Lucid dreaming

[Booldawg]

I saw an advert in a magazine the other day for some weird electronic device that helps you develop the art of lucid dreaming (which is awareness you are dreaming so you can take control of the dream environment).

I've always had lucid dreaming capabilities ever since I can remember, not every night, but once in a while I'm aware I'm dreaming and can control the environment to be able to fly etc. Its not easy and is quite hard to control but I was under the impression that this was something that everyone can do -is this the case ?

[sleepincutie]

How annoying!! I wish i could do that, then i could dream about people i want to instead of the usual pants or just plain stupid situations that im in during my dreams!

[simsfreq]

I have experienced lucid dreams once or twice when I was about 14 or 15. I had a friend in secondary school who was a lucid dreamer all the time. She tended to lie a lot so we didn't believe her.
Then my mum got a book, the k-i-s-s guide to dreams (or something) and there was a whole chapter in it about lucid dreaming.
The best (and easiest) way to teach yourself to be a lucid dreamer is to continually check in your daily life that you are not dreaming. There's no point pinching yourself, if you pinch yourself in a dream it will probably only hurt in the dream and not wake you up! The way you can check is to look at something like an envelope with writing on, or a clock, something which isn't likely to change, anyway. You look at it and you look away and look back again. In a dream the numbers or hands on the clock will have changed dramatically, in real life obviously they won't.
I tried this and it really does work! Although it needs a bit of practice, at first when you realise you're dreaming you usually get so excited you wake up (lol)