People dream, and sometimes those dreams are quite strange. Occasionally, individuals experience lucid dreams, where they are aware that they are dreaming and can even control the dream content. Experts have shared several benefits of having these types of dreams.
Laura Roklicer, a psychology PhD student at Swansea University in the UK, wrote in Psychology Today that lucid dreaming refers to the state in which a dreamer is aware of being in a dream. It is typically triggered by suddenly becoming conscious of certain peculiar features within the dream.
In a lucid dream, individuals have the opportunity to experience events that go beyond the constraints of the real world, including rational thinking, physical laws, and lasting consequences.
Roklicer mentioned the advantages of lucid dreaming, stating that it not only provides a playground for extraordinary experiences but can also aid in personal growth and problem-solving, including treating nightmares. Research has shown a link between lucid dreaming and enhanced creativity.
A study conducted in 2018 found that musicians were able to improve their skills through lucid dreaming and apply them to their compositions. Athletes who experienced lucid dreams reported an enhancement in their physical performance and flexibility as a result.
Roklicer noted that about half of people experience at least one lucid dream in their lifetime, but only around 20% do so regularly. There are simple methods that can be used to induce lucid dreams. Cultivating this habit can help in healing emotional wounds, enhancing creativity, and fostering a more focused lifestyle.
She went on to outline the induction techniques used in her research, with 83% of participants experiencing lucid dreams within just 8 weeks.
Recording dream experiences in a diary forms the foundation for lucid dreaming. Each time you wake up, jot down or record everything you can remember. Even fragmented pieces can lead to more profound recollections over time.
It is crucial to record dream experiences promptly upon waking – preferably while still in a drowsy state. This is because your awakened brain will automatically try to rationalize the dream, making it coherent in the waking world, potentially hindering accurate dream recording. Reflecting on dream entries later may lead to difficulty understanding their significance.
This step has two main benefits: significantly improving the ability to recall dreams and helping identify recurring patterns or themes in dreams. These patterns or themes are known as “dream signs” and can serve as clues for lucid dreaming.
Reality testing involves questioning the characteristics of your environment while awake, training your brain to distinguish between reality and dream. By adopting this habit, you are likely to conduct these tests in dreams, eventually realizing “this is just a dream.”
Some reality testing methods you can try include:
• Attempting to pass one finger through the palm of your other hand.
• Jumping to see if you can float.
• Pinching your nose shut and trying to breathe.
• Staring at a clock or text, then looking away and checking if it remains consistent.
The key to these reality testing methods is to take them seriously while awake. If you casually attempt to pass your finger through your hand, then conclude after one try that it doesn’t work (because you know you are awake), you are likely to repeat the same action in the dream, missing the opportunity to experience lucid dreaming.
She suggests spending at least 10 seconds earnestly attempting – really exerting effort to pass your finger through your palm! – to carry this habit into dreams.
Dream recall induction is a psychological exercise performed at bedtime with the intention of becoming lucid in dreams. Repeating affirmations such as “I will have a lucid dream” or “I will be aware that I am dreaming” while imagining a recent lucid dream can increase the likelihood of achieving lucid dreams.
When lucid dreaming becomes frequent, you can further develop this method and set an intention to dream of specific things. However, at the beginning, keep it simple to avoid overwhelming your brain.
Waking yourself up and then going back to sleep is a technique that utilizes the brain’s natural sleep cycles to increase the chances of entering rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage in which lucid dreams primarily occur. Here is how you can implement this technique:
• Set an alarm to wake yourself up after approximately 6 hours of sleep.
• Stay awake for 30 to 60 minutes. You can lie in bed, reflect on potential dreams from the night, write in a journal, or engage in free writing during this time.
• When going back to sleep, use the technique from the third step mentioned above.
By re-entering REM sleep during this late phase (which has a longer duration than the initial REM phase at night), you can increase the likelihood of experiencing lucid dreams.
Roklicer concluded that these methods can be adjusted and combined according to individual preferences, typically resulting in the most effective outcomes. Whether you seek to explore creativity, overcome personal challenges, or simply enjoy the thrill of flying in dreams, these techniques can help you to experience dream realms in a whole new way.