Lucid Dreaming by Jacqueline Lopers

Everyone has at least three to seven dreams a night. Dreaming is not something that is stoppable, but rather controllable. Imagine being able to control what happens in your dream, and where your dream will end up. Lucid dreaming is a dream state where you are aware of the dream, and in some cases are able to control what is going on throughout your dream. Although this is possible, it is unlikely unless you practice. This means that you cannot expect to be able to lucid dream the first try. The Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932) was the first person to formulate the term “lucid dream”. It is proven that there are higher amounts of beta-1 frequency band experienced by lucid dreamers (1); hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making lucid dreaming a conscious process.

Frederik (Willem) van Eeden is a psyhiatrist that has studied dreams. He is also the first person to coin the term “lucid dream”. He first made the term lucid dream as a sense of mental clarity, and is now used as a dream literature and study. There have been many studies on lucid dreaming and how they occur and if they are real. French philosopher Rene Descartes experienced lucid dreaming and found them so vivid that he determined that our waking brains are false and not to be trusted. In Rene Descartes first meditation, he believes that even though he is dreaming he is sensing real objects, and feels certain that he is awake. Although he believes this, he is aware that it is a dream. This is a form of dream initiated lucid dreaming. He assumes that dreams come from what one has seen in reality. Though he can doubt complex things, he cannot doubt the simple and general parts from which they are created. Rene Descartes doubts, he believed, originated from the lucid dream that he had experienced.

Dreams generally happen in different stages. In the first stage you are in a light sleep and are easily woken. You are also feeling a sense of floating or sudden falling. In stage two, your body is marked by loss of muscle tone and you are not physically able to act out your approaching dreams. Most of your sleep is spent in this stage. Within stage three, you are beginning to slip into a deep sleep. In the final stage, you will reach REM sleep (rapid eye movement), which marks the onset of dreams. Once the stages are complete and you start to slip out of REM sleep, it is more likely to lucid dream.

It is possible for a lucid dream to begin in two different ways. This includes a dream-initiated lucid dream, which starts as a normal dream, which the dreamer concludes is a dream. Dream Initiated Lucid Dreaming (DILD) is a common technique used to trigger a lucid dream and is known to be quite successful. Dream-initiated lucid dreaming uses one of three techniques to initiate a lucid dream. This includes object recognition; this technique is when someone finds an object in the dream that subconsciously tells them they are dreaming thus initiating a lucid dream. A common object people use is their hands. Finding your hands in a dream and focusing on them, then being able to move them at will triggers a lucid dream. The second technique is called Text Change Recognition.

Text Change Recognition is commonly used among billboards, books and magazines within dreams. Each time one of these objects is looked at, it changes. Another way for an occurrence of a lucid dream is when the dreamer goes from a waking state directly into a dream state, without an apparent lapse in consciousness. The wake induced lucid dream is the most powerful of dreams. This is because it is controllable and can be put into play at which ever time you choose. It is also very strong in that there is not lapse in consciousness which makes the dream more vivid and real. Sometimes the no lapse in consciousness will lead to out-of-body experiences. This process stems from Tibetan Buddhism, who have been using this technique for thousands of years, it is an art they call, Dream Yoga. Buddhists use this method to reach enlightenment. Nonetheless to religious views, wake induced lucid dream is a technique to have fantastic guided dreams.

There are many, but unusual times where lucid dreamers experience lucid nightmares. Lucid nightmares are bad dreams in where the dreamer is aware of the situation but is unable to deliberately control the events. The unintentional mind delivers a message to the dreamer in an emotionally-wrenching striking situation as it believes necessary. Lucid nightmares are mostly controlled through subconscious mind and help you learn what you are most terrified of. A lucid nightmare is like a bad dream, but especially vivid. Although this is true, many lucid researchers encourage staying in the dream state to see if you are able to relinquish control of your lucid dream. Many times when you have a lucid nightmare it is because of inner anxiety, and letting the nightmare play out will find out the inner issue that causes such intense dream.

Controlling your dreams or knowing you are dreaming is an incredible talent and gift. Lucid dreaming is not given to just anyone, however, with practice anyone is able to achieve it. Dreaming is an incredibly intense state of mind, and everyone experience them multiple times a night. Lucid dreaming is only one of the many different types of dreams someone can attain, however, it is the most real.

Miracle

(1)http://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2012/10/during-lucid-dream-you-can-often.html