Around late 2014 through early 2015 I stumble into a very interesting topic: "Lucid dreaming" thanks to a friend of mine who had been trying to perform it with no success.
We began to talk about lucid dreaming and I instantly became in love with it, it gives you the ability to "live" your dreams and with some practice control them.
Here's a more extense concept:
In its simplest form, a lucid dream is any expirence in which you become aware that you’re dreaming during the REM stage of your sleep cycle.
“Although [we’re] not usually explicitly aware of the fact that we are dreaming while we’re dreaming,” writes Dr. Stephen LaBerge, one of the first researchers to actively study this phenomenon, “at times a remarkable exception occurs, and we become concious enough to realize that we are [in the midst of a dream].”
According to LaBerge, lucid dreamers can remember their identities, think clearly and act intentionally within the dream world. Sometimes this dream world is extremely vivid, even lifelike. Within that world, a person — especially one who frequently experiences lucid dreams, or actively works to induce them — may attempt to take control of the dream and manipulate its outcome.
They may even try to use the dream state to push the boundaries of possibility, experimenting with things like flying or walking through flames.
What can happen during a lucid dream?
There are many possibilities. The only thing that must happen is for the dreamer to realize their experience is a dream. From there, just about anything could happen. Lucid dreamers claim to have flown through space and visited the sun, danced in fire without being burned and had sex with strangers.
Lucid dreaming is much like mastering a sport. Obviously it requires dedication, persistance, and the right approach to learn lucid dreaming. Be serious about it. Really make your first attempt to induce a lucid dream count.
3 most common Lucid Dreaming techniques:
MILD technique
Stands for Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams technique. Apply this technique upon awakening (preferably from REM-sleep awakening). Aim is to fall asleep while visualizing yourself becoming lucid in the last dream that you can remember just before you woke up. Target any dreamsigns in that dream that should have told you at that time that you were actually dreaming and were not awake. Go through the whole scenario in your mind, vividly. See yourself recognizing the dreamsign and saying "I am dreaming!".
WBTB technique
Stands for Wake Back to Bed technique. Apply this technique upon awakening (preferably from REM-sleep awakening) but at least 1 hour before your normal wake up time. Aim is to interrupt morning sleep with a period of about 30 to 90 minutes of wakefulness, rehearsing your lucid dream and dreamsign recognition, to then return to sleep while visualizing yourself becoming lucid in the last dream you can remember. Learn how to master the WBTB technique.
WILD technique
Stands for Wake Initiated Lucid dreamstechnique. Apply this technique only upon awakening from REM-sleep. Aim is to fall asleep while keeping lucid and entering a dream directly without losing the state of lucidity throughout the process. Needless to say, this is one of the most challenging lucid dream induction techniques around. Also the most rewarding, because while falling asleep consciously you will vividly experiences all kinds of wonderful hypnogogic hallucinations before the dream fully materializes.
Now knowing what lucid dreaming is and it's techniques, why should you do it?
Reason #1: Lucid dreaming creates limitless freedom and escapism.
Escapism is probably the one and only reason most people initially pursue lucid dreams... to meet with their idol, to re-enact a day in the life of Jack Bauer, or to fly like an eagle over breathtaking scenery.
It's a perfectly valid motivation for having lucid dreams. We all have unfulfilled desires and lucidity is an amazing way to experience out-of-this-world situations in stunning realism.
Reason #2: Lucid dreaming reveals the incredible power of your brain.
When you become conscious in the dream state, you have an astonishing opportunity to experience a vivid and tangible dream world that is not at all real. It's mind-expanding.
Just think about that: in a sleep state, where your body is processing only the tiniest amounts of external stimuli, your internal world is as rich as ever. Your brain realistically reproduces a world with houses, trees, gravity, air, emotions, atoms (in fact anything you can conceive of) and it all feels very, very real.
Reason #3: Lucid dreaming prompts us to question the nature of reality.
In questioning the nature of our perception, it naturally leads us to question the nature of reality - that is, the world as it exists around us.
Some philosophies suggest that consciousness creates reality. Can we test this idea in a lucid dream world, where the dream reality truly is altered by consciousness?
What is reality anyway?
Is the physical universe the only reality worth accepting as "true"?
Reason #4: Lucid dreaming is a physical training ground for waking life.
Being a virtual reality simulation, the lucid dream world is an ideal place to practice real life skills - from the perfect flying kick to playing classical piano.
Research has revealed that we can increase our procedural memory for fine muscle movements inside a lucid dream. So, after practicing flying kicks for half an hour in a lucid dream, your kicks would literally be better upon waking.
Reason #5: Lucid dreaming unleashes your creative potential.
We all know that dreams can be a bizarre place of inspiration. The benefit, when lucid dreaming, is to be able to actively seek out creative ideas and bring them back to the waking world.
Famous painters like Salvador Dali, William Blake and Paul Klee all created artwork inspired by their dreams.
Me personally am a Lucid dreamer, it has been really hard trying to force one and learning to control them, but I got to say, It was worth it.
We began to talk about lucid dreaming and I instantly became in love with it, it gives you the ability to "live" your dreams and with some practice control them.
Here's a more extense concept:
In its simplest form, a lucid dream is any expirence in which you become aware that you’re dreaming during the REM stage of your sleep cycle.
“Although [we’re] not usually explicitly aware of the fact that we are dreaming while we’re dreaming,” writes Dr. Stephen LaBerge, one of the first researchers to actively study this phenomenon, “at times a remarkable exception occurs, and we become concious enough to realize that we are [in the midst of a dream].”
According to LaBerge, lucid dreamers can remember their identities, think clearly and act intentionally within the dream world. Sometimes this dream world is extremely vivid, even lifelike. Within that world, a person — especially one who frequently experiences lucid dreams, or actively works to induce them — may attempt to take control of the dream and manipulate its outcome.
They may even try to use the dream state to push the boundaries of possibility, experimenting with things like flying or walking through flames.
What can happen during a lucid dream?
There are many possibilities. The only thing that must happen is for the dreamer to realize their experience is a dream. From there, just about anything could happen. Lucid dreamers claim to have flown through space and visited the sun, danced in fire without being burned and had sex with strangers.
Lucid dreaming is much like mastering a sport. Obviously it requires dedication, persistance, and the right approach to learn lucid dreaming. Be serious about it. Really make your first attempt to induce a lucid dream count.
3 most common Lucid Dreaming techniques:
MILD technique
Stands for Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams technique. Apply this technique upon awakening (preferably from REM-sleep awakening). Aim is to fall asleep while visualizing yourself becoming lucid in the last dream that you can remember just before you woke up. Target any dreamsigns in that dream that should have told you at that time that you were actually dreaming and were not awake. Go through the whole scenario in your mind, vividly. See yourself recognizing the dreamsign and saying "I am dreaming!".
WBTB technique
Stands for Wake Back to Bed technique. Apply this technique upon awakening (preferably from REM-sleep awakening) but at least 1 hour before your normal wake up time. Aim is to interrupt morning sleep with a period of about 30 to 90 minutes of wakefulness, rehearsing your lucid dream and dreamsign recognition, to then return to sleep while visualizing yourself becoming lucid in the last dream you can remember. Learn how to master the WBTB technique.
WILD technique
Stands for Wake Initiated Lucid dreamstechnique. Apply this technique only upon awakening from REM-sleep. Aim is to fall asleep while keeping lucid and entering a dream directly without losing the state of lucidity throughout the process. Needless to say, this is one of the most challenging lucid dream induction techniques around. Also the most rewarding, because while falling asleep consciously you will vividly experiences all kinds of wonderful hypnogogic hallucinations before the dream fully materializes.
Now knowing what lucid dreaming is and it's techniques, why should you do it?
Reason #1: Lucid dreaming creates limitless freedom and escapism.
Escapism is probably the one and only reason most people initially pursue lucid dreams... to meet with their idol, to re-enact a day in the life of Jack Bauer, or to fly like an eagle over breathtaking scenery.
It's a perfectly valid motivation for having lucid dreams. We all have unfulfilled desires and lucidity is an amazing way to experience out-of-this-world situations in stunning realism.
Reason #2: Lucid dreaming reveals the incredible power of your brain.
When you become conscious in the dream state, you have an astonishing opportunity to experience a vivid and tangible dream world that is not at all real. It's mind-expanding.
Just think about that: in a sleep state, where your body is processing only the tiniest amounts of external stimuli, your internal world is as rich as ever. Your brain realistically reproduces a world with houses, trees, gravity, air, emotions, atoms (in fact anything you can conceive of) and it all feels very, very real.
Reason #3: Lucid dreaming prompts us to question the nature of reality.
In questioning the nature of our perception, it naturally leads us to question the nature of reality - that is, the world as it exists around us.
Some philosophies suggest that consciousness creates reality. Can we test this idea in a lucid dream world, where the dream reality truly is altered by consciousness?
What is reality anyway?
Is the physical universe the only reality worth accepting as "true"?
Reason #4: Lucid dreaming is a physical training ground for waking life.
Being a virtual reality simulation, the lucid dream world is an ideal place to practice real life skills - from the perfect flying kick to playing classical piano.
Research has revealed that we can increase our procedural memory for fine muscle movements inside a lucid dream. So, after practicing flying kicks for half an hour in a lucid dream, your kicks would literally be better upon waking.
Reason #5: Lucid dreaming unleashes your creative potential.
We all know that dreams can be a bizarre place of inspiration. The benefit, when lucid dreaming, is to be able to actively seek out creative ideas and bring them back to the waking world.
Famous painters like Salvador Dali, William Blake and Paul Klee all created artwork inspired by their dreams.
Me personally am a Lucid dreamer, it has been really hard trying to force one and learning to control them, but I got to say, It was worth it.
