Assynt Sleep & Dream Group

Update 08.06.2025 – Stabilising a lucid dream and dream planning

During this session we revisited the importance dreams play in our psychological wellbeing, with exploration into nightmare and other challenging dream material, and the viewpoint that scary dreams are trying to get our attention rather than harm us (i.e. a nightmare is a dream that is shouting loudly to be seen, is working through some difficult material to help us heal, or is trying to prepare us, to keep us safe and functioning). It was agreed that at a future session (after we have finished learning how to lucid dream), we will explore the dream decoding techniques, to give us tools to understand the meaning behind a dream, and the message it is trying to convey.

We went fairly deep into this territory, and it felt important to hold space for it, so we slightly rejiggled the plan for the rest of the session.

Stabilising a lucid dream

We focused on the CLEAR technique (as explained in Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Lucid Dreaming, by Clare R Johnson), to stabilise the dream once lucidity is obtained:

Calm down – Focus on breathing and grounding techniques to reduce excitement and other rushes of emotions, which can lead us to wake up!

Look around – While grounding, take in the dreamscape, notice what is going on, further help calm emotions.

Engage senses – Look, smell, touch, listen, taste. Notice the intricate details of the dreamscape, take it all in and marvel at how real everything seems while knowing your actual body is asleep in bed!

Announce you are dreaming – Speak this out loud, to further enhance lucidity and ground the dream body.

Recall your dream plan – After this explore and acknowledgment of the dreamscape, and providing there is nothing in this particular dream that needs specific attention, initiate your dream plan with your Sankalpa (call to action).

Dream planning

We explored how to write a dream plan, using an A4 piece of plain paper and pens/pencils/art material of choice.

At the top of the page, “In my next lucid dream I…” is written, and then a few sentences about what an individual would like to do.

In the middle of the page, a picture is drawn depicting what this might look like. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, and the more playful you can get with this activity the better, as the creative and child-like parts of the brain get to have some fun. If you like, sprawl out on the floor like you may have done as a child.

At the bottom of the page “Sankalpa:” is written, accompanied by a call to action, which you will speak within the lucid dream to engage in your dream plan. This is short, snappy, and easy to remember, and holds the energy of everything you have planned above, so your unconscious dreaming mind is ready to co-create the dream with you. For example “inner child, come to me” or “Hug from a tree, NOW” or “I am a raven” with a run and a jump into the air.

The invitation at the end of session:
  • Continue writing in your dream diary and identifying dream signs
  • Create a dream plan, and bring this along to the next session if you wish (there is no obligation to share it if you would like to keep it to yourself).

Next session we will look at Lucid Dream Date Nights, and chat about how your dream plan plays a part in this.

Additional resources mentioned:

For collective conscious interpretations of specific animals that appear in our dreams:

Animal Symbolism; Your Animal Guide – Spirit Animal Totems

Note: when exploring an animal (or anything else) via interpretation websites, engage your gut as you read. You will intuitively know if what is written applies to the meaning of your dream. Also take into account what a specific animal means to you, note if you have a fondness for, or aversion to them, are there any memories you associate with them etc. This can help you determine what the animal may represent to you. We will explore this further when we explore a session on dream decoding.

Charlie Morley’s TEDx talk on PTSD and Lucid Dreaming within the framework of Mindfulness:

Healing Trauma While You Sleep | Charlie Morley | TEDxKlagenfurt

Plus further information: Lucid Dreaming Study – PTSD UK

Update 04.05.2025 – Dream signs and reality checks

During session 2, we covered dream diary entries and highlighting dream signs (anything that would not normally happen during waking life). Identifying these allows us to become familiar with the territory of our dream worlds, and take notice of the oddities that will help us become lucid. If you have time, a great practice is writing down your recalled dreams in the morning, and – prior to bed – going through them with your highlighter – so starting and ending the day with a nod to the communications from our unconscious.

If you notice recurring patterns, you can start to use these as a mantra before you fall asleep. For example, if a bright purple kitten shows up on consecutive nights, you can start to say to yourself as you fall asleep “ the next time I see a bright purple kitten, I know I am dreaming”. Equally if you often find yourself is a specific location, you can say “the next time I am [insert location here] I know that I am dreaming”.

The other thing we spoke about was reality checking, and starting to incorporate this into our waking day. The point of this is to build up a habit that will pass over into the dreaming mind to help trigger lucidity.

There are three stages to a reality check, each extremely important for the technique to work:

  1. Recognising when something “odd” happens. This could be an unexpected noise, a sense of de ja vu, a random object noticed or situation unfolding.
  2. Pausing and asking yourself “could this be a dream?”
  3. Performing the chosen reality check technique.

This is essentially a mindfulness practice, as every time we perform a reality check, we are paying attention to the present moment. We need to perform reality checks as many times as possible throughout the day (at least 10 times), to build up a habit energy that leads us to notice and question odd things that crop up in the dream world. As we become more mindfully aware in the waking state, we become more mindfully aware in the dream state, and this is lucidity gold! At some point you will find yourself reality checking an odd occurrence only to find that you are indeed dreaming!

Common reality checks:

  • Looking at your hand, balling it into a fist, opening it back out and looking at it again.

In a dream, everything is illusion and created by your dreaming mind. If you happen to be dreaming when you perform the hand check, your dreaming mind is likely to be unable to replicate the complex pattern of your hand fast enough, so it will appear different on second observation.

  • Pinching your nose and trying to breathe through it

In the dream, you don’t really have a nose, so will still be able to breathe freely, if you happen to be dreaming at the time you perform the nose check.

  • Pulling one of your fingers

In  the dream, you don’t really have a finger, so it will continue to extend as you hold onto it and pull, if you happen to be dreaming in this moment.

  • Jumping

In a dream there is no gravity or floor, so you may find yourself floating up, or passing through the “ground”, if you happen to be dreaming in this moment.

  • Re-reading text/re-looking at a tattoo (if you have one)

Like the hand check, the dreaming mind cannot replicate the complex patterns of text or tattoos fast enough, so they will morph somehow if you happen to be dreaming in this moment.

There are many more reality checks, but these are the most common. I suggest you pick out one or two from above to try, and stick to those leading up to our next session. The more you are able to carry out reality checks throughout your day, the higher the likelihood of becoming lucid.

There are apps out there as well, that allow you to set you a bell to go off periodically to reality check to, or you could decide “each time I walk through a door, I will check if I’m dreaming” (or every time you see a  cat, or every time you hear a certain word etc… this is a fun one to get creative with, and you can change it on a daily basis!).

Next session – June 8th we will look at dream planning and lucid dream date nights. So begin to think about why you’re interested in lucid dreaming and what you would like to explore once lucid.

Update 16.04.2025 – First Session

During our first meeting on the 13th April, there was a consensus that the group would like to focus on lucid dreaming. Therefore, for the next few sessions, we are going to explore and learn how to lucid dream.

What is lucid dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is “waking up” within the dream, i.e. becoming conscious within your unconscious.

When we dream our pre-frontal cortex (involved in giving us a sense of self: “I/me”) is offline, hence why we believe even the most bizarre aspects of a dream as it unfolds, without question. When we become lucid, our pre-frontal cortex activates and suddenly we are conscious within the dream, aware we are asleep in bed while also existing within the dream we have “woken up” in. This is a scientifically verified phenomenon, and something that is possible to train ourselves to do.

Why lucid dream?

The possibilities lucid dreaming presents are endless. Because we are conscious within the unconscious, we have access to deeper parts of ourselves that we cannot access otherwise, presenting incredible opportunities to connect, heal and grow. We are also alive in our imaginations and can co-create incredible experiences that both benefit our wellbeing and are simply fun to do!

Here is a flavour of what you can do in a lucid dream:

  • Fly!!
  • Kick unhealthy habits or form healthy new ones
  • Take part in activities that for whatever reason you are unable to in real life
  • Take things you are passionate about to a whole other level… Sporty/musical? Hone your skill in the lucid dream with improvement in waking life. Film fanatic? Meet or become your favourite characters. Art enthusiast? Jump into your favourite painting and have a wander around. Writer? Meet your characters, question them, ask them direction for the narrative… etc
  • Meet your inner child
  • Meet your insecurities, embrace them and help yourself heal
  • Engage in physical healing work
  • Engage in your spiritual practice
  • Ask for advice
  • Ask big questions and see what unfolds
  • Do the things that scare you, knowing you are safe
  • Overcome phobias
  • Face nightmares, befriend them and understand their meaning

Is lucid dreaming safe?

While deep sleep maintains our physiological health, dream sleep helps us maintain our psychological health and wellbeing. Therefore, although we have access to a deeper part of ourselves, the dreaming mind will only expose us to what we are ready to see, with the caveat that it can be more than we expect.

The unknown of lucid dreaming can, understandably, feel scary. On the flipside of fear is fascination, and so if we can bring curiosity to the fear, we can learn to embrace aspects we may be fearful of. And usually this is where the biggest potential and growth lies (and brings benefits to waking life too).

Lucid dreaming is safe for most people, with one exception and one caution:

Interested in joining the monthly Sleep and Dream group?

The group is open to more people joining, and if you would like to take part, the following is an invitation for practices to find space to do between now and the next session on May 4th:

Aim to establish a dream recording practice when you wake up in the morning. The reason for this from a lucid dreaming perspective, is so that we can improve our dream recall and get to know the landscape of our dreams better, allowing us to work towards recognising when we are dreaming.

Record your dreams for “X” amount of mornings per week (as many as you feel can reasonably fit in). You can do this by getting a nice notebook dedicated to being your dream diary, or writing the dreams down on your phone or laptop (I have a template for a Microsoft Notebook dream diary which I’m happy to share if of interest, just contact me). If you prefer, you can sketch them out with labels. Just make sure you are in some way communicating the main themes, anyone present, anything particularly striking or odd, and any feelings, so when you look back you can easily recount the dream. Bring your dream diary along to our next session, as we will use it for an exercise. 

To help remember dreams:

  • Set an intention before bed. Something like “Tonight I remember my dreams. Tonight I have excellent dream recall”. 
  • Repeat this intention in your mind as you are falling asleep.
  • Wake up to a soft, non-intrusive alarm (if an alarm is used!).
  • Remain in the same position you woke up in.
  • Ask yourself, “where was I just now?”, “what was I just doing?”, “who was I with?” (i.e. enquiring questions that may help you find a thread in the memory of the dream you’ve just had).

If you have any questions or queries, feel free to contact me.

In the meantime, happy dreaming!

* The term “display” has been inserted instead of “disorder”, intentionally and with a growing awareness in the mental health field that the physiological and psychological responses to intense trauma is perfectly natural and normal considering what the individual has experienced.