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Wake Back to Bed

he Wake Back to Bed (WBTB) method is one of the most powerful lucid dreaming tools available. It provides the dreamer time to get enough solid rest while he or she is initially asleep and then jump directly into a lucid dream after going back to bed.

Whether we are asleep or awake, our bodies and minds follow a rhythm. Hormone production, neurotransmitters, and bodily functions, all of which control our conscious awareness level throughout the day, also fluctuate during sleep due to the wavelike pattern that we each experience known as circadian rhythm. While dreaming, our circadian rhythm follows a sleep cycle that lasts about ninety minutes. This sleep cycle can be extended depending on how many sleep cycles you can complete in the night. The longer you can extend these sleep cycles, the more time you have in REM, and the more dreams you are likely to remember.

Sleep cycles are also tied to the production of specific hormones and neurotransmitters that are responsible for the mechanism that produces dreams. Though we don’t fully understand where dreams reside, or why we dream, we do understand some of the chemical processes required to make dreams appear.

When we allow our bodies to experience a few sleep cycles during the night, our minds become more accepting of the dreams that we are experiencing. As we’ve discussed, the production of acetylcholine and the release of GABA during the dreaming process helps us raise our awareness levels as the night continues. This process helps deplete our reserves of memory-reducing serotonin, GABA, and oxytocin, the levels of which are highest during sleep. The WBTB method comes into action after we have completed a few sleep cycles and allowed our brains to support the depletion of these memory-fogging chemicals. This depletion allows us to be at the optimal levels to remember our dreams and to become aware of the dream itself, most likely by modulating the Default Mode Network to be more active. The Default Mode Network, or DMN as it’s commonly known, is the default system that the brain uses in order to operate as normal while awake and vigilant. Any altering of this system leads to cognitive changes. Failure of the DMN can been seen in patients who suffer from dementia.

Not only are we allowing our sleep cycles to take place before attempting to become lucid, but we are also physically waking up, which cues the body and mind to start getting ready for the day. These additional processes increase awareness and memory formation. The WBTB method is a simple technique that allows you, to an extent, to orchestrate the sleep cycle and its normal chemical processes.

THE WAKE BACK TO BED (WBTB) METHOD

1. Go to sleep and sleep for four to five hours.
2. Wake up with an alarm, and stay awake for thirty to sixty minutes.
3. Set your intention to have a lucid dream.
4. Go back to bed.
5. Get lucid!

When practicing WBTB, it’s important to get good rest before waking up. That is why I recommend a good four to five hours of sleep first. This will allow for a few sleep cycles to happen before the alarm goes off.

What do you do when you wake up? This is a critical piece of the technique. Once you’re awake, make sure you become fully awake before going back to sleep. Get out of bed, engage in some activity, and be aware of what is around you. Some physical exercise is a good option, as it releases adrenaline, which supports awareness while awake.

After about an hour of being awake and before going back to bed, set your intention of having a lucid dream. I encourage you to focus on one key element that you want to achieve while being lucid and focus on that idea while lying down and going back to bed. Your mind may be a bit more active at this time than you are used to while going to sleep, but with some practice, you will be able to go back to sleep after a few minutes.

A variation on WBTB that you can add to your tool kit is the Cycle Adjustment Technique (CAT), developed by Daniel Love. Much like WBTB, the objective of this technique is to disrupt the body’s normal circadian rhythm cycle. Instead of setting an alarm and waking up, you go to sleep at different times each night, in effect tricking the body into more REM sleep.