Lucid Dreaming/Glossary


 * CAT :See Cycle Adjustment Technique.
 * Cycle Adjustment Technique
 * Adjusting your sleep cycles to increase the likelihood of having a lucid dream.


 * DC :See Dream character.
 * DILD :See Dream-Initiated Lucid Dream.
 * Dream character
 * Any character inside your dream. Some people believe they are real people or spirit guides, others that they're just products of the dreaming mind.


 * Dream-Initiated Lucid Dream
 * A lucid dream that begins during a "normal", non-lucid dream.


 * Dream recall
 * The ability to remember details of one's dreams.


 * Dream Result
 * Result from a reality check that indicates that one is dreaming. Ex: Breathing through your nose while pinching your nostrils.


 * Dreamscape
 * The landscape and scenery of one's dreams.


 * Hypnagogic imagery
 * The images, sounds, etc. that you perceive as you fall asleep. Not to be confused with phosphenes.


 * EILD :See Erotically induced lucid dream
 * Erotically induced lucid dream
 * A lucid dream with sexual activity. They may trigger a real orgasm, a phenomenon know as nocturnal emission or wet dream.


 * HI :See Hypnagogic imagery.
 * LD :See Lucid dream.
 * LILD :See Lucid Induction of Lucid Dreams.
 * Lucid dream
 * A dream in which you are aware that you are dreaming.


 * Lucid Induction of Lucid Dreams
 * The technique in which you do something in a lucid dream that theoretically will remind you that you're dreaming in your next dream.


 * MILD :See Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams.
 * Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams
 * The technique in which you mentally repeat to yourself, as you fall asleep, your future intention to realize that you're dreaming.


 * Named Subconscious Technique
 * (See "Getting more help with MILD from your subconscious", in the forum links box in the MILD section.) This technique is a useful aid to the MILD and autosuggestion techniques where the dreamer actively engages his or her subconscious for dream results.


 * NST :See Named Subconscious Technique.
 * Oneironaut
 * A skilled lucid dreamer.


 * Phosphenes
 * Patches of colour (usually red or blue) that you can constantly see while your eyes are closed.


 * Rapid Eye Movement
 * The stage of the sleep cycle that your most vivid dreams occur in.


 * RC :See Reality check.
 * Reality check
 * A simple and quick method of determining if one is dreaming. Ex: Breathing with your nose shut, faulty light switches, etc.


 * Real-life result
 * A reality check result which indicates one is may not be dreaming. Ex: Being unable to will oneself to fly.


 * REM :See Rapid Eye Movement.
 * Sleep paralysis (SP)
 * The body's natural phenomenon of paralyzing the limbs of the body while asleep. This may be experienced consciously, either by accident or during the WILD technique.


 * VILD :See Visual Induction of Lucid Dreams.
 * Visual Induction of Lucid Dreams
 * The technique in which you incubate a dream that reminds you to do a reality check and become lucid.


 * Vivid dream (VD)
 * A dream with a notably higher level of detail.


 * Wake-Back-To-Bed
 * The technique in which you wake up for a bit after a few hours of sleep and go back to sleep again. Usually used in combination with other techniques.


 * Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream
 * A lucid dream triggered by consciously falling asleep.


 * WBTB :See Wake-Back-To-Bed.
 * WILD :See Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream.