Lucid Dream Induction - Stimulants
The Paradox of Lucid Dreaming
As I said in the beginning, lucid dreaming requires a seeming paradox: a highly activated dreaming system (for simplification, think of this as the "black box" amidst your brain circuitry responsible for dream-mentation) combined with a waking-like cognizance capable of critical thinking and discretion. Many people have a hard enough time using critical thinking while awake; how is it possible that we can be critical thinkers in dreams?
Well, it is obvious enough that thinking clearly is related to how energized our minds are at any given time. During the day, especially right after waking up and then again a little after mid-day, many people partake of the world's most popular drug - coffee. For those of us who tolerate coffee well, and drink good quality coffee, it acts as something of a wonder-drug. Yes, it is addictive. And, coffee tends to give the body mild "jitters" when taken in abundance. But it does enhance cognition in many people and gives a definite pep that may increase productivity. But does coffee (or caffeine) help with lucid dreaming? I would say "not much." Most stimulants not only wake up the mind, but they also keep the body very much awake. In fact, that is the idea behind stimulants, keeping the body going. And of course we want an awake mind but sleeping body (mind you, there is not a clear division between body and mind) when trying to induce lucidity.
So, dismiss stimulants? Not so fast there, speed-racer. Proper application of stimulants may help you with lucidity during the day, helping you live a more lucid life in general. Poorly applied to your regimen, stimulant use can burn out your adrenal hormone system, over-deplete neurotransmitters in your brain, result in a nasty addiction problem, and cause crashes requiring excessive sleep at ill-opportune times. Never-the-less, used with discretion, backed by research and listening closely to what your body is telling you, stimulants can help you achieve a higher efficiency during the day, including with your preparation for lucid dream induction (remembering to ask the critical question periodically and when triggers occur during the day).
Prescription-strength stimulants include the Amphetamine family of drugs and relatives such as Ritalin, Cocaine (used to be prescription), Wellbutrin, etc. Many psychedelic drugs also exhibit strong stimulating effects - LSD, Mescaline, Yohimbine, etc. Your chances of falling asleep on any of these is nill. One possibility is to use something like yohimbine in very small quantities, such as 1/2mg, as an aid to increase the activity of your epinephrine system while in REM sleep. It should be noted that the sleep which eventually follows psychedelic use may have a heightened incidence potential for lucid dreaming, but that has not been my experience. Rather, after a strong trip my body seems to require more dreamless-sleep.
As I write this, I am beginning my experimentation with Modafinil (Modalert) and Armodafinil (Waklert), not so much with the expectation of increased lucid dreaming, but just for general waking-thought enhancement. I am keeping notes on how this goes on a FaceBook page. Modafinil is more of a wake-promoter than stimulant, and many people report this drug is nothing less than a miracle for them. We will see. But because the action of Modafinil is more related to working-memory enhancement and pure wakefulness (without the body-high of most other stimulants), it is classed as a nootropic. This class of chemicals seems more promising for lucid dream induction than other, typical stimulants are.
Well, it is obvious enough that thinking clearly is related to how energized our minds are at any given time. During the day, especially right after waking up and then again a little after mid-day, many people partake of the world's most popular drug - coffee. For those of us who tolerate coffee well, and drink good quality coffee, it acts as something of a wonder-drug. Yes, it is addictive. And, coffee tends to give the body mild "jitters" when taken in abundance. But it does enhance cognition in many people and gives a definite pep that may increase productivity. But does coffee (or caffeine) help with lucid dreaming? I would say "not much." Most stimulants not only wake up the mind, but they also keep the body very much awake. In fact, that is the idea behind stimulants, keeping the body going. And of course we want an awake mind but sleeping body (mind you, there is not a clear division between body and mind) when trying to induce lucidity.
So, dismiss stimulants? Not so fast there, speed-racer. Proper application of stimulants may help you with lucidity during the day, helping you live a more lucid life in general. Poorly applied to your regimen, stimulant use can burn out your adrenal hormone system, over-deplete neurotransmitters in your brain, result in a nasty addiction problem, and cause crashes requiring excessive sleep at ill-opportune times. Never-the-less, used with discretion, backed by research and listening closely to what your body is telling you, stimulants can help you achieve a higher efficiency during the day, including with your preparation for lucid dream induction (remembering to ask the critical question periodically and when triggers occur during the day).
Prescription-strength stimulants include the Amphetamine family of drugs and relatives such as Ritalin, Cocaine (used to be prescription), Wellbutrin, etc. Many psychedelic drugs also exhibit strong stimulating effects - LSD, Mescaline, Yohimbine, etc. Your chances of falling asleep on any of these is nill. One possibility is to use something like yohimbine in very small quantities, such as 1/2mg, as an aid to increase the activity of your epinephrine system while in REM sleep. It should be noted that the sleep which eventually follows psychedelic use may have a heightened incidence potential for lucid dreaming, but that has not been my experience. Rather, after a strong trip my body seems to require more dreamless-sleep.
As I write this, I am beginning my experimentation with Modafinil (Modalert) and Armodafinil (Waklert), not so much with the expectation of increased lucid dreaming, but just for general waking-thought enhancement. I am keeping notes on how this goes on a FaceBook page. Modafinil is more of a wake-promoter than stimulant, and many people report this drug is nothing less than a miracle for them. We will see. But because the action of Modafinil is more related to working-memory enhancement and pure wakefulness (without the body-high of most other stimulants), it is classed as a nootropic. This class of chemicals seems more promising for lucid dream induction than other, typical stimulants are.