Throughout my life I have had many dreams where I was conciously aware that I was dreaming.  In a very small number of these I was actually able to take control of the dream and do what I wanted.

These were very few in number and at random intervals. A couple of years ago I found some information on the internet with techniques for increasing the number of ‘lucid dreams’ that a person has. I played with it for about two weeks and actually had three lucid dreams in which I had control over the direction and characters in the dream. Busy life took over and I kind of let the subject fade.

 Fast forward a couple of years. I am at the Des Moines Public Library a few blocks from my apartment and there is a poster with an announcement of an ‘author’s talk’ coming next month. The author is Robert Waggoner, and his new book ‘Lucid Dreaming, Gateway to the Inner Self’ is being featured.

I purchased a copy of Mr. Waggoner’s book on Amazon.com and I am currently reading it. I am only two days into the book and I made myself have a lucid dream last night. (I say ‘made myself’, but you can only suggest it, it may or may not happen). Lucid dreaming is just about the coolest thing that I have ever done. (and I have done some things that I think are cool). Last night I had a dream that I was in St Thomas, and in the middle of the dream I looked at my hands to see if it was a dream or not. ( A common technique for making you aware that you are in a dream while you are in the middle of it is to look at the palms of your hands. ) I looked at my palms and thought, wait a minute, I am not in St Thomas, this must be a dream! I was at some business in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The business opened onto a dock on the water and there was a screen door from the business onto the dock. I decided I wanted a blonde woman to come into my dream. Oddly, the next women who walked throgh the screen door was a brunette who was not attractive. I asked her “why are you here” (a question that you are supposed to ask of people in your dreams) She did not answer me, she just looked at me funny and kept walking. Then I noticed a blond woman about 27 or 28 years old over in the corner of the dock next to the water. She was very seductive. I went over to talk to her. I asked her, ‘why are you here?’ She said that she had come to St Thomas with her boyfriend and that he was on the other side of the island. She stated that they fight a lot because “he is always looking at other women, like they were an anatomy lesson”. I asked her if she or her boyfriend came to the island first. She said that they came together. I then noticed that she was naked from the waist down. I took off her shirt and bra while kissing the back of her neck. We had crazy sex and then I woke up. (details omitted, have your own damn lucid dream!)

My plan for my first lucid dream in a while was to go in a sexual direction. I certainly did just that. I made that decision before I went to sleep. I also know that my next lucid dream will be different. Some of the things they recommend doing are flying, talking to dead relatives, talking to famous people from history and just generally exploring your dreamscape. You can also just fly around and see what your subconcious cooks up for you. You can direct the dream and will things out of thin air. It is very very real while you are doing it. I am excited to take my next lucid dream in a less hedonistic and more reflective direction.

TIP! Do a google search on lucid dreaming. There are many sites with great techniques for maximizing your lucid dreams.