Product Description

In a lucid dream, you're aware that you're dreaming ... so you can transform your dreams into fabulous adventures where you possess the ability to experience anything you wish—from flying to traveling through time to visiting loved ones in spirit. It's easy when you follow the techniques in this book.

Popular author Mark McElroy presents a simple and effective 90-day plan for achieving lucid dreams. Along with step-by-step instructions and practical tips, Mark shares entertaining and enlightening stories from other lucid dreamers. Once you've mastered self-awareness while sleeping, you can use lucid dreaming to:

Live your fantasies
Heal yourself
Discover past lives
Consult dream guides
Enhance your spirituality
Solve real-life problems
Explore alternate realities

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108171 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
After purchasing his first Tarot deck in 1973, Mark McElroy began terrorizing other neighborhood nine-year-olds with dire and dramatic predictions.Today, he calls Tarot "the ultimate visual brainstorming tool," and shares techniques designed to help others ask better questions, see more options, and achieve their goals.

He is the author of Putting the Tarot to Work, Taking the Tarot to Heart, What's in the Cards for You?, and the new I Ching for Beginners (all Llewellyn). He is also the author of The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tarot (Que).

Mark holds a B.A. and M.A. in creative writing and composition from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has more than two decades of experience as a public speaker and corporate trainer. He has written, produced, and hosted classroom, video, and online training for some of America's biggest companies, including SkyTel, MCI, Office Depot, Staples, and many others.

Mark lives and writes in Mississippi, where he shares a home with his partner, Clyde, and two cats, Tiger and Lilly.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
one Introducing the Lucid Dream

In this chapter, you'll discover:

What lucid dreams are, and what having a lucid dream is like How dream cues can help you recognize that you're dreaming How you may already have more control over dreams than you realize The real-world benefits of lucid dreaming

Are You Asleep? Right now, at this very moment, are you awake . . . or dreaming?

"What a silly question," you say. "I'm reading this book! Of course I'm awake!"

Okay, you're awake. For a moment, though, let's pretend you're asleep. Do whatever you have to do to embrace this idea. Tell yourself firmly: "I'm asleep. This is a dream. I am not reading Lucid Dreaming for Beginners. I am dreaming of reading Lucid Dreaming for Beginners."

Testing Your Reality Now that we've established that you're dreaming, take a good look around.

If you're at home, look at the furniture, the knickknacks, the books, the clock on the wall. Is everything where you left it? Do any items seem out of place? Is there a long-lost toy from your childhood in the corner? Has the room changed color, size, or shape? As you strive to see this familiar place with new eyes, pretend you're being tested. One item in your room is wrong: out of context, out of time, out of place. Can you spot it?

If you're away from home, explore the setting you find yourself in. What sounds do you hear? Are all of them appropriate? Look at the people around you. Are they all strangers? Do any of them seem oddly familiar? Are they dressed as you would expect?

And what about the world around you? Do any features strike you as unusual? Do clocks and watches possess the faces, hands, or numerals you would expect? Check lettered signs: on restroom doors, above restaurants, at street corners. Read them twice. Do they say the same thing both times?

And what about the text of this book? Does the paragraph above say what it said a second ago? Look and see, just to make sure. For that matter, does the text of this paragraph make sense, saying what you expect it to say, or does it garrulous concept ratchet clone, a meal in gusset hammer?

Grading Your Dream Test Think fast: when you came across the nonsense words in that last sentence-how did you feel? Was there a split second of confusion? Did you do a double take? Did you reread the nonsense, trying to make sense of it?

Did you wonder, even for a moment, whether or not you might, indeed, be dreaming? If so, congratulations: you've just taken your first step toward having your own lucid dreams.

What Is a Lucid Dream?

Lucidity: A Simple Definition Put simply, lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer becomes aware that he or she is dreaming, and achieves a degree of control over the content and direction of the dream.

Once an experienced lucid dreamer recognizes that she's experiencing a dream, she is able to tailor the setting, the characters, and the action to suit her personal tastes.

Lucid Dream Cues In a typical lucid dream, a dreamer notices some small detail- generally referred to as a dream cue-that alerts her to the fact that she's dreaming. Dream cues vary from person to person and from dream to dream, but typical dream cues include:

Unusual clock faces Clocks without hands Clock faces with unusual numbers Clocks with blank faces Clocks with faces that spin or rotate

Unstable text Books with unusually difficult or illegible text Headlines or signs with shifting or changing words Newspaper pages filled with nonsense text

Objects used or made in unusual ways A snake used as a shoestring An appliance that needs no power cord A square umbrella An elevator keypad without buttons or labels

Impossible actions and occurrences Human flight Shapeshifting One person or place suddenly being exchanged for another Deceased relatives restored to life Old friends who haven't aged

More Real Than Reality?

In my own experience-and in the experience of other lucid dreamers-lucid dreams are unusually vivid and intense. They are easier to recall than other dreams. For several minutes after waking from a lucid dream, the real world, for several minutes, may feel less "real" than the dreamworld! This confusion fades quickly, though, and is replaced by a mild euphoria that follows the dreamer throughout the day. If you've never had a lucid dream of your own, though, the very idea of a "controlled dream" can sound bizarre . . . or even frightening. With an eye toward helping you better understand the experience, here's a record of one of my own lucid dreams, experienced while researching and writing this book. It possesses many of the qualities common to lucid dreams-qualities you'll eventually come to recognize in lucid dreams of your own.

A Typical Lucid Dream I am sitting in an unfamiliar restaurant, surrounded by a crowd of happy strangers. At a nearby table, a woman feeds her baby spoonfuls of bright-green peas. A couple near the sunlit windows holds hands and giggles softly....(Continues)

Customer Reviews

Very informative
I felt that Lucid Dreaming for Beginners was a very helpful book that opened up my dreamtime to all kinds of new possibilities. I have been documenting my dreams for many years because I thought they had some meaning, but I didn't know how to analyze them in a way that would help me when I am conscious. I learned to break down my dreams and use associations from real life to figure out what is bothering me or what I need to change in my life. I have to admit there are times when I don't know what is bothering me on a conscious level and analyzing my dreams helps me bring things to the surface.
Another positive thing about this book is that it helped me to get past concerns I had about lucid dreaming. I used to feel that dreams were important for learning and processing information and you shouldn't interfere with that process. I was glad to hear that most people will not lucid dream unless they want to and their subconscious allows it. In other words your body/mind will tell you when you should rest or when you can lucid dream.
The suggestions on how to start lucid dreaming are helpful too. I just made some minor adjustments in my daily routine and was able to lucid dream very quickly. I chose to do the impossible things first like flying, breathing underwater and magic and it was thrilling. I am still working on resetting the dream and using it for rehearsal, but I am sure that with Mark McElroy suggestions I am well on my way to lucid dreaming on a regular basis. I look forward to opening up endless possibilities through lucid dreaming.