Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming:

An Illustrated Guideto the Lucid Dreaming LifeStyle

by T. Costanzo

with illustrations & additional recipes by

Andrew Szava-Kovats

Copyright © 2017 – T. Costanzo, Andrew Szava-Kovats

Published by True Age MediaPrinted in the USA

First Edition

True Age MediaPOB 9701, Lowell, MA 01852www.TrueAgeMedia.com

Contents:

Introduction 5Preparation 13Supplies 15Lucid Aids: 36

Supplements 39Herbs 61Teas 85

Dream Journal 91Recipes 93Making a Dream Pillow 130Decorating for Dreaming 132Glossary 134

Introduction

Welcome to our Guide to the Lucid DreamingLifeStyle.

Whether you're an experienced Lucid Dreameror a novice, we think you'll find this guide a handyreference for information you may need for yourpersonal journey into Lucid Dreaming. It's a worldthat's as complex and varied as our waking world,perhaps even more complex, as the laws of physics,time and space do not apply. It's a world that has nolimits.

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Lucid Dreaming has a long history, going backthousands of years. People of all walks of life havefound it and practiced it in many different ways, fordifferent purposes and with different results. Part ofit's appeal is it's mystery, and that it has no fullypredictable outcome. It is at once magical andscientific.

We can use scientific knowledge to help usreach the Lucid Dreaming state, by incorporatingscientific understanding of vitamins, minerals,nutrients, and such.

And yet we must maintain a certain amount offaith in the magical powers of the inner mind andimagination to navigate the places we reach in ourdream states. In the Lucid Dream state all scientificlaws no longer apply. And yet we use science to getthere. It's a bit ironic and hard to imagine a morepowerful intermingling of science and magic than thestate of being we call Lucid Dreaming.

Everyone has their own reasons for exploringthe Lucid Dream. Some people find it exhilarating.Some people find it relaxing. Some people findanswers to problems. Some people find adventure.Some people simply go on vacation from reality...What seems to be in common among the LucidDream community is that it is powerful, inspiring andoften transformative.

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With this guide, we've assembled a variety oftechniques for Lucid Dreaming. We've includedthings to help you reach the Lucid Dream State,including preparation of your sleep space, a specialpillow, supplements and foods. The Lucid Dreaminduction techniques include popular techniques thathave been developed by many people over time, aswell as some that are exclusive to this guide.

We call it a “LifeStyle” because it really is.Those who pursue Lucid Dreaming on a regularbasis, as they get more deeply into it, soon realizethat the preparation, the scheduling, and then theactual dreaming all together take up a considerableamount of time in their daily routine. Those whobecome adept at it are like serious athletes. Theydevote much of their waking time to preparing for thedreams, thinking about them, analyzing them. Manyof their daily activities become part of the process,from eating to sleeping.

We hope this guide helps you reach your goalsfor Lucid Dreaming, whether it be to simply get afresh perspective on the world, or to escape itentirely.

Happy Dreams!

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Why do we dream?

Scientists have been performing sleep anddream studies for decades now, and we are still notone hundred percent sure why we dream. What we doknow is that our dreams are more abundant and clearduring the REM stage of sleep. We all dream;although the frequency in which our dreams areremembered vary from person to person.

There are several theories as to why we dream,one is to help the brain sort out everything thatcollects during our waking hours to decide on what tohang onto and what to forget.

Another theory is that dreams reflect ouremotions. Some people believe it is just our brainslowing down at night; and dreams are just randomfirings that do not occur when we are awake.

Today, scientists still don't know exactly whywe dream.

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ONEIRNAUT:

A person that has the ability to travel within a dream on a conscious basis.

Lucid dreaming is known to have dated back tothe writings of Aristotle in 350 BC, even though atthat time there was no real name for it. The firstpublished mention of lucid dreaming was by MarquisD’Hervey de saint-Denys in 1867 who wrote a bookcalled “Dreams and the means of directing them”

In 1953 Aserinsky and Kleitman discoveredREM sleep which started the direct study ofdreaming.

In the late 1970s researchers used sleep studymachines to track eye movements during dreams, atthat time two scientists named Keith and Hearnedevised a plan to prove that lucid dreaming exists.They took patients that claimed they could luciddream, and decided upon a pattern of eye movementsthey would make during a lucid dream. As a result,all the patients were able to signal from the dreamworld that they were lucid.

In 1980 a similar experiment was performed atStanford University by Stephen LaBerge. This wasthe first ever published evidence of lucid dreaming.Research now had a method in which to study thisphenomenon.

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Today Steven LaBerge runs the LucidityInstitute, which he founded in 1987. Thisorganization promotes research into lucid dreamingas well as provide courses to the general public onhow to lucid dream.

LaBerge has also developed a series of devicesto assist with entering the lucid state. The NovaDreamer is his most popular device. It's a mask that isworn over the eyes and contains LED lights that restover the eyelids. The lights flash whenever the maskdetects the user is in REM sleep. The stimulus isincorporated into the user's dreams thus signalingthem that they are dreaming.

There are several devices that are on themarket that work in a similar fashion. Some peoplehave had varying amounts of success with them, andthere are more being developed. There are even somedevices that use electrical scalp stimulation.

Along with the wearable dream devices, thereare supplement stack products that may be useful inachieving the lucid state, along with a battery ofsmart phone apps that can help a dreamer becomeaware while asleep.

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Tia's Story:

I always had an interest in the spiritual andsupernatural. When I was a very young girl, at theage of six or seven, I started to take an interest in cardreading. From there, my interests ranged from seamonsters to aliens, and then to all things psychic.

I never really fit in with children my agebecause I always thought that I was different. Themore I studied and learned, the more curious Ibecame.

I'm surprise my parents never thought I was anunusual child, because while other children wereasking to go to Disney movies I wanted to go to tosee things like “Chariots of fire.” My parents obligedand never questioned.

I asked my mom just the other day what shethought of all this when I was little, and she replied “Inever really gave it a second thought. It wassomething you were interested in, and I had noproblem with it.” I was very lucky to have such greatparents.

As I got a bit older I started getting into thingslike magic and Wicca.

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One day, I stumbled upon techniques for astralprojection. I started to read everything I could on thesubject and even purchased to tape the containedbinaural beats to help achieve that state ofconsciousness.

It was fun and mysterious because I had asecret that no one else knew about, something that Icould do that young children my age knew nothingabout.

Later, I learned about lucid dreaming andpracticed techniques to achieve the lucid state ofconsciousness. Later, I realized that the state of LucidDreaming and Astral Projection are very much thesame.

Today, I still feel as though I'm different frommany other people, and I still keep these thingspersonal to myself. I share very little with even theclosest people in my life. It's still my secret.

Lucid dreaming is fun and adventurous. It'salso very spiritual. These techniques, and what I havelearned, are things that I do want to share withpeople.

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Preparation

As in any other form of exploration, LucidDreaming requires preparation in order to besuccessful. By preparing in a methodical andthorough way you can go further than you mightotherwise.

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The preparations we've cataloged here include:

• Techniques• Teas• Supplements• Herbs• Food• Decor • Dream Pillow• Dream Journal

Each preparatory element contributes to theexperience, or the possibility of the experience ofLucid Dreaming. There is no way to guarantee thatone will reach it. Rather, the preparations here are away to maximize your chances.

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Techniques

The Techniques are step-by-step processes forgoing from preparation to dreaming. We will walkyou through various sessions that incorporate avariety of the supplements and show how they work.

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RC - reality checksTILD - Totem Induced Lucid DreamADA - all day awarenessWBTB - wake back to bedMILD - mnemonic induced lucid dream

or mantra induced lucid dreamFILD - finger induced lucid dreamWILD - wake induced lucid dreamDILD - dream induced lucid dreamDEILD - dream exit induced lucid dreamCOBRAS method – used with other techniquesSILD - senses induced lucid dreamCILD – clock induced lucid dreamRausis MethodOOBE Dream Portal – by TiaHybrid COBRAS – by TiaDream JournalCAT adjustment technique THILD - Thirst Induced Lucid Dream PALD - Partner Assisted Lucid DreamBinaural Beats

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