Triggering lucid dreams can be fairly easy with the right methods. Those who are inexperienced with these phenomena may be able to induce a lucid dream for themselves through the following means:

Optimize your bedroom for sleeping: Practicing good sleep hygiene can help to ensure a healthy sleep-wake cycle, including a sufficient amount of REM sleep (when lucid dreams are most likely to occur). Make sure the bedroom temperature is comfortable; 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees Celsius) is widely considered the ideal sleep temperature. You should also keep the room dark and relatively quiet. Blackout curtains, sleeping masks, and other accessories help reduce light levels, while ear plugs and sound machines can block disruptive outside noises.

Assess your reality: Throughout the day, practice “reality testing” by checking your environment to confirm whether you’re sleeping or awake. In a dream, the environment may look familiar but there will be inconsistencies and distortions compared to reality. By performing these reality checks several times per day, you may acquire the ability to test your reality during dreams.

Try the MILD and WBTB methods: For the mnemonic induction of lucid dreams technique, wake up after sleeping for five hours (use an alarm if needed) and tell yourself to remember you’re dreaming once you’ve fallen asleep. The MILD method has proven highly effective in some studies. The wake back to bed technique also requires waking up after five hours of sleep. With WBTB, you’ll want to stay awake for about 30 to 120 minutes before returning to sleep.

Keep a record of your dreams: Every morning, write down everything you remember about your dreams in a journal. You can also use a voice-recording device to log your dream memories. Detailed records will allow you to recognize dreams more easily once you fall asleep, which in turn can help trigger lucid dreams.

The power of suggestion: Some people can successfully induce lucid dreams merely by convincing themselves they will have one once they fall asleep.