From the comments I get on both my lucid dreaming and spirit guide hypnosis and meditation sessions, I see a variety of levels of experience in both of these areas and some of you may be missing out on some key steps. So, I created these tips which are intended to be a foundation for your practice. I recommend you incorporate these every single time you reach out to the spiritual realm in order to stay safe, in control and, of course, to more easily and readily contact your guides or angels who have your greatest good at heart.
1. Record Your Dreams
Even when you are NOT looking to reach out to a guide or guardian angel, journalling your dreams helps to develop your recall skills so that you can both remember and record more when you DO meet your guides or angels in a lucid dream.
Remember to journal as soon as you wake, as details of dreams often fade in the first few minutes after waking, as we exit theta state. Journal anything that stands out to you from your dreams and, without overthinking, write down any associations: the emotions they invoked, who or what they remind you of, places, times, events, anything at all.
As you practice dream journalling, you may also start to notice yourself recalling dreams from the night before as you fall asleep the following night and re-enter theta state.
Journal even the most ordinary of dreams, not just the dreams that are intriguing or exciting, as regular practice builds your recall ability and dream interpretation skills.
2. Bring Awareness to Your Emotional State
All emotions are valid. If you know my work at all, you will have heard me say that at least once. You may well be seeking out a guide or angel during a challenging time when you need reassurance, guidance, or support.
What you feel is your truth but remember, you can hold grief and gratitude, pain and joy, disappointment and hope in your heart at the same time. Take time to cultivate higher emotions and send those out with your intention as you prepare for your spiritual practice.
3. Set Your Intention
This sounds obvious at first, and you may confuse the act of listening to one of my sessions as the same thing as setting your intention. This is not true. You should set your intention even before you press play on any of my spirit guide sessions and it MUST be clear and present in YOUR mind, not just in my words. Setting an intention brings awareness to your inner state, to the energy and emotions you are giving out, and gives clarity as to who you wish to invite in, and WHY.
Take time to clarify your reason or reasons for attracting a guide as this may differ from time to time. What is your intention each time you sit down? Do you want to meet a guide who can give you answers to certain questions? Do you wish to reconnect with a loved one who passed on? Are you looking for support in the areas of career, love, or relationships? Or healing, insights into your gifts and talents? Or help in making a key decision?
Setting your intention also ensures you avoid a sense of "trying" or "wanting" which, by default, comes from a sense of lack and implies conscious strain. There's no strain here.
4. Prepare Your Questions
Journal or mentally repeat your questions. There are times in a lucid dream that I suddenly realize I have not prepared my questions well enough and the dream ends just as the conversation becomes interesting. With prepared questions, you will get the most out of each session. As you get answers, prepare questions that build upon the answers already received. You may well believe that you'll know what to say in that moment, but it can be an intense and overwhelming experience, so prepare in advance to get the most out of each meeting.
5. Establish a Mantra or Symbols of Positive Energy
This is so important and so often overlooked by those who jump into their spiritual practice. At least half of your work will be in preparation BEFORE even reaching out to the spirit world, and part of this MUST involve setting your intention AND establishing a mantra or holding a symbol that represents positive energy. This can be a physical symbol of protection or a spoken mantra that attracts the positive and protects you against the negative.
"I invite in only love and light,
I invite in only love and light"
Above is one of the most common mantras. Repetition of the spoken word in a conscious state, just as in a hypnotic state, compounds and amplifies the effect. You may also wish to hold a symbol that represents the higher good for you: a bible, a personal or spiritual symbol.
Another step I take is, before I go to bed, I stand at the doorway of the room and repeat my mantra, to protect not just myself but the space I am in. The spiritual world still interacts with the physical world and perceives material space and division of space.
Having a mantra that becomes automatic to you means you can call on this at any time if you start to feel uneasy or unsafe. I have only ever had one negative experience and I believe that this was brought into my space by another being (another story for another time). I was able to cleanse the space by repeating the mantra over and over to eject this negative entity from the space.
6. Prepare with Progressive Body Relaxation
Now that you are regularly journalling your dreams, practicing your mantra, setting your intention with the highest emotions, and having your questions prepared, you can then prepare yourself by relaxing the body. You can do this through an easy yin yoga practice or through progressive muscle relaxation techniques used in hypnosis.
The purpose of progressive body relaxation is twofold: to be able to fully relax the physical body to fall asleep and to allow your mind to occupy your full awareness. If the body is not at ease, it can prevent or interrupt your lucid dream.
7. Become Present; Practice Patience
Connecting to the spirit world can be an exciting adventure; however, the focus needs to be on each moment leading up to the meeting, not the desired outcome. Once you've set your intention, know that it is out there in the universe, like opening a door to an expected friend. As you relax your body and mind, now feel each moment as it arrives.
Being patient and present means that you do not revert to a state of "want" which, in turn, may generate mental and physical tension which will hinder your efforts. The more you become present, the more you will tune in to the subtle signs and messages of the guides who are always with you. Allow each moment to unfold.
8. Enter Theta State
This is ESSENTIAL for entering a lucid dream and I'll do a deeper dive in future articles. Theta state is often considered the gateway to the spiritual world. It is also the brainwave state in which the brain is open to re-writing beliefs. In an everyday waking state, your mind is typically in read-only mode. We are naturally in theta state in the few minutes before we sleep and after we wake but we can extend this time through hypnotic techniques.
9. Attune Your Senses
During your lucid dreams, notice which senses are most heightened. Are your dreams visually stunning? Do you hear more than you see? Do you have flashes of insights, a sudden knowing, a download of knowledge? Do you notice any sense of touch or any changes in your sense of self or even become aware of music, certain sounds, numbers, or codes? Do you see the same shapes or patterns over and over again?
Novices may assume that the visual is the most important in a dream, a natural assumption, but you may be missing information that is conveyed through other senses and means. Take time to notice which of your senses are most amplified in a lucid dream, and keep journalling to keep refining your strongest senses.
10. Journal How You Identify Your Guide
You may or may not actually see your guide or angel in your lucid dream. They may or may not have a clearly defined body shape and may not even appear as we would expect to see a person. They may not even have a defined form; they may have a non-physical or non-material presence. Notice when you feel there is a guide in your presence and take note of the following:
Clothing
Physical features
Voice and tone perceived age
Gender (if any)
Colours
Light
Energy they emanate
Energy and emotions YOU feel in their presence
Any symbols they carry or convey
Animals and plants that accompany them or even represent them
Movement
Words, symbols
Numbers, codes
Patterns, phrases
Document everything you notice about their presence every single time.
And Now: Practice!
Each experience may well be different and you may receive answers during or even after your session. Some of us are more naturally attuned but this is still a skill to develop, even if you have the innate ability. Practice, practice, practice! If you'd like to put these tips into practice, here's just one of over a dozen spirit guide hypnosis and meditation sessions I've created to help you:
And one thing you should NEVER worry about is completely quieting the mind. If you wish to, you can take on a meditative practice, but hypnosis allows the conscious mind to chatter if it wishes to and STILL attune the subconscious mind to send and receive messages.
One Don't
The one thing you should never do is drink alcohol or take any hallucinogenic drugs before attempting to lucid dream or contact your spirit guide or guardian angel. It will not accelerate or amplify any innate abilities and can even attract negative experiences.
10 Questions to Ask
Now make sure that you ask these 10 questions in your first encounter with your guide or angel. Read more here.
Thanks for Reading!
My name is Sarah from 'Unlock Your Life' and I quit a 17-year corporate career to create the job I love, using the power of hypnotherapy to help you and others release their limiting beliefs, heal past trauma and unlock the mind to access the spiritual world.
You can access my hypnotherapy, meditations, and affirmations sessions on my YouTube channel here, and connect with me on Facebook and Instagram. As always, I am here to support you on your journey.