The Art of Lucid Dreaming by Clare R Johnson PhD

264 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications, Llewellyn Worldwide
Release Date: March 8, 2020

Nonfiction (Adult), Religion, Spirituality

The book is divided into the following parts and chapters.

Part One: Getting Lucid: How to Wake Up in Your Dreams
Chapter 1: What is Lucid Dreaming
Chapter 2: Powerful Practices to Help You Wake Up in Your Dreams
Chapter 3: Relax Your Way to Lucid Dreaming
Chapter 4: Create Your Unique Lucidity Programme

Part Two: Staying Lucid: How to Have Longer, More Satisfying Lucid Dreams
Chapter 5: Powerful Practices for Longer Lucid Dreams
Chapter 6: Train Your Mind to Keep on Lucid Dreaming

Part Three: Best Techniques for Guiding Lucid Dreams
Chapter 7: How to Guide Lucid Dreams with the Power of Thoughts and Intentions
Chapter 8: Facing and Embracing Nightmares
Chapter 9: Going Deeper: Creativity, Healing and Spiritual Lucid Experiences

Conclusion
Appendix I: Unique Lucidity Programme Template
Appendix II: Examples of Unique Lucidity Programmes

The author has a descriptive writing style. She makes the instructions process of waking during dreaming easy to follow. Most nights I do dream and remember in great detail. I am looking forward to using her directions to wake during a dream. There are sixty different practices for readers to try. The idea of lucid dreaming reminds me of the movie Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. He was awake during dreams within dreams. If you are interested in the concept of lucid dreaming, you will enjoy reading this book.

I didn’t realize that I didn’t even understand what lucid dreaming really was until I read this book. The quiz was enlightening and the exercises are easily applied along your journey.

I've had a few lucid dreams in the past few years, so I've been looking into different books to learn more about it and figure out how to refine my technique, so to speak, so I can dream more frequently and with more control. When this popped up in my approvals on Netgalley for an eARC, I jumped at the chance.

I like that this, unlike a lot of the lucid dreaming books I've come across (but admittedly haven't read) is written by a PhD who has extensively studied the topic, rather than a random person who finds it interesting and thinks they have the best advice. Not that personal experience isn't valid, but personal experience + actual science will always be far more superior and credible in my view. This book isn't overloaded with scientific studies or jargon, but it has enough sprinkled throughout that it helps provide evidence for the rest of the statements made (as any well-researched book should).

The organization of this book is great and goes through a very logical progression, divided into 3 parts with some background info about lucid dreaming and exercises/practices to improve lucid dreaming (being trying to get started with lucidity or learning to control it and maintain it once you're lucid). I also like that it's not a one size fits all approach, and instead there are 15 different "types" of dreamers that have different techniques associated with them, so you can see which one(s) you fall into and can be a little more custom in making your practice plan.

The only thing I didn't like (hence the one star deduction) is that it's a little corny/try-hard in places. Mainly, the author randomly throws in mentions of sex. I'm sure lots of people want to lucid dream for sexual purposes, and more power to them if they do, but it felt like it was an afterthought or a gimmick to appeal to the masses, rather than being approached in the same organic way that the rest of the exercises and topics in the book were. I think it's absolutely worthwhile to include because it makes sense, but it could have been handled a bit better. It felt like a different person wrote those sections, or like the editor was like "hey, talk about sex dreams here".

I read through this pretty quickly since it was an ARC about to expire, but I'd definitely consider purchasing this book for a reference to come back to and be a little more methodical.

Thanks Netgalley for the eARC!

This book was wonderful and so much more than I expected. It had quizzes and more and I can not wait to get my hands on a finished copy. If you think 200+ pages isn't big enough to get you anywhere, you would be so so wrong. It was so in-depth that I am surprised that this book isn't longer. If you are new to dreams then check this one out. You will not need another title!

Is relaxation something you struggle with? Me too.

This book is an amazing tool on my journey to exploring more of my spiritual path. It provides both exercises and relaxation tips. This is an easy to read, must-have book for anyone looking to dive into lucid dreaming.

This is the book I had been looking for. This has been an asset on my own journey with lucid dreaming. The exercises and relaxation tips really helped me. This book is easy to read and a must have for anyone interested in lucid dreaming.

What a fascinating subject. Clare Johnson does a wonderful job in her writing to make this sound easy. It's true that training yourself to lucid dream is a constant and ongoing job, and she is encouraging in her writing as well as in what she gives the reader in this book.

She gives many exercises to help the reader learn how to realize they are dreaming, but the best part of this book is the Lucidity Quiz that gives us the type of dreamer we are so that we know how to best apply the quizzes to our practice of lucid dreaming.

4/5 and will recommend buying for your reference shelf!

An excellent book that helped to learn a lot about lucid dreaming and I will surely use as reference in the future.
I liked the style of writing and the clarity of the explenations.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Art of Lucid Dreaming by Clare R. Johnson is a easy to follow book. It explains how lucid dreaming can help you to achieve lucidity as quickly as possible. Dr. Clare Johnson identifies your personal sleeper-dreamer type so you can fast-track to the techniques that work best for you.

Such an interesting book and it is easy to follow even for a newbie like me. I highly recommend it for anyone that is interested in this subject. A very informative and we'll written book.

This book was given to me by Netgalley for my professional opinion as a librarian.

I've been aware of lucid dreaming for years and even done it spontaneously a few times, but could never stay asleep for long once I realised I was dreaming. I immediately tried some of the first techniques explained in this book and got instant results on the first night for checking I was in a dream! Then several nights followed when I didn't have a lucid experience to test.

As the book points out, it takes practice. I started practicing with the techniques for 'programming' your mind to become lucid while falling back to sleep in the early morning hours, but not the full bladder one as that wakes me up quickly. I've had luck so far at the time of writing with trying to induce lucid dreams while falling back into a morning doze, but this is one of the things that takes practice. I fall into deep sleep too easily.

I took this one slowly, reading a few exercises and stopping to assimilate and experiment. I expect I'll be giving it a second reading as well. One of the unique things about the book is a 'quiz' to give you self-analysis about what sort of sleeper and dreamer you are in order to guide you towards the exercises that will be most effective for you. This gave me a lot of insight and some great suggestions to work with.

I have had multiple lucid experiences while reading the book and have been able to try the techniques for taking control of the experience and for trying to stay asleep for a while at least to enjoy it. I suspect this will get easier over time, but I'm definitely having some results.

The one thing I would take issue with is in a meditation, the author suggests staring into a candle flame. NEVER DO THIS!!! It can cause retinal damage! In any candle ritual or meditation, you look just above the flame, not into it. The rest of the advice on that one, to look around the periphery of the flame and see different perspectives, is fine. Just don't stare directly into it.

In the later chapters, the author gives advice for working any meditation or Yoga practice you might be using into the exercises, but she acknowledges that it isn't required if that's not your thing. The last chapter was about healing through lucid dreams, both psychological and physical. Despite being a natural sceptic, I know the mind can have tremendous effects on the body and I think it would be interesting to experiment with this. There were some apocryphal stories about people identifying and even eliminating tumours through lucid experiences, which I keep an open mind about.

In any case, the exercises to develop control of lucidity in your dreams are good and make perfect sense. My own early successes are enough to convince me that it's worth the practice and the author knows her stuff.

Really really enjoy this. And continuing to enjoy it. A lot of insight-fullness, and loads of info I never even knew. Will continue to reference this quite a bit. Even my daughter has been skimming it quite a bit

First, what is lucid dreaming? For those who don't know, a lucid dream is a dream during which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. Sometimes being awake, being aware that you are in the dream and that you can control things in it. This book is a way to learn how to do this more quickly and it is a great learning tool. Clearly written and easy to understand. There are many practices and made for you programs included to help you stay focused. This is an exciting way to guide your dreams where you want them to go. It is a perfect book to read and to keep on your shelf as I'm sure others will be excited to learn as well. I received this book from Net Galley and Llewellyn Publishing for a honest review.

This is a nice addition to lucid dreaming books. A good purchase for collections where new age or pop-psychology titles are popular.

Sorry for possible English mistakes.
This is great book to learn about practical techniques to achieve lucid dreaming. It is very valuable because in book there are answers for some tricky questions, for ex. "How can I repeat again lucid dream?" and sim...What I missing from techniques is one method for the time when is most natural to enter into lucid dreams that is when we go to sleep. Otherwise excellent book.

Different approaches to lucid dreaming. A help for those who want to make it easier of try to do lucid dreaming. Helpful information and exercises to get you to where lucid dreaming is easier for you.

This is an excellent easy read book for learning about and getting started with lucid dreaming. There are lots of practical exercises for getting lucid, and lots for relaxing. It is great for experimenting and just seeing what happens. I liked the authors writing style as it makes it accessible to everyone. If the subject has ever intrigued you this is a really great book for getting started and widening your horizons.

The Art of Lucid Dreaming by Clare R Johnson is a very thorough book on lucid dreaming. The book covers its subject well and has a lot of helpful things to try for getting lucid in a dream and staying lucid. The exercises are also helpful for relaxing. This book covers everything, from what lucid dreaming is to some of things you can do in lucid dreams.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.