Lucid Dream Induction - Psychedelics
Even Better Than Psychedelics - Lucid Dreaming!
The so-called psychedelic family of chemicals and foods were my first gateways into an appreciation for the relativity of human experience. Before my first shroom experiment, my perceptions had always been more-or-less homogenous. We are born into a world and enculturated from day one, and without a real zing to the brain, things always look and sound pretty much one way. Even before peaking on my first shroom trip, I was perceiving the world as if through the mind of an alien. Everything was new and strange. Beautiful. At times horrifying. Old established mental connections were being mutated and reconfigured: not completely at random mind you, there was order, but a different order. NOTHING forces you to confront your preconceived notions and stuffed-down emotions like a strong psychedelic trip. One afternoon on a heavy dose of psilocybin mushrooms may have an affect comparable to many years of traditional psycho-therapy. However, any experience this powerful should be prepared for, or, at least approached with a profound respect. There are few things as humbling as having your mind instantly transported to drastically novel conceptual and perceptual permutations!
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How Do Psychedelic Drugs Relate To Lucid Dreaming?
First of all, the psychedelic family of drugs, such as LSD, mescaline, Salvia divinorum, DMT, psilocybin, ketamine, etc. do not all act in the same manner, and every experience with the same chemical can have different outcomes. Mental set and physical setting have long been known to be important mediators of the psychedelic experience. Psychedelic trips are not necessarily "fun," and many are downright nightmarish. For this reason, these drugs do not have a high abuse potential in most people - it helps to have a real adventurous disposition and the willingness to examine your complete being: strengths and weaknesses both.
It would not be easy to ingest a psychedelic drug and, while under it's peak effects, go to sleep and have a lucid dream. These chemicals are very stimulating to the parts of your brain responsible for vigilance and survival instincts (the fight-or-flight/sympathetic nervous controls), and do not help promote sleep. It can also be assumed that in many cases these trips diminish these vigilance neurotransmitters/brain-circuits and could therefor interfere with any chance for becoming lucid in dreams. So why discuss them here?
Well, when timed so that you allow for REM-rebound, a psychedelic trip could be used to induce lucidity after the brain has a chance to ramp up natural production of mind juices. Think about it: Not only are you challenging your being by going through what is essentially a warriors-journey and facing your inner-most fears - not every trip ;) - but you are also really tweaking your sleep-wake cycles, something we know can work in the lucid dreamer's favor.
See the nootropic section for tips on how to replenish your own stores of neurotransmitters when going through an experience like a psychedelic trip.
See how psychedelic adventures can be used as part of an overall lucid lifestyle.
It would not be easy to ingest a psychedelic drug and, while under it's peak effects, go to sleep and have a lucid dream. These chemicals are very stimulating to the parts of your brain responsible for vigilance and survival instincts (the fight-or-flight/sympathetic nervous controls), and do not help promote sleep. It can also be assumed that in many cases these trips diminish these vigilance neurotransmitters/brain-circuits and could therefor interfere with any chance for becoming lucid in dreams. So why discuss them here?
Well, when timed so that you allow for REM-rebound, a psychedelic trip could be used to induce lucidity after the brain has a chance to ramp up natural production of mind juices. Think about it: Not only are you challenging your being by going through what is essentially a warriors-journey and facing your inner-most fears - not every trip ;) - but you are also really tweaking your sleep-wake cycles, something we know can work in the lucid dreamer's favor.
See the nootropic section for tips on how to replenish your own stores of neurotransmitters when going through an experience like a psychedelic trip.
See how psychedelic adventures can be used as part of an overall lucid lifestyle.
Lucid Dreaming is Way Better than Psychedelics!
If psychedelics are so great, occasionally, why even spend the energy trying to lucid dream? Both experiences are only tools in your toolkit, and they can both be valuable resources toward achieving your most rewarding life. However, there are some serious cons in regard to psychedelic drug use: most are illegal in most countries, illegal drugs are often obtained on the black-market and this leaves purity questionable, dosage is often hard to measure and there is no way of knowing how a particular dose will affect you right now, exhausting and can leave you feeling wiped-out for days after, profound hallucinations are rare and when they do occur, you better hope you are safe in bed or sitting down and not jumping off the roof chasing that butterfly dragon.
Lucid dreaming could potentially have you in a situation where you face a part of your inner-reality that makes you uncomfortable, like maybe in a lucid dream, or any dream, you find yourself in a life-threatening situation and take on some trauma. However, aside from dreams of PTSD sufferers (and this material is largely drawn from waking life so we cannot blame the dream system for creating this imagery), dreamed scenarios are not likely to be as uncomfortable as a strong psychedelic experience might be. Usually, no matter how scary the dream, we wake up and things are more-or-less the way they were before bed.
And lucid dreaming is hard to achieve without guidance and/or a natural proclivity. With these warnings and limitations, we can now appreciate the important distinction between dreams and trips: In lucid dreams you can pass through seemingly solid matter, fly, interact with realistic avatars of deceased friends and family, manipulate scenery with your thoughts, and do a myriad of feats that you simply could never do while moving about in your physical body.
Lucid dreaming could potentially have you in a situation where you face a part of your inner-reality that makes you uncomfortable, like maybe in a lucid dream, or any dream, you find yourself in a life-threatening situation and take on some trauma. However, aside from dreams of PTSD sufferers (and this material is largely drawn from waking life so we cannot blame the dream system for creating this imagery), dreamed scenarios are not likely to be as uncomfortable as a strong psychedelic experience might be. Usually, no matter how scary the dream, we wake up and things are more-or-less the way they were before bed.
And lucid dreaming is hard to achieve without guidance and/or a natural proclivity. With these warnings and limitations, we can now appreciate the important distinction between dreams and trips: In lucid dreams you can pass through seemingly solid matter, fly, interact with realistic avatars of deceased friends and family, manipulate scenery with your thoughts, and do a myriad of feats that you simply could never do while moving about in your physical body.