In short, lucid dreaming is when you are aware that you are dreaming within a dream. Because you have access to your subconscious you are completely limitless. You are only bound to the limit of your imagination. You can use lucid dreaming for a HUGE amount things from self-development to just having fun. You could go deep within your psyche for dealing with traumas and fear, or flying to anywhere you want in the universe, you decide.

There are a lot of basic techniques, especially for beginners to help you get started which I recommend checking out here first. This list is kind of that ‘level 2′ stage for people that are still struggling with learning how to lucid dream.

These techniques might not necessarily by the ‘best’, but they are definitely effective and work for a great deal of people, and are the ‘best’ of what I’ve found,

So without further a due, here is my list for the best lucid dreaming techniques.

1. THE WILD TECHNIQUE

In short, a WILD (wake induced lucid dream) technique is when you get up in the middle of the night, typically after a 4-6 hour sleep, stay up for about 30 minutes or so and then go back to sleep.
Not only is your melatonin production at its peak at around 4am, but you are MUCH more likely to go straight into REM sleep (a stage in your sleep cycle in which one experiences dreaming). This is because your REM cycles (theta waves) get longer, while your deep sleep cycles (delta waves) get shorter as your sleep progresses. In other words, you are having much more frequent and longer dreams later in the night or morning than you would at the start of the night.
So what do I do?

1. Go to sleep at around 10 or 11pm, as this is the optimal time for your circadian rhythm (i.e., biological clock).
2. Set your alarm off at around 4am and stay up for about 30 minutes. Try to refrain from looking at any artificial lights, especially mobile phones and computers, as they hinder our melatonin production quite dramatically.
3. While you’re up, I would suggest doing some stretches to relax your body further. Also reading and/or thinking about lucid dreaming will increase your chance in having one.
4. Go back to bed with the intention to lucid dream tonight. Focus on each part of your body, making sure that every part of your body is completely relaxed! Most people will tell you to focus on your feet and work your way up to the head. I would advice the opposite route as your head, especially your face is usually the most tense. If you don’t believe me, massage the outline of your jaw and see how tense and sore it is. Many of us grind our teeth and clench our jaw unconsciously throughout the day, so I would advice massaging your jaw before going to sleep.
5. Don’t move! your body constantly sends out ‘sleep signals’ to see if you’re asleep or not. It’s kind of like your body asking you “Hey are you asleep yet?”. It will do this by making you want to roll over, giving you the urge to scratch an itch, and things of this nature, so don’t let your body fool you!
6. Watch the imagery that begin to form like patterns, but don’t focus on it to much. Keep repeating in your head “I will have a lucid dream tonight” or “I’m dreaming” what ever other phrase you want to use.
7. When you find yourself in that dreamy state, just go with the flow. Don’t move and just immerse yourself in this state. If any thoughts begin to pop up don’t interact with them, just observe them as they will soon pass. It is at this stage when you transition from the waking world to the dreaming world.

2. RECORD YOURSELF

This is a pretty ‘out there’ technique but it’s definitely worked for me. and many other people.

Basically what you do is record yourself saying that you’re dreaming. 

For example., “Tom, you’re dreaming. Hey Tom you are dreaming right now. You’re dreaming Tom, etc”

Then you set up a few alarms throughout the night (e.g., 2am, 3am, 4am, etc.) and go to sleep with the intention to lucid dream that night. Don’t set them too loud that you wake up though!

This is a really easy but powerful technique, as it is your own voice giving you cues that you are dreaming while your asleep which gives it a greater effect.

I would recommend downloading an app such as sleep cycle, so you know what times you are in your REM cycle. This is so you can set your alarm at the most optimal time to increase your chances of having a lucid dream tonight!

3. DIGITAL TIMER TECHNIQUE

This one requires the least amount of effort, as you pretty much leave most if not all the work to the timer.

Get a digital timer such as a cooking digital timer and set up a single beep to sound every couple of minutes. The same rules with not moving your body still applies, the only thing different is having this timer as your ‘safety net’ for keeping your mind awake.

So this technique borrows from the hypnotic fractonation principle, which is when you are put in a trance, then taken out of that trance, the next time you enter trance, you will enter it more deeply than before.

So pretty much you are are playing around in that hypnagogic state, which the timer makes makes it much easier for you to get deeper within your trance.

Lucidology.com recommends that your timer intervals be set at 8, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 20, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6. Check out the video explaining why here.

As always it’s best to use these techniques in the middle of the night, preferably 4am.

HYBRID

You could always mix and combine some of the techniques I have mentioned.

For example: Using the WILD technique along with the Record Yourself technique. This will increase your chances in having a lucid dream tonight, so don’t be afraid to try out new methods that work for you, because at the end of the day we are all different.

You could also use binaural beats, dream supplements and dream masks to greatly aid your chances in having a lucid dream so you can always try those as well if you want.