What
is Lucid Dreaming?
In what stage of sleep does Lucid Dreaming occur?
Does Lucid Dreaming interfere with normal
sleep?
What purposes can Lucid Dreaming serve?
Can anyone learn Lucid Dreaming?
What should I do once I'm Lucid?
Go to the Lucid
Dreaming techniques section
General
What is Lucid Dreaming?
Lucid
Dreaming is knowing that you are dreaming while you are doing
it. When you know that you are dreaming, you can also alter the
dream course. And with practice you can also develop full control
over your dream, you will be able to create and change the environment
and change your own appearance. It will be you that are in control
of the dream scenario. You can do whatever you want to do. Live
out your wildest fantasy, or just sit down and chit chat with
someone. You should also be open for the possibility to share
dreams and travel in time and space when you develop adequate
control over your dreams. The word Lucid means that you have a
clear and full consciousness. And believe me when I say that Lucid
Dreaming can be much more fun than waking reality.
In what stage of sleep does Lucid Dreaming occur?
Lucid
Dreaming usually takes place in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.
There are five stages of sleep. Stage 1 being the one you first
enter, then followed by stage 2, 3 and 4. As you descend into
deeper sleep your brain frequency slows down. In stage 4 can it
be slower than one cycle per second (delta sleep). After some
time spent in stage 4, about 25 minutes, you return to stage 3
and 2, then straight into REM sleep. About 90 minutes has passed
now since you started sleeping. 5-10 minutes is spent in this
stage before you go all the way down to stage 4 again (also called
non-REM sleep). When approximately 90 minutes have again passed,
another REM-period start. This time the REM sleep lasts longer.
And as time progresses less time in non-REM sleep is needed and
more time is spent in REM sleep. After 4-5 hours you don't go
lower than stage 2. Vivid dreaming takes place in REM sleep, so
the more you sleep, the more time is spent in REM and the more
likely it is that you may have a Lucid Dream.
Does Lucid Dreaming interfere with normal sleep?
No.
The only difference is that you are aware that you are dreaming.
Unless you have some sort of sleep disorder that causes you to
get less delta sleep, but then again, it's not the LD's fault.
There is no danger with Lucid Dreaming. But if you have a bad
hearth you might have a hearth attack if you crash a car, or during
sexual intercourse. Other than that Lucid Dreaming is one of the
safest activities I can think of. It can even be used for healing.
What purposes can Lucid Dreaming serve?
Those
are so many. First of all, it is lots of fun. You can do whatever
you feel like, without putting yourself in danger, or spending
a lot of money on journeys or expensive equipment. It is great
for therapy if you have any psychological problems. If you have
a fear of spiders, that fear can be conquered through Lucid Dreaming.
You know you are totally safe in a Lucid Dream. So you carefully
begin with tiny spiders far away, and as you get used to them,
you might let them go closer and make them bigger. If there is
something you want to get better at, like Tennis or Snowboarding,
then Lucid Dreaming can improve your skill. Lucid Dreaming can
be extremely powerful for motor skill enhancement. This is not
only true because of the vividness of the imagery, but also because
the physiological nature of REM sleep is ideal for establishing
neural pattern without actual movement. Experiments also show
that you can get physically stronger with mental training. Lucid
Dreaming can be used for healing if you have any illness. If you
wish to have your subconscious read at a rate of 1 million words
per minute, you can activate that in a Lucid Dream to gain conscious
awareness over the knowledge. You can meet the author of the book
you just read in a Lucid Dream, and ask questions you are seeking
answers for in the book. Or you can sit down and watch the whole
novel on a big screen TV with cinema 3D sound. You can use Lucid
Dreaming for solving a complex and difficult problem, like mathematical
problems. You can share a dream with a friend. Or even a whole
group of people. So you can hang out with your friends when you
are sleeping too, not only when you are awake. It is also great
being a group of people trying to Lucid Dream. If you find your
friends in a dream, you can tell them that they are dreaming.
This way can you help your friends gaining Lucidity, and they
might cause you to gain Lucidity if they find you. If you have
full conscious control over a dream can you also use it to travel
in time. You can explore the future. Even shared precognitive
dreaming is possible. With a little practice can you also use
Lucid Dreaming to leave your body and explore the world. By doing
this you can also meet other spirits and travel in time.
Can anyone learn Lucid Dreaming?
Yes.
Just like everyone dream, virtually anyone can learn to be aware
that they are dreaming. How long it takes for you to learn Lucid
Dreaming depends on how good your dream recall is, how motivated
you are and what techniques you are using. And how many hours
you sleep each night. Hopefully techniques and devices will be
developed so that you may have your first Lucid Dreaming within
a few nights. A few techniques and devices have already given
results in such short time. But there is always room for improvement.
In order to Lucid Dream you should have good dream recall. Many
helpful and effective tips for developing dream recall can be
found in my Dreaming FAQ.
What should I do once I'm Lucid?
Absolutely
nothing at first. You might want to try to find out how conscious
you are, make sure that the logical part of your brain is functioning
and that all your senses are working. You need to remember your
intent, do some math tasks, recall a few things from your life,
what time it is, what date it is, where you are and stuff like
that. Look around you and observe things. Don't feel like you
are in a hurry and need to get things done before the Dream fades.
Also make sure that you are in a dream, not in hypnagogic imagery.
All your senses should be working including tactile feelings.
I want to emphasize that you make sure that your logical abilities
are working. Not only do they create your consciousness, they
can also create the most splendid dreams you could ever imagine.
Once you are satisfied with your logical abilities you can cut
loose and start controlling the dream.
Go
To Lucid Dreaming Techniques
