What is plain dreams ?

Being able to control your own dreams sounds really exciting. But can we really dream while fully conscious, even though our bodies are still asleep? We'll explain here what lies behind the lucid dream phenomenon and whether we can learn to control our dreams.

Table of contents:

1. What is a lucid dream?
2. How does a lucid dream occur?
3. What are the benefits of lucid dreaming?
4. Learning to lucid dream
   1. dream-initiated method (DILD)
   2. Awake-Initiated Method (WILD)
5. Conclusion

1. What is a lucid dream?

A lucid dream, also known as a lucid dream, is a dream in which the sleeper is fully aware that he is dreaming and can actively control the dream action. During a lucid dream, you are mentally "awake" and know that your body is sleeping and that what you are experiencing is being dreamed. You are not only able to perceive the dream as such, but can even control and influence what happens in the dream. Studies show that one in two people has experienced a lucid dream at some point in their lives.

Lucid dreams are often experienced more intensely and are perceived as similar to a real event. However, because the dream remains fictional and we are not bound by rules or physical laws, unrealistic situations can also be experienced in a lucid dream, such as flying or teleporting to another place. The dream situation cannot usually be influenced at the beginning of the dream, so nightmares can also occur during lucid dreaming and be perceived even more impressively.

Why we dream at all, you will learn in this article.

2. How does a lucid dream occur?

Lucid dreams typically occur during REM sleep. Dreams generally occur in all sleep phases but are more frequent during REM sleep and are experienced particularly intensely. During this phase, our nervous system is highly active and the muscles are blocked by natural sleep paralysis. Lucid dreamers then become conscious in a kind of intermediate state between being awake and dreaming, which can occur completely by chance or be brought about intentionally.

Some studies have shown that certain areas of the brain are significantly more active during a lucid dream and that the transport and processing of information in the brain increases. This is probably related to the unusual conscious processes and the ability to shape the dream experience yourself. Since lucid dreams often last no longer than around 10 minutes, sleep itself and in particular the restorative effect of sleep are generally not affected.

3. What are the benefits of lucid dreaming?

Lucid dreams can have many advantages and have a positive effect on your mood during the day. They give us the feeling of being able to freely design an experience and experience situations that cannot take place in the real world. Wishes or daydreams can be realized, for example the wish to fly, breathe underwater or meet a person who is unreachable in reality. These experiences usually leave us with feelings of joy, freedom or euphoria.

Lucid dreaming can also promote the ability to reflect on oneself, creativity and performance. It can also be helpful in the treatment of nightmares or psychological disorders, as lucid dreamers learn to actively influence negative dream content and turn it into a positive situation.

4thLearning to lucid dream

Inducing lucid dreams yourself is possible with some practice. Various methods have been established in sleep science, in which lucid dreams are either initiated from the waking state or consciousness is awakened during a normal dream.

dream-initiated method (DILD)

The goal of this method is to "wake up" from sleep during a normal dream so that it becomes a lucid dream experience. The following techniques can help with this.

Keeping a dream diary

A dream diary can help to increase awareness of dreaming and increase the likelihood of a lucid dream occurring through intensive study of the dream. To do this, write down all the dream content that you can remember every morning.

conduct reality checks

Lucid dreams can seem very realistic. That's why it's important to learn to distinguish between dreams and reality - for example, with the help of so-called reality checks. This involves asking yourself the question every day whether you are awake or dreaming, with the aim of making this question routine, coming up during dreams and leading to waking up. Small reality tests are also helpful, for example by holding your nose and mouth and trying to breathe. Of course, this isn't possible in reality, but it's no problem in dreams. This increases awareness of dream signs and makes it more likely that you will recognize a dream as such and "wake up".

Meditation and Autosuggestion (MILD)

Here, you decide to have a lucid dream before going to sleep and use various autosuggestions during the day in reality and in the dream itself to trigger the lucid dream or to influence the dream events. Before going to sleep, sentences such as "I recognize when I'm dreaming" or "I'm going to have a lucid dream" are useful. In the lucid dream itself, you can control events through autosuggestions, for example if you say "I'm on an island" and suddenly find yourself on an island.

Awake-Initiated Method (WILD)

When using a wake-initiated method, you practice slipping directly from the waking state into a lucid dream without falling asleep first. You are therefore training to let your body fall asleep and keep your consciousness awake during this time. This is considered more difficult than dream-initiated lucid dreaming. Because in order to fall asleep and return to the natural state, sleep paralysis To slip into sleep, you have to lie still for a long time and not move. The onset of sleep paralysis is also associated with unpleasant sensations and can be accompanied by tingling, itching or tension and so-called hypnagogic images. These are visual, acoustic or physical hallucinations that can occur during the transition to sleep.

5. Dangers and risks of lucid dreaming

During REM sleep, in which most lucid dreams take place, the body is in sleep paralysis, meaning that the muscles are completely relaxed and we are unable to move. Despite the intense dreaming, there is therefore no danger of physical harm. However, on a psychological level, there is a risk that the positive experiences of lucid dreaming will lead to a kind of dependency, not wanting to wake up and becoming increasingly alienated from reality and escaping into the dream world.

6thConclusion

• Lucid dreams are dreams in which the sleeper is aware that he is dreaming and can influence the dream events.

• Lucid dreaming can be learned and practiced using various methods. A distinction is made between dream-initiated and waking-initiated lucid dreaming.

• Lucid dreams can improve your mood during the day, your ability to reflect on yourself and your creativity.

Best regards and see you soon!