b. Do not attempt to lucid dreams on nights that you feel physically, emotional, mentally or spiritually exhausted. The more centered, rested and balanced you are prior to falling asleep the higher your chances of having a lucid dream.
c. If you are attempting to have 3 or more lucid dreams per week make sure you are getting enough sleep (7-8hrs) and take melatonin or 5HTP prior to sleep in order to suppress REM during the first half of the night and spend more time in deep sleep prior to lucid dreaming. You will feel more balanced and rested when you do this.
3) Be confident in your ability to ha
ve a lucid dream and expect this to happen. You might not experience a lucid dream on your first attempt, but with perseverance you will be successful. Your mind is extremely powerful and your odds of having a lucid dream will increase when you expect this to happen.
4) Be patient. It might take you a few attempts to have your first transition and lucid dream, this was the case for me. Do not get frustrated if you don’t have a lucid dream the first or second attempt. Your excitement at the beginning might work against you. Once you get familiar with how the transitions feel like you will be more likely to remain calm and avoid waking up.
5) It is imperative that you get at least 4-5 hours of sleep before taking the supplements. For example you can go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 2am or go to bed at 10:30pm and wake up at 3:30am. Depending on your work schedule or if you share the bed with someone, you might have to adjust your sleeping schedule.
a. Start with 4-8mg of Galantamine and 250-500mg of Choline
b. Once you have 4-5 lucid dreams under your belt you can begin to experiment with new lucid dreaming supplements combinations.
6) Name the intent for your lucid dream 3 times.
7) Do any type of meditation that relaxes you and keeps you from falling asleep, remember you want to remain conscious while your body falls asleep. After 20 minutes remain lying on your back or turn on your right side (left side if you are female) and patiently wait.
My personal protocol is to wake up, take the supplements and meditate for half an hour using binaural beats while repeating a few times my intent. Meditating while seating down enables me to remain awake and at the same time program my brainwaves to the Theta level which is perfect to induce REM sleep. After 30 minutes of meditation I lie down on the bed or couch and focus on my breathing.
8) After a while you will begin to experience stronger hypnagogic images and then any of the different types of transitions like feeling strong vibrations in your head, having the sensation of traveling very fast, spinning or floating just to name a few. Remain calm, it might take you a while to fully enter the dream.