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The Lucid Dreaming Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering Your Dream Life
"Lucid dreaming can take us to places we've never been before, and the insights we learn from these dreams can radically transform our waking lives. In this exciting guide, lucid dreaming expert Andrew Holecek offers readers a step-by-step approach for developing and honing the skills necessary to awaken to these dazzling dreamscapes-and the amazing truths to be discovered there"--
202 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2020
49 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Holecek
17 books121 followersAndrew Holecek has completed the traditional three-year Buddhist meditation retreat and offers seminars internationally on meditation, dream yoga, and death.
His work has appeared in Parobla, Shambhala Sun, Tricycle, Utne Reader, and other periodicals. He is the author of The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy; Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Perspective; Meditation in the iGeneration; How to Meditate in a World of Speed and Stress, and the audio learning course Dream Yoga: The Tibetan Path of Awakening Through Lucid Dreaming.
Andrew holds degrees in classical music, physics, and a doctorate in dental surgery. He lives in Lafayette, Colorado.
He is also the co-founder of Global Dental Relief, and travels each year to India and Nepal to provide free care to impoverished children. http://globaldentalrelief.org/
His work has appeared in Parobla, Shambhala Sun, Tricycle, Utne Reader, and other periodicals. He is the author of The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy; Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Perspective; Meditation in the iGeneration; How to Meditate in a World of Speed and Stress, and the audio learning course Dream Yoga: The Tibetan Path of Awakening Through Lucid Dreaming.
Andrew holds degrees in classical music, physics, and a doctorate in dental surgery. He lives in Lafayette, Colorado.
He is also the co-founder of Global Dental Relief, and travels each year to India and Nepal to provide free care to impoverished children. http://globaldentalrelief.org/
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 28, 2022
The title is not misleading: this book is indeed a workbook. The main theme is lucid dreaming but it goes much more beyond that, things like lucid living, awareness, meditation are also discussed. There are a lot of questions to reflect on and there is room for readers to write down their answers. I don't know who those people are but I know I would want to work in a separate book, so those empty lines are basically just page fillers for me. Another good title would have been 'journaling about dreaming', because this is what this book is really about, he asks questions about what you want to dream about, questions about sleep hygiene, your experiences so far. For people living on autopilot most of the days, these questions might help you feel more alive and awake.
Highly influenced by dream yoga and the eastern techniques, you will notice the practices from the West get less attention. Don't expect to read about MILD, DILD, WILD etc in depth, there are better books out there to explore these. The main focus is awareness, when you gain awareness in daily live, you become more conscious in your dreams too.
Highly influenced by dream yoga and the eastern techniques, you will notice the practices from the West get less attention. Don't expect to read about MILD, DILD, WILD etc in depth, there are better books out there to explore these. The main focus is awareness, when you gain awareness in daily live, you become more conscious in your dreams too.
December 6, 2020
I heard of "Lucid Dreaming" many years ago, along with the popular techniques used to help induce them (e.g. Reality Checks, WILD, DILD, wake-up-and-back-to-bed, etc.).
But it wasn't until I heard "Sounds True" Tami Simon interviewing Andrew Holecek that I heard him pose an inquiry that stirred a strange curiosity deep within me.
The question was: "What happens when you close your (dream) eyes in a dream?"
I never heard "Lucid Dreaming" contextualized in quite the way Andrew was describing.
Before I get to that, though - I DID experience my first proper lucid dream after committing daily/nightly to the practices described in this book!
Andrew provides engaging and thorough coverage of BOTH Western and Eastern Induction Techniques - for BOTH the night and the day. I really loved this variety and especially learning about the more subtle techniques from the East, as well as Andrew's approachable explanations for how these more subtle techniques work via the channels (nadis), winds (prana), drops (bindus) and wheels (chakras).
My relationship with my "sleeping / dreaming state" has totally shifted. I made a number of practical adjustments to clean up my "Sleep Hygiene" as Andrew describes. Also, I now have a nightly ritual involving these nighttime induction practices, all the while feeling into my intention for my dreams. I capture all of this in my Dream Journal.
As my head hits the pillow, I feel a quiet thrill of what's to come in the night, with my trusty notepad and pen right next to me to capture my liminal scribblings.
Not only has my relationship with the night shifted, but also with the day! This is one of the big foundational themes that Andrew makes so accessible while maintaining its profound depth: The daytime and nighttime practices are "bidirectional" / "reciprocating".
This "bidirectionality" makes clear why I do not experience a more stabilized practice of nighttime lucid dreaming. It's because I do not have a more stabilized practice of daytime awareness.
I humbly came to learn this about myself through one of the simple (yet profoundly illuminating) daytime techniques: To create a fresh "Reality Check" trigger each day. I chose a new Trigger (i.e. to perform a reality check each time I opened the fridge door) which I thought would be simple - but my mind proved to be much more distracted than I realized.
Andrew goes to great lengths to encourage lucid dreamers to see such "failures" as just good data to learn and grow from, which has helped me immensely to keep progressing in a "not too tight, not too loose" kind of way. This book serves as my ongoing reference / guide as I continue refining (and experimenting with) my daily / nightly practices.
What is truly stunning is how this guidebook gives dreamers a glimpse of what else our dreams can show us beyond "a fun ride"... how "training our minds for lucidity" in our dreams is actually cultivating a deeper exploration of the Nature of Mind itself.
This "Lucid Dreaming Workbook" gives dreamers an open invitation on just how far to take the practice of lucid dreaming. Andrew Holecek has a special gift for articulating the true depth of this exploration... making it accessible and practical... while maintaining great reverence for the profound groundless depths it points to.
But it wasn't until I heard "Sounds True" Tami Simon interviewing Andrew Holecek that I heard him pose an inquiry that stirred a strange curiosity deep within me.
The question was: "What happens when you close your (dream) eyes in a dream?"
I never heard "Lucid Dreaming" contextualized in quite the way Andrew was describing.
Before I get to that, though - I DID experience my first proper lucid dream after committing daily/nightly to the practices described in this book!
Andrew provides engaging and thorough coverage of BOTH Western and Eastern Induction Techniques - for BOTH the night and the day. I really loved this variety and especially learning about the more subtle techniques from the East, as well as Andrew's approachable explanations for how these more subtle techniques work via the channels (nadis), winds (prana), drops (bindus) and wheels (chakras).
My relationship with my "sleeping / dreaming state" has totally shifted. I made a number of practical adjustments to clean up my "Sleep Hygiene" as Andrew describes. Also, I now have a nightly ritual involving these nighttime induction practices, all the while feeling into my intention for my dreams. I capture all of this in my Dream Journal.
As my head hits the pillow, I feel a quiet thrill of what's to come in the night, with my trusty notepad and pen right next to me to capture my liminal scribblings.
Not only has my relationship with the night shifted, but also with the day! This is one of the big foundational themes that Andrew makes so accessible while maintaining its profound depth: The daytime and nighttime practices are "bidirectional" / "reciprocating".
This "bidirectionality" makes clear why I do not experience a more stabilized practice of nighttime lucid dreaming. It's because I do not have a more stabilized practice of daytime awareness.
I humbly came to learn this about myself through one of the simple (yet profoundly illuminating) daytime techniques: To create a fresh "Reality Check" trigger each day. I chose a new Trigger (i.e. to perform a reality check each time I opened the fridge door) which I thought would be simple - but my mind proved to be much more distracted than I realized.
Andrew goes to great lengths to encourage lucid dreamers to see such "failures" as just good data to learn and grow from, which has helped me immensely to keep progressing in a "not too tight, not too loose" kind of way. This book serves as my ongoing reference / guide as I continue refining (and experimenting with) my daily / nightly practices.
What is truly stunning is how this guidebook gives dreamers a glimpse of what else our dreams can show us beyond "a fun ride"... how "training our minds for lucidity" in our dreams is actually cultivating a deeper exploration of the Nature of Mind itself.
This "Lucid Dreaming Workbook" gives dreamers an open invitation on just how far to take the practice of lucid dreaming. Andrew Holecek has a special gift for articulating the true depth of this exploration... making it accessible and practical... while maintaining great reverence for the profound groundless depths it points to.
December 30, 2025
I never thought I'd be capable of lucid dreaming, but Andrew Holecek's book proved me wrong. I had my first lucid dream this month.
My Experience with the Practice
I began by reading two of Holecek's books casually, just to familiarize myself with the concepts. Even without active practice, I started experiencing unusual, physics-defying but still non-lucid dreams: a giant green apple materializing in the sky, pulsating and spawning duplicates that multiplied endlessly on the ground below. In another dream, I shape-shifted into a beloved TV character, instinctively knowing they possessed the qualities needed to navigate that particular scenario. Another time, I sensed I could exit the dream entirely—a ladder suddenly appeared on concrete pavement, leading me down to a beach. Most amusing was the dream where I diligently recorded my dreams, completely unaware I was still dreaming.
After finishing the books, I threw myself into intensive practice for several weeks with no results. Then I eased off for a few days, and that's when it happened: my first lucid dream, following an unplanned wake-back-to-bed session. I wandered through my house, noticing the space felt oddly more expansive than in waking life.
Holecek's emphasizes an important principle: lucid dreaming is a marathon, not a sprint. He advocates for sustainable, long-term practice over intense bursts aimed at quick results, and breaks are perfectly acceptable.
Why This Book Stands Out
What initially drew me to lucid dreaming was its potential for creative problem-solving. Your dream world becomes a low-inertia laboratory for experimentation. An unexpected benefit I’m now curious to explore, as a personal and subjective experiment, is whether adjusting the felt “health” of the dream body has any influence on waking well-being.
Beyond the practical techniques, Holecek illuminates three essential meditation qualities that have deepened my understanding of contemplative practice:
•Stability: How easily you maintain focus without distraction
•Durability: How long you can sustain awareness
•Clarity: How quickly you recognize thoughts arising, and with what resolution. Do you perceive the subtle progression from sensation to thought to image to dissolution?
He also clarified why overly rigid meditation fails: when you forcefully suppress thoughts rather than letting them flow, you never develop the skill of maintaining awareness during thinking. This is crucial because daytime thought-awareness directly translates to nighttime dream-awareness.
A Most Profound Insight
Perhaps one of the book's deepest teachings: initially, lucid dreaming borrows from waking consciousness. Your waking mind supplies memory continuity, reflective awareness, and intentional control. At first, lucidity is simply a habit imported from your waking state into the dream world, where your dreaming consciousness generates the scenery and narrative. This explains why lucid dreams occur most frequently during morning sleep sessions when waking consciousness is more accessible, why beginners often feel mentally fatigued (additional brain functions remain active), and why early lucid dreams lack the hyper-realistic quality of waking life—the waking mind temporarily dominates the dreaming consciousness responsible for creating vivid imagery.
With continued practice, however, the subconscious learns lucidity through direct experience rather than borrowing from the waking consciousness. As this borrowing decreases, the process becomes less tiring. Dreams become increasingly realistic, and awareness grows effortless. This suggests starting with lower-intensity practice to avoid exhaustion.
Final Verdict
Holecek's work represents the pinnacle of lucid dreaming literature. He masterfully weaves together Eastern and Western philosophies and practices, provides impressive technical depth, and instills genuine humility and patience in readers.
Lucid dreaming may well be how humanity unlocks our greatest innovations.
My Experience with the Practice
I began by reading two of Holecek's books casually, just to familiarize myself with the concepts. Even without active practice, I started experiencing unusual, physics-defying but still non-lucid dreams: a giant green apple materializing in the sky, pulsating and spawning duplicates that multiplied endlessly on the ground below. In another dream, I shape-shifted into a beloved TV character, instinctively knowing they possessed the qualities needed to navigate that particular scenario. Another time, I sensed I could exit the dream entirely—a ladder suddenly appeared on concrete pavement, leading me down to a beach. Most amusing was the dream where I diligently recorded my dreams, completely unaware I was still dreaming.
After finishing the books, I threw myself into intensive practice for several weeks with no results. Then I eased off for a few days, and that's when it happened: my first lucid dream, following an unplanned wake-back-to-bed session. I wandered through my house, noticing the space felt oddly more expansive than in waking life.
Holecek's emphasizes an important principle: lucid dreaming is a marathon, not a sprint. He advocates for sustainable, long-term practice over intense bursts aimed at quick results, and breaks are perfectly acceptable.
Why This Book Stands Out
What initially drew me to lucid dreaming was its potential for creative problem-solving. Your dream world becomes a low-inertia laboratory for experimentation. An unexpected benefit I’m now curious to explore, as a personal and subjective experiment, is whether adjusting the felt “health” of the dream body has any influence on waking well-being.
Beyond the practical techniques, Holecek illuminates three essential meditation qualities that have deepened my understanding of contemplative practice:
•Stability: How easily you maintain focus without distraction
•Durability: How long you can sustain awareness
•Clarity: How quickly you recognize thoughts arising, and with what resolution. Do you perceive the subtle progression from sensation to thought to image to dissolution?
He also clarified why overly rigid meditation fails: when you forcefully suppress thoughts rather than letting them flow, you never develop the skill of maintaining awareness during thinking. This is crucial because daytime thought-awareness directly translates to nighttime dream-awareness.
A Most Profound Insight
Perhaps one of the book's deepest teachings: initially, lucid dreaming borrows from waking consciousness. Your waking mind supplies memory continuity, reflective awareness, and intentional control. At first, lucidity is simply a habit imported from your waking state into the dream world, where your dreaming consciousness generates the scenery and narrative. This explains why lucid dreams occur most frequently during morning sleep sessions when waking consciousness is more accessible, why beginners often feel mentally fatigued (additional brain functions remain active), and why early lucid dreams lack the hyper-realistic quality of waking life—the waking mind temporarily dominates the dreaming consciousness responsible for creating vivid imagery.
With continued practice, however, the subconscious learns lucidity through direct experience rather than borrowing from the waking consciousness. As this borrowing decreases, the process becomes less tiring. Dreams become increasingly realistic, and awareness grows effortless. This suggests starting with lower-intensity practice to avoid exhaustion.
Final Verdict
Holecek's work represents the pinnacle of lucid dreaming literature. He masterfully weaves together Eastern and Western philosophies and practices, provides impressive technical depth, and instills genuine humility and patience in readers.
Lucid dreaming may well be how humanity unlocks our greatest innovations.
April 4, 2025
Great workbook for a lucid dreamer. Lots of practices for the daytime as well as night.
December 20, 2021
This book is for those who has yet to learn to lucid dream to prolonging it.
The Q&A is a nice format.
Lots of interesting concepts like:
Gamers practice controlling their game environments, and that can translate into controlling their dreams.
Proximate karma is a karmic law based on the fact that a succeeding state of consciousness is conditioned by the immediately preceding state.
If you want to be successful in dream yoga, you have to engage in good conduct. Lucid dreaming, on the other hand, is less strict, which is good news for those who aren’t interested in using their dreams for spiritual practice.
The Q&A is a nice format.
Lots of interesting concepts like:
Gamers practice controlling their game environments, and that can translate into controlling their dreams.
Proximate karma is a karmic law based on the fact that a succeeding state of consciousness is conditioned by the immediately preceding state.
If you want to be successful in dream yoga, you have to engage in good conduct. Lucid dreaming, on the other hand, is less strict, which is good news for those who aren’t interested in using their dreams for spiritual practice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews