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 alter the direction of your dream and with practice you can develop full control over your dream. You will be able to create and change the environment and change your own appearance in that dream. It will be you that is in control of the dream you are in. That means you can do whatever you want to do. Live out your wildest fantasy, or just sit down and talk to someone – like a guide. You should also be open to the possibility that you can share dreams and travel in time and space. This will be possible when you develop adequate control over your dreams. The word Lucid means that you have a clear and full consciousness. 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 about 25 minutes spent in stage 4, 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 starts. 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.
Ex
periments 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 FAQ’s Part 2 (Lucid Dreaming Techniques…)
