When’s it not crazy to speak to yourself and expect a reply?

… Using lucid affirmations.

An affirmation is a statement you give your subconscious mind. You tell it what you want to happen and hope it helps out.

In a perfect world you could tell your subconscious mind to remind you when you’re dreaming and it would oblige. That’s the basic idea.

When you’re lying in bed you need to tell yourself you will become lucid; something along the lines of:

“Tonight I will have a lucid dream”

And repeatedly tell yourself this until you can’t be bothered anymore, or when your subconscious mind turns around and tells you to shut up.

Affirmations with a specific message

I’m not a fan of using such loose affirmations as, “Tonight I will have a lucid dream.”

I like my affirmations to have purpose. A specific event in mind.

Eventually you will have a list of dream signs which you can use for dream sign affirmations, but just now I’m going to tell you about an affirmation I’ve had success with.

The hand affirmation…

… was originally taught by a Yaqui Shaman, Don Juan, as a way of becoming conscious inside a dream. It involved studying closely the details in your hands as you told yourself:

“When I see my hands in my dream tonight I’ll become lucid.”

This is what to do

So when you get settled into bed at night, hold your hands in front of you and spend a while studying them in great detail. Look closely at the lines, marks and minuscule canyons.

As you do this, repeat the affirmation, “When I see my hands in my dream tonight I’ll become lucid.” Don’t go crazy on time, but don’t just do it for a minute. Try aiming for 5 minutes.

Now what will happen is you’ll notice your hands at some point during a dream and suddenly become conscious of the fact you’re dreaming.

It doesn’t work every time, but it does work and that’s the important part.