Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life

by Stephen LaBerge

In my view there are three essential requirements for learning lucid dreaming: adequate motivation, correct practice of effective techniques, and excellent dream recall.

This is a very important potential of lucid dreaming, for when we escape from a nightmare by awakening, we have not dealt with the problem of our fear or of our frightening dream, but have merely temporarily relieved the fear and repressed the fearful dream. Thus we are left with an unresolved conflict as well as, in all likelihood, negative and unhealthy feelings. On the other hand, staying with the nightmare and accepting its challenge, as lucidity makes possible, allows us to resolve the dream problem in a fashion that leaves us healthier than before.