A Lucid Dream is a dream in which you become aware that you are dreaming, usually happening during the course of the dream when something out of the ordinary makes you in a way "click" and realize that you are actually dreaming. Once you reach the state of awareness in your dream, you may consciously observe or control your dreams, transforming the dream into a living alternate reality.
During normal dreams, your dreams may appear unstable, changing at constant course, or you yourself feel distant in the dream. But when one reached a point of Lucidity within the dream, your conscious brain awakens and you may explore the inner dream with complete freedom.
Lucid Dreaming is something that happens to many people, some more easily than others. There is nothing harmful about lucid dreaming, it is a natural phenomena that occurs to many. Something that must be accounted is that our dreams in essence are controlled by ourselves, lucid or not. Our thoughts and feelings at the time can reflect upon our dreams, lucidity simply allows us to have free control over the dream and in a simple term "control it".
Lucid Dreams are good for personal growth, exploring our unconscious mind, facing fears, and improving your own confidence. It allows us the chance to control the elements and play them out to our liking. Of course, many would agree that using lucid dreams for negative aspects such as killing or doing anything of that sort could negatively affect the mental health of the person rather than using them for the good of improving and growing as an individual.
Everyone dreams, whether they remember it or not, meaning that we all the capability of becoming lucid within them.
Achieving a Lucid Dream:
The first step towards achieving a lucid dream is the ability to remember your ordinary dreams, there is a simple technique that may help when it comes to this.
"I will remember my dreams tonight" or any variation of the phrase should be said every night before you drift off into your dreams, I've found that after a few days you should start remembering your ordinary dreams. A factor that may be influencing your poor memory of dreams could be stress or anxiety in your daily life, this will surely influence whether you are able to recall your dreams or not. Eliminating stress from your daily life will allow your mind to rest during the dream state and recall what has been going in the unconcious mind over the night.
Keeping a dream journal is one of the most common tools to remembering your dreams, even if it is a single sentence. This will get you into the habit of recalling your dreams and even help analyze them. Eventually, you will see how your dream journal grows and grows over time as you remember more and more.
Although the obvious answer would be no, asking yourself "Am I dreaming?" as a daily habit or even trying to prove to yourself that you are not dreaming will carry on into the dream world. Essentially, you will ask the same question in your dream and via this you will be able to awaken within your own dream.
If you are able to achieve lucidity within the dream, remain calm and explore your surroundings. Lucid Dreams give the individual an oppurtunity to grow spiritually and emotionally, even facing your fears and becoming a more confident person overall.