How to Practice the Art Of Lucid Dreaming
The surprising benefits of being aware while you dream
On most nights, I have vivid dreams. I remember dreaming about fire-breathing dragons in my former high school grounds. The following night, I flew a Nimbus 2000. I played for Gryffindor even though I was sorted for Ravenclaw. The characters and the setting felt too real. Sometimes, the scene shifted from one story to another. It was a mesh of different worlds in just one night’s dream.
I used to dream a lot in the third person but now, I mostly experience them firsthand. I can always recall with much detail the intensity of emotions I felt during a dream. Some mornings, I would wake up crying or screaming. But if it wasn’t a nightmare, I would instantly be in a good mood once I open my eyes.
My fascination with dreams began when I was a teenager. I kept a dream journal where I wrote each dream I had the previous night, however uncanny it was. As my vivid dreams continued, I started to experience something very strange. One night, I became fully aware that I was dreaming. I was consciously experiencing the dream in real-time (or dream-time). Recalling it the following day seemed like trying to remember a real memory.
I quickly became very engulfed in this concept and went as far as picking it as a research topic for school. This occurrence — although still seldom talked about — is not uncommon after all.
What Lucid Dreaming Feels Like
Lucid dreams usually happen during deep sleep. It is marked by rapid eye movement — thus the term REM sleep—faster breathing, and more brain activity. However, in my experience, the lucid dream started during the in-between state of wake and sleep. It was like finding myself inside a movie. The surrounding is familiar but different at the same time. I felt real and aware of what was happening. I walked and felt the ground on my feet. I started running until I can no longer feel the earth beneath me. At that moment, I was consciously aware that I was flying.
At other times, I would switch from being an observer to the first person experiencing the dream. It goes as far as having conversations with people I know or never even encountered in real life. Often, I express my feelings of anger, and frustration — something that I would not normally do.
It can be terrifying at first. Realizing that you are in a dream can get you quite baffled. A dream is a different simulation of your reality after all. Imagine being in your own room except it’s not the same. The walls are entirely different and your room standing on the edge of a cliff in Iceland. Yeah, it’s an extreme example but you get the point. Dreams can really get THAT weird.
After some time and applying some pre-conditioning techniques, I was able to control my dreams. From small actions like grabbing a door handle or going down a flight of stairs, I was able to control the setting of my dreams and turn them into a peaceful escape from reality.
How To Start Lucid Dreaming
A lucid dream can happen spontaneously during one of your vivid dreams or you can jump straight into one with enough practice. Either way, it is important to set the conditions in your bedroom before attempting to sleep.
Make your sleep haven cozy and comfortable. Set the room temperature and as much as possible, keep your bedroom dark. The ambient light that can seep through your window can possibly wake you up.
Follow a good sleep routine. Take a warm shower and refrain from using your phone before sleeping. Listen to some white noise or binaural beats to help you drift into a peaceful sleep.
Write your dreams. Starting a dream journal is also helpful in tracing patterns and recurring themes in your dreams. You can stick to the traditional pen and paper or you can easily download dream journal apps. If it’s more convenient for you to retell the dream, voice recording is also a good option.
Connect the dots. After recording your dreams, read through them again, and try to observe any pattern. Do you dream of the same scenarios each night? Do the same characters appear? Recognizing these patterns can help you understand your internal issues and reveal the current condition of your inner psyche. It also trains your brain to quickly identify your own dream state. Easy indicators such as objects can help you recognize that you're already dreaming.
Go back to sleep. Sometimes, it’s just inevitable for us to wake up in the middle of the night, especially when the cats start singing outside. If you want to continue your dream, write it down in your journal and focus on its details as you try and fall back asleep. Replaying it on your mind will increase your chance of being aware when you dream about it again.
The Benefits of Being Aware While You Dream
As an overthinker, I have a hard time sleeping at night and the quality of my sleep is frankly, not that good. Every morning, I wake up lethargic and cranky. But when I began lucid dreaming, I was able to have long, uninterrupted sleep throughout the night.
The frequency of my nightmares was also reduced. According to a psychological study, lucid dreams can prevent terrible nightmares that often jolt us awake at night. It also showed that for those with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), lucid dreaming can protect the individual from the traumatic feelings associated with such nightmares.
By getting enough and good quality sleep, I also felt less stressed and motivated to do daily activities.
Moreover, frequent lucid dreaming is also proven to improve an individual’s problem-solving skills compared to non-lucid dreamers. Aside from this, lucid dreamers are also seen to be more imaginative—thus more creative. During lucid dreaming, the right hemisphere of the brain becomes more dominant. This helps greatly in developing creativity and becoming more insightful.
As one becomes more insightful, it becomes easier to think outside the box when solving complex problems and to break free from generic preconceptions.
Dreams can reveal a lot about us than we think. With lucid dreaming, we can create our own dream world that can help us avoid the sad places in our minds that can trigger negative emotions. We can relieve ourselves from the stress of real-life and conjure our own peaceful, safe place. The alternate universe we create in our dream helps us come up with alternate and even original ideas to apply in real situations. With methods like this, maybe it’s time to rethink the way we sleep.
