Search for:
Cart 0
perm_identity Sign In
  • Home
  • Jungian
  • Dreams
  • Healing
  • Soulful Living
  • Courses
  • Lectures
  • Certificate Programs
  • Summits
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • FAQ
  • Faculty
  • Contact

Sign In

Registered Users

If you have a Jung Platform account, sign in below to access your orders and purchased content.

Lost your password?

Not a member yet? Sign Up
  • email [email protected]
  • Blog
  • Ambassadors
  • About Us
  • Faculty
  • FAQ
  • Contact
0
Jung Platform
  • Jungian
  • Dreams
  • Soulful Living
  • Courses
  • Lectures
  • Summits
  • Certification
perm_identity Sign In

How to Stay Lucid

HomeBlogDreamsHow to Stay Lucid
Clare Johnson
Author
Clare Johnson
Category
Dreams
Read Time
3 min

Never had I felt so absolutely well, so clear-brained, so divinely powerful, so inexpressibly free! The sensation was exquisite beyond words; but it lasted only a few moments, and I awoke. (Oliver Fox’s first lucid dream.)

Why, after finally getting lucid in a dream, are we sometimes unable to stay lucid?

It’s a question of mental focus: if we get too sucked into the dream action we forget that we’re dreaming. And if we get too excited by the fact of being lucid in a dream, that can wake us up in a shot. Lucidity is about striking the right balance between alert detachment and engagement with the dream. Losing lucidity in a dream can feel like a gentle slipping away, or a sudden blackness. It can also feel like being in an earthquake – the dream walls shudder and disintegrate. The warning signs are often colour fading from the dream, or visual shakiness. Sometimes we’ll notice that we’re losing awareness because we feel mentally fuzzy and start thinking irrational, dreamlike thoughts rather than lucid ones.

When the warning signs come, it’s time to react fast to regain the alert attention we need so that the lucid dream can continue. The next time you get too caught up in the dream action and feel lucidity slipping, take a mental step back and remind yourself aloud: ‘This is a dream. I am dreaming this.’ Use the tips on this page to re-engage with the dream with lucid awareness.

If you feel you’re about to wake up, stay focused but relaxed. Don’t fight. You may well go into a false awakening, where you feel you have woken up in your bedroom but in fact are still asleep and what you are seeing is your dream bedroom. Do a reality check such as trying to push your finger through the palm of your other hand, or holding your nose and seeing if you can still breathe through it. Hold up a hand and focus on it, then glance at the dream scene, then at your hand again, until things stabilise. If you are still dreaming, just wait for a new dream scene to materialise or create one yourself through visualisation and intent. Sometimes trying too hard to control the lucid dream can wake the dreamer up, as in this example in Celia Green’s classic book Lucid Dreams, where a lucid dreamer travelling on the Underground decides to make the carriage turn into a glass-house: “Gradually the roof of the carriage began to assume a dome-like appearance and become semi-transparent. The hands of the unfortunate passengers began to sprout twigs and leaves and the legs of some of them to resemble stems. However, I woke up before the dream could develop further.” (p. 103)

Whenever you lose lucidity in a dream, re-run the dream in your mind, only change it so that you remember in the nick of time that you are dreaming and perform a reality check or a lucidity stabilising technique. Allow the dream to continue lucidly in your imagination. This sets a pattern for your dreaming mind to follow.

Dr. Clare Johnson will guide you through how to become lucid in your dreams, how to stabilize the dream in order to stay lucid longer, how to guide the dream if you so wish, and she’ll share her best practices for experiencing profound interactions with the people and animals we meet in dreams. Enjoy Clare Johnson’s course Lucid Dreaming.

    Stay inspired.
    Get our magical updates.


    Share
    Clare Johnson
    Clare Johnson

    Dr. Clare Johnson, PhD, was the first person in the world to write a PhD on lucid dreaming as a creative tool. A life-long lucid dreamer, she is the most recent past President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams.

    More Posts by Clare Johnson
    Newer Nightmares as Healing and Spiritual Gifts
    Older Father Images that Live Inside Us

    1 Comment

    Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.

    • Emmalyn Miron says:
      February 11, 2022 at 10:30

      What a great read!

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Blog Topics
    • Jungian
    • Dreams
    • Healing
    • Soulful Living
    • Updates
    Featured Courses & Lectures
    • Introduction to Individuation: Shadow Introduction to Individuation: Shadow $17.50
    • Place, Identity and Belonging $127.00
    • Originality $147.00 $127.00
    • Coming Home to the Body Coming Home to the Body $147.00 $125.00
    • Introduction to Individuation $97.00 $84.00
    • Spirituality and Money Spirituality and Money $17.50
    • Dreams & Your Personal Journey - Dreams Summit 2022 Dreams & Your Personal Journey Summit 2022: All-Access Pass $169.00 $85.00
    • Rumi - Ecstatic love poetry Rumi - Ecstatic love poetry $18.75

    Jung Platform - Psychological and Spiritual Perspectives

    Jung Platform is an online education space that offers multiple depth psychological and spiritual perspectives. Our courses and lectures explore the journey of life with the help of highly regarded teachers. We’re passionate about providing practical life-enhancing tools and the opportunity to connect with others on this path. So you can live your life colorfully.

    • location_on
      870 E Cedar Terrace Dr. Sandy. UT. 84094
    • email
      [email protected]

    Store
    • Jungian
    • Dreams
    • Healing
    • Soulful Living
    • Lectures
    • Courses
    • Summits
    Account
    • My Account
    • Orders
    • Downloads
    • Cart
    Company
    • About Us
    • Blog
    • Faculty
    • Contact
    • Jungian Terms
    • Ambassadors
    Customer Service
    • Contact
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use

      Stay inspired.
      Get our magical updates.


      Secure Payment
      Pay by PayPalPay by Visa Credit Card Pay by Mastercard
      Join our Community
      © 2022 Jung Platform. All rights reserved.
      Learn more about this program

      Register for a free information event on May 27, 9 am PT / 12 pm ET

      Your first name
      Your email address
      FREE DREAMS SUMMIT
      Your first name
      Your email address
      FREE JUNGIAN SUMMIT
      Your first name
      Your email address
      This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
      Privacy & Cookies Policy

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
      Necessary
      Always Enabled
      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
      Non-necessary
      Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
      SAVE & ACCEPT

      Conference Options

      Online conference

      Add to Cart

      Online conference + certificate of attendance (+$10)

      Add to Cart

      Online conference + CE credits certificate (+$25)

      Add to Cart