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Supplementing Tips, Plans, and Recipes

imageow that you have a long list of lucid dreaming herbs, you’re probably wondering, How do I use all these? The answer to that question is that you don’t want to use them all at once, and sometimes you may not want to use any at all. Think of it like cooking: just as making a healthy meal takes a bit of effort, hard work is essential in dream practice. A diet of convenience may taste good in the short term, but it is no substitute for healthy cooking. Supplements may be useful, but they are no substitute for a well-grounded, deliberate dreaming practice. A similar metaphor can be said regarding rest. Sometimes you want a nice meal before dessert, or you may not want dessert every night. The same goes for sleep. You always need rest before attempting to lucid dream, and sometimes you may just want a good night’s rest without engaging in lucid dreaming.

On a more serious note, which I’ve mentioned already but it is important enough to repeat: it is critical that you use caution when taking any lucid dreaming supplements, alone or in combination. I highly recommend that you speak with your doctor or other medical professional to make sure they are safe for you. Even though most of the supplements I’ve listed here are easy to find in local grocery or health food stores, they may interact adversely with your individual chemistry or with other medications you may be taking.

Remember, the goal in taking supplements is to enhance the quality of your sleep and dreaming without detracting from your overall well-being. In addition, supplements do not guarantee lucidity; they are merely a tool in a larger practice.

With that, here are four recipes and tips to help you get the most out of your supplement use. Unless specified otherwise, use vitamin and herbal supplement dosages recommended on the product packaging.

FOR A GOOD NIGHT’S REST

Take valerian root or lemon balm and niacin before bed. Lie down and rest; allow the flush to wash over you, and then close your eyes and sleep.

Result: you should wake up less often and have fewer stressful dreams. If you feel that you are still stressed out, you can add in melatonin before you go to bed.

FOR LUCID DREAMS

Take niacin, 5-HTP, and mugwort before sleep. Wait for restfulness to overcome your body after the niacin flush, and then relax in bed. You can perform the WILD technique and set your alarm to wake up after four hours of sleep. Once you wake up, take the alpha-GPC and go back to sleep.

Result: during this whole process, you will be waking up more often than you have before. The interrupted sleep should move your REM stages to later in the night, improving dream memory.

FOR ADVANCED LUCID DREAMS

Set an alarm for four to five hours from bedtime, and go to sleep. When the alarm goes off, take the galantamine and engage in some light activity for about an hour. Go back to sleep. At that point, you should be fully awake, and going back to sleep should be a challenge. Training yourself to focus on going back to sleep will make this easier.

Result: once you are back asleep you can start to directly enter lucid dreams.

Take forty-eight-hour breaks between each use of this combination.

FOR IMPROVED MEMORY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION

Use these either daily or every other day at bedtime. Alternate use with and without niacin. This will help you to improve overall cognitive function as well as improve your ability to remember your dreams.

Result: this combination will not necessarily help you improve your dream recall, but it will give you a better night’s rest. On the nights you are not taking niacin, you should experience greater vividness and recall of your dreams.