Customer Reviews

Lucid Dreaming (Book & CD)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this book not realizing it was just a condensed version of the author's book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. There is nothing new here except a CD you don't need. If you are new to ludid dreaming you want to stick to Laberge's previous work. If you have already read that, you won't need to spend your money on this. It's like the cliffnotes version with pretty packaging and a CD thrown in to make it sound worth the money. It's simply not.

This is a classic, well worth (re-)reading twenty years later. The author's later EXPLORING THE WORLD OF LUCID DREAMING isn't actually more _comprehensive_ than this book, but rather more practical, "a step-by-step guide to lucid dreaming: how to do it, and what to do with it." LUCID DREAMING, in contrast, includes material on NDEs, OBEs, dream telepathy, mutual dreaming, and other topics for which lucid dreaming has important implications. It is a _different_ book, addressing "why?" sorts of questions, perhaps with more philosophical depth, and certainly more implications, while EXPLORING... focusses on "how?"LD techniques, and "what?"LD applications.

LUCID DREAMING is currently out-of-print, but widely available in libraries, used book stores, and convenientlyAmazon.com. If you are interested in dreaming and transcendence you'll want to read this book. And if you're interested in lucid dreaming, you'll want to re-read it.

this book is MUCH better than the author's earlier book(exploring the world of lucid dreaming)for three reasons.(1)it is WAY more comprehensive.(2) the exercises are simpler and easier to understand.(3)it has up to date information.the previous book was written sixteen years ago and this book has a lot of recent research results/techniques.i highly recommend it for anyone who really desires to use this valuable skill.

Lucid Dreaming by Stephen Laberge is a short read packed with detail upon detail of dreaming and psychology. For those not interested in lucid dreaming, this book still offers insight on the meaning and purpose of dreams, but the real meat is it's function as a guidebook to the would-be lucid dreamer.

Before I read this book, I had a few lucid dreams under my belt. They had been spontaneous and fleeting occurences, but enjoyable and even inspiring. I have to agree with basically everything said in Lucid Dreaming. The effect of dreams on your mood when you wake and even throughout the day can significant. Also, dreaming and in particular lucid dreaming, can assist you in anticipating problems or situations that may come your way. Lastly, dreaming can help you realize and identify deep emotions and concerns that may otherwise never come to mind.

Does Lucid Dreaming help increase the actual amount of lucid dreams you have? Does it help people who've never experienced a lucid dream experience their first...and second and third, etc? Definitely yes. Laberge is not just another self-help/metaphysical self-proclaimed guru with little education or genuine widosm like so many others. Laberge is more like a master of martial arts trying to pass on some obscure wisdom to a mainstream audience. The tips and steps he outlines to achieve Lucid Dreaming will work for many many people, though probably not everyone. I know they have helped me out. You need an open mind and a little effort, but Lucid Dreaming is very real and worth experiencing at least once. My main takeaway from this book was to improve my ability to recall fully multiple dreams each night. Though, there is surprisingly a lot more to this slender booklet. While, the cd is a nice inclusion, and some of the tracks may be very helpful to certain people, I got little use out of it.

Wether you are looking to expand your understanding of your inner self, or just curious about that one time you realized you were dreaming in your dream, Laberge's Lucid Dreaming is the perfect reference. You'd think after all these years advancing our knowledge of the universe, that we'd understand lucid dreaming (and polyphasic sleeping, sleepy paralysis, etc.) perfectly well, but the truth is that these are not mainstream fields of research with companies throwing loads of money into exploring with hopes of big cash returns. This kind of subject is more of a curiosity and one of the rare curiosities that is much more elusive than smoke and mirrors but more substantial too.

Steve Laberge's work was the culmination of a flurry of interest in lucid dreams that began in the late sixties and early seventies with works like Altered states of consciousness and THE LUCID DREAM MANIFESTO: Reprint Of: Lucid Dreams, Dreams and Sleep: Theoretical Constructions, 1974. Dr. Laberge was able to expand on these early treatises and engage a larger community outside of academia and this book is the result of that engagement. This is an excellent survey of lucid dreams with advice on how to achieve them. The book is also strong on examining varieties of lucid dream experience and therapeutic benefits of lucid dreaming. The book is weak on placing lucid dreams within a more general theory of dream content and cognition. Laberge's explanation for why we don't always know we are dreaming in a dream-because they follow the same neural pathways as waking perception and seem so real-is not persuasive. The world is still waiting for a comprehensive analysis of lucid dream experience and phenomenology on the level of Martin Heidegger's BEING AND TIME. Still, this is a most valuable book.

Nice book & CD for those beginning on their journey into the world of Lucid (awakened, enhanced, trance or interactive) dreaming.

Book includes stories of those who have experienced lucid dreaming, science behind dreaming and how it affects our lives, dream recall skills, "dreamsigns" (thoughts that are clues to you that you are dreaming), "prospective memory" (reminding self to be aware of weather or not you are dreaming), introduces post-hypnotics suggestions when lucid dreaming, working your way through fearful dreams, problem-solving, decision making, letting go of negative thought processes by working through them, , dealing with recurrent nightmares, and theories and examples of ideas of what is really being awake & what is dreaming really? (ultimately a question you might just change your answer to through lucid dreaming.) Also delves into the question of "self" in dreams (or is that who we want to be, who we think we ought to be or something else?)

Very informational on ideas of famous psychologists & others who've had an open opinion on the subject of dreams.

The CD is worth the price of this small, but informative, book for the beginner.

Tracks on CD are as described below:
1) Present State of Consciousness (an exercise on self-awareness)
2) Guided Reality Test (an exercise on awareness in awakened & dream states)
3) Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (exercise to use just after waking from a dream)
4) Dream Lotus and Flame Technique (a basic relaxation technique, tighten & loosen muscles and visioning of a Lotus & a Flame)
5) Trance Induction of Lucid Dreaming 1 (pre-sleep/dreaming exercise - relaxation & awareness - imagery - pre-suggestions for dream)
6) Trance Induction of Lucid Dreaming 2 (pre-sleep/dreaming exercise - relaxation & awareness - imagery - pre-suggestions for dream, ocean sounds, and further self-hypnotic suggestions [you are a butterfly flying into your dreams... who or what are you beyond dreams, to dream what you wish & a suggestion to be aware of yourself dreaming with a waking suggestion to recall dreams, waking refreshed, rested and full of light]

Nice guide for the beginner in looking into your dreams.

I'm a rational down-to-earth person, and I used this book to train myself to dream lucidly. It was definitely a worthwhile experience. There are a lot of books out there full of mysticism, but I wouldn't trust them. In addition to scientific studies, LaBerge draws freely from mystical traditions with something to say about lucid dreaming or dreaming in general, but his approach is very matter of fact. He'll talk about how those traditions see dreaming, but always the core is "does this lead to any techniques that can actually help you dream lucidly?"

This is one of the most interesting books I've read in awhile. It's not very long, it's a quick read and the author does a good job of providing a background to lucid dreaming and explains the benefits that are associated with lucid dreaming, as well as providing a guide to becoming lucid in your dreams. The book comes with a CD to help you become lucid in your dreams and the CD contains several exercises that are all narrated by the author. The exercises on the CD are easy to follow and the quality of the recording is very good. Some tracks also contain meditative music in the background. There are some topics in relation to lucid dreaming that were not covered in the book that I would have liked to see the author comment on, such as the variety of available legal herbal supplements that are supposed to promote the occurrence of lucid dreams. Although I cannot say that the book has helped me become lucid in my own dreams as of yet, the author's techniques that are taught in the book and on the accompanying CD have already helped me go from not remembering any of my dreams to being able to recall several dreams per night with increasingly more detail.

J.E.

A good book but try "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" from the same author. Much more comprehensive written after this book.

The mind has incredible capabilities that many have no idea how to tap into. Lucid dreaming is one way of using the mind for personal development in waking life. I have read many books on lucid dreaming and astral travel all of which share the same basic techniques. I did not read this book but I listened to the CD several times in one day. I also listened to it as I was falling asleep and had a lucid dream that same night. The CD is broken into sets of relaxation techniques designed to put the body to sleep while keeping the mind awake. All you do is listen and do the exercises in your head. Obviously you do not want to drive and listen at the same time. You will fall asleep but sometime during one of your dreams you will become aware that you are dreaming via a trigger that you set for yourself.

The techniques do work if you are consistent with them and have a strong desire to achieve results. Once you do become lucid, and aware that you are still asleep, this realization alone can be startling enough to wake you up. Having a plan of what you want to do in your lucid dream will help make the experience last longer because your mind will automatically being playing out those events in your lucid state.

I have been able to see future events and was also able to describe a room in a house I had never been to. These experiences are quite fun and empowering. I give this item 5 stars because I did have an experience the very first night using only the CD.