I've had a NovaDreamer for four days. I've been trying for some months to induce lucid dreams using the usual methods (daytime reality checks and more recently MILD method at night) with only a small degree of success (three lucid dreams). Since using the NovaDreamer I seem to be able to lucid dream almost at will. I have been using it in combination with the sleep/wake/back to bed method, and had one very long lucid dream on the first day, another brief one on the second day, and an amazing FOUR on the third day - culminating in a horrible lucid nightmare which I found very hard to wake from, but managed to eventually with a huge effort of will. The nightmare hasn't put me off though - I'd had a few glasses of white wine before bed (white wine has always given me nightmares). What I'd like an opinion(s) on is this:
- As the NovaDreamer seems to work so successfully for me (I appreciate it's still early days), Is it still worth doing the accompanying course in lucid dreaming and continuing to give a lot of time and effort to other methods? I enjoy wearing the mask and find it focuses my intention before I go to sleep, so I don't really see any value in practicing other induction techniques. Before going to sleep I simply state my intention to use the reality test button whenever I see flashing lights and so far this has worked like a dream (no pun intended). I feel that any daytime work (looking for likely light sources while awake for instance) may even impede my newfound abillity as obviously during the day I have no access to the magic button and I think this might confuse things.
- Is regular use of the NovaDreamer likely to increase my success rate with other methods? If I was to stop using the mask for a while, would my success with it now make the other induction methods more likely to work do you think?
I'm amazed by my success with the NovaDreamer. I was never expecting it to transform my lucid dreaming capabillity in the way that it has. Reading these posts, I realise that it doesn't work so well (or maybe so quickly) for everyone, but I would advise anyone having problems to stick with it and keep experimenting with the settings. I'm sure everyone has an "optimum" setting. Once you have it working well for you, it not only makes you become lucid, but it keeps you lucid for a long time with regular cues. It's the best purchase I ever made.
Hello Nick, That was a very encouraging post! I have had one LD with the ND (2mins worth) which was amazing. What setting did you use? All I tend to do is use level 2 or 3. Not too sure about all the other settings. Is there anything eelse you recommend .. What is your strategy for having LD's at will? How do you know what to do in order to become lucid? Best dreams,
Adam
Hi Adam, I started off using level three which worked well to start with but I became too accustomed to that level and found that I was having many cues throughout the night and not seeing most of them. This is the method I decided to use, and for me at least it works brilliantly (I'm sure it will for others too). I'm assuming you know already how to use the adjustable sleep setting. If not you really need to learn how to use it in order for this method to work. This may seem quite complicated at first but once you have done it for a couple of nights it's easy. When you go to sleep you need to set the NovaDreamer to give you no cues. (you should access this setting by selecting 8 on the dial and pressing the reality test button until you get an option with no flashes and no sound). The reason for this will become more obvious after a few nights use. Using this setting you will have no cues fron the NovaDreamer until you reset it but you will still have access to the reality test button during the night.(very important!) Now set an alarm to wake you after 5 hours sleep. (a mobile phone under your pillow works well for me). Now set the NovaDreamer to level 1 (adjustable sleep mode). Before going to sleep, tell yourself that the next time you're dreaming you will remember to realise that you are dreaming, and should you suspect that you are dreaming you will press the reality test button.(If you press it and get a flash you are awake. If you press it and get no flash, you are pressing a dream version of the button and will get no flash, therefore you know you are dreaming). When the alarm wakes you, get up and stay awake for 1 hour. (It's hard to force yourself to get up after 5 hours but it's worth it!). You need to keep your mind active for 1 hour. If you sleep with a partner you may want to consider going to a different room for this hour. Read about lucid dreaming for this hour or just watch TV if you like. The important thing is, you need to feel fully awake before you go back to bed. During this time you also need to reset the NovaDreamer. Set the cue intensity to it's highest setting (if you find this wakes you up take it down a little), and set it to give you 6 or 8 simultaneous flashes in both eyes. Set the sensitivity level to 6 or 7. Remember to set the NovaDreamer to 1 before going back to bed, and press the reality test button 3 or four times to set a 30 or 40 minute delay before the cues start. Go back to bed and do some relaxation techniques. Now tell yourself over and over again that when you see the flashing lights of the NovaDreamer you will press the reality test button. You need to really get this thought into your subconscious, and really believe it. You need to fall asleep EXPECTING to see the flashing lights, and EXPECTING to press the reality test button once this has happened. On the highest intensity level the lights are very strong, and as long as they don't wake you up you will notice them and remember to press the button. If you hit the button and get a flash you are awake, but if there is no flash, BINGO! you know you are dreaming and this should instantly cause you to become lucid. If you're not sure on the first press just try the button again and you will get the same result. This method is so effective because it uses both the NovaDreamer and the sleep/wake/back to bed method, both very effective ways of becoming lucid and even more effective in combination. If you try this method for 1 week I would be very suprised if you don't get some great results, and it's very likely to work on the first night. The most crucial part is REALLY setting your intention to recognise the lights and hit the button. Work hard on this before going to sleep, and believe it will happen. The reason for setting the Novadreamer to give you no cues in the first part of the night is purely that I think if you are being cued all night long you (may) become de-sensitised to the lights and stop recognising them. But if you do suspect you may be dreaming in the first part of the night, you still have access to the reality test button which will let you know instantly whether you are dreaming or not. This method really works so give it a good try. Lotsa luck! Nick.
Thank you so much. i had not explored at all the novadreamer's sensitivity settings, merely used mode 2, or 3. I'll do exactly what u suggested and let u know results! My challenge in this is getting back to sleep after waking up and being conscious. even doing relaxation methods i find hard to sleep after. Many thanks! Adam
Hi Nick.. I read your report on your method of getting lucid. You realy have good Ideas!Using both ND and wakeing and returning to sleep method sounds like it should work.. But i realy like the Idea of using the nova dreamer as a RT button then alowing you to get most of your sleep through the night..When you got lucid and you {recognised the lights} in which way did you recognise them? Were they incorperated in your dream as somthing else like {car head lites} [stars} [night changing to day] [dream room lights going on and off] In which way did you recognise the ND lights? Just curious.. Tom...
Adam, yeah, please let us know if this works for you. As you already know you can have lucid dreams it should be very successful. I know getting back to sleep can be a problem - I've struggled with it myself. Just do the mental preparation and then relax and let it go, just fall asleep in a state of calm expectation. I've found that some comfortable ear plugs cut out any external distractions and can help in getting back to sleep. As I have other people in my house, I trust them to hear the smoke alarm should it go off! I think I forgot to mention one of the settings in my last post. I usually set the cue rate to it's slowest setting (cue rate is number 7 on the dial). This gives a much longer cue and gets my attention more. Obviously you may need to experiment to find what's right for you. Regards, Nick.
Tom, thanks. Although I've only been at this less than a week (with the NovaDreamer), I've found this method incredibly successful. I find it's very useful to have access to the reality test button all through the night because it gives you such an instant yes or no result. The only drawback I can see is that you become reliant on wearing the NovaDreamer, and may then find it hard to induce lucidity using alternative forms of reality check. Personally I don't mind relying on the NovaDreamer so this isn't a problem for me. I think it's a pretty flexible method. For people (unlike myself) who are able to have lucid dreams in the early REM periods of the night, they may find it useful to set the NovaDreamer to cue them in the first part of the night too - maybe with a reduced sensitivity setting so they are not being over-cued.(This setting can then be inreased for the last sleeping period). As for incorporation of the lights - I just see flashing lights, there is usually no incorporation into the dream. I think this may be because I use such an intense setting. On the lower intensity settings perhaps the lights would be merged more with the dream, being less attention-grabbing and more subtle in nature. Regards, Nick.
Ok Nick..Thanks for your response.. Many cool dreams! Tom...
Hey Nick, I've been doing this, and found that i couldnt sleep properly after once waking up. I just lay there withy the ND, which, although i set it for 40mins, it would flash then and just annoy me. Thishappened a few time, for a few hours. Finally i fell asleep, and dreamed i was walking around with the ND in some strange hourse with the lights flashing! But, i did not become lucid Anyway, im practising day reality tests with lights as often as i can!
Be well,
Adam
Adam, this is very early days for you. Nobody can give you the assurance that any method is going to work the first night you try it. Everyone is different, and some people take longer than others to induce lucid dreams. Don't let this put you off! If you stick with it, I promise you this sleep/wake/back to bed method combined with the NovaDreamer is the best and most effective way to have lucid dreams. The fact that you are seeing/realising the NovaDreamer in your dreams is very encouraging. The reality test button is EVERYTHING! You need to concentrate on the button, this will make you become lucid. Make the button a priority. It can tell you instantly whether you are dreaming or not. You need to train your mind to think "whenever I see flashing lights, or whenever the NovaDreamer cues me I will press the button." In the dream where you were walking around wearing the NovaDreamer, all you had to do was press the button to become lucid! If you get a flash you are awake, no flash and you know you are dreaming! It's that simple! You are very close, so don't give up! nick.
Hey Adam ..You said in your dream you were in a strange house with the {lights flashing.} WELL THAT WAS YOUR CUE FROM THE NOVA DREAMER!!! But your sleeping mind did not recognise the cue this time.. In most dreams the sleeping mind excepts every thing as normal..Thats why practice noticing lights of all kinds is very important!! If your using the ND to become lucid in dreams.. [ LIGHTS] and dayley [reality checks] have to be VERY VERY important to you. But If you are using a diferent method other than the ND to become lucid you may use other cues other than light..Example {The next time I see a animal in a dream I will become lucid} The animal will cue you.. If you can learn to be sensetive to lights of all kinds in your dreaming mind .. The nova dreamer is the easyest way to become lucid! Nick was right you should NOT give up just keep trying.. Im still strugling to learn lucidity my self but Im not in a big hurry It will come in Time..I am still amazing myself with recalling my regular vivid dreams.. Keep trying..cool dreams..Tom
Thanks Tom. I am not convinced that there was incorporation from the ND. I had, before falling alsleep, had the ND go off lots while i was awake.. so the dream may have been a memory. who knows! WIll keep going. Havent recalled any dreams since. Happy dreams. Adam
Good morning! Last night i was soooo close!! I slept with the ND on level 3 (after listenning to the lucid dream induction cd for the 1st time). I have been doing the daily Reality Testing method as per level 2 in course on Lucid Dreaming. I paid attention to lights. Anyway, last night during a dream, i was outside, in the dark speaking with a lady, suddenly, i saw flashes of red lights (much like the Novadreamer does!). The lady rationalized it as being from a camera. I said to myself that it's time to do a reality check. Now, i recall it being dark, rainy all of a sudden. I couldn't find the card "is this a dream" which i use for reality tests. So i went to use my digital watch. I couldnt see it in dark. The i got lost in the content of the dream which morphed contexts into somewhere completely different. oooh how close was that! I woke up at 4:30 am but couldnt get back to sleep due to anticipation. I will do reality tests more and more rigorously and aim to really be convinced by kinesthetic evidence as well as visual.
Just curious from novice Lucid Dreamers.. does there come a stage during the course typically where one no longer required the ND to induce lucid dreams? I ask as i do like the device, however don't want to be dependant on it in the long term.
Cheers, dream well! Adam
Adam:
Though the ND is a very useful tool for advancing the pace of your lucid dreaming skills, keep in mind that it is just a tool; an aid. The real power behind successful lucid dreaming comes from you, not from a machine. So, after the ND gives it a firm push into lucid dreaming, your mind should (with practice!) be more prepared to become consciously aware of dreams on its own.
I used a DreamLight (the ND's grandfather) a dozen years ago, but be assured I've had plenty of LD's since, without it's help.
Best of dreams,
Peter
Thank you Peter,
I cannot wait for the next LD!
Best of dreams,
Adam
Adam, good to hear you're starting to get some results. The method you're using seems to be paying off. As you find it very hard to get back to sleep after waking, the method I suggested is probably not right for you (yet!). The dreaded insomnia thing is a pretty common problem at first, but this does tend to go away once you have had a few lucid dreams. Wishing you luck with it, Regards, Nick.
Thanks Nick, Lately ive been having no ld's while using the ND and also not recalling anymore dreams I am doing about 15 reality tests per day. Im thinking that the ND's batteries may have already work out or it may not be working.
Funny think, my girlfriend, who isn't doing the course, but sees me doing reality tests during the day and wear the ND to bed, has had like 4 LD's since!!! She does reality tests during her dreams. She has a very good memory.
Anyway thanks for all your support!
Best dreams
Adam
Adam, the NovaDreamer does eat batteries, much more than I thought (just a few days sometimes, depending on the amount of cues) so the chances are you need to replace them. My lucid dreaming ability has also dropped off a little in the last week (no lucid dreams), but I'm ashamed to admit i've been partying a bit too heavily to have any lucids. It seems to work much more succesfully when you are living a healthy lifestyle. Try giving it a break for a few days, and make sure you play around with the adjustable sleep settings - it might just be a case of finding the right kind of cue for you. I also think your brain can become too accustomed to one type of cue, so to vary it every few nights (the speed and duration settings are important ). This can make a big difference. If I were you I would also set a long delay (3 hours at least - 18 presses of the button) if you are wearing it all night. Remember that lucid dreams tend to happen in the later REM stages of the night. You KNOW you can do it now, and that should give you great confidence. It's not IF anymore, just WHEN. Wishing you great dreams, Nick.
I've got a question about the presets on the ND. What are the sensitivity settings on the preset modes (2, 3, and 4)? I'd like to set my ND to a setting similar to mode 3 but with more flashes, and that mode's sensitivity setting seems to work well for me, but I'm not sure what exactly it is.
Jason
Jason, I think the preset level is different depending on your NovaDreamer. Some are set to sensitivity level 3 and some to 5. Cheers.
Thanks, I'll probably end up using 5. The NovaDreamer works fairly well for me; either my whole field of vision flashes red, or the mask actually appears on my face, and if I'm not a total idiot in the dream, I press the reality check button, and bam, I'm lucid!
Jason
Jason, what's the web site to buy a NovaDreamer?
Paul
Paul,
Currently, you can buy the NovaDreamer through this website: http://www.novadreamer.com/biofeedback/novadreamer.html
Jason
I feel this post is about to die without anyone having benefited from it. If you use the NovaDreamer in combination with the sleep/wake back to bed method you WILL have lucid dreams. The NovaDreamer is almost useless in the early hours of the night, you are in such deep sleep that you won't recognise the cues. Give yourself five or six hours sleep then get up and stay up for at least an hour. Go back to sleep, this is when the NovaDreamer comes into its own. In the REM period that happens after you have been awake for a while, you will recognise the cues much more easily. Lucid dreaming is much more likely in this early morning phase, and your lucid dreams will be much more vivid and memorable. Before going back to sleep, work on your intention. Spend some time telling yourself that when you see the flashing lights you will press the reality test button. If you get a flash you're awake, no flash and you can be sure you're dreaming. It's amazing how many times you can ignore this simple dreamsign. If there is no flash you are lucid. It's that simple.
Hey Nick.. When you use sleep wake back to bed method with nova dreamer how often does it work for you? what are your settings on the nova dreamer? {light intensity duration? OR are you on a pre set setting? I like the Idea of getting most of my sleep first! Then using the ND makes sense.. IM still doing rigerous dream recall Ive been doing This for about a year and my last three months Ive noticed an increase in false awakenings usualy related to the number of dream recordings I thought I made during the night..Only to find out on some nights that half of my dream recordings {Were made in my dreams!} With your method you just see flashing lights? No dream incorperation of the lights? Im afraid this may just wake me up but Its worth a try.. Ive been hoping for a new way to use the ND..When you get lucid do you feel a body rush a roaring noise and feel like your floating in the air? I often get this experiance once I realize Im dreaming.. It dose not last long but is intense.. cool dreams.. Tom,,
I used to do exactly that, with success. I'd have 1 or two lucid dreams per week. But I found out that the NovaDreamer is far from useless in the early periods of the night. Just recently, I began wearing the NovaDreamer the entire night, but for the first part of the nght, before I'd wake up for awhile, I'd set the NovaDreamer so that it was on, but didn't actually give me any flashes. I trained myself to press the reality test button absolutely every time I woke up at all during the night. I suddenly started having 1 or 2 lucid dreams per night, and this rate has continued since. The reason: false awakenings. I never realized just how many of those times that I wake up in the middle of the night are actually false. The reality test button turns them into lucid dreams. I've noticed that in my false awakenings, my room is a near perfect replica of what it is in real life. I always feel as though I am actually in real life, until I press the reality test button and it does nothing. And then I'm shocked to discover that I'm dreaming, and I go lucid. It's been great! Since I started wearing the NovaDreamer the whole night through about 10 days ago, I've had about a dozen or so lucid dreams.
Jason
Oh, I forgot to add that after I wake up and go back to bed, I set the NovaDreamer to a custom setting similar to mode 3, but with more flashes. Generally, if I use a brighter setting, my whole field of vision flashes at me, usually red. If it's not as bright, my brain figures out all sorts of interesting ways to incorporate the flashes into the dream. Also, fiddling around with the NovaDreamer while awake helps set my mind into thinking about lucid dreaming when I fall asleep.
Jason
Jason:
That's one of the best uses of the NovaDreamer I've heard described in a very long time (beats "ashtray" or "potholder" hands down!). False awakenings haunt me throughout the night as well, so I could see the sense both in using the ND all night, and in developing the discipline to do reality checks upon every "waking."
Interesting stuff, everyone. Thanks for sharing!
Best of Dreams,
Peter
Tom and Jason, Tom, in answer to your question, so far whenever I have used the NovaDreamer with the Sleep/wake/back to bed method I have had a lucid dream every time. On the nights where I stay up too late or If I have had a little too much to drink I don't bother using this method, I just wear the NovaDreamer set with a three hour delay, but this has never given me any results that I can remember. It's always the S/W/Back to bed method that works, and it works amazingly well. At the moment I'm using my own setting of fourteen highest intensity flashes in both eyes simultaneously. It's so bright that the first flash actually hurts my eyes a little, but it's guaranteed to grab my attention and it rarely wakes me up. I use a high sensitivity level also when I'm using this method (7). That way I get flashes while I'm within the lucid dream, and this helps me to prolong my lucidity. And no, I rarely ever experience the lights being incorporated into my dream. I just set my intention beforehand to hit the button whenever I see flashing lights. It works for me. Jason, when I said that the NovaDreamer is almost useless in the early hours of the night, I realise I was making a stupid statement. For many people of course, having access to the button in the early hours will undoubtedly let them pin down those false awakenings. Incidentally, I had a strange one the other night - maybe you've experienced this. I recognised the cues from the NovaDreamer and pressed the reality test button several times so I was sure I was not awake. However I was not dreaming either, I seemed to be just floating in a kind of void, completely aware of myself but without any kind of visuals or sound. Eventually I decided that I would have to try to create the dream environment myself as it just wasn't happening. I knew I must be lying in bed and made a huge effort to get up. This worked, and I found myself standing in my bedroom. Aware now that I was lucid, I went to the window, opened it and jumped straight out into a very long and vivid lucid dream. In retrospect, I now think that I was recognising the cues between REM periods, and this was the imageless void I experienced. If this happens to you, you need to force the issue, get up and create the dream yourself. It's a crazy piece of kit isn't it? Keep dreamin'
Nick, I've defintiely experienced that black void thing. Weird isn't it? It's like a purgatory or something between being in a dream and awake, but lucid the whole time. If it happens to me, I usually do the same type of thing; make a big effort to create visuals or shout "increase visuals" really loudly, although somtimes I feel sheepish, like I might actually be shouting in real life. But as far as I know, I've never talked in my sleep. When you were in your bedroom, how closely did the dream version match the real version? Mine are almost indistinguishable it seems.
Jason
When I was in a black void I instantly knew I was [THERE!] a voice said heres your chance! meaning I was deep inside my mind in a dark place I could feel and sense I was lucid no need for a reality check!! A Giant screen tv apeared and I saw a decesed child 7 years dead materialized on the screen.. I started talking to her and she answered me in a clear but distant voice we exchanged some kind reasurances.Then I woke up.. This black void hapened after being signaled by nova dreamer. It hapened like a [WILD] in between wakeing and returning to sleep.I did not try to make this dream tv apear It apeared on Its own! I felt every physical sense that exists in the wakeing world In that black void! It was like a dark dank basement room.. I felt a coolness in the air the weight of my feet on the floor. It was as real as real can get! *I have some theories about [black voids] but no proof..A black void is like being in a pure lucid envirnoment with out the visuals..Thats how it looks to me..cool dreams to all.. Tom.
I'd agree with your theory Tom, I think it is a pure lucid environment. That's great in a way as it is almost a blank canvas in which to create your own lucid dream. Jason, As for shouting anything in a dream I agree again. The fear of shouting it for real definately holds you back a little. Nick
Hi Nick.. Thanks for the response..about false awakenings..To someone who wants a lucid dream experiance a false awakening may be an opertunity! I was camping over this weekend in the mountains above Denver and I had a very recient FA Saterday at three thirty in the morning when I awoke to a noise outside my camper.. I thought it might t be a racoon or cyote or some forest animal..I went out side to check things out and my camper seemed to be 20 ft from where I parked it! I was a little confused but returned to bed. THEN I WOKE UP! and realised I had not left my bed! [not my physical self that is] But I had a vivid memory of going out side! you may call it an out of body false awakening!![[ or dream of}} I do dream recall EVERY NIGHT and Im very serious about it! And after a long while this practice draws you [inside your self] in ways that are hard to explain! So when I go to bed Its like wakeing up in another life .. So........... ...Going to sleep is wakeing up ! I know that makes a lot of sense?? So all this serious DREAM RECAL is nesesary for lucid dreaming but the elusive CRITICAL AWARENESS is what I need to improve on..I also have an Idea of how to cause a false awakening or one hell of a nightmare.. Supose you were to rig speakers in your bed room with recorded sounds like almost anything from a baby crying to animal sounds or someone taping on your window almost anything that a sleeping but alert brain would notice and cause a dream response? or a response in an already ocuring dream..Sounds have afected me this way at times when I was dreaming causing changes in my dreams and sometimes false awakenings. I think FAs are a sighn your getting closer to lucidity!!! cool dreams..Tom
Actually Tom I've been experimenting with sound in my dreams and have had some very good results. I burn my own CD's with sound effects (for instance it could be the sound of ocean waves crashing on the beach with my own voice occasionally telling myself I am dreaming). I use a CD player beside my bed and set the timer to play it in a part of the night when I am likely to be dreaming. I use a pair of in-ear headphones ( the ones that fit right into your ear canal). I can wear these all night and sleep in any position without them falling out. When the CD plays your dream will immediately be influenced by what you are hearing ie: you are suddenly on a beach. It works really well, give it a try. Regards, Nick.