Asked by: Neil Edwards, by email
Lucid dreaming, where we retain some level of conscious control of the dream events, does appear to be a skill that can be learned, at least by some people. The most common technique is called 'wake-back-to-bed' or WBTB. You go to sleep when you are tired, but wake yourself up after five or six hours. You then focus on the intention to have a lucid dream and after an hour, you go back to sleep. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep cycles increase towards the end of the night, so it may be easier to slip into a lucid dream state at this time.
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