This is no fly-by-night book on the subject (of which there are an increasing number). Love is a committed dreamer and a thorough communicator, and presents here one of the most finely researched books designed for both beginners and intermediate lucid dreamers alike. Even as an advanced lucid dreamer myself I had things to learn from this thoughtful and fascinating read.
Why This Book?
If you're investing in a book on lucid dreaming, the first thing you want to check is the author's credibility. There are a slew of lucid dream related books written by amateurs cashing in on the new wave of interest. Be warned.
Without a doubt, Daniel Love is not one of them. A long-time lucid dreamer since the age of five, he has developed his own lucidity techniques (including some personalized variations on the classics) and taught these in lucid dream workshops around the UK for years. Now in his 30s, it is Love's mission to share his passion for lucid dreaming with the world, by introducing it in a thoughtful and scientific manner. We truly need more lucid dreaming advocates like this.
To get a feel for his approach to lucidity and the clarity of his writing, read my interview with Daniel Love.
The Scope of The Book
In many lucid dreaming books, the bulk of the material is dedicated to lucid dreaming techniques, for this is where most people struggle to get ahead. Perhaps it's because Love is a self-taught lucid dreamer (developing, as a wee five-year-old boy, his own Catching The Butterfly Technique to induce lucidity - detailed in the book) that he doesn't overly dwell on this aspect. He has much more to say.
Don't get me wrong, some 67 pages (a solid quarter of the book) describe lucid dream techniques in detail; and not just the usual suspects either. Love introduces us to the classic MILD and WILD techniques and then some of his own methods - such as the first ever print version of the complete Cycle Adjustment Technique. He also focuses in on a false awakening based technique and familiar scene visualization: aligning with practices I have been using instinctively myself, without actually naming them.
Indeed, there were several 'aha!' moments in this book where Love put into words personal idiosyncratic habits which I never even realized I was doing. Are these the natural habits of frequent lucid dreamers? I think perhaps so.
Beyond the task of inducing lucidity on a regular basis, Love philosophizes on the relationship we have with our dream figures, as well as self-help applications such as living as a future version of yourself. And of course he writes, in his own elaborately comprehensive style, on the subjects of lucid dream sex, flying, wish fulfilment, rewriting history, solving problems, inspiring creativity, exploring the dreamworld and all the other greats.
Supplements and Brain Chemistry
Fans of Supplement Induced Lucid Dreams (SILD) will revel in the brain chemistry explained in the book. Indeed, this is one of Love's three pillars for lucid dreaming and it's critical that we understand how the brain's chemistry influences our dream lives. He's not saying you need to pop pills in order to lucid dream; many lucid dreamers have never taken a dream supplement in their lives. But it is important to acknowledge the natural fluctuations of Acetylcholine (Ach), for example, in your brain at different times of the night in order to target the best times for lucidity. Love does acknowledge which supplements will further boost your lucidity efforts, as well as the effects of everyday substances like caffeine and nicotine on your dream life.
A Lucid History
All of this is preceded by a detailed history of lucid dreaming, with references to the major figures that contributed to research (and subsequently influenced its rise in popularity). Love is determined to give credit where credit is due; highlighting such facts that it was not Frederick van Eeden who first coined the term "lucid dream" (as is often cited in the media) but rather Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys (1822-1892) - almost undoubtedly the father of modern lucid dream research.
A further tip of the hat goes to Dr Keith Hearne, the first to scientifically verify the existence of lucid dreaming in the lab in 1975. Though his research was published in the UK, it wasn't quite public enough, and today it is Dr Stephen LaBerge (who performed a similar eye-movement experiment in 1978-9 at Stanford University Sleep Center) who is credited with the landmark discovery today.
This compulsive attention to detail is what makes Are You Dreaming? such a profoundly interesting read. Few other authors go to the extraordinary lengths of reading centuries-old books and speaking with researchers on decades-old research, in order to set the record straight. On his journey, however, Love discovered fascinating tid bits of information which he shares here. Tempted as I am to drop a few such scraps of such history in this review, it wouldn't be fair to steal those moments from the book.
Dream Mnemonics
A brief word on mnemonics: systems to significantly enhance your memory (both while awake and dreaming).
Daniel Love is a former mentalist and has picked up some astounding mental tricks along his path. He describes one of his personal workshop techniques, The Dream Peg System, in great depth here. You can use this memory technique to easily summon waking memories (like a specific dream intention) while lucid dreaming, as well as to recall your dreams in greater detail upon waking.
I won't go into the technique here as again it would be an injustice to Love's narrative, but suffice to say it is linked to the classic memory technique of using "pegs" to mentally twin two imaginary items together. The Dream Peg System takes this principle a leap further by applying it to the dreamworld.
Final Thoughts
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