Online Encyclopedia Search Tool

Your Online Encyclopedia

 

Online Encylopedia and Dictionary Research Site

Online Encyclopedia Free Search Online Encyclopedia Search    Online Encyclopedia Browse    welcome to our free dictionary for your research of every kind

Online Encyclopedia



Lucid dreaming

Lucid dreaming is consciously perceiving and recognizing that one is in a dream while one is sleeping, and having control over the "dreamscape", oneiros (gr.) or the faux-reality dream world within a dream. Stephen LaBerge, a published author and expert on the subject, has defined it as simply realizing that one is dreaming while in a dream. Other authorities contend that in order for the state of a dreaming person to be lucid, that person must have control over his or her dreamscape (because simply having the mental idea "I am lucid" could be a creation of the subconscious itself and not a real "rational" thought). Lucid dreamers, called oneironauts, report being able to freely remember the circumstances of waking life, think cogently, and act deliberately upon reflection, all while experiencing a dreamscape that seems vividly real.

A person in a lucid dream with full control may morph the dreamscape into any virtual reality that person pleases, all with properties that feel identical to that of wakeful consciousness. Doing literally anything within a lucid dream is not outside one's ability. Less skilled oneironauts who have trouble controlling their surroundings, however, sometimes instead make themselves like actors in chosen plays. Lucid dreams are notable for their durability in memory, being exceptionally more memorable than typical, non-lucid dreams (though it's still possible to not remember them). One theory as to why lucid dreams are more memorable is that they usually end with the person waking up suddenly due to excitement, and its generally believed that a transition from REM sleep to awakeness rather then through Delta sleep dramatically improves dream recall. Oneironauts regularly describe their dreams as exciting, colourful, and fantastic, and often compare their dreams to a spiritual experience. Oneironauts have even reported lucid dreams that take on a "hyper reality", that is, a reality that is more "real" than waking life. In these dreams all elements of the dreamscape are amplified.

Contents

Achieving and recognizing lucid dreams

Many people report having experienced a lucid dream during their lives, often in childhood. However, even with training, achieving lucid dreams on a regular basis is uncommon and can be difficult. Despite this difficulty, techniques have been developed to achieve a lucid dreaming state intentionally. A number of universities (notably Stanford) conduct continued research into these techniques and the effects of lucid dreaming, as do some independent agencies such as LaBerge's The Lucidity Institute . At present, there are no known cases where lucid dreaming has caused damage on either the psychological or physiological level. However, it would be very hard to determine whether some form of lucid dreaming might prevent one from receiving a benefit from normal dreaming. Jungian psychology seems to indicate that non-lucid (or partly lucid) dreaming is a way to achieve self-understanding.

One method of testing whether one is dreaming or not is to read some text, look away, and read it again. In the real world, the text will not change; in a dream, observers have found that text will often change. Clues to the dream state such as this are known as dream signs.

Other phenomena associated with lucid dreaming

  • False awakenings: In a false awakening, one suddenly dreams of having awakened. If the person was lucid, he/she often believes that he/she is no longer dreaming, and may start exiting their room etc. Since the person is actually still dreaming, this is called a "false awakening". This is often a nemesis in the art of lucid dreaming because it usually causes people to give up their awareness of being in a dream, but it can also help someone to become lucid if the person does a reality check whenever he/she awakens.
  • Sleep paralysis: During REM sleep the body is paralyzed by a mechanism in the brain, because otherwise the movements which occur in the dream would actually cause the body to move (the eyes are not paralyzed, which causes rapid eye movement (REM) itself). However, it is possible for this mechanism to be triggered before, during, or after normal sleep while the brain awakens. This can lead to a state where a person is lying in their bed and they feel like they are frozen. Hallucinations may occur in this state, especially auditory ones. People also generally report feeling a crushing sensation on their chest (possibly because they try to consciously control their breathing). People trying to lucid dream sometimes try to trigger this state, or accidentally trigger this state, while using a waking induction of lucid dreaming (WILD) technique to enter a lucid dream directly when falling asleep.
  • Transformations: Some people believe, (after some practice) one could transform their dream-selves into real or fictional animals, and claim to have tried sensory experiences not normally achievable while awake, such as 360 degree stereo vision, sonar (bat) vision, etc.

History of lucid dreaming research

The term "lucid dreaming" was coined by Frederik van Eeden in his 1913 book A Study of Dreams. This book was highly anecdotal and not embraced by the scientific community. In fact, the possibility of achieving a lucid dream state was dismissed categorically by N. Malcolm in his 1959 text Dreaming. The enthusiastic endorsement of lucid dreaming during the 1970s by New Age proponents such as Carlos Castaneda did little to enhance its scientific credibility.

However, during the 1980s, scientific evidence to confirm the existence of lucid dreaming was produced [1] http://www.stanford.edu/~mgoldens/lab/psyphy_lucidity.html , and lucid dreamers were able to demonstrate to researchers that they were consciously aware of being in a dream state (usually by performing a pre-arranged series of physical cues such as distinct patterns of eye movement [2] http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/si91ld.html ). Additionally, techniques were developed which have been experimentally proven to enhance the likelihood of achieving this state [3] http://www.asdreams.org/journal/articles/laberge5-3.htm .

One outstanding question on the neurophysiological nature of lucid dreaming concerns the electrical activity in the frontal cortex, which is generally suppressed during normal sleep. The behavior of the frontal cortex has not at present been crucially analyzed with respect to lucid dreaming.

There is a substantial cottage industry based around the technique of lucid dreaming, with an array of devices (usually based around flickering light arrays) commercially available to allegedly allow induction of lucid dreams. Their proponents also sometimes claim that these devices help achieve a higher level of spiritual consciousness, and associate it with other New Age concepts such as astral traveling or dream sharing. Regardless of these claims' validity, lucid dreaming as a scientifically verified phenomenon is well-established.

Some proponents of technique claim they can use symbolic methods to research, program, and modify their nervous system itself. Memory management, creative solution generation, accelerated healing, autoinduced priapism, and ecstatic envelopment of one's body are among the various claimed techniques.

An early recorded lucid dreamer was the philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (16051682). Browne was fascinated by the world of dreams and stated of his own ability to lucid dream in his Religio Medici ... yet in one dream I can compose a whole Comedy, behold the action, apprehend the jests and laugh my self awake at the conceits thereof; (R.M. Part 2:11)

The movies Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes), Vanilla Sky, and Waking Life are partly about lucid dreaming, while the Nightmare on Elm Street series directly involves lucid dreaming as a plot device by which the hero destroys the villain. The Matrix, while not about lucid dreaming, has the hero in the similar position of living in a simulated world (complete with its own distinctive "dream signs", such as a subtle overall green hue and the slightly inaccurate mechanics) and being able to control it.

There are thought to be some insights into the workings of the brain that can be found by lucid dreaming. In particular, in surveying the experiences of lucid dreams, many have noticed that the brain, at least while in dreaming, has the feature whereby it is possible for a single individual thought, memory, definition, belief, etc. to be incorrect while the rest of the mind appears to be working normally. An example would be where the "lucid" dreamer was walking around the dream world, knowing he was dreaming, retaining his full sense of identity and waking memories, yet believing for some reason a locked door can only be opened with a fish, and not a key (almost all lucid dream reports contain this kind of phenonenon). This is contrary to normal experience of brain malfunctions, which are usually more general, such as wholesale memory loss, or broad emotional imbalance.

Books

See also

External links

Wikibooks has a book about Lucid Dreaming.
  • Lucid Dreaming 4 All http://www.ld4all.com (includes methods of achieving lucidity, what to do once you're lucid, and discussion forums with experiments and speculations)
  • Dream Views http://www.dreamviews.com (a site providing information on many aspects of Lucid Dreaming with a friendly community)
  • Here be dreams http://www.here-be-dreams.com/lucid/index.html (also has other dream-related material)
  • The Lucidity Institute, inc. http://www.lucidity.com (has much text on the subject)
  • Lucid Dreamerz http://www.luciddreamerz.com (a forum on lucid dreams)
  • Lucidnet.co.uk http://www.lucidnet.co.uk (lucid dreaming info, forum)
  • K'ai, Death of Dreams http://www.RicharddeCosta.com/KaiOpera (Space opera about a lucid-dreaming alien)



Last updated: 02-26-2005 05:17:49