All You Need to Know About Lucid Dreaming

David Banks
Authored by David Banks
Posted Saturday, July 25, 2020 - 6:03am

If you have ever dreamt and were aware of your dream, you have experienced a lucid dream. Lucid dreaming happens when you stay awake through your dream. Humans experience lucid dreams, but most of them never remember these dreams. If you are here, then you must have an interest in lucid dreaming. However, to understand this phenomenon fully, you need to understand dreams and much more. Below we expound and explain everything you need to know.

What Consists of Lucid Dreaming?

Lucid dreaming, just like regular dreams, occurs during the Rapid Eye Movement stage of sleep. While it may seem like a foreign concept, up to 55% of the population experiences lucid dreams at least once. However, different parts of the brain remain aware at this time. As you click here you will learn more about lucid dreaming and how to make yourself comfortable during the process. With the right information, you can learn the art of lucid dreaming and tap into its benefits in your waking life. It happens spontaneously, but people can train themselves to experience this kind of dream. The time perception when lucid dreaming is almost the same as in waking life. Some people report being able to observe their dreams as they take place and control the turnout of their dreams in this way. With practice, you can learn to lucid dream frequently and control the turnout of events in your dreams.

Pros of Lucid Dreaming

  • Improves Levels of Self-awareness

Lucid dreams feel real, tangible, and are rich in visual details, unlike normal dreams. A person feels this way because when dreaming, the activity in the frontal and front lateral areas of the brain increases. This means that there are no boundaries to what you can do, and the possibilities can be infinite. While it may be strange to discover lucid dreams, it provides you with the chance to be in a new world in which you are in control.

  • Addressing Nightmares

The experience of lucid dreaming is therapeutic in some cases, especially in scenarios where one can turn around a dream that was going to become a nightmare. These individuals can assert control over themselves and change the turnout of events in the dream to their favor, thus avoiding the stress and negativity that comes with nightmares. Some lucid dreamers prefer to observe the nightmare with the awareness that it is not a reality.

  • Boosts Creativity

If you need to have some action and creativity in your waking life, it could be a cue that you should try lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming has been proven scientifically to improve creativity as those who took place in the study scored higher on the creative personality scale. Their dreams even took on personal significance, which is unlike ordinary dreamers.

  • Positive Effects on Those with Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

If you struggle with anxiety, stress, or depression, lucid dreaming can provide some relief.

There is a direct correlation between depression and lucid dreaming.

On the flip side, however, lucid dreams can be scary, mainly because the body is awake.

How to Become Lucid in Dreams

There are many techniques to lucid dreaming but the easiest that can help you is the Wake Back to Bed (WBTB) technique.

As you sleep, you move through five stages, including the rapid eye movement stage. As the night progresses, the REM stage becomes longer. With this technique, an individual manipulates sleeping patterns to create a lucid dream.

Here is how you can trick the body into a lucid dream:

  1. Go to bed and set the alarm to wake yourself up after at least six hours
  2. When the alarm goes off, wake up and get out of bed. Stay awake for ten minutes to half an hour and conjure up thoughts of a lucid dream. Think of things you want to do in the dream.
  3. Relax and go back to sleep. To help you settle in, you can meditate
  4. After this, you need to observe your hypnagogia. This involves concentrating on the darkness that comes once you close your eyes and letting your mind roam around.
  5. Observe what happens when you are in this state and ensure you stay calm and relaxed.
  6. Create a scene for your dreams and know who the characters are as you take in other details. Establish awareness in the dream by declaring that you are dreaming within the dream.

Lucid dreaming is possible for a majority of the population. However, it is a skill and art that takes time and practice to learn. Practice it, and with time, you become better at controlling your life through these techniques.
 

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