Theory and Science of lucide dreamings

Theory and Science of lucide dreamingsPage 1 of 2

Content

Introduction - What are lucide dreamings?
Why lucid dream anyway?
Therapy against nightmares, phobias and addictions
History
Sleeping
Dreaming

Part 2: Practice and how to do lucide dream.

Einleitung – Was ist ein Klartraum?

A lucid dream (lat. "light") is a dream during which you are aware that you are dreaming. Conscious dreaming as well as the ability to deliberately control the contents of the dream can be learned.

Why lucid dream anyway?

Why should we learn to lucid dream? Everybody knows that more often than not, dreams seem very realistic. Imagine you could dream whatever you like:

you are a famous person
you can fly
you are a dragon or some other mythical creature
you can breathe under water
you can speak to the dead
you can be rich and roll in money

The possibilities are limitless, as unlimited creative power slumbers within the human mind.
Plus, while dreaming, the subconsciousness emerges. By knowingly observing and controlling dreams it is possible to establish contact with the subconsciousness.

One important part of lucid dreaming is the memory of such dreams. Dreams can provide an abundance of information – keyword dream interpretation. Lucid dreaming is also used for training purposes, such as in sports, in order to solidify certain motions. That way, lucid dreaming can be used to practice telekinesis or other paranormal abilities.

Therapy against nightmares, phobias and addictions

Lucid dreams enable people to actively tackle nightmares. In addition, there is a significantly lower rate of nightmares or even no nightmares at all when engaging in lucid dreaming.

Even with phobias, like the fear of spiders, one can actively approach the object of fear in increments and that way get rid of the fear.

When dealing with addictions in particular, the potential of lucid dreams becomes obvious: It is possible to commit unrestrained gluttony without putting on weight or harming the body. Alcoholics drink in their dreams and that way indulge their addiction, but do not suffer the consequences.

Histroy

Lucid dreams have been used for thousands of years, by people such as shamans. In some cultures, lucid dreaming is even a form of meditation.

In the Western World, lucid dreaming did not become famous until 1967, when Marquis d’Hervey Saint-Denys made it popular. Siegmund Freud, too, briefly picked up on the topic. Despite an abundance of reports and studies, many researchers discounted lucid dreams as impossible or absurd (more about the topic skepticism and parapsychology). Stephen LaBerge was the first one (related articles – Brainwaves – Brainwaves and states of consciousness) to clearly illustrate dreaming by using EEGs.

Sleeping

On average, a human being sleeps through a third of his life. The most important phase of sleep is the REM-phase (Rapid Eye Movement). This is where most lucid dreams develop. One phase of sleep lasts about 90 minutes.

Sleep is divided up into 5 different phases: 4 NoREM-phases (no rapid eye movement, 75% of the time) and the REM-phase (rapid eye movement, 25% of the time).

Dreaming

Science still does not fully understand why we sleep. Animals dream, too, and the process seems to be crucial for survival. It is one of the most important assumptions that dreaming has something to do with the memory and the processing of information.

The process of dreaming usually happens without the dreamer being aware of it. Only rarely can people remember the content of their dreams directly after getting up. Nightmares are exceptions which more often than not end with an abrupt and shock-like awakening.

Many people have had lucid dreams by chance. Something so weird has happened that the dreaming person realizes that this has to be a dream. In many cases, such experiences occur directly before waking up.